Vancouver, B.C. March 20, 2006. Alto Ventures Ltd. (ATV: TSX-V) and Commander Resources Ltd. (CMD: TSX-V) are pleased to announce results from three further holes recently completed on its ongoing 5,000 metre (m) winter diamond drilling program at the Despinassy Gold Project near Val d'Or, Quebec (for results in previous holes please see news release dated February 27, 2006).
Highlights of the most recently completed drilling include:
- Continuity of gold mineralization has been demonstrated in drill holes DES06-87 and DES06-88 where quartz veins in Zones 2, 3, 4 and 5 were intersected at the DAC Deposit
- Drill hole DES06-89 at Area 2 located approximately 500 metres east of the DAC Deposit and along the Despinassy Shear Zone intersected encouraging gold mineralization
- Three additional drill holes have been completed in Area 2 and the core sent to the lab for assaying
- Drilling is ongoing at the DAC deposit while results of the additional Area 2 holes are awaited
A table of results is summarized as follows:
Area DDH From(m) To(m) Width(m) Assay Zone
(g/t Au)
DAC DES06-87 238.1 239.6 1.5 6.8 Zone 2
Includes 238.7 0.6 16.78
238.1
DAC DES06-88 195.5 198.7 3.2 0.32 Zone 2
262.0 263.5 1.5 3.49 Zone 3
Includes
262.5 263.0 0.5 10.25
276.0 285.2 9.2 1.05
Includes Zone 4
277.5 278.5 1.0 7.29
303.6 304.6 1.0 12.43
Includes Zone 5
303.6 304.1 0.5 24.3
Area 2 DES06-89 126.0 142.2 16.2 0.23
Due to the angles of intersection of the zones by the drill holes, the approximate true thickness of the mineralized veins ranges from 80% to 90% of reported down-hole intercepts.
Mineralization at the DAC deposit has demonstrated excellent continuity of the quartz veins in Zone 2 as well as those in Zones 3, 4 and 5. From the data available to date, continuity of grade within the veins is most consistent in Zone 2 while the veins in the other zones demonstrate a greater nugget effect than those in Zone 2. A Longitudinal Section indicating drill hole pierce points over true widths for Vein 2b in Zone 2 may be found at: http://altoventures.com/i/pdf/Vein_2b_Long.pdf
The Company's drill program at Area 2 is targeted to follow up on previous drilling conducted by Cameco Corporation. Drill hole DES06-89 is very encouraging, demonstrating that the gold system is present in a favourable geological setting 500 metres east of the DAC Deposit. Further follow-up drilling is required in this area. Three additional drill holes have been completed in Area 2, a further 600 metres and 900 metres east of DES06-89, and the core has been sent to the lab for assaying.
Quality Assurance/Quality Control
Core processing included descriptive logging and selection of samples for analyses. The cores selected for analyses were sawed in half and one half was delivered to a commercial laboratory and the other half retained for future reference. Gold assays were performed at ALS Chemex Laboratories in Val d'Or, Quebec. The gold assaying method uses a standard Fire Assay with AA or Gravimetric finish technique, as requested by the Company, on a 30 gram sub-sample taken from a 250 gram split of the sample submitted. Sieve metallic assays are performed as required.
The laboratory was instructed to prepare and analyze a second 250 gram split from the reject for those samples that indicated greater than 2 g/t Au on the initial analysis. The results reported represent composites using weighted averages of all analyses performed on each specific sample. Commercially prepared standards were inserted every 25 samples to ensure precision of the results.
The Despinassy Gold Project is a joint venture between Alto Ventures Ltd. (70%), as operator and Commander Resources Ltd. (30%). Robert J. Tremblay P.Geo (Quebec) is supervising the drill program. Mike Koziol, P.Geo, P.Eng Alto's Vice President, Exploration is the Company's Qualified Person.
About Alto Ventures Ltd.
Alto Ventures Ltd. is a gold exploration and development company with a portfolio of nine properties in the Canadian Shield. The Company is focused on projects located within the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in Ontario and Quebec as well as in historic gold producing districts. Alto's strength is firmly founded upon the broad capabilities of its management team, which is highly accomplished in the realms of property acquisition, project financing, exploration and mine development. For further information visit our website at www.altoventures.com
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Richard Mazur, P.Geo.
President & CEO
The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For further information contact:
Doug Fosbrooke
Investor Relations
Tel: 604-681-2409
Fax: 604-689-3609
info@altoventures.com
