PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed gold explorer Chalice Gold Mines has declared a maiden ore reserve of 760 000 oz for its Koka gold deposit, in Eritrea.

The Koka gold deposit forms part of the Zara gold project, in which Chalice holds an 80% stake.

The Koka deposit was now estimated to host around five-million tons of ore, grading at 5,3 g/t gold, for 840 000 contained ounces. The project further hosted a probable ore reserve of 4,6-million tons, at 5,1 g/t gold for the 760 000 contained ounces.

Chalice said in a statement that the new resource and reserve statement for the Koka deposit was a critical component of the feasibility study currently being conducted. The feasibility study was expected to be completed by next month.

While the current feasibility studies were still under way, Chalice was aiming to start gold production at the Koka deposit during 2011.

Last week, Chalice said that it would raise A$9,1-million to buy the remaining 20% stake in the Zara project, from Dragon Mining.

By Charles Wyatt (Minesite) – Not very often we start a mining article with a combined geography/history lesson, but in this case the only way to make sense of the recent moves by a number of mining companies into Eritrea is to understand exactly where the country is, what surrounds it, and what has been going on there.

The region is described loosely as the Horn of Africa but a close look at a map shows that the real Horn juts out south of Djibouti into the Gulf of Aden and largely consists of Somalia, with Ethiopia to its west and north. Djibouti has coast along the Red Sea and Somalia has a massive coastline in the Gulf of Aden as well as the Indian Ocean. That is where the pirates lie in wait for their victims, remember?

Ethiopia, however, has no coastline at all and that is why it has for generations made a pest of itself to Eritrea which cuts it off from the Red Sea, running all the way up from Djibouti to Sudan, with Egypt a bit further to the north.

Before the Second World War Eritrea was an Italian colony, but was taken over by the British in 1941. Once the war was over, in 1952, the United Nations decided to establish it as an autonomous entity federated with Ethiopia as a compromise between Ethiopian claims for sovereignty and Eritrean aspirations for independence. Ten years later the Ethiopians tried to annex it, triggering a war which lasted for more than 30 years. The result was victory for Eritrea which declared independence in 1993, leaving Ethiopia landlocked. The two countries hardly became good neighbours, with the issues of Ethiopian access to the Eritrean ports of Massawa and Assab, and unequal trade terms, souring relations. In 1998 there was another flare-up that lasted a couple of years and again it was Ethiopia trying to get access to the Red Sea.

Since 2000 there has been an uneasy peace, with Eritrea trying to rebuild its economy after a devastating period of war. It sits, however, in a difficult area and every time there were problems in Sudan, Djibouti or Somalia near its border, Eritrea was held responsible by the UN. This culminated in the adoption of a package of sanctions against Eritrea last December.

What has to be seen in the background of all this is the dark art of US diplomacy. The US wanted its favoured candidate Ethiopia to have access to the Red Sea and found Eritrea much too independent for its liking. Eritrea is fighting its corner to get the sanctions lifted.

In the meantime, as Ambassador Tesfamicael Gerahtu pointed out in London yesterday, the country is straining every muscle to become self-dependent in food production and improve education and health services.

Anyone arriving in the capital of Asmara today could easily think the plane had been re-routed to Italy, according to Rupert Baring of gold explorer London Africa. There are wide streets, Italianate architecture and a coffee culture, with plentiful cafes.

The people he describes as proud, independent and honest and he has never seen any sign of the corruption endemic in so many parts of Africa. These are just some of the reasons why mining companies, big and small, are taking a serious look at Eritrea. The biggest reason of all, however, is the fact that the country is unexplored in modern times and underneath Eritrea, as well as under the other countries in the Horn of Africa, lies the Arabian-Nubian Shield which is an exposure of pre-Cambrian rocks on the flanks of the Red Sea. The Shield also crosses over into Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. In the north it’s exposed as part of the Sahara Desert and Arabian Desert, and in the south in the Ethiopian Highlands.

The Arabian-Nubian Sheld was the site of some of man’s earliest geologic efforts, principally the Egyptians who extracted gold from the rocks of Egypt and north east Sudan. New gold discoveries have been made in Sudan, Eritrea, and Saudi Arabia. Last week Tim Goyder, executive chairman of the Australian gold explorer Chalice Gold Mines, was passing through London and he laid out a map which showed that his company’s Zara and Koka projects lie on the same pre-Cambrian shield as Centamin’s Sukari gold mine in the Western Desert of Egypt. For reasons of history and politics, the amount of modern gold exploration that has taken place in Egypt – Centamin apart – is modest, but none at all has taken place in Eritrea until recently. Someone has to be the original pioneer, and it appears to be the Canadian company Nevsun in this particular case. Nevsun is bringing its high grade gold, copper and zinc Bisha deposit into production later this year.

