Wealth Intersects Large, Potential Bulk Tonnage, Uranium System at Diamante-Los Patos Property, Northwest 05.12.07
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Dec. 5, 2007) - Wealth Minerals Ltd. (the "Company" or "Wealth") - (TSX VENTURE:WML) (OTCBB:WMLLF) (FRANKFURT:EJZ), is pleased to announce the results from the first three drill holes on its 100% owned Diamante-Los Patos property located in Provinces of Salta and Catamarca, northwest Argentina ("DLP").
Initial Results
Borehole 07-DLP-02 returned 49 metres at 0.35 lbs/ton U3O8 (0.015% uranium), commencing 2 metres below surface. The interval includes a higher-grade zone averaging 0.56 lbs/ton U3O8 (0.024% uranium) over 14 metres, beginning at a depth of 9 metres (Table 1).
As predicted by the exploration model, all three reverse circulation drill holes intersected significant intervals of uranium mineralization and confirm the presence a potential bulk-tonnage uranium deposit near surface. These results represent the very first holes of a planned 10,000 metre drill program within this newly defined frontier uranium district.
Boreholes DLP-001 and DLP-003 successfully intersected broad intervals of uranium mineralization commencing at shallow levels and extending to appreciable depths. The first borehole, collared off the main Bingo target zone, intersected 20 metres @ 0.24 lbs/ton U3O8 (0.01% uranium) within which 4 metres returned 0.55 lbs/ton U3O8 (0.023% uranium (Table 1). Borehole DLP-003 intersected multiple zones of uranium mineralization, including 11 metres @ 0.26 lbs/ton U3O8 (0.011% uranium) and 8 metres @ 0.30 lbs/ton U3O8 (0.013% uranium) respectively (Table 1).
Table 1: Drill Intersections -------------------------------------------------- Drill Hole Zone From (m) To (m) Interval (m) ppm U lbs/ton U3O8 U (%) -------------------------------------------------- DLP-001 Bingo 37 57 20 102.2 0.24 0.010 including Bingo 45 49 4 231.8 0.55 0.023 -------------------------------------------------- DLP-002 Bingo 2 51 49 150.1 0.35 0.015 including Bingo 9 23 14 236.7 0.56 0.024 -------------------------------------------------- DLP-003 Bingo 11 22 11 108.8 0.26 0.011 DLP-003 Bingo 47 55 8 127.8 0.30 0.013 --------------------------------------------------
Interpretation
The principal target at DLP is a large, bulk tonnage uranium target within which smaller, high grade, structurally controlled zones and intervals are anticipated. Initial drilling at the Bingo Zone successfully validates this exploration model with potentially bulk mineable uranium mineralization presently intersected over 150 metres strike and depths ranging from 50 to 57 metres from surface (Figures 1 and 2).
Figure 1: Plan Map of Bingo Zone Drillholes
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Figure 2: Drill sections for DLP-001, -002, and -003
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The Diamante-Los Patos Property
Exploration to date indicates that the more than 1,500 square kilometre property is prospective for not only surface to near-surface bulk tonnage uranium mineralization, but also potentially higher-grade 'feeder-zone' mineralization. Exploration has currently identified seven large mineralized zones over a 20 kilometre by 30 kilometre area (Figure 3). Results are interpreted to reflect the surface expressions or leakage from a very large, structurally controlled, volcanic-hosted system focused on the flanks of the Cerro Galan Caldera Complex (CGCC).
Figure 3: Diamante-Los Patos Property Map
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The current 10,000 metre reverse circulation drill program began on October 25, 2007 and is designed to rapidly test the major zones of surficial uranium mineralization in order to prioritize the systematic testing of the large zones. Thirteen drill holes, totalling 1,292 metres, have been completed at the Bingo and Alfredo zones and the drill is currently testing the Diamante zone. The remaining boreholes are currently being logged and sampled and will shortly be en-route to the laboratory for geochemical analysis.
In addition to drilling, the Company's field crews are continuing with aggressive mapping and prospecting to delineate further drill targets in new areas where anomalous radioactivity has been identified.
"We are very excited by these highly encouraging initial drill results" stated Henk Van Alphen, President of Wealth. "Should the current drilling continue to return similar broad intervals of uranium mineralization, we believe we are well on our way to discovering a large, bulk tonnage uranium deposit in a new district."
Qualified Person & QA/QC Controls
James M. Dawson, P. Eng., Wealth's consulting geologist and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. Mr. Dawson is not independent of Wealth by virtue of being a shareholder and the holder of stock options.
Wealth's work programs are supervised by James M. Dawson, Wealth's consulting geologist, and Scott Heffernan, P.Geol., Wealth's Chief Geologist, who are responsible for all aspects of the work, including the quality control/quality assurance program. On-site personnel at the project rigorously collect and track samples which are then sealed and shipped to Alex Stewart Assayers (ASA) for analysis. ASA's quality system complies with the requirements for the International Standard ISO 9001:2000. Analytical accuracy and precision are monitored by the analysis of reagent blanks, reference material and replicate samples. Quality control is further assured by the use of international and in-house standards. Finally, representative blind blank and duplicate samples are forwarded to ASA for additional quality control.
Laboratory results are received in parts per million uranium. The conversion factor used to convert parts per million uranium to pounds per short ton U3O8 is 1.179, which was verified with the Saskatchewan Research Council (ppm uranium x 1.179 = ppm U308; 10,000 ppm uranium = 1% = 20 lbs/ton uranium).
About Wealth Minerals Ltd.
Wealth is a well financed mineral exploration company with approximately 26.3 million shares issued and listings on the TSX Venture and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges and the OTCBB. The Company's focus is the acquisition and exploration of prospective uranium properties, primarily in Argentina and Peru. In addition to ongoing work programs on its existing properties, it continues to actively evaluate new potential uranium projects in these and other countries.
For further details on the Company readers are referred to the Company's web site (www.wealthminerals.com), Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and United States regulatory filings on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors of
WEALTH MINERALS LTD.
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