TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Nov. 2, 2011) - Lydian International Ltd. (TSX:LYD) ("Lydian" or "the Company"), a gold-focused mineral exploration and development company, today announced results from further drilling at its Amulsar gold project in Armenia. Amulsar is a high-sulfidation style gold project which currently hosts a CIM compliant combined Indicated and Inferred Category Resource of 2.5 million ounces at 1.0g/t gold (1.1 million ounces at 1.1 g/t gold in the Indicated Category and 1.4 million ounces at 0.9 g/t gold in the Inferred Category).
Results have been received from a further 25 combined diamond and reverse circulation drill holes at Amulsar. Drill holes comprise primarily resource extension and infill drilling from Arshak, Artavasdes and Erato (see Table and Figure in Appendix).
Notable intersections include:
| - DDA-175 (Artavasdes) | 16 meters at 1.1 g/t gold | ||
| - DDA-192 (Artavasdes) | 20 meters at 1.0 g/t gold and | ||
| 11.4 meters at 1.0 g/t gold (EOH) | |||
| - DDA-193 (Artavasdes) | 12 meters at 3.5 g/t gold | ||
| - DDA-194 (Arshak) | 66 meters at 1.0 g/t gold | ||
| - RCA-430 (Arshak) | 81 meters at 1.0 g/t gold | ||
| - RCA-431 (Arshak) | 13 meters at 1.0 g/t gold and | ||
| 20 meters at 1.0 g/t gold | |||
| - RCA-434 (Arshak) | 31 meters at 1.0 g/t gold | ||
| - RCA-436 (Arshak) | 22 meters at 1.0 g/t gold | ||
| - RCA-437 (Erato) | 11 meters at 1.1 g/t gold and | ||
| 10 meters at 1.1 g/t gold | |||
| - RCA-438 (Erato) | 35 meters at 1.0 g/t gold and | ||
| 28 meters at 1.0 g/t gold | |||
| - RCA-439 (Erato) | 14 meters at 1.0 g/t gold | ||
| - RCA-441 (Erato) | 146 meters at 1.6 g/t gold (EOH) | ||
| Including | 5 meters at 19.5 g/t gold | ||
| - RCA-444 (Artavasdes) | 101 meters at 1.1 g/t gold | ||
| - RCA-445 (Artavasdes) | 138 meters at 1.5 g/t gold | ||
Drilling from the Erato area included resource extension drill hole RCA-441 which intersected 146 meters at 1.6g/t gold (including 5 meters at 19.5 g/t gold; open at depth). This drill hole appears to have intersected an extensive northwest-southeast trending soil geochemical anomaly identified in new infill soil data (see Figure in Appendix) and is evidence that higher-grade resource potential at Erato remains open towards the East and at depth.
Infill drill holes RCA-444 and RCA-445 intersected 101 meters at 1.1g/t and 138 meters at 1.5g/t gold respectively from the Artavasdes area. RCA-444 is a further infill intersection along the northwest-southeast trending Artavasdes Fault. RCA-445 was drilled at the eastern extent of the Artavasdes area and has intersected a newly identified northeast trending 1 kilometer long fault-breccia structure which extends from Artavasdes to Tigranes.
Resource extension and infill drilling continue to return encouraging results from the Arshak area with step-out drill hole DDA-194 intersecting 66 meters at 1.0g/t gold approximately 100 meters away and down-slope of the current proposed pit shell (see Figure in Appendix) and infill drill hole RCA-430 intersecting 81 meters at 1.0g/t gold. The resource remains open towards the southeast and southwest at Arshak.
Exploration and step-out drilling towards the northeast of Tigranes is complicated by a major northwest-trending fault-breccia zone evident in new soil geochemical data (see Figure in Appendix) and suggesting that drilling in this immediate area should be directed towards the northeast-southwest as opposed to the northwest-southeast. Exploration drilling in the area between Erato and Artavasdes continues to intersect low-grade anomalous gold (DDA-186; 58 meters at 0.2g/t gold) but has so-far failed to repeat last year's drill intersection in the area of 29 meters at 1.0g/t gold (DDA-284; see Press Release 19th October 2010).
Further infill soil geochemical data have been collected from the Amulsar ridge and particularly in the Erato and northeast Tigranes areas (see Figure in Appendix). As well as confirming the presence of well-known northeast trending gold mineralized structures, these data reveal extensive and largely untested northwest-southeast trending gold geochemical anomalies corresponding to the Artavasdes Fault in the southwest, to the immediate northeast of Tigranes and to a largely untested 2 kilometer long northwest-southeast zone located 1 kilometer to the northeast of the resource shell. These data clearly illustrate the remaining and largely untested resource potential at Amulsar.
"The return of the drill rigs to the Erato area has served to amplify the importance of this prospect as an additional source of resource ounces at Amulsar whilst reminding us of how much further work is required to fully understand the geometry of the area" said Tim Coughlin, Lydian's President and CEO "Detailed mapping, ground spectrometer and new soil geochemical data imply that the northern extent of the Erato area lies at the intersection and interaction point of two fault-breccia zones but further drilling is required to fully understand this geometry in 3D. Obviously there is some important higher-grade material at depth at Erato and most importantly this remains open at-depth and towards the East. Drilling at Arshak is returning consistently good results and DDA-194 is particularly important as it potentially extends the resource downslope and towards the southwest thus locally reducing the stripping ratio. The new soil geochemical data is highly informative and further amplifies the untested resource potential at Amulsar and the need for further exploration drilling at the project".
About Lydian International
Lydian is a gold-focused mineral exploration and development company with expertise employing "first mover" strategies in emerging exploration environments. Currently Lydian is focused on Eastern Europe and on developing its flagship Amulsar gold project in Armenia. The Amulsar group of licenses is wholly owned by Lydian's Armenian subsidiary (Geoteam CJSC). Lydian also has a pipeline of promising early-stage gold and base metal exploration projects in the Caucasus regions.
Lydian's management team has a track record of success in grassroots discovery, in acquiring and developing undervalued assets, and in building companies. Lydian has a strong social agenda and a unique understanding of the complex social and political issues that characterize emerging environments. The Company's significant shareholders include the International Finance Corporation (IFC) which is a member of the World Bank Group and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). More information can be found on Lydian's web site at www.lydianinternational.co.uk.
Gary Anthony Patrick, BSc (Chemistry/Extractive Metallurgy), MAusIMM CP; is the Qualified Person overseeing Lydian's test work programs. Mr. Patrick has supervised the preparation of the technical information contained in this press release.
Lydian employees are instructed to follow standard operating and quality assurance procedures intended to ensure that all sampling techniques and sample results meet international reporting standards. All assay work for the released results was carried out by ALS Chemex analytical laboratory in Rosia Montana, Romania. More information can be found on Lydian's web site at www.lydianinternational.co.uk.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release may contain certain information that constitutes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan," "expect," "project," "intend," "believe," "anticipate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological data, fluctuating metal prices and other factors described above and in the Company's most recent annual information form under the heading "Risk Factors" which has been filed electronically by means of the Canadian Securities Administrators' website located at www.sedar.com. The Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
To view the Appendices Results Table, please visit the following link:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/740945.pdf
To view the Appendices Drillhole Location Map, please visit the following link:
Contact Information:
Steve Smith
Investor Relations Manager
+44 (0)1534 715472 / +44 (0)7829 848420
info@lydianinternational.co.uk
www.lydianinternational.co.uk