Tookie Angus, chairman of Nevsun, confirms that the Bisha project has received continuous support from the Eritrean government, which granted the mining licence in January 2008. Bisha will be the first modern-day mine in the country, with production slated to return over a million ounces of gold, 9.4 million ounces of silver, 734 million pounds of copper and more than one billion pounds of zinc during its life. The really interesting aspect, however, is the deal between Nevsun and the government of Eritrea. Under existing Eritrean mining legislation, the State of Eritrea has an automatic right to a free carried 10 per cent interest, but under an agreement with Nevsun it also has an additional 30 per cent paid participating interest. This 30 per cent contributing interest was agreed upon in October 2007, with a provisional US$25million payment made to Nevsun. The remaining balance to be paid to Nevsun will be determined by an independent valuator, and will be based on the net present value of 30 per cent of the project, as evaluated upon the first shipment of gold from the mine.

Not for Eritrea the black empowerment requirements of South Africa which so often end up with a 26 per cent stake in mining companies being effectively stolen by entities which have no intention of paying their way as partners. The Nevsun deal is straightforward stuff, with the Eritrean government setting out to get a significant stake in a project which should ensure it a satisfactory return. And it goes further than this. The Ministry of Energy and Mines is helping to organise a regional Geo-Conference in Eritrea in September which will showcase the potential for mining. It is especially interesting that Centamin has been invited from Egypt, La Mancha with its Hassai VMS mine, from Sudan, and Citadel which has the Jabel Sayed copper gold deposit, from Saudi Arabia. The whole region underlain by the Arabian-Nubian Shield is being represented, and little Eritrea is taking the lead. And that’s hardly what the UN envisaged when it put in the sanctions at the behest of the US.

There are now getting on for 20 mining companies active in the country. The Chinese are there, the Koreans are there, and now some of the big boys are following the juniors in. The country has a very sensible mining code, modelled on the Australian one. Antofagasta, one of the world’s largest copper producers is in a joint venture with the Canadian company Sunridge Gold on the Adi Rassi copper gold project within its Asmara project, and Anglo American is involved in the Thani–Ashanti Alliance. Newmont is also said to be taking a close look, which is another reason for the UN to reconsider its decision on sanctions. The Amir of Qatar not only owns the Asmara Place Hotel, where Brits and locals alike watch English football in the Green Bar, but is also building a summer home at Massawa overlooking the Red Sea. Eritrea, with a history that has precluded any exploration in modern times, is the new frontier and everyone is taking a look. The reaction from mining companies and fund managers alike has been universally positive, so this is likely to build up into a big story even if it is one that will not hit the headlines in the States.

Sunridge Gold Corp. (SGC/TSX.V) (”Sunridge”) is pleased to announce that Sunridge and Antofagasta Minerals S.A. have commenced a new drilling program at the Adi Rassi copper-gold prospect within the Asmara Project, Eritrea, which is within the Exploration Areas and part of the joint-venture exploration funding agreement with Antofagasta Minerals announced October 2, 2009. The Adi Rassi copper/gold prospect is located about 8 kilometers southeast of the company’s Debarwa high-grade copper/gold VMS deposit. The program will consist of at least four holes totaling 1,200 meters of diamond drilling.

The copper and gold mineralization at the Adi Rassi prospect is associated with quartz veins and breccia zones along a major shear zone that trends northeast and dips steeply to the west. This mineralization is mainly hosted in strongly foliated and distorted altered mafic volcanic tuff and flows. Alteration associated with copper mineralization can be seen at surface in a zone that measures about 80 meters wide along a strike length of approximately 500 meters.

From 1971 to 1974 the prospect was evaluated by the Ethio-Nippon Mining Company and a drill program of 11 diamond drill holes comprising 2,170 meters of core were completed over a 550 meters of strike length. The best results from this historic drilling were 41.3 meters of 1.77% Copper (DDH EN-7) and 33.6 meters of 1.5% copper (DDH EN-4).

Note: The above drill results are taken from the report “Adi Rassi Copper Prospect — Ore Resources Evaluation” by D.J. Toogood, December 1997, Phelps Dodge Exploration Corp. While the above historical data appears to be complete and the procedures followed appear reliable, Sunridge has not completed the work necessary to verify the reported results.

DAERO PAULOS DRILLING:

All results have recently been received from the drilling of the large Daero Paulos copper target also part of the Antofagasta joint-venture exploration funding agreement. Twelve widely spaced diamond drill holes were drilled over an area of surface alteration measuring approximately 500 meters wide and 2.5 kilometers long. The program returned only a few narrow zones of mineralization.

