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)

Sunridge Gold Corp. (SGC/TSX.V) is pleased to announce assay results for the first four diamond drill holes from the 2009 drill program at the 100% owned Debarwa high-grade copper-gold-zinc volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit in Eritrea. To date, thirty-five holes have been completed with the objective of expanding the supergene and primary zones. Further assays will be released as available.

DRILL HIGHLIGHTS:

DEBD-092: 36.75 metres grading 4.82% copper and 1.12 g/t gold, including 15.67 metres grading 10.21% copper and 2.01 g/t gold
DEBD-093: 24.00 metres grading 1.13% copper
DEBD-094: 26.15 metres grading 3.77% copper including 14.15 metres grading 6.26% copper

Holes DEBD-092 and 095 were drilled into the main copper supergene zone at Debarwa to further define this zone and to get fresh samples for further metallurgical testing. Results of DEBD-092 are very encouraging because the high grade copper supergene intercept in this hole is significantly wider than predicted. In addition, drill hole DEBD-095 extended the high grade supergene copper zone about 20 metres further down-dip.

Drill holes DEBD-093 and DEBD-094 were drilled to define and extend the high-grade copper mineralization down-dip in the Debarwa South and successfully intercepted the high-grade zone. The Debarwa south zone is located approximately 400 metres south of the main Debarwa zone. DEBD-092 and 094 both indicate potential to increase resources and grades at the Debarwa VMS deposit (see attached map).

Table1

Note: True thickness is estimated at approximately 90% of the drill intervals reported in the table.

The objective of the drill program at Debarwa is to expand the existing resources by testing nearby geophysical anomalies as well as attempting to extend the high-grade copper-gold supergene zone to the south and to extend the copper-zinc primary zone to depth. In addition, fresh samples for metallurgical testwork were recovered.

In the existing resource at Debarwa the copper supergene zone has an average grade of 5.36% copper using a 1% copper cut-off, and is estimated to contain 158 million pounds of copper in the Indicated category. The primary zone at Debarwa has not had significant delineation drilling in previous programs and is open for expansion at depth and along strike. The primary zone has an average grade of 2.53% copper with 3.23% zinc in the Indicated category using a 1% copper cut-off. (see the resource statement below).

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

ABOUT SUNRIDGE:

Sunridge Gold Corp. 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. On October 2, 2009, Sunridge announced the signing of a definitive exploration and funding agreement with Antofagasta Minerals S.A. to form a strategic partnership whereby Antofagasta will fund US$10,000,000 of exploration work over a five year period on the “Exploration Areas” of the Asmara project to earn up to a 75% interest in these areas and also invested US$5,000,000 in a non-brokered private placement.
Sunridge has approximately 76 million shares outstanding and $8.3 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.

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

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.

See the Technical Report titled Debarwa Project, Eritrea, Mineral Resource Estimate prepared by MSA Geoservices (Pty) Ltd. filed on SEDAR on March 4, 2008.

Map Asmara Project Debarwa VMS

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

Table2

Table3

Antofagasta PLC (ANTO:LN) the Mining, Transport and Water Group which agreed in October 2009 to form a strategic partnership with Sunridge Gold whereby Antofagasta arranged to fund US$10 million of exploration work on Sunridge’s Asmara Project in Eritrea has released its unaudited result for the nine months ended 30 September 2009.

According to the report the Group turnover has decreased by 39% compared to the same period previous year from US$3,310.3 million in 2008 to US$2,019.6 million in 2009. The company states reduced sales volumes in copper as well as lower realised copper and molybdenum prices have lead to the drop in earnings.

The EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization), a measure approximating a company’s operating cash flow excluding distorting accounting and financing effects, has dropped by 49,1% compared to the same period previous year from US$ 2,216.1 million in 2008 to US$1,127.3 million in 2009.

Antofagasta became the largest share holder of Sunridge Gold with a US$5 million private placement financing into the company in 2009. Thus a representative of Antofagasta was appointed to Sunridge’s Board of Directors this month.

Peter Grandich from Agoracom says, I’ve updated my Model Portfolio.

Many are asking about KMK. All I can say at this time is to point back at all I’ve said up until now and note it remains 100% the same. Stay tuned!

I’m going to keep NSU on hold for a little while longer to see what further news comes out over Eritrea. Sunridge Gold is a hold just for the very short term.

Evolving Gold has put in a significant bottom and with the financing to close shortly, I don’t think we can get aggressive buying opportunities much under a dollar anymore.

