KELLOGG, Idaho, March 31, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- New Jersey Mining Company (OTCBB:NJMC) has awarded the exploration ramp contract for the Golden Chest project in Murray, Idaho to the Mine Development Group of Underground Storage Systems, Inc. The Golden Chest exploration ramp will be driven to investigate a high grade gold intercept (3 meters of 23 grams of gold per tonne) drilled by Newmont Exploration Limited 37 meters below the surface. Mobilization of the contractor to the site is expected to begin the week of April 5, 2004.
About 150 meters of ramp at a -14% grade will be driven to get to the target zone which is thought to be a fault offset of the Katie-Dora vein. Production from this vein accounted for the majority of historic production from the Golden Chest mine. Katie-Dora vein widths varied from a few centimeters to 3 meters and grades ranged up to 500 grams per gold per tonne. The project will be carried out by two shifts per day and it is expected that it will take about two months to reach the target zone. A majority of the miners for the project are expected to come from the Coeur d'Alene Mining District.
In other news, the Company continues to move forward on its flotation circuit construction project at its 100 tonne per day mill in Kellogg. The purchase of flotation cells has been finalized and delivery is expected in mid July. Various equipment such as slurry pumps, an air compressor, and reagent metering pumps have been ordered as well. A concentrate filter has been delivered to site and footings have been poured for the concentrate bin which is expected to be delivered soon. Startup of the flotation circuit is targeted for early August 2004 with ore initially coming from the Coleman open pit at the New Jersey mine.
New Jersey Mining Company is involved in exploring for and developing gold, silver and base metal ore resources in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District of northern Idaho. The Company has a portfolio of six mineral properties in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District: the New Jersey mine, the Silver Strand mine, the Golden Chest mine, the Lost Eagle project, the CAMP project and the Wisconsin-Teddy project.
This release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal Securities Laws. Such statements are based on assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable but which are subject to a wide range of uncertainties and business risks. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated are discussed in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2003.
Further information about New Jersey Mining Company can be reviewed on the website of the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov or on the company's website at www.newjerseymining.com