REGIONAL TARGET GENERATION

In addition to the above drilling programs a regional target generation program is underway covering all parts of the Exploration Areas as defined in the joint-venture exploration funding agreement with Antofagasta. Stream geochemical sampling, satellite imagery analysis and local geological mapping are the main tools being used and it is hoped that this work will result in the generation of new drill targets over the next few weeks.

ABOUT SUNRIDGE:

Sunridge is a mineral exploration and development company focused on the acquisition, exploration, discovery and development of base and precious metal projects on the Asmara Project in Eritrea and exploration properties in Madagascar.

Sunridge has approximately 76 million shares outstanding and approximately $5.5 million in cash. Sunridge trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol SGC. For additional information on the Company and its projects please view the slide show on our website at www.sunridgegold.com or call Don Halliday or Greg Davis at the numbers listed below.

NOTES:

A Quality Assurance/Quality Control program was part of the sampling program on the Daero Paulos copper prospect. This program includes chain of custody protocols as well as systematic submittals of standards, duplicates and blank samples into the flow of samples produced by the sampling.

Samples were prepared at African Horn Testing Services (Eritrea) and analyzed at Genalysis Laboratories (a NATA registered laboratory) in Perth, Western Australia.

The results of the Daero Paulos copper prospect drill program have been reviewed by Michael J. Hopley the Qualified Person for Sunridge. Mr. Hopley is also the person responsible for preparation of the technical information contained in this news release and is President and Chief Executive Officer of Sunridge.

SUNRIDGE GOLD CORP.

“Michael Hopley”

Michael Hopley, President and Chief Executive Officer

Asmara

Centric Energy Corp. (TSX VENTURE:CTE) is in talks to kick-start oil exploration activities off the cost of Eritrea. The company is in negotiations with the Government of Eritrea and other exploration corporations.

Centric Energy has submitted an application for a production sharing contract (PSC) to the Eritrean Government in October 2009, according to media displays on the company’s web site.

While the final agreement has yet to be worked out, the Eritrean Ministry of Mines and Energy in Asmara granted Centric exclusivity for the application area.

The geographic area of interest includes the Dahlak Block in the Red Sea, where Italy’s Agip conducted field surveys and drilled wells on the Dahlak archipelago in the 1930s.

The wider terms of the PSC are said to include an initial four-year exploration period followed by two optional extension periods each of two years.

According to the Chief Executive of the company, the key to unlocking Eritrea’s petroleum potential has yet to be found. However, he is confident that with serious determination oil and gas potentials can be uncovered, given that a lot of work had been already started earlier and given that the existence of oils shows and gas blow-outs can be regarded as evidence for untapped resources.

“The discovery of gas only would not impact negatively the attractiveness of Eritrea as a offshore destination, given that the increasing number of mining companies will boost the demand for power,” he adds.

He estimates the need for power in Eritrea will increase at an rate of 10 MW per each mine under production.

Centric Energy has been introduced to Eritrea by Canadian mining company Sunridge Gold, supporting the Eritrean Governments efforts to build a strong oil, gas and mining industry.

Sunridge Gold Corp. (CA:SGC 0.44, -0.02, -3.30%) announces that PEG Mining Consultants Inc. (”PEG”) have been commissioned to conduct a Strategic Production Study (the “Study”) of mining and processing options for the four known 100% owned mineral deposits on the Company’s Asmara Project in Eritrea.

The Study will serve as a roadmap for future engineering studies and will initially focus on the possibility of fast-tracking mining and direct shipping of a small, high-grade copper section of the Debarwa copper supergene zone where grades average between 15% to 20%. (See table below under Debarwa). This scenario may represent a low capital cost production opportunity which could generate near-term cash-flow for Sunridge.

The Strategic Production Study:

Sunridge has three mineral deposits on the Asmara Project that together contain Indicated resources of 1.28 billion pounds (580,000 tonnes) of copper, 2.5 billion pounds (1,130,000 tonnes) of zinc, 1.05 million ounces of gold and 31.8 million ounces of silver. In addition the Gupo Gold deposit contains 189,000 ounces of gold in the Inferred category (see resource details below). Given recent improvements in the understanding of the metallurgy at Debarwa, the Study will initially focus on fast-tracking part of the supergene copper zone at Debarwa into production and will then lead into further levels of engineering studies at Debarwa and the other three deposits in the form of scoping/pre-feasiblity/feasibility studies. Blue Coast Metallurgy Ltd. (”BCM”) are working with PEG to determine the metallurgical compatibility of mineralization from each deposit and options for combining ore processing with the development of flowsheets.

