Colombian Mines samples 49.8 grams gold, 526 grams silver, 17% copper at newly granted, 100% owned Mercedes Contract, Colombia

Tuesday, Dec 11, 2012

Colombian Mines Corporation (TSX VENTURE:CMJ)(FRANKFURT:X6C) ("Colombian Mines" or "the Company") is pleased to announce recent reconnaissance sampling has returned values to 49.8 grams (1.6 troy ounces) gold per tonne, 526 grams (16.9 troy ounces) silver per tonne, and 17.05% copper from the Company's new 100% owned Mercedes Contract. The highest silver value of 773 grams (24.9 troy ounces) is associated with the highest copper value of 26.47% copper.

The Company is also pleased to report that the Concession Contract for the 4,995 hectare (12,343 acre) Mercedes property has been issued and registered in the Colombian Registry of Mines in the name of the Company's wholly owned Colombian subsidiary. Situated within a prominent gold producing region of Colombia the property lies near the town of Natagaima, in the Department of Tolima, Colombia. Accessed by paved road from either Bogota or Medellin to Natagaima, gravel and dirt roads provide access onto and around the property. The property is not affected by any environmental reserve, park, and lies well below the environmental protection zones of the Paramos.

Mineralization is hosted in a belt of Mesozoic age, volcanic rocks that extend northward into this part of Colombia from Ecuador that are known to host other intermediate sulfidation epithermal deposits including Kinross Gold's Fruta del Norte deposit that according to Kinross's website boasts more than 11 million ounces of gold and 17 million ounces of silver. Mineralization consists of brecciated quartz and / or barite with abundant manganese, iron and copper oxide in outcrop. Alteration, mineralization, gangue minerals and geochemistry indicate the system is probably an intermediate sulfidation, epithermal system. Zones of barren ground where high concentrations of naturally occurring minerals are toxic to plant growth, often referred to as "kill zones" commonly surround outcropping mineralization at Mercedes and can be important indicators of high concentrations of metallic elements such as copper and silver that are known to be toxic to plants.

Reconnaissance sampling consists of both rock chip and hand cut channel samples. Chip samples are collected either randomly over an outcrop or in a line forming a "semi-continuous" chip-channel sample. These samples are commonly used for reconnaissance to quickly evaluate the mineral content and overall potential of an area, and rely on the geologist's judgment. Channel samples are higher precision samples, and as reported herein are hand cut channel samples typically cut 3 - 4 centimeters wide and 2 - 3 centimeters deep with hammer and chisel. The highest grade gold sample to date is a chip sample assaying 49.8 grams gold per tonne (g/T Au) that also contained 526 grams silver per tonne (g/T Ag), and 17.05% copper (Cu). The highest grade channel sample, from a different outcrop area, was a 1.3 meter long channel sample that assayed 28.33 g/T Au, 264 g/T Ag and 9.76% Cu. The highest silver value of 773 g/T Ag is from chip sample that also contained the highest copper grade of 26.47% Cu. Due to the reconnaissance nature of the sampling and limited exposure, samples do not typically form continuous unbroken sample intervals and additional work will be needed to fully define the width and extent of mineralization.

These strong initial sampling results clearly indicate high mineral potential for the Mercedes project, which, in addition to other 100% owned, high grade projects such as the Company's El Dovio project, build strong fundamental shareholder value and demonstrate the high quality of the Company's pipeline of lodged applications in the highly prospective mineral belts of Colombia. Additional work including rock and soil geochemistry, geological mapping, trenching and geophysics are planned to better define the nature and extent of mineralization, improve the exploration model and to develop drill targets in 2013.

Source: Marketwire