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Reconnaissance Sampling on Pacific Bay's Cerro Negro Property, Argentina Returns 40 Gram Gold Result
Vancouver, British Columbia, April 26, 2006 -- Mr. George Sanders, President, Consolidated Pacific Bay Minerals Ltd. (TSX Venture: CBP, the "Company") is pleased to announce that a reconnaissance sampling program has returned highly anomalous gold values in rocks and stream/talus sediment samples (including a rock sample which assayed 40.6 grams-per-tonne Au) from the "Cablecar Creek" Zone in the northern portion of Pacific Bay's Cerro Negro gold-silver property in La Rioja province, Argentina. PacBay has a 5-year option to acquire 100% interest in 4 mining properties covering disseminated gold mineralization targets in the Cablecar Creek Zone and the historic high-grade Cerro Negro silver vein district further to the south. Barrick Gold Corporation is currently drilling for disseminated gold (in joint venture with Yamiri Gold and Energy Inc.) on the Famatina project immediately adjacent to PacBay's Cerro Negro property.
Cerro Negro is a key part of the Famatina District, one of Argentina's most famous mining camps. High grade silver was mined and hand-sorted from narrow quartz veins in the Cerro Negro district during the 1700's by the Jesuits and later by a variety of local and foreign interests until about the year 1900. The nearby La Mejicana gold mine was exploited from the late 1800's until the 1940's and an aerial tramway built in the 1890's to deliver the gold-copper ore from La Mejicana to the smelter 25 Km distant in the Chilecito valley passes through the northern portion of Pacbay's Cerro Negro property. The Famatina district hosts a geologically very young (Pliocene age, approximately 4 to 8 my) strongly mineralized, sub-volcanic porphyry intrusive complex belonging to a group of important copper and gold deposits that includes, from south to north, the Pascua-Lama-Veladero district, the Gualcamayo district, the Famatina district and the Agua Rica and Bajo de la Alumbrera districts, all formed during the same episode of magmatism in the "flat slab" segment of the central Andean cordillera.
The March, 2006 reconnaissance field visit by PacBay geologists focused on the disseminated gold potential in the Cablecar Creek zone immediately adjacent to the Barrick-Yamiri property. All 12 stream sediment and talus fines samples and 19 rock samples from altered outcrop and talus from this zone had anomalous gold. Six rock samples from the Cablecar Creek zone assayed over 1 g/t Au as follows: 40.6, 14.5, 4.8, 3.3, 2.7 and 1.1 g/t Au. Six stream sediment and talus fines samples from this same zone had over 0.5 g/t Au in addition to strongly anomalous molybdenum, copper and other "pathfinder" elements. An immediate follow up program is planned to map and sample outcrops in this area to define trenching targets for disseminated gold mineralization. George Sanders, M.Sc., P.Geo is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 for the purposes of this News Release. Sampling was carried out by PacBay's Senior Consulting Geologist Dr. Richard Culbert, P.Eng and samples were analyzed by Alex Stewart (Assayers) Argentina S.A.
Pacific Bay Minerals explores for uranium and precious metals in Argentina and Québec and is currently evaluating the Cueva del Chacho sedimentary uranium property approximately 90 kms southeast of Cerro Negro. Please visit our website www.pacificbayminerals.com for the latest maps from the Cerro Negro property and updates on all our exploration projects.
On Behalf Of The Board Of Directors
George Sanders
President
For Further Information Call
In Canada: 1-800-670-6570
In the USA:1-800-665-5101
Local: 604-682-2421
E-Mail: ir@pacificbayminerals.com
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