Vancouver, B.C., January 21, 2009. Alto Ventures Ltd. (ATV: TSX-V) is pleased to provide a report on results from its 2008 summer and fall exploration programs. The Company maintained its focus on the prolific Beardmore-Geraldton Gold Belt in Ontario as well as proceeded to advance other properties in northwestern Ontario. The results continue to provide encouragement and exploration programs for 2009 are in preparation although in light of the current market conditions, the Company's exploration activities are being planned with suitable caution.
Beardmore-Geraldton Area
Diamond drilling programs were completed on Alto's 100% owned Three Towers Property and on the Mud Lake Joint Venture Property. Six holes completed by The Company on the Three Towers property were the first to test sections of a 400 m long gold-mineralized corridor where gold values of up to 15.5 g/t were obtained from surface grab samples. Three of six holes intersected highly anomalous gold including 2.34 g/t gold across 0.75 m in TT08-01, 2.4 g/t gold across 1.1 m in TT08-04, and 2.48 g/t gold across 0.5 m in TT08-06. Results from the drilling are particularly significant as they confirm the gold mineralization exposed on surface does extend to a depth of at least 100 m. The mineralization is open along strike and to depth and additional drilling is required in 2009 to evaluate this corridor.
The Three Towers Property is easily accessible as Provincial Highway 801 cuts across the gold mineralized horizon approximately 2.1 km north of the Trans Canada Highway 11 and it can be drilled during every season. The Company is currently compiling the data to select targets.
Drilling at Mud Lake intersected intense shearing and strong alteration associated with the Mud Lake Shear ('MLS'). The airborne geophysical surveys completed in 2008 have delineated several new targets along the MLS and at the Oliver Severn Showing where the Company previously drilled 13.9 g/t gold across 1.0 m (please see Alto news release dated December 11, 2008). The company will be refocusing in this area as a priority for 2009.
The Expansion Lake Property is located immediately east of Mud Lake and south of the Hercules Property operated by Kodiak Exploration Ltd. Airborne high-resolution magnetometer and XDS/VLF electromagnetic surveys were completed in May followed by prospecting and mechanical stripping programs in October. Property-scale shear zones that are altered and contain anomalous gold values (hundreds ppb) were detected in several areas including five that were stripped and channel sampled. Results from each of the stripped areas indicate strong gold enrichment, in the tens to hundreds ppb gold (up to 745 ppb/1m). Silver is also anomalous in some of the samples, up to 29 g/t.
The Expansion Lake Property covers 2,576 ha and the work completed to date represents only a cursory examination of the property's potential. The results thus far, including identification of extensive shearing, the strength and size of the alteration envelopes and the widespread gold anomalies, are particularly encouraging as they are considered indicative of regional scale gold mineralizing systems and exploration to date has been very limited. The next stage of exploration will include ground geophysics in preparation for diamond drilling.
Results from 2008 work completed on Alto's other Beardmore area projects including Greenoaks and the Kodiak Exploration Joint Venture at Cote Archie Lake were reported previously (please visit our website at www.altoventures.com).
Coldstream Project
The Coldstream Project is located in the Shebandowan greenstone belt, approximately 100 km west of Thunder Bay. A prospecting program was carried out in August and September to follow up previously delineated geophysical targets. Prospectors located several gold bearing sulphide occurrences including three which are new showings with gold values of up to 2.0 g/t in grab samples. Importantly, the showings occur within an interpreted gold mineralized corridor that extends for over 10 km on the Coldstream Property and which encompasses Alto's historical East Coldstream Gold Deposit and the Moss Lake Gold Deposit. Discovery of these gold showings partially fills the data gap between the two gold deposits and confirms management's theory of the presence of a sizable gold system.
Empress Project
The Empress Project is located adjacent to the Trans Canada Highway 17 approximately 100 km west of Hemlo in the Schreiber-Hemlo greenstone belt. Two diamond drill holes totalling 333 m were completed to test the Empress Structure, a gold bearing shear zone that has been traced on surface for over 1.6 km on the property. Previous work on the property located surface zones up to 16 m wide averaging 1.3 g/t gold including higher grades containing 5.3 g/t gold across 2.8 m in surface channel samples. Because of rugged topography, past drilling was limited to ten holes near the west end of the structure, and about 300 m west of the wide surface gold zones. One of these historical drill holes returned gold values of 44.2 g/t across 0.6 m core length.
Drilling by Alto was also completed near the west end of the Empress Structure where access was easier and each of the two Alto holes intersected impressive looking quartz veins mineralized with pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena and sphalerite. Anomalous gold was also intersected in each of the holes, up to 0.6 g/t across 2.3m including a higher grade section containing 2.0 g/t across 0.5 m.
Results are encouraging and indicate that additional drilling is required especially to test beneath the wide gold zones exposed on surface where no previous drilling was carried out.
Quality Assurance/ Quality Control
Core processing included descriptive logging and selection of samples for analyses. The NQ-size cores selected for analyses were sawed in half and one half was delivered to a commercial laboratory by Alto staff for analyses and the other half retained for future reference. Gold assays were performed at Accurassay Laboratories in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The gold assaying method uses a standard Fire Assay with AA finish technique on a 30 gram sub-sample taken from a 500 gram split from the submitted sample. Commercially prepared standards were inserted by Alto every 25 samples to ensure precision of the results. The laboratory ran internal check assays every 10 samples to ensure lab quality control.
Surface channel samples are 5 cm wide and cut perpendicular to the strike of the target being sampled (vein, shear zone or sulphide horizon). The channels were cut continuously across the width of the sample with a motorized saw using a diamond saw blade to a depth of 10 cm and the cut rock was chipped out with hammer and chisel. The samples were then described by Alto geologists noting rock types and mineralization and bagged for delivery to the assay laboratory for quantitative analyses for gold and selected elements. The samples were analysed at Accurassay Laboratories in Thunder Bay using standard Fire Assay/AA procedures.
Mike Koziol, P. Geo., P.Eng. and Alto's President and Director is the Qualified Person who has reviewed and approved this news release.
About Alto Ventures Ltd
Alto Ventures Ltd. is a gold exploration and development company with a portfolio of highly prospective properties in the Canadian Shield. Alto's Management and Board of Directors have a long and successful track record of creating shareholder value through systematic exploration, acquisitions and discovery. The Company is currently active in Quebec where it is focussed on the Despinassy project in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt and in Ontario in the Beardmore and Shebandowan gold districts.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,
Mike Koziol, P. Geo., P. Eng.
President & CEO
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For further information contact:
Mark Prosser
Investor Relations Manager
ALTO VENTURES LTD.
910-475 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC, V6C 2B3
Tel: 604-638-3947
Fax: 604-689-3609
Email: mark@altoventures.com
Website: www.altoventures.com
