VANCOUVER, BC, APRIL 20, 2010 -- GoldQuest Mining Corp. ("GoldQuest" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that an administrative court in Leon, Spain, has dismissed the appeal of a losing bidder in the tender process under which the investigation permit for the Toral property was ultimately awarded to a subsidiary of GoldQuest. The Company owns a 100% interest in the Toral project located in northwest Spain.
In 2006, one of the losing bidders in the tender process that awarded the Toral Investigation Permit instituted an administrative appeal of that award, against the Territorial Service of Industry, Commerce and Tourism of the Autonomous Community of Castile and León in Spain. On December 19, 2006, the Territorial Service of Industry, Commerce and Tourism had by Resolution, dismissed that losing bidder's initial appeal of the award. The administrative court's ruling has dismissed the losing bidder's appeal of that Resolution although the Company understands the administrative court's ruling can be appealed within fifteen days.
Alistair Waddell, President and Chief Executive Officer of GoldQuest, commented, "We are pleased to learn of the ruling in favour of the Junta Castile and León and we now look forward to advancing the Toral project and the exploration programme in Spain."
About the Toral Project
GoldQuest, through a wholly owned Spanish subsidiary owns a 100% interest in the Toral project located approximately 400 km northwest of Madrid, near the regional city of Ponferrada. The Toral project area was originally investigated by Peñarroya-España and associates from 1975 to 1985 which included over 42,000 metres of diamond drilling. These drill holes reportedly delineated a tabular zone of continuous, sub-vertical, coarse-grained lead-zinc-silver sulphide mineralization that averages 3.7 metres wide with a reported 1,100 metres strike length and a vertical height exceeding 400 metres. Based on the previous drilling, the historical estimate of Toral was estimated at 5.4 million tonnes grading 9 % Zn, 6 % Pb and 45 g/t Ag. The zone of sulphide mineralization is reportedly open along strike to the northwest towards a known lead deposit as well as along strike to the southeast and down dip.
The historical resource estimate, dated June 1997, was calculated by Spanish Mining Engineer Dr. Rufino Gea Javaloy on behalf of Geominera S.A. and Peñarroya-España and is not NI 43-101 compliant. With the majority of historical drilling completed in one relatively small part of the property, GoldQuest believes that the Toral Project has significant exploration and development upside. The Peñarroya-España and the Lundin drill core is still available including the remaining halved intercepts.
The Toral Project benefits from excellent infrastructure, including access via a major regional highway, a nearby high-voltage power line and a rail line which links to the Asturianas zinc-lead smelter via the city of León. Mining has traditionally been a significant part of the economy of this region which is supporting the re-entry of new exploration and mining projects. Certain exploration and mine development expenditures are eligible for economic development grants and interest free loans. The Toral Project covers over 6 km of strike length of the prospective Lower Cambrian Vegadeo Limestone formation which is regionally mineralized along more than 40 km of its extent, and is also host to the Rubiales zinc-lead-silver deposit, located about 30 km northwest of Toral, which was mined by Cominco from 1976 to 1991.
The historical estimate quoted in this news release was prepared prior to the implementation of National Instrument 43-101, and the historical estimate does not use the resource categories stipulated in Section 1.3 of National Instrument 43-101, which are "inferred mineral resource", "indicated mineral resource" and "measured mineral resource", and should not be relied upon. The historical resource estimate for the "Mina de Toral," calculated and reported by Spanish Mining Engineer Dr. Rufino Gea Javaloy on behalf of Geominera S.A. and Peñarroya-España, that refers to "5.4 million tonnes" is not a category stipulated in National Instrument 43-101 and GoldQuest believes that term "resources" is used differently from the use of that term in National Instrument 43-101. GoldQuest does not have, and is not aware of, any more recent resource estimates or data which conform to the standards contained in National Instrument 43-101. GoldQuest advises that it has not yet completed sufficient detailed exploration work necessary to verify the relevance, reliability and classification of the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves, and the historical estimate has not been verified by a Qualified Person.
About GoldQuest
GoldQuest is a Vancouver based company with a portfolio of 100% owned exploration projects in the Dominican Republic and Spain. Mr. Alistair H. Waddell, an employee, President and Chief Executive Officer of GoldQuest is the qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 who has supervised the preparation of the information used in this news release. GoldQuest is traded on the TSX-V under the symbol GQC.V and in Frankfurt / Berlin with symbol M1W.
For further information please contact:
Alistair Waddell
President & Chief Executive Officer
Dan Maarsman
Investor Relations -- Vancouver, Canada
Tel: +1-604-632 4333
www.goldquestcorp.com
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On behalf of the Board of Directors "signed" Alistair H. Waddell
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.
Forward-looking statements:
This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that GoldQuest expects to occur, are forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although GoldQuest believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration success, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of GoldQuest's management on the date the statements are made. GoldQuest undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.