Debarwa Copper-Gold-Zinc VMS Deposit:

The Debarwa deposit already has a shaft, headfame and two levels of underground working that were constructed by a previous company in the 1970s.

In order to minimize initial capital costs the Study will examine the potential of using some or all of these facilities to fast-track operations at Debarwa by mining and direct shipping the high-grade copper material from a portion of the supergene zone.

This zone contains 15% to 20% copper material (see below) within the larger overall supergene copper zone. The enriched copper zone is located approximately 40 meters below surface over a strike length of approximately 120 meters.

(i) Highlights of copper-gold intercepts in the copper supergene zone. Results from all these drill holes have been previously announced:

– DEBD-005 20.36 % Cu, 2.18 g/t Au, and 103.73 g/t Ag over 13.00 meters.

– DEBD-019 21.27 % Cu, 2.29 g/t Au, and 90.51 g/t Ag over 9.80 meters.

– DEBR-008-D 20.18 % Cu, 3.43 g/t Au, and 67.10 g/t Ag over 6.00 meters.

– DEBR-021-D 20.59 % Cu, 1.96 g/t Au, and 97.81 g/t Ag over 11.30 meters.

– DEBR-022-D 19.31 % Cu, 5.80 g/t Au, and 85.27 g/t Ag over 7.0 meters.

– DEBR-024-D 21.13 % Cu, 6.88 g/t Au, and 110.41 g/t Ag over 6.00 meters.

– DEBR-036-D 20.87 % Cu, 1.99 g/t Au, and 92.63 g/t Ag over 11.00 meters.

– DEBR-044-D 20.19 % Cu, 2.18 g/t Au, and 85.41 g/t Ag over 6.05 meters.

(i) These represent some of the best drill intercepts of the supergene zone at Debarwa and demonstrate the potential for direct shipment copper material. In total, approximately 120 drill holes have intercepted the supergene copper zone and of these approximately 38 intercepts have average copper intervals grades over 5%.

The January 21, 2008 MSA Geoservices (Pty) Ltd. (”MSA”) Indicated resource estimates for Debarwa are summarized as follows:

———————————————————————–

Debarwa – Indicated Resources

———————————————————————–

Zone Cut Off K-tonnes Au g/t Ag g/t Cu% Zn%

———————————————————————–

Oxide+Transition 0.5 g/t Au 2,442 1.71 13.79 0.12 0.09

———————————————————————–

Supergene 1% Cu 1,336 1.54 33.87 5.36 0.08

———————————————————————–

Primary 1% Cu 699 0.87 22.31 2.53 3.23

———————————————————————–

Totals 4,478

———————————————————————–

Emba Derho

An independent Preliminary Economic Assessment (the “PEA”) study was completed by Wardrop, a Tetra Tech Company on the Emba Derho deposit in June 2009 (see NR 2009-04) which demonstrated the strong economics of the deposit. The base case IRR is 21.6% with 4 years payback on an estimated capital cost of US$331.8 million with sustaining capital of US$67.3 million. The base case NPV is estimated to be US$203.9 million at a 10% discount rate. The base case economics were based on five-year moving average metal prices which are considerably lower than current metal prices.

The October 2008 Wardrop Indicated resource estimates for Emba Derho are summarized as follows:

———————————————————————-

Cut-off Million Copper Zinc Gold Silver

Zone grade Tonnes % % g/t g/t

———————————————————————-

Gold Oxide 0.2 g/t Au 3.51 0.06 0.04 0.84 5.14

———————————————————————-

Copper-rich Primary 0.5% Cu 38.425 1.02 0.99 0.18 9.31

———————————————————————-

Zinc-rich Primary 1.0% Zn 20.545 0.28 2.35 0.39 12.13

———————————————————————-

The PEG study will examine the economics of a stand alone operation at Emba Derho but will also examine scenarios that include Adi Nefas and Gupo Gold and a separate scenario including Debarwa. Inclusion of material from the other deposits could have a positive impact on mining operations at Emba Derho through the addition of more material and or higher grade material.

Adi Nefas

The January 21, 2008 MSA resource estimates for Adi Nefas are summarized as follows:

———————————————————–

Adi Nefas – Indicated Resources

———————————————————–

Zone Cut Off K-tonnes Au g/t Ag g/t Cu% Zn%

———————————————————–

Primary 2% Zn 2,727 2.85 99.30 1.39 8.38

———————————————————–

The Adi Nefas high grade zinc-copper-gold deposit is located approximately 6 km east of Emba Derho.

