Vancouver, B.C., March 29, 2006. Alto Ventures Ltd. (ATV: TSX-V) ("the Company") and Commander Resources Ltd. (CMD: TSX-V) are pleased to announce results for three holes recently completed in Area 2 of the ongoing 5,000 metre (m) winter diamond drilling program at the Despinassy Gold Project near Val d'Or, Quebec. The new Darla Gold Zone has been discovered one kilometre (km) east of the DAC Deposit which confirms the potential for multiple lenses of high grade gold mineralization along the 6 km strike length of the Despinassy Shear Zone.
Highlights of the most recently completed holes include:
- High-grade gold mineralization of 19.5 g/t over 2.1 m was intercepted by drill hole DES06-91 at the Darla Zone in Area 2, located approximately 1 km east of the DAC Deposit
- Each of the three drill holes cut multiple zones of anomalous gold confirming the strength of the gold system in Area 2 and the need for follow-up drilling
"The new discovery of the Darla Zone greatly enhances the development of the Despinassy Project" noted Rick Mazur, President of Alto Ventures, "It confirms our belief that the Despinassy Shear Zone is a fertile gold mineralizing system with great potential for multiple near-surface gold deposits."
A summary of results are as follows:
Area DDH From To Width Assay Zone
(m) (m) (m) (g/t Au)
Area 2 DES06-90 102.3 107.6 5.3 0.33 Upper
146.3 149.3 3.0 0.97 Darla
Area 2 DES06-91 66.2 84.2 18.0 0.29 Upper
115.1 117.2 2.1 19.5 Darla
Includes
115.1 116.2 1.1 35.5 Upper
Area 2 DES99-09* 74.0 78.7 4.7 0.35 Darla
Historical 98.6 98.9 0.3 34.8
Cameco
hole
Area 2 DES06-92 78 81 3.0 0.45
127.3 132.5 5.2 0.39
Due to the angles of intersection of the zones by the drill holes, the approximate true thickness of the mineralized zones ranges from 80% to 90% of reported down-hole intercepts. For results in previous holes please see news releases dated February 27 and March 20, 2006.
The three holes drilled at the Darla Zone tested a strike length of 50 m and to a depth of approximately 65 m. The Zone remains open along strike and to depth along a westerly direction. For comparison, the DAC deposit has a strike length of approximately 300 m and high-grade gold mineralization was drilled by wide spaced holes to depths exceeding 600 m. The discovery of the Darla mineralization is very encouraging as it significantly adds to the potential for discovery of new near surface deposits and demonstrates the need for further drilling.
DES06-90 was drilled in Area 2 to test the Darla Zone and is a 30 m undercut of hole DES99-09, drilled by the previous operator Cameco Corporation ("Cameco"). The hole intersected multiple zones with geochemically anomalous gold confirming that the gold system does have depth continuity.
DES06-91 is located 50 m west of DES99-09 and intersected significant quartz veining and elevated gold in multiple zones including 19.5 g/t gold over 2.1 m. This high-grade intercept lies along strike from the 34.8 g/t gold intercept over 0.3 m in DES99-09 in a similar geological setting. It is also important to note that the goldanomalous "Upper Zone" widens to 18.0 m in DES06-91 (see table above) and like at DAC, this is favourable for the formation of high-grade veins.
DES06-92, located 300 m east of DES06-91, intersected elevated gold values and strong alteration similar to the nearby Cameco drillhole DES98-07, which intersected 4.9 g/t over 1.2 m.
A map indicating drill hole locations in Area 2 may be found on the Company's website at: http://altoventures.com/i/maps/Despinassy_ProjA2.jpg.
Drilling is ongoing at the DAC Deposit to build an initial inferred resource to the 300 m level in this strong gold mineralized system.
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, or contact Investor Relations at (604) 681-2409.
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.
