VANCOUVER, Dec. 3 /CNW/ - Kootenay Gold Inc. (KTN: TSX-V) is pleased to announce the phase one diamond drill program is underway on the Espiritu Gold-Copper porphyry system in Sonora, Mexico.

Jim McDonald, CEO of Kootenay, commented, "The Espiritu is an exciting project that has the potential to be a 'Company Maker'. It has the text book characteristics of a large scale porphyry system. Erosion of the Leach Cap has exposed the enriched Supergene Gold Copper system. This phase of drilling intends to establish the thickness of the enriched Supergene layer and the grade of mineralization."

Drilling will consist of a minimum 1000 meters of HQ core and comprise 4 to 6 holes in 4 drill sites 100 to 500 meters apart. It is anticipated it will take 3 to 4 weeks to complete the program.

The Espiritu project is owned 100% by Kootenay Gold Inc. and is under option to Klondike Silver Corp. (KS: TSX-V) who have the right to earn a 50% interest in the project by making certain payments and exploration expenditures (March 31, 2008).

Geology

The Espiritu project is host to an extensive area of polymetallic vein, stockwork, breccia and gold-copper porphyry mineralization. The evidence of Silver-Gold enriched veins occurring within and adjacent to the gold-copper porphyry style mineralization significantly enhances the economic value of the project due to the potential existence of a strong precious metal component.

Mineralization and alterations are hosted along a 5 km east northeast trending structure that measures between one and two km in width. Two zones of mineralization have been recognized; the northeast zone dominated by a porphyry setting is separated by a major fault from the southwest zone dominated by veins and stockworks of precious and base metal mineralization. The two zones appear to be genetically related with the polymetallic vein/stockwork systems representing mineralization that would be expected to overlie the porphyry setting.

Northeast Zone

The northeast Espiritu porphyry prospect is a 2.2 x 1.4 km sub-circular area defined by a concentric pattern of zonation diagnostic of copper gold porphyry deposits. The different zones are strong propylite, argillic, sericitic and potassic alteration hosted in a biotite, feldspar quartz porphyry.

Mineralization and alteration covers a 1.5 km x 1 km zone. In the biotite zone of alteration, 19 grab samples from the disseminated and fracture mineralization showed good values of copper (average 0.24%) and gold (average 0.239 gpt). In the argillic/sericitic zone of alteration or leach-cap zone, extensive leaching of the fracture and dissemintated mineralization has taken place, and the average copper content shows values of 0.034%, consistent with the general average copper values within the leach-cap zones that sit on top of known porphyry deposits of the southwest USA and northwest Mexico. The polymetallic veins show anomalous values in gold (to a high of 3.60 gpt) and silver (to a high of 462 gpt). All samples are grab samples.

Southwest Zone

The southwestern part of the system is represented by veins, breccias and stockworks anomalous in gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc.

At present, the main mineralization in the southwest is defined by several zones spread out along a 2 km length. These are named the west, central and east polymetallic zones. Anomalous mineralization has been recognized in two other separate zones: the PS-1 zone about 2 km to the northwest and the PS-2 zone about 500 metres to the east.

Two stages of mineralization are noted: one stage marked by mainly quartz veins low in all metal values and a second stage marked by veins, breccias and stockworks of polymetallic gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc mineralization.

Fifty-eight grab samples were collected within the west, central and eastern parts of the southwest polymetallic zone. The polymetallic veins averaged 226 gpt silver, 1.58% lead and 1.57% zinc associated with 0.18 gpt gold and 0.15% copper. From the 35 samples collected from the polymetallic system, 18/35 were greater than 0.100 gpt gold and 29/35 were greater than 30 gpt silver.

The PS-1 area gave values of 0.84, 0.50 and 0.46 gpt gold and 277 and 217 gpt silver associated with anomalous lead (to 6%) and zinc (to 1.5%). The PS-2 zone gave silver values of 686, 644 and 487 gpt and anomalous copper, lead and zinc from thirteen samples has been noted. Anomalous values of molybdenum (to 0-0.129%) were noted from this area.