Norsemont Mining Announces Major New Discovery at Constancia Project in Peru

Norsemont Mining Announces Major New Discovery at Constancia Project in Peru

Norsemont Mining Inc. announced that the Company has made a major new discovery at the Company’s 100-percent controlled Constancia copper-molybdenum-silver project in south-eastern Peru. The Pampacancha anomaly has been discovered approximately 2.7 kilometres south-east of the Constancia – San Jose deposit and lies within an area over which the Company controls 100 percent of the mineral rights.

The Company has completed a ground geophysical survey (magnetics and IP) over the Pampacancha project and has conducted stream and rock-chip sampling over a 27 square kilometre area. Results from the ground geophysical survey indicate the presence of a number of strongly magnetic bodies with coincident chargeability anomalies.

The Pampacancha prospect area is comprised of outcrops of limestone intruded by dioritic and lesser monzonite intrusives where both magnetite and garnet skarns are developed near their contacts. Outcropping copper oxides in skarn bodies highlight the potential for significant copper mineralisation.

In addition, the Company has conducted stream sediment sampling over a catchment area of approximately 27 square kilometres. Of the 32 samples taken in a catchment area over 90 percent of the samples were recovered from active streams and the results indicated the presence of anomalous copper, molybdenum and gold, with gold grades as high as 7.43 grams per tonne. A total of 42 percent of these samples reported gold values greater than 1.0 grams per tonne Au in an area of 2 kilometres by 4 kilometres.

Based on these encouraging results, the Company has taken approximately 350 rock-chip samples over the Pampacancha project. Assay results from these rock-chips indicate anomalously high grades of gold, silver and copper, with individual samples reporting up to 39 gram per tonne gold, 1,200 grams per tonne silver and 6 percent copper.

Commenting, Norsemont’s CEO Patrick Evans said: “We are very encouraged by the Pamacancha discovery, which supports our previous guidance that we expect to be able to grow our global resource at the Constancia project significantly. Based on our current resource, the Constancia project is already widely recognised as Peru’s premier independent copper-moly-silver project. A key strategic benefit enjoyed by Norsemont is the current ownership over extensive surface rights which have been purchased by the Company over the past year. This provides the Company with considerable flexibility in regard to access and the location of the planned surface infrastructure for the first mine at Constancia.”

Although the Company controls 100 percent of the mineral rights at Pampacancha, approximately 150 artisanal miners are currently present on the property where they are mining high grade gold (in excess of one ounce per tonne) from surface trenches and pits extending up to approximately 30 metres in depth. The presence of these artisanal miners has had only limited impact on the Company’s ability to continue with exploration at Pampacancha. However, their activities are illegal and it is expected that the local law enforcement will intervene to curtail their activities.

While the Company’s current exploration program is focussed on completing the infill drilling on the Constancia – San Jose deposit, which is currently the subject of an independent definitive feasibility study, a limited drill program at Pampacancha is expected to provide useful information on the geological structure, size and grade of the Pampacancha discovery. Results from the drill program will be released when available. Maps showing the results of the stream sediment, geophysical and rock chip sampling programs will be posted to the Company’s website in due course.

Norsemont Mining is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company focused on the 100 percent-controlled Constancia Cu-Mo-Ag-Au deposit in southern Peru.

The Constancia Project currently has a 43-101 compliant indicated resource of 256.3M tonnes at 0.5% Cu (2.85 Billion lbs Cu) and an inferred resource of 156.5M tonnes at 0.33% Cu (1.14 Billion lbs Cu). A recently completed scoping study anticipates a project producing in excess of 90,000 tonnes of copper annually. The study indicates the project has a net present value of $530 million and an internal rate of return of 25.3 percent. The following long-term commodity price assumptions were used in the study: copper $1.80 per pound, molybdenum $12 per pound and silver $11 per ounce. The full study, dated December 11, 2007, and titled “Preliminary Assessment of the Constancia Project, Department of Cusco, Peru” is available for viewing on SEDAR. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

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