Although it’s a client company and therefore I don’t publish regular buy and sell comments, Heatherdale Resources has charged out of the gate so any speculators looking for an entry point could raise their buy limit to $1.30. Source: (Agoracom)

Gold Wave

In recent days news coverage all over the globe states that pressures metals are highly demanded, as investors continue to escape from the dollar to look for a safe haven in gold, silver and copper.

The latest headlines state that gold prices soared to their highest levels in more than a year to above USD 1.150 an ounce, as stronger-than-expected U.S. consumer prices stirred inflation worries.

The Dollar fell against other major currencies such as the Euro on Wednesday as investors took profits on the currency’s biggest rise in three weeks.

This shows the fear and insecurity of investors in respect to the length of the current recession, which is one of the toughest recessions to estimate. Therefore, investors look out for commodities such as gold until they can be very sure to spot a light at the end of the tunnel.

No doubt many new mining markets and businesses are gaining from this development, as it impacts positively their ability to raise capital and increase their share price. Since June 2009 the share price of Chalice Gold Mines increased by 2.4 times, Nevsun Resources 1.95 times and Sunridge Gold 1.65 times.

As long as the dollar remains weak, the gold price will continue to surprise the markets with record breaking levels. Only a better outlook for the global economy and an end of the recession in sight will make the dollar rise again. For gold mining companies, which are due to start operations in near future, this comes like a ride on a wave until they are ready to produce and sell the gold.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — (Marketwire) — 11/16/09 — Sunridge Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE: SGC) is pleased to announce that Mr. Ricardo Muhr, Vice President of Mineral Resources for Antofagasta Minerals S.A. (”Antofagasta”), has been appointed to Sunridge’s Board of Directors. Last month Sunridge announced a strategic partnership with Antofagasta whereby Antofagasta has agreed to fund US$10 million of exploration work on Sunridge’s Asmara Project in Eritrea. In addition, Antofagasta completed a US$5 million private placement financing into Sunridge and became the Company’s largest shareholder. As a result Antofagasta has the right to have one representative on the Sunridge board.

NEW DIRECTOR:

Sunridge is very pleased to have Mr. Muhr join the Board as he brings many years of expertise and success in the base metals business to the Company. Since 1997 Mr. Muhr has held the post of Vice-President of Mining Resources for Antofagasta and he has been responsible for the national and international exploration for Antofagasta since that time. He holds a degree in Geology from the University of Chile and from 1982 to 1984 he was involved in the exploration and geological evaluation of Escondida, one of the largest operating copper mines in Chile. In 1988, he led the evaluation of the Los Pelambres deposit, one of Antofagasta’s most successful mining operations. Mr. Muhr is also a Director of Energia Andina S.A., a joint-venture company between Antofagasta and the Chilean state-owned oil company, ENAP. Energia Andina is dedicated to the exploration and development of geothermal energy in Chile. Mr. Muhr is also Director of Anaconda Peru S.A. and a stand-in Director of Minera Los Pelambres and Minera El Tesoro. Mr. Muhr has broad knowledge of mining in the South American Andes Region and is a member of the Chilean Geological Society and of the Society of Economic Geologists. Antofagasta is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Antofagasta plc, which has interests in mining, transportation and water distribution. Antofagasta plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE-100 Index. In addition to copper mining operations and growth projects in Chile, it also has projects at exploration of feasibility level in Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe.

The Board have today granted Incentive Stock Options to Mr. Muhr on 100,000 shares of the Company’s capital stock, exercisable for up to five years at a price of $0.66 per share, which price is the last closing price of the Company’s shares prior to the date of grant. The options granted will vest 50% immediately and 50% on six months from date of grant and will be subject to any applicable regulatory hold periods.

SUNRIDGE GOLD – ANTOFAGASTA EXPLORATION PROGRAM:

The first Asmara Project Joint-Venture Management Committee meeting was held in Asmara on October 16th 2009. This committee consists of two members from Sunridge and two from Antofagasta. A program of detailed geological and structural mapping was agreed to on the large and highly prospective Dairo Paulus exploration area with the goal of defining specific drill targets. This work has been underway for the past month with staff from both Sunridge and Antofagasta. It is planned that drilling will commence at Dario Paulus in January 2010. In addition the Joint-Venture Management Committee agreed to a compilation program of the existing geochemical and geophysical data at Dairo Paulus as well as a regional stream sediment sampling program. This work has been underway for several weeks.

ABOUT SUNRIDGE:

Sunridge Gold Corp. is a mineral exploration and development company focused on the exploration, discovery and development of base and precious metal projects on the Asmara Project in Eritrea. On October 2, 2009, Sunridge announced the signing of a definitive exploration and funding agreement with Antofagasta to form a strategic partnership whereby Antofagasta will fund US$10,000,000 of exploration work over a five year period on the “Exploration Areas” of the Asmara project to earn up to a 75% interest. Antofagasta also invested US$5,000,000 into Sunridge in a non-brokered private placement.