Gupo Gold

————————————————————-

Gupo Gold – Inferred Resources

————————————————————-

Tonnes Average Gold Grade g/t Ounces of Gold

————————————————————-

1,965,000 2.99 189,000

————————————————————-

The Gupo gold deposit is located 6 kilometers east of Emba Derho and could potentially be a low cost operation mined in conjunction with the Emba Derho gold cap.

Total Contained Metals

The total contained metal in NI43-101 “Indicated” category is as follows.

Asmara Project – Total Contained Metal in Indicated Resources

—————————————————-

Deposit M lbs Cu M lbs Zn K oz Au M oz Ag

—————————————————-

Emba Derho 993 1902 580 20.1

—————————————————-

Debarwa 203.6 57.0 219.8 3.0

—————————————————-

Adi Nefas 83.7 503.6 250.0 8.7

—————————————————-

Totals 1,280.3 2,462.6 1,049.8 31.8

—————————————————-

Note: Contained metal estimates are rounded and remain subject to factors such as mining dilution and process recovery losses.

Qualified Person

Michael J. Hopley, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sunridge is the Qualified Person for Sunridge and the person responsible for preparation of the technical information contained in this news release.

ABOUT SUNRIDGE:

Sunridge is a mineral exploration and development company focused on the acquisition, exploration, discovery and development of base and precious metal projects on the Asmara Project in Eritrea and exploration properties in Madagascar.

Sunridge has approximately 76 million shares outstanding and approximately $6.5 million in cash. Sunridge trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol SGC. For additional information on the Company and its projects please view the slide show on our website at www.sunridgegold.com or call Don Halliday or Greg Davis at the numbers listed below.

SUNRIDGE GOLD CORP.

Michael Hopley, President and Chief Executive Officer

This press release contains forward-looking statements about the Company and its business. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and include resource estimates. The forward-looking statements in this press release are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Company’s actual results or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by forward looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, without limitation risks related to fluctuations in gold prices; uncertainties related to raising sufficient financing to fund the planned work in a timely manner and on acceptable terms; changes in planned work resulting from weather, logistical, technical or other factors; the possibility that results of work will not fulfill expectations and realize the perceived potential of the Company’s properties; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results and other tests and the estimation of gold resources; the possibility that required permits may not be obtained on a timely manner or at all; the possibility that capital and operating costs may be higher than currently estimated and may preclude commercial development or render operations uneconomic; the possibility that the estimated recovery rates may not be achieved; risk of accidents, equipment breakdowns and labor disputes or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions; the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated expenses in the work program; and other factors identified in the Company’s filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, opinions and expectations of the Company’s management at the time they are made, and other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update its forward-looking statements if those beliefs, opinions or expectations, or other circumstances, should change.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Sunridge Gold Corp.

Don Halliday

Executive Vice President

604-899-1505 (direct)

donh@sunridgegold.com

Sunridge Gold Corp.

Greg Davis

VP Business Development

604-688-1263 (direct)

greg@sunridgegold.com

www.sunridgegold.com

Stratex International (AIM: STI) has doubled its Ethiopian portfolio to 3,142 sq km (square kilometres) while reporting encouraging geochemistry results from its Megenta gold discovery in the Afar region of the country, with chip sampling returning grades of up to 3 g/t (grammes per tonne) gold.

Shares in the company jumped 7.4% on the news.

The new exclusive exploration licenses (EELs) spanning over 1,562 sq km are located in the Afar region and in the Tigray area in northern Ethiopia, east of Stratex’ Shehagne gold project. The current EEL in the Afar epithermal district was extended by 666 sq km to take the total land package in the region to 2,245 sq km. The Tigray EEL covers 897 sq km of what the company said was “favorable ground.”

Stratex has commenced geological mapping and rock sampling over the Tigray concession with regional minus 200 mesh stream sediment sampling planned for Q2/Q3 2010.

The company said that recent results from its Shehagne project and the interest shown by other companies including Sunridge Resources and Antofagasta Minerals in Eritrea highlighted the potential of the large tract of ground for early discovery.

Meanwhile, the samples from Megenta returned a high of 3g/t Au at only 20 metres below the paleosurface from a zone of chalcedonic silica veins; other results included values of 0.667 g/t gold and 0.525 g/t gold, which Stratex called “highly encouraging values for this high level of the system,” saying they indicated potential for a high grade system at depth.

“Having received encouraging geochemistry results from our Ethiopian gold discovery, Megenta, in the Afar region, we are delighted to further consolidate our ground position and utilise our early-mover advantage, in what we believe is an emerging gold region,” said executive chairman of Stratex David Hall.

