OPEN PIT INFERRED RESOURCE ESTIMATE AT 3.2 MILLION OUNCES GOLD Vancouver, B.C. -- November 8, 2004 Teck Cominco Limited (78.8% and operator) (TSX:TEK B) and Wheaton River Minerals (21.2%) (TSX:WRM, AMEX:WHT) announce results of the 2004 exploration program on their Morelos Norte (El Limon) joint venture project in Guerrero State, Mexico. The overall exploration program for Morelos included 10,100 meters of diamond drilling. Thirty eight holes totaling 5,800 meters were completed in the Los Guajes West and El Limon Sur zones. The Morelos Norte (El Limon) project is located approximately 180 kilometers south of Mexico City and approximately 20 kilometers northwest of Wheaton River’s Los Filos gold deposit. 2004 drill hole locations and assays are set out in the attached maps. Los Guajes West Zone Twenty five holes were completed. 2004 drilling targeted significant results from the 2003 and early 2004 drill programs. Highlights from 2004 include; | Hole No. | From (m) | To (m) | Interval (m) | Gold (g/t) | | 124 | 72.8 | 87.6 | 14.8 | 10.2 | | 162 | 119.8 | 145.5 | 25.7 | 17.2 |
The intervals for Los Guajes West are in a sulphide bearing skarn horizon. El Limon Sur Zone Thirteen holes were drilled to delineate a zone approximately one kilometer south of the main El Limon zone. Highlights include | Hole No. | From (m) | To (m) | Interval (m) | Gold (g/t) | | 154 | 12.3 | 21.9 | 9.6 | 4.4 | | 156 | 0.0 | 17.3 | 17.3 | 4.7 |
Mineralization at El Limon Sur occurs as mixed oxide and sulphide material. Resource Modeling To date 32,100 meters of drilling in 204 holes have been completed on the project. Most of the drilling has been on the El Limon zone which now includes the El Limon Main, El Limon Sur, Los Guajes, and Los Guajes West zones. Bench scale metallurgical test work to assess potential leaching recoveries has produced positive results. An updated, inferred mineral resource estimate for El Limon has been generated to include the four zones. Parameters used in the open pit resource modeling are a cut off grade of 0.7 g/t gold and a gold price of US$400/ounce. 2004 Morelos Norte Inferred Mineral Resource (Open Pit) | Zone | Tonnes | Gold (g/t) | Contained Gold (Ounces) | | El Limon Main | 17,330,000 | 3.00 | 1,674,000 | | El Limon Sur | 880,000 | 1.94 | 55,000 | | Los Guajes | 3,020,000 | 3.55 | 345,000 | | Los Guajes West | 9,420,000 | 3.80 | 1,151,000 | | | | Total | 30,650,000 | 3.27 | 3,225,000 |
In general, 1.5 meter long core intervals from the skarn intervals is cut by saw into two halves. One half of the material is kept for future analyses; one half of the material is bagged for gold and multi-element analyses. The individual core samples were shipped to a prep lab facility in Guadalajara, Mexico operated by a subsidiary of Vancouver based Acme Analytical. For each core sample, a 200 gram sub-sample is prepared. The entire sub-sample is sent to Teck Cominco’s Global Discovery Labs in Vancouver for gold and multi-element ICP analyses. Initial gold geochemical analysis is on a 5 gram sub-sample with atomic absorption finish. Samples with +200 parts per billion gold are fire assayed on a 30 gram charge with AA finish. Multi-element analyses are by aqua regia acid digestion and ICP-AES finish. External quality control is supplemented by an internal QA/QC protocol at Global Discovery Labs, including the use of sample standards, blanks, duplicates and repeats. As well, the chain of custody is monitored by Teck Cominco. Mr. Scott Monroe, Exploration Manager for Minera Teck Cominco S.A. de C.V. in Mexico, is a Qualified Person under NI 43-101 guidelines. Mr. Monroe has directed the project for the last 2 years and has reviewed the material in this release. Mr. Al Samis and Mr. Jim Gray, employees of Teck Cominco Limited and each a Qualified Person under NI 43-101 guidelines, estimated the inferred mineral resource. Mineral exploration and mining activities in Mexico may be affected by changes in political or national economic conditions beyond the control of Teck Cominco and Wheaton River. Further exploration and possible development of Morelos Norte will require various environmental and other permits and government authorizations. Further exploration of the property and further metallurgical test work and engineering studies will be required in order to determine if development of the property will be economically feasible at some point in the future. Teck Cominco and Wheaton River are currently planning a 2005 exploration program to further advance the Morelos Norte (El Limon) project towards such possible development. For further information please visit the company’s websites or contact; For more details and maps click here.
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