Sunridge has approximately 76 million shares outstanding and $9.0 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 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.

Moto Goldmines disappeared from stock market listings this week, following its friendly takeover by a joint venture involving AngloGold Ashanti and Randgold Resources, the target being more than 20m ounces of gold that have been outlined at the Moto project in the far north east Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The transaction has further intensified investor interest in listed gold stocks active on the continent as a whole; at least 80 names can be identified.

A good number of these stocks currently rank as the world’s most in-demand gold stocks, as indicated by the table that follows this article.

While gold mining in South Africa has been very much a formal activity for well over a century, various kinds of gold mining activity have for many centuries characterised gold belts located in parts of Africa. New “discoveries” are indeed rediscoveries; relative to the gold belts available, very little modern exploration has taken place. In the DRC, as an instance, the semi-continuous Kilo Moto greenstone belt is currently under exploration by Moto Goldmines, AngloGold Ashanti (separately, to the south) and Mwana Africa.

London-listed Mwana recently announced an initial resource of 452,000 ounces of gold outlined on the Zani-Kodo trend within the Kilo Moto gold district. The general Kilo Moto location is remote, and the new Moto JV partners will be budgeting good amounts of money for basic infrastructure, and rehabilitation of one or more of a number of run-down hydropower facilities.

History shows, however, that these are old hats, albeit good ones.

The semi-continuous Kilo Moto greenstone belt was exploited primarily in the 1950s and 1960s by Belgian charter companies, producing more than 3m ounces of a total recorded 11m ounces of gold production from hard-rock mines in the Kilo Moto belt.

The mining was mainly focused on surface operations, a mixture of alluvials and shallow oxide pits.

The concessions are like small countries. To the south of Zani-Kodo lies what’s currently known as Mongbwalu, where the 10,000 km2 kilometer concession 40 (AngloGold Ashanti, 86.22% and OKIMO (a DRC parastatal), 13.78%) is being extensively explored by AngloGold Ashanti. Mwana Africa, in a 80:20 JV formed with OKIMO, holds gold mining rights over 1,610 km2 in Orientale Province.

The Moto Goldmines project, 570km north east of the city of Kisangani and 150km west of the Ugandan border town of Arua, covers an aggregate lease area of some 1,841 km2. Activities to date have primarily focused on just 35 km2 surrounding the old Durba gold mine, where a monumental resource of 25.7m ounces of gold has been outlined.

Some considerable distance to the south, Banro holds gold concessions in the Kivu provinces, stretching west of Lake Kivu. Mine build at Twangiza, nearest deposit to Bukavu, is underway. Annual production from the first phase plant is anticipated at between 80,000 and 110,000 ounces of gold a year. London-based Mark Smith of GMP Securities Europe fancies the Banro story: “We have tracked the evolution of Banro in terms of the development of the gold projects and the share price performance.

“The share price chart appears to have mirrored the classic ‘resource value curve’, from exploration discovery through to resource expansion and project development. We believe Banro is entering the fourth phase in the mining project life cycle, given recent development land marks.

“First, in June 2009 Banro raised C$100m to commence the development of the Twangiza oxide gold project. Second, in August 2009 Banro purchased a refurbished 1.0m tons a year CIP plant from Australia and plans to expand the plant to 1.3Mtpa.Third, in August 2009 the DRC government ratified Banro’s four mining licences and agreed on the fiscal terms for the 25 year exploitation permits. Four, in September 2009 Banro appointed Standard Chartered as the debt advisor to raise the project debt for Twangiza”.

In its initial phase, Banro is to opt for diesel rather than hydroelectric power; capital expenditure is anticipated at around US$145m. Further phases, and capital outlays, could see output at the multi million ounce Twangiza property increase to 300,000 ounces a year. There is gold all over the place: there is evidence of considerable artisanal activity on parts of Banro’s considerable concessions.

With at least 80 listed gold stocks active in African gold, there is lots of competition to attract investor interest. Some of these stocks are out of the top draw, such as Barrick, the world’s biggest gold miner by output and market value. There are other Tier I global gold miners with operations on the continent, in the form of AngloGold Ashanti, as mentioned, Gold Fields, Harmony, and Newmont, which has concentrated on West Africa, just as Barrick has on East Africa.

Further down the pecking order, there are a dozen or so African gold stocks that attract what may loosely be described as interest from professional investment analysts. For more detailed information on this article please visit Proactiveinvestors