The Megenta hot spring gold prospect will now be the focus of a six week detailed mapping and sampling programme aimed at defining drill targets for Q3 2010.

Stratex has increased its portfolio of gold assets in Turkey and Ethiopia to 1.17 Moz (million ounces) across all categories of JORC standard during 2009. Source: (Proactiveinvestors)

PDAC

Analyst and Chief Commentator Peter Grandich from Agoracom was invited to comment on small cap mining stocks by BNN Market Call during the PDAC 2010 Mining Conference in Toronto.

He said the market is overreacting and the share price of mining companies in Eritrea is undervalued as a consequence of negative media coverage.

This overshadows some of the progress being made by mining companies such as Sunridge Gold and Nevsun Resources in Eritrea.

Nevsun, for instance, has completed its non-brokered private placement financing and is planning to go into production in late 2010 despite all the dramatic ups and downs in recent years.

Grandich believes that the worst of the bad news is behind them and that better days lie ahead, unless further tidal waves of bad press will continue to dominate the media.

He says that the UN has adopted sanctions not against the country as a whole, but against certain politicians and the military in Eritrea. He will update his rating on Nevsun and Sunridge Gold later this month after the UN has announced its decision, whether it is going to continue, increase or remove the sanctions on Eritrea.

“If Sunridge’s projects would be somewhere else in the world it probably would be three to four times the price of today.

Its being penalized for being there, but if you are a believer like me eventually things will get better and they should be doing well in the long run,” says Grandich.

When he was asked to rate Eritrea on a risk scale against other places in the world he replied,

“You have to put it to the most riskiest when the UN has brought sanctions against them, but the good thing is the likelyhood of things getting better is high as things cannot get much worse.”

Experts believe the fact that Nevsun Resources managed to solve the question of financing will remove most of the fears that came from the UN sanctions against Eritrea.

Watch the episode on http://watch.bnn.ca/market-call/march-2010/market-call-march-9-2010/#clip274281

Sunridge Gold Corp. (SGC/TSX.V) is pleased to report on the success of an analyst’s tour to Eritrea co-hosted by Sunridge and Nevsun Resources Ltd. The tour included site visits to Sunridge’s Asmara Project and Nevsun’s Bisha Project as well as a visit to the port of Massawa. The tour included representatives from the media as well as mining analysts on the buy side and sell side. The visitors also met with members of the Eritrean Ministry and Mines.

The visitors came away with a positive impression of Eritrea and the evident strong support of the Eritrean government to the industry.

Drilling Progress:

Sunridge expects to release the drill assay results from the 2009 drill program conducted at the 100% owned Debarwa project in mid February.

In addition the phase one drill program is well underway at the Daero Paulos, the large new copper prospect on the Asmara Project, Eritrea. The Daero Paulos target is part of the October 2, 2009 exploration funding agreement with Antofagasta Minerals S.A.

Company Presentations:

Michael Hopley, President and CEO of Sunridge will be giving a corporate presentation at the Mining Indaba Conference in Cape Town, South Africa this week. The Minister of Energy and Mines of the state of Eritrea, Ahmed Haj Ali, together with the Director General, Alem Kibreab are also attending the Indaba conference.

Greg Davis, Vice-President of Business Development, will then give a corporate presentation at the Africa Mining Congress being held in Livingstone, Zambia on February 5th, 2010.

About Sunridge:

Sunridge is a mineral exploration and development company focused on the acquisition, exploration, discovery and development of base and precious metal projects on the Asmara Project in Eritrea and exploration properties in Madagascar.

Sunridge has approximately 76 million shares outstanding and approximately $7 million in cash. Sunridge trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol SGC. For additional information on the Company and its projects please view the slide show on our website at www.sunridgegold.com or call Don Halliday or Greg Davis at the numbers listed below.

SUNRIDGE GOLD CORP.
“Michael Hopley”
Michael Hopley, President and Chief Executive Officer
For further information contact:
Don Halliday, Executive Vice President
Email: donh@sunridgegold.com
Tel: 604-899-1505 (direct)
Greg Davis, VP Business Development
Email: greg@sunridgegold.com
Tel: 604-688-1263 (direct)

Eritrea said on Wednesday that its economy will be unaffected by the U.N. sanctions imposed on the nation, which were an international response to Asmara’s alleged support of Islamist rebel groups in Somalia.

Punitive measures including an arms embargo, travel restrictions and asset freezes for some of the country’s top officials raised fears the limitations may slow an economy reliant on financial and moral support from the diaspora.

Remittances from Europe, the United States, the Middle East and other African nations are Eritrea’s biggest source of foreign exchange. Analysts say they continue to flow because high-ranking Eritreans travel to other countries and drum up support for the Red Sea state.

