VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 12, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Snowfield Development Corp. (TSX Venture Exchange:SNO) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a joint venture agreement with New Shoshoni Ventures Ltd. (TSX Venture Exchange:NSV) (New Shoshoni) whereby Snowfield can earn a 50% interest in the Fate Mineral Claim. This Claim is located on NTS Jennejohn Lake Map Sheet 85 I/5, in the South Mining District of the Northwest Territories. The Fate Property is located some 48 km east-southeast of Yellowknife and 16 km northeast of the Drybones Bay diamondiferous kimberlite currently held under option by New Shoshoni. The Fate Claim covers an area of approximately 2,480 acres.
The terms of the joint venture agreement are as follows.
Snowfield can earn a 50% interest in the property by
-- Paying New Shoshoni a total of $20,000
-- Issuing to New Shoshoni a total of 200,000 shares of Snowfield
stock
-- Expending a total of $100,000 on exploration and development,
including 500 metres of diamond drilling, on the property by
December 31, 2003.
New Shoshoni retains a 5% overriding royalty on any diamond production with the proviso that Snowfield can purchase up to 60% (a cumulative 3%) of the 5% for a total cost of $3,000,000.
This area was originally staked by New Shoshoni to cover a number of discrete magnetic anomalies located within Defeat Lake itself. These targets consist of a series of distinct "bulls-eye" magnetic anomalies typical of kimberlite pipes. The Defeat Lake area was also included in the recent helicopter borne multi-frequency Electromagnetic (EM) survey carried out by Snowfield in the general Drybones area. This data is currently being interpreted; a preliminary analysis of this detailed data (50 meter line spacing) appears to indicate that the magnetic targets at Defeat Lake also show an EM response. Further work planned for the area will include till sampling and exploratory drilling.
Snowfield is an exploration company that is systematically increasing its land position in this portion of the Slave craton and is therefore very encouraged by this recent joint venture agreement. The existence of such magnetic targets some 16 km from the Drybones kimberlite pipe is very encouraging and significantly increases the potential size of this prospective area.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Robert T. Paterson" Robert T. Paterson President