SOURCE: Ventura Gold Corp.

 

Appendix 2: Inmaculada Project, Angela Drill Hole Location Map

Appendix 3: Inmaculada Project, Angela Vein Longitudinal Section

SCOTTSDALE, AZ--(Marketwire - December 3, 2008) - Ventura Gold Corp. ("Ventura" or the "Company") (TSX-V: VGO) has completed a fourth phase drilling program on the Angela Vein of the Inmaculada gold-silver project in Peru comprised of 18 core holes and totaling approximately 4,646 meters ("m").

The Company has now completed over 15,000m of drilling since inception of exploration on Inmaculada and, as a result, has completed the exploration work requirements to earn-in and acquire a 51% interest from Hochschild Mining plc ("Hochschild"). The Inmaculada Project is located approximately 30 km southwest of Hochschild's Selene silver mine in southern Peru. A summary of the phase four drilling program is provided below.

Angela Vein, Inmaculada Project

The latest phase of drilling has extended the Angela Vein to a strike length of more than 900m and a depth of over 300m, and continues to show continuity of thickness and grade through the vein. Included in the latest drill results are the following intersections (all true widths and uncut gold values):

--  8.0m at 9.0 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold and 132 g/t silver in drill
    hole Inma-52
--  6.5m at 3.9 g/t gold and 344 g/t silver in drill hole Inma-36
--  11.0m at 2.2 g/t gold and 186 g/t silver in drill hole Inma-53
    

The Angela Vein remains open at depth and down-plunge to the northeast (see Longitudinal Section, Appendix 3). A complete list of results for the drill holes for the Angela Vein and San Salvador breccia, described below, are presented in Appendix 1 and a drill hole location map is shown in Appendix 2.

The first resource estimate and National Instrument 43-101 technical report for the property was commissioned by Ventura in early September 2008 for the Angela Vein and is expected to be completed by the end of calendar 2008. The report is being prepared by independent consultants MICON International, Toronto. The results of the NI 43-101 report will be released when available and the NI 43-101 report will be posted on SEDAR in early 2009.

San Salvador Breccia

Three holes, totaling 450m, were drilled below an outcropping, mineralized breccia at San Salvador, which represents a disseminated, high-sulfidation gold target. The drill results indicated the presence of gold mineralization, requiring additional evaluation and drilling to better understand the underlying geologic structure. The San Salvador occurrence is located approximately 7 km northwest of the Angela Vein.

Highlights of the latest drill results include the following intersections (uncut gold values; true widths cannot yet be estimated):

--  14m at 0.4 g/t gold and 26.0 g/t silver in drill hole SS-01
--  18m at 0.7 g/t gold and 20 g/t silver in drill hole SS-03
    

General

Sample preparation and analytical work for Ventura's drilling and sampling program were carried out by SGS Mineral Services in Lima, Peru using industry-standard sampling practices and analytical methods for silver and gold. As part of Ventura's quality assurance-quality control protocol, standard samples and blanks are inserted in the sample stream at a rate of one per 10 samples. Duplicate and alternate laboratory check samples also form part of this protocol. Ventura's drilling program is supervised by Qualified Person, Ventura Exploration Manager Mark Cannuli, who has reviewed the technical information of this news release.

Agreement with Hochschild

The Inmaculada Project is a joint venture with Compañia Minera Ares S.A.C., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hochschild. Ventura can acquire up to a 70% interest in the Inmaculada project by completing a total of 15,000m of drilling, issuing 3 million shares of the Company to Hochschild over an 8 year period (300,000 shares have been issued to date) and taking the project to feasibility at Ventura's sole cost. The detailed terms of the joint venture agreement were outlined in a news release dated February 12, 2007.

The Company has now met the 15,000m drilling requirement to earn-in and acquire a 51% joint venture interest in the Inmaculada gold-silver project. The evidence to support the completion of drilling was presented to Hochschild in early-November and Hochschild has 30 days to examine and accept that the drilling requirement has been completed.

Upon acceptance by Hochschild that the 15,000m drilling program has been completed and, subject to the issuance of an additional 700,000 common shares of the Company to Hochschild, Ventura's earn-in of the 51% interest will have been completed.