Eritrea has dismissed concerns saying sanctions would not slow development.

“The sanctions should not have any impact on investment, no impact on trade, or Eritrea’s external ties with its economic partners,” Yemane Ghebremeskel, director of the Eritrean president’s office, told Reuters in an interview.

“Our development strategy is not really based on injections of development assistance anyway. There are still extensive development plans in place designed to enhance productivity and expand services in education and health,” he said.

The country would build more than 50 new schools this year, he said.

The U.N. imposed sanctions last month because Security Council members say Eritrea has given support to Islamist insurgents in Somalia who are battling the U.N.-backed transitional government. Violence in the Horn of Africa nation has killed at least 19,000 people since the start of 2007.

‘IT’S WEDDING SEASON’

Yemane said average Eritreans were disappointed in the United Nations over the sanctions but they remained fairly indifferent to the measures themselves.

“They know these sanctions have nothing to do with justice or international law. People don’t give it undue weight — it’s January, wedding season, people are getting on with their business and going to parties,” he said.

Yemane reiterated the view of President Isaias Afwerki that the sanctions are baseless and contravene international law.

“Those sanctions are not based on international law. The accusations have not been proved and Eritrea has not been given the opportunity to make its case on an independent platform.”

Last week the President told local media that no solid facts have been produced against Eritrea and no proper legal procedures have been applied to discover the truth.

“In the final analysis, the conspiracy was essentially masterminded by U.S. intelligence agencies, especially the CIA,” the President said.

Eritrea’s economy contracted sharply in 2008 while inflation surged to double digits, according to the International Monetary Fund, but better rains in 2009 could have boosted growth to about 3.5 percent. Source: (Reuters)

Sunridge Gold Corp

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwire – Jan. 25, 2010) – Sunridge Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE:SGC) is pleased to announce that an initial 2,000 meter phase one drill program has commenced at Daero Paulos, a large new copper prospect on the Asmara Project, Eritrea. The Daero Paulos target is part of the exploration funding agreement with Antofagasta Minerals S.A. which was completed on October 2, 2009.

Daero Paulos is a large area of intense alteration measuring approximately 500 meters wide and 2.5 kilometers long, that has recently been subject to detailed geological mapping by Antofagasta and Sunridge geologists.

The target has not been previously drilled and is located about 10 kilometers southwest of the capital city of Asmara with good access by asphalt and dirt roads. It is the first target to be drilled under the Sunridge/Antofagasta joint exploration agreement in which Sunridge is the operator.

Detailed mapping has shown Daero Paulos to be a broad area of strong sericite and kaolinite alteration associated with intense quartz stockwork veining. The prospect has been further defined by stream and soil geochemistry surveys which show elevated copper values coincident with parts of the mapped areas of alteration.

An initial six diamond drill holes with average depths of approximately 300 meters for a total of 2,000 meters is planned for Daero Paulus. It is anticipated that this program would be significantly expanded if some of these holes intersect significant copper mineralization.

ABOUT SUNRIDGE:

Sunridge is a mineral exploration and development company focused on the acquisition, exploration, discovery and development of base and precious metal projects on the Asmara Project in Eritrea and exploration properties in Madagascar.

Sunridge has approximately 76 million shares outstanding and approximately $7 million in cash. Sunridge trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol SGC. For additional information on the Company and its projects please view the slide show on our website at www.sunridgegold.com or call Don Halliday or Greg Davis at the numbers listed below.

SUNRIDGE GOLD CORP.

Michael Hopley, President and Chief Executive Officer

Sunridge Gold

Sunridge Gold Corp. (SGC/TSX.V) (”Sunridge”) is pleased to announce that the Eritrean government has granted Sunridge extensions to two of its exploration licenses that make up the Asmara Project, Eritrea.

These extensions have increased the overall size of the Asmara Project by approximately sixty percent, from 665 square kilometres to 1062.5 square kilometers.

As can be seen on the map attached to this release the extensions expand the Sunridge exploration licenses five kilometres to the west and five kilometres to the east which covers areas where Sunridge staff believes are continuations of both volcanogenic-massive-sulphide (VMS) and shear zone gold mineralized trends. It is estimated that approximately 153 square kilometers of the new ground are within the area of interest of the Exploration Areas of the October 2, 2009 exploration and funding agreement with Antofagasta Minerals S.A. (”Antofagasta”).

Antofagasta can fund US$10,000,000 of exploration work over a 5-year period to earn a 60% interest in the Exploration Areas of the Asmara Project. The Antofagasta area of interest excludes the current existing Development Areas including the Emba Derho, Debarwa, Adi Nefas and Gupo Gold deposits.

