The surface drilling program has begun to the north of the open pit, Southeast of the C-Zone, and approximately 1,000 feet Southeast of the D-Zone, which is currently the subject of a detailed underground drilling program. The first hole in the surface drilling program encountered a 13 foot (4.0 metre) interval grading 0.77 ounces of gold per ton (26.5 grams per tonne gold) with 0.5% copper.

The following table is a summary of the assay results for the first drill hole from the surface drilling program; the hole was drilled on a 180 azimuth (due south):

--------------------------------------------------------------------Drill Hole Dip From - To Interval Gold Gold CopperHole Length (degrees) (feet) Length Grade Grade (%)Number (feet) (feet) (opt) (g/t)--------------------------------------------------------------------CRD-04-01 885 -82 814.5-827.5 13 0.77 26.5 0.5--------------------------------------------------------------------
The above result is very near the true thickness of the mineralised structure. CRD-04-01 was drilled with 720 feet of reverse circulation followed by 165 feet of core drilled at the bottom of the hole. The mineralised zone was encountered in core portion of the drill hole. Recoveries from the surface drilling program to date are excellent. While not drilled on a grid, the nearest drill hole to CRD-04-01 is approximately 140 feet distant with the nearest other drill holes being over 200 feet distant.

Drilling continues on the surface program to target the Copperstone fault with two drilling rigs currently working and additional rigs to be on site soon. CRD-04-01 is the first hole of a 30,000 metre surface drill program that will continue through most of 2004. Results from additional drill holes will be reported as they become available. All assays at Copperstone are at least triple-checked routinely.