June 3, 2010, 11:56 a.m. EDT · Recommend · Post:

Ressources Appalaches Signs a $5,100,000 Agreement With Strikepoint Gold for Dufferin Gold Project

RIMOUSKI, QUEBEC, Jun 03, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Ressources Appalaches /quotes/comstock/11v!app (CA:APP 0.07, +0.01, +7.69%) is pleased to announce the signing of a joint-venture agreement with StrikePoint Gold (SKP-TSXV) in five of its Nova Scotia gold properties (Dufferin Project), including the Dufferin Mine. The partnership with StrikePoint Gold including its $5,100,000 investment will be used to accelerate the exploration and the development of the Dufferin Mine and the other four properties. The main objective of Appalaches and StrikePoint Gold is to set-up a major project nearby the Dufferin Mine which includes on-site mining infrastructures.

The Agreement provides that StrikePoint Gold can earn a 50% interest in the properties Dufferin Mine, Dufferin North, Chocolate Lake, Ecum Secum and Miller Lake by investing $5.1 millions as follow:

--  $2,300,000 in contribution to three scheduled property payments to the
prior owner of Dufferin Resources Inc. (press release dated 2009/05/15):
$500,000 on April 2010, $900 000 on October 2010 and $900,000 on October
2011;
--  $2,100,000 to be spent on exploration and development over a three year
period, subject to minimum expenditures of $700,000 per year;
--  $700,000 investment in Appalaches through of private placement of
10,000,000 Units of Appalaches at a price of $0.07 per unit, each unit
to consist of one share and one share purchase warrant exercisable at a
price of $0.10 for three years.

According to the agreement, the partners will engage to a minimum of $1,300,000 exploration and development expenditures in 2010. Appalaches will be the project manager and will carry out all exploration activities, subject to a standard management committee arrangement to be composed by both companies.

A drilling program will begin in June and the details regarding the 2010 exploration program at the Dufferin mine will be released soon.

Geological setting

Geologically, the area is underlain by the folded Meguma Group, an assemblage of sedimentary rocks called turbidites of the northern Appalachians. The ore deposit at the Dufferin Mine and other properties of the project consists of stratabound gold-bearing quartz veins folded in echelon mainly located in anticline. The Dufferin Mine deposit occurs in a "saddle-reef-vein" type gold deposit in the crest and limbs along an Anticline.

Similarities between the saddle-vein deposits in Nova Scotia to those of the Bendigo - Castlemaine goldfields of the State of Victoria, Australia have been noted by numerous writers. The Bendigo Gold field have been mined for more than a kilometre in depth and over 10 kilometres along strike covering five parallels anticlines in width.

On Dufferin Mine property, parallel anticlinal fold axes have not been explored, nor have the fold axes of the adjacent synclinal folds. The target anticline at Ecum Secum property, containing gold-bearing quartz veins, has been followed over a length of 300 metres and down to a depth of about 50 metres. On Miller Lake property, more than six gold-bearing veins from a few centimetres to 30 cm thick have previously been identified and partially mined, one of them 1,097 metres in length. Three principal mineralized sites on the property were mined from shafts and tunnels in the early 20th century: the shafts went no deeper than 32 metres.

Mine Dufferin

Historical resource estimation was completed in 1993 by Dufferin Resources at Dufferin Mine which showed in situ geological mineral inventory of the various quartz saddle veins of 147,736 tonnes over a strike length of 450 metres. The Upper saddle vein is estimated to contain 20,611 tonnes at an average uncut grade of 17.5 g/T gold. The Middle saddle vein is estimated to contain 80,740 tonnes at an average uncut grade of 12.0 g/T gold (Duncan and Graves, 1993). These historical estimates refer to categories other than the ones required by present day Canadian securities legislation. The estimates have not been prepared in compliance with the CIM definitions required by National Instrument 43-101 and should not be relied upon as a reserve classification. While much of this material may have been mined, the figures give an estimate of the tenor of the mineralized saddles.

Production at the Dufferin mine formally started in 2001 using a gravity mill circuit. Development extended to the third saddle-reef vein with most of the production coming from the second saddle-reef vein. In 2003, mining of ore took place mainly in the first, second and third saddles. A ramp to the fourth saddle was subsequently excavated to a depth of about 100m. In 2006, the mill was changed to a gold flotation circuit to reprocess the tailings from earlier mining activities.

In 2009, Laboratoire LTM in Val D'Or confirms that the equipment in the ore-processing plant at the Dufferin Mine is in excellent condition and recommends doubling the mill's throughput from 300 to 600 tonnes a day (press release dated 25/03/09).

Recent work

Appalaches realized two drilling campaign in 2008 and 2009 at Dufferin Mine. The most recent drilling program consisted of 23-holes totalling 3,000 metres (press release of March 20, 2010). These drill holes show grades reaching as high as 339 grams per tonne gold over 0.4 metre, 350 g/t Au over 0.3 metre and 10.79 g/t Au over 10.1 metres in drill holes F09-07, F09-16 and F09-23, respectively. All of the drill holes were reported to have reached their targets, with from two to eight gold-bearing veins in each hole. The stacked Saddle-Reef type veins are described as being regular and easy to follow throughout the deposit, both laterally and at depth. The uppermost six Saddle-Reef type veins had been systematically drilled at 75 to 150 metres intervals over a length of 650 metres and down to a depth of 210 metres, and that the deposit is open both laterally and at depth. Fifteen stacked Saddle-type veins have so far been identified on the deposit. The mineralized zone extends over a length of 900 metres, and to a known depth of nearly 400 metres.

About Ressources Appalaches

Since it was first established in 1994, Ressources Appalaches has targeted the discovery and development of deposits of base and precious metals in Canada, mainly in Quebec and Nova Scotia. The Company holds some twenty mineral properties in various stages of development.

The Company's objective is to become a gold producer: on April 9, 2009 it became the owner of the Dufferin Mine in Nova Scotia. Photos of the Dufferin Mine and its mining facilities are available on the Company's website at www.ressourcesappalaches.com.

The contents of this press release were prepared by Alain Hupe, Eng., a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts any responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements that include elements of risk and uncertainty. Consequently, actual results may differ substantially from those anticipated in such statements. These risks and uncertainties are described in the quarterly and annual reports, and in the documents submitted to the securities administration.

Contacts:
Ressources Appalaches Inc.
Andre proulx
President
418-724-0901

Ressources Appalaches Inc.
Alain Hupe
Engineer geologist
418-724-0901

Ressources Appalaches Inc.
Christian Guilbaud
Investor Relations
514-813-7862
info@ressourcesappalaches.com