West Hawk Reviews its Canadian Coal Prospects for Gasification Potential
November 06, 2007 - Denver, CO: West Hawk Development Corp. (TSX.V - WHD, Frankfurt - H5N) is pleased to announce that NI 43-101 Technical Reports for the Company's coal properties in BC (Groundhog), NWT (Tulita), and the Nunavut were completed and filed on SEDAR earlier this year. All three NI 43-101 Technical Reports can be reviewed in its entirety on www.sedar.com and on the Company's website www.westhawkdevelopment.com.
All three NI43-101 Technical Reports were prepared by Weir International, Inc. ("WEIR"). Tom A. Tveten, Chief Geologist of WEIR is an Independent Qualified Person (the "Qualified Person") as defined in NI 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects for all 3 projects and is the author behind all 3 reports.
"West Hawk is now ready to get on about its business of developing its clean coal gasification properties", said Dr. Wm. Mark Hart, President and CEO. Exploration activities in the Canadian Arctic by other mining companies have increased significantly, as well as demand for power and liquid fuels. "This is a great opportunity for the Company to establish a gasification plant or a CTL facility that does not rely on the completion of the MacKenzie Valley Pipeline" adds Dr. Hart, "therefore we are optimistic and will continue working towards verifying the resources and investigate the feasibility of these plants."
About Tulita (North West Territories)
The Company purchased a 100% interest in six exploration licenses for 229,150 acres relative to the Tulita Prospect on March 11, 2006. The Tulita Report reveals that the Tulita Prospect contains approximately 1.544 billion in-place tonnes of historical resources and 140 to 175 million tonnes of exploration potential. The coal quality belongs to lignite coal. The coal samples have been successfully tested by Sasol-Lurgi for gasification. The Tulita Prospect lies within the Fort Norman Coalfield and is located approximately one and one-half miles east and approximately 35 miles south of the community of Tulita in the Northwest Territories. There are three prospect areas within the exploration licenses, referenced as Fort Norman, Seagull Island and Tate Lake. The Tate Lake Prospect Area is divided into three blocks; Northeast, Central and Plateau. The Seagull Island Prospect Area is divided into the North and South Blocks. Majority of the coal samples sent and tested by Sasol-Lurgi were taken from the Tate Lake Prospect area.
Ellesmere Island (Nunavut)
The Company acquired 100% of the right, title and interest in seven coal exploration licenses for areas located southeast of Eureka, Nunavut Territory. The licenses contain a total of 99,518.26 hectares (245,915 acres). Based on the Company's exploration licenses encompassing approximately 55 percent of Gulf's exploration licenses, the Nunavut Report reveals that the Nunavut Prospect contains a potential exploration target of approximately 3.025 to 3.162 billion in-place tonnes. Gulf Canada Resources Inc. ("Gulf") estimated a potential exploration target of 5.5 to 5.75 billion in-place tonnes in their exploration licenses.
The Nunavut Prospect is located approximately 410 kilometers north of Resolute, Nunavut Territory. Eureka, the nearest community is located along Slidre Fiord, eight kilometers northwest of the coal prospect. The Nunavut Prospect consists of two properties, the North Fosheim Peninsula Property located on the east side of Eureka Sound on Ellesmere Island and the May Point Property located on the west side of Eureka Sound on Axel Heiberg Island.
Groundhog (British Columbia)
West Hawk has an option to acquire a 100% interest of the Groundhog Coal Property and holds coal exploration licenses for 8,887 hectares in British Columbia, Canada. The coal quality ranges from low volatile bituminous to anthracite coals. The potential exploration target estimate within West Hawk's coal exploration licenses is 275-300 million In-Place tonnes. The project area for the Groundhog Coal Property lies within the Groundhog Coalfield and is located approximately 180 kilometers north of the town of Hazelton and 50 kilometers south of Iskut in British Columbia, Canada.
Exploration Potential Target Summary
A qualified person has not performed sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves and West Hawk is not representing the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. All figures presented are historical resources.
Property
Reporting Company
Potential Exploration Target Estimates In-Place Tonnage
Area Within West Hawk Coal Licenses
Within West Hawk Coal Licenses In-Place Tonnage
Exploration Potential
Mineralization
(Quality)
(106 tonnes)
%
(106 tonnes)
(106 tonnes)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Groundhog
Groundhog Coal
210 – 230
50
105-115
bituminous to anthracite
Gulf
490 – 520
35
170-185
bituminous to anthracite
Total
700-750
275-300
Nunavut
Gulf
5,500-5,750
55
3,025-3,162
Lignite-sub-bituminous
NWT
1,544
140-175
Lignite
Currently, all exploration potential is conceptual in nature including quantity and grade. Insufficient exploration work has been done on the properties and all estimates are historical. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in discovery of a mineral resource.
About the Company: West Hawk Development Corp is focused on providing valuable, high-demand energy products primarily for coal gasification from a variety of sources. Assets include the western Colorado natural gas property located in the Piceance Basin, being developed under a drilling and development agreement; the Tulita coal property in the Northwest Territories; the Groundhog coal property located in northwest British Columbia; and the Ellesmere Nunavut Territory coal property.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
"Dr. Wm. Mark Hart"
Dr. Wm. Mark Hart
President and Chief Executive Officer
THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT YET REVIEWED AND DOES NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.
Cautionary Note: This report contains forward looking statements, particularly those regarding cash flow, capital expenditures and investment plans. Resource estimates, unless specially noted, are considered speculative. The Company has filed a National Instrument 51-101 Report on the Figure Four property. The Company has filed National Instrument 43-101 Reports for each of the Tulita coal property in the Northwest Territories, the Nunavut Coal property and the Groundhog Coal property. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources, the issuer is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources and the historical estimate should not be relied upon. Any and all other resource or reserve estimates are historical in nature, and should not be relied upon. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risk and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on factors that will or may occur in the future. Actual results may vary depending upon exploration activities, industry production, commodity demand and pricing, currency exchange rates, and, but not limited to, general economic factors. Cautionary note to U.S. investors: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission specifically prohibits the use of certain terms, such as "reserves" unless such figures are based upon actual production or formation tests and can be shown to be economically and legally producible under existing economic and operating conditions.
Contacts
North America
West Hawk Development, +1-604-669-9330
Email: news@westhawkdevelopment.com