Vancouver, BC, May 25, 2005. Alto Ventures Ltd (ATV: TSX-V) has completed the 2005 Despinassy drill program and is pleased to announce the results of the final two holes drilled on the DAC deposit. Infill drilling at DAC has confirmed the continuity of the gold mineralized zones for 100 metres(m) along strike and to a depth of 250 m at a 25 m drill spacing. Detailed results from the infill drilling program can be reviewed in Alto news releases dated February 16, 2005 and April 14, 2005. The final two holes are step-out holes on the DAC deposit along strike and at depth. DES05-82 intersected the mineralized zones for another 150 m to the west of the DAC deposit. Hole DES05-83, a step-out hole at 460 m depth, confirmed the continuity of the gold mineralized zones between prior intercepts of gold mineralization by Cameco Corporation at 300 m and 600 m depths. With these step-out holes, drilling at DAC has confirmed continuity of the mineralized zones for up to 250 metres along strike and to 600 metres depth.
The Despinassy gold project is located 75 kilometres(km) northeast of Val d'Or, Quebec. The Company is delineating gold mineralization along the Despinassy Shear Zone, a district scale, east-west trending structural break parallel to and 75 km north of the Cadillac-Larder Lake Break. This region has produced in excess of 90 million ounces of gold in prolific gold camps such as Val d'Or, Malartic, and Kirkland Lake. The results from these step-out drillholes are as follows:
DES05-82
This hole was collared on line 500W (150m west of the DAC deposit).
From To Width (m) Assay (g/t Au) Zone 134.6 142.4 7.8 2.34 Zone 2 Includes: 135.6 137.4 1.8 8.93 177.5 180.9 3.4 3.67 Zone 3 Includes 177.5 178.5 1.0 12.17
DES05-83
This hole was collared on line 300W and intersected Zone 2 at a depth of 460 metres on Section 350W and intersected Zone 3 at a depth of 480 metres on Section 380W.
From To Width (m) Assay (g/t Au) Zone 548.0 561.1 13.1 0.51 Zone 2 645.3 661.1 15.8 0.75 Zone 3 Includes 650.9 651.9 1.0 8.57
Earlier work by Cameco inferred, and Alto's drilling confirmed, that the best gold occurrences are in areas of folding. Since there are no bedrock outcrops nearby, the infill drilling has provided the necessary data to begin interpretation of the structural trends to determine plunge directions to the high-grade gold shoots. Re-logging of core from previous Cameco drilling and a compilation of all drill data is underway to gain this interpretation. Management is currently reviewing all of the drill data and will provide a summary of the entire Despinassy program upon completion of their review.
Plan maps, longitudinal sections and cross sections of the Despinassy Shear Zone may be viewed here:
http://www.altoventures.com/projects/despinassy/
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.
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. Mike Koziol P.Geo., Alto's Vice President of Exploration, is the designated qualified person and Robert J. Tremblay, P.Geo. (Quebec) supervised the diamond drilling at Despinassy.
About Alto Ventures Ltd.
Alto is a gold exploration company with a broad portfolio of mid to advanced stage exploration properties in the Canadian Shield. In addition to the advanced-stage Despinassy project, the Company has a portfolio of 7 other projects, including the Coldstream base metal and gold project in the Shebandowan greenstone belt near Thunder Bay, Ontario, the Oxford Lake gold project in northern Manitoba, and several early-stage discoveries of gold mineralization in the prolific Beardmore-Geraldton Gold Camp. Alto management possesses a track record in mine development and project financing.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD:
Rick Mazur
President & CEO
Alto Ventures Ltd.
The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For further information, contact:
Doug Fosbrooke
Investor Relations
Phone: 604-638-3949
Fax: 604-662-8429
Email: info@altoventures.com
