TORONTO, Feb. 26, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Eastmain Resources Inc. (TSX:ER) is pleased to announce that Les Mines Opinaca Ltee. ("Opinaca"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) (NYSE:GG), has exercised its right to increase its interest by 6.67% in the Eleonore South joint venture to a total of 40%. To earn the additional interest, Opinaca must fund a minimum of $500,000 in exploration expenditures and prepare a bankable feasibility by June 2015. If Opinaca completes the earn-in obligations, the project ownership will be: Opinaca 40%, Eastmain 30% and Azimut Exploration Inc. 30%.
Eastmain will remain as the project manager, until Opinaca chooses to exercise its right to take over as operator of the project. A first-phase diamond drill program that will test a number of high-priority targets on the Eleonore South project, including the JT Target area, is being developed. The Eleonore South property is located in northern James Bay, Quebec and is contiguous with the Eleonore project, which hosts the Roberto gold deposit currently under development by Opinaca. Eastmain will re-allocate a million-dollar exploration budget, previously designated for work at Eleonore South, to advance its other James Bay region projects.
"The decision by Opinaca to increase its interest in the project speaks to their opinion of the quality of the property and the progress of the work completed by Eastmain to date," stated Dr. Donald J. Robinson, President and CEO of Eastmain. "The James Bay region of Quebec is becoming one of Canada's most important areas for mineral exploration and discovery."
Rock sampling and trenching in the JT Target area outlined a 300-metre by 600-metre gold-in-rock "footprint" with hundreds of metre-long channel samples ranging from more than 10 ppb to 37.8 g/t gold, including grades of up to 5.33 g/t Au across 8.0 metres and 10.9 g/t Au across 3.0 metres.
Multiple IP and gold-in-soil anomalies have been defined along a 10-kilometre-long property-wide corridor. These targets, which are underlain by Opinaca sedimentary rocks similar to those hosting the Roberto gold deposit, will be drill-tested over multiple phases of exploration.
Dr. Donald J. Robinson P. Geo is the Qualified Person for the information contained in this press release and is a Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101.
With its focus on the district of James Bay, Quebec, Eastmain is a Canadian gold exploration company with 100% interest in the Eau Claire and Eastmain gold deposits. Eastmain also holds interest in 12 projects within the district, including the Eleonore South property, where a new sedimentary-gold discovery has been found in a similar geologic setting to Goldcorp's Roberto deposit. The Company has a budget of $3.5 million for gold exploration in Quebec.
The statements made in this Press Release may contain forward-looking statements that may involve a number of risks. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations and projections.