Reconnaissance work on these new extensions will commence later this month.

ABOUT SUNRIDGE:

Sunridge is a mineral exploration and development company focused on the acquisition, exploration, discovery and development of base and precious metal projects on the Asmara Project in Eritrea and exploration properties in Madagascar.

Sunridge has approximately 76 million shares outstanding and approximately $8.0 million in cash. Sunridge trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol SGC. For additional information on the Company and its projects please view the slide show on our website at www.sunridgegold.com or call Don Halliday or Greg Davis at the numbers listed below.

Sunridge Gold Press Release PDF & MAP

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

By Alastair Ford

East Africa is increasingly coming into focus in London as a mining province.

It’s not the only new area in Africa emerging as a force in the mining industry – Burkina Faso and Mali have gained much traction in recent years – but development in East Africa generally is at an earlier stage, and the opportunities are accordingly much greater.

Michael Hopley of Sunridge Resources describes his own company’s entry into the region in the following terms: “We followed the classic path of a successful junior company – going where others feared to tread and then attracting the attention of a major”.

Sunridge has been on the ground in Eritrea for some years now, and can fairly claim a place amongst the ranks of first movers in the country. Neighbours now include Nevsun and Chalice Gold Mines, and if the gold price remains high, and the geological thinking stays the same, it’s a fair bet there’ll be a few more entrants into the country over time.

At the beginning of the autumn Antofagasta signed up with Sunridge on a joint venture that will involve the Chilean copper major spending US$10 million on exploration over the next five years. At the same time Antofagasta also invested US$5 million directly into Sunridge, making it the company’s largest shareholder. The deal lit a fire under those with a watching brief on East Africa, and some London commentators went on to describe the company as the best positioned in the region, following the deal.

The thinking is straightforward. At Emba Derho, Sunridge has a superb-looking flagship project. At the last count Emba Derho boasted 990 million pounds of copper, 1,900 million pounds of zinc, 485,000 ounces of gold, and 19.5 million ounces of silver. That’s just the sort of project to stretch the mettle of a junior miner, without overwhelming it.

It’s not quite big enough to tempt a major in, though. Antofagasta did have a look at it, gave it the thumbs up on its own terms, and decided that the best thing about it was that it was it was a good indicator of the wider prospectivity of the area. So the joint venture deal excludes Emba Derho, and three other projects on which Sunridge has worked up a resource.

For its part, as it goes to work on the 58,000 hectares that comprise Sunridge’s Asmara property, Antofagasta will be embarking on a process that will eventually allow it to earn up to 60 per cent of the project. If it then takes a project through to feasibility it will earn an additional 15 per cent.

So, although the deal positions Sunridge nicely, leaving it with C$9 million in the bank as of December and free to work up its four advanced projects, it also allows Antofagasta to build a sizeable land position in an emerging mining province on the simple basis that it pays for its own data.

That’s what you might call a win-win situation, and it’s no wonder that where markets were able to express an opinion on the deal – in the trading of Sunridge shares – the general feeling was one of approval. Sunridge shares had been on the rise all year, but following the deal they jumped up a punchy 50 per cent, from around C$0.50 to around C$0.75. They’ve since given back some ground, though, and are currently trading at around C$0.63.

That’s all well and good, but still leaves Sunridge with plenty of work to do on the properties that have stayed exclusively under its control. Over the summer consultants at Wardrop gave Emba Derho a detailed once over and concluded in a published scoping study that for US$330 million Sunridge could construct a four million tonnes per year operation at Emba Derho, mining from an open pit for 10.4 years, and based on the current resource numbers.

The potential for a longer mine life was explicitly mentioned, based on a very real possibility that either an underground option could be developed, or that open cut mining could be extended. Exactly where Sunridge goes for that US$330 million isn’t yet clear, but it’s worth noting that the company has seven confidentiality agreements in place, and that the counterparties include groups of Koreans, Saudis, Egyptians, and Chinese.

Meanwhile, at the smaller Debarwa project, which Michael Hopley says may in fact be the first into production, Sunridge has just hit 15.67 metres at 10.21% copper and 2.01 grammes per tonne gold. That bodes well for strong early cash flow from a smaller scale mine, probably working initially on a direct shipping model. Something there could be up and running within a couple of years, reckons Michael.

Meanwhile, as Nevsun moves to within an ace of putting its million ounce Bisha gold project into production, the focus on Eritrea is only likely to grow. So far, from a political perspective, it’s been a good place to operate as a mining company. There is every sign that it will continue to be so. And if that’s the case, the interest of London-based investors is likely to increase still further. Source: (Minesite)