After such acceptance, Hochschild has a one-time "back in" right for 90 days to acquire an additional 11% interest in the project (60% Hochschild in total) by paying to the Company three times the Company's accumulated exploration expenditures (the Company has currently spent approximately $4.0 million for exploration at Inmaculada). If Hochschild exercises its back-in right, the project will go forward with the Company owning a 40% joint venture interest. In such event, Ventura must issue 1.14 million shares to Hochschild in equal tranches of 228,000 shares per year.

If Hochschild does not elect to exercise the back-in option, Ventura will have a one-time right for 20 days to elect to acquire an additional 19% interest in the project (70% Ventura in total) by committing to deliver a feasibility study within six years and meet certain financing criteria at 100% cost to the Company. If Ventura does not elect to increase its interest to 70%, the project will go forward on a joint venture basis with the Company owning a 51% interest and Hochschild a 49% interest. In either case, Ventura must issue 2.0 million shares to Hochschild over a five-year period in equal tranches of 400,000 shares per year.

About Ventura

Ventura Gold Corp. is a TSX Venture Exchange-listed, United States-based, precious metals exploration and development company. In addition to exploration projects in Peru, Arizona and Nevada, Ventura has at the quarter ended September 30, 2008 approximately $1.8 million in strategic investments in emerging exploration companies with exposure to projects in Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Indonesia and Africa. For further information, please visit www.venturagold.com.

About Hochschild

Hochschild Mining plc is a leading precious metals company listed on the London Stock Exchange (HOCM.L for Reuters / HOC LN for Bloomberg) with a primary focus on the exploration, mining, processing and sale of silver and gold. Hochschild currently operates five underground epithermal vein mines, four located in southern Peru and one in southern Argentina and one open pit mine in northern Mexico. Hochschild also has over 16 long-term prospects throughout the Americas. Hochschild has over 40 years experience in the mining of precious metal epithermal vein deposits. For further information please visit www.hochschildmining.com.

Neither Hochschild Mining plc nor any of its subsidiaries accept any responsibility for the adequacy or inadequacy of the disclosure made in this news release and any such responsibility is hereby disclaimed in all respects.

The TSX Venture Exchange neither approves nor disapproves the information contained in this News Release.

For additional information, contact Eric Edwards, President and Chief Executive Officer at Tel: 303-357-4862, or Wendy Yang, Investor Relations, at Tel: 303-357-4863.

Cautionary Statement:

Some of the statements contained in this release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities law requirements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding mineral resource additions, timing and findings of a technical report, timing and significance of future drilling results, interpretation of drill results, any potential for exercise of back-in rights by the partner or further earn-in by the Company. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results include risks and uncertainties such as: risks relating to risks relating to estimates of mineral resources; risks relating to obtaining mining and environmental permits; mining and development risks; risk of commodity price fluctuations; political and regulatory risks; and other risks and uncertainties detailed in the Company's most recent Management Discussion and Analysis, which is available at www.sedar.com under the Company's name. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Appendix 1: Inmaculada Project - Angela Vein and San Salvador Breccia Drill
Results


                              Intersection               True
                                 from to   Intersection  Width   Au    Ag
Vein         Section   DDH      (meters)     (meters)  (meters) (gpt) (gpt)
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela        10900N Inma-37              No Significant Results
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela        10900N Inma-38  264.0 - 271.05      7.05      7.0   1.0   165
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela        11000N Inma-39              No Significant Results
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela        11200N Inma-40              No Significant Results
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela        11400N Inma-41              No Significant Results
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela        11200N Inma-42              No Significant Results
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela        10600N Inma-43  112.35 - 114.5      2.15      2.0   3.2    69
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela Splay  10600N Inma-43   128.0 - 131.0       3.0      2.8   3.3    67
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela        10700N Inma-44  124.6 - 129.25      4.65      4.0   6.9    94
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela        10800N Inma-45              No Significant Results
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela        10800N Inma-46              No Significant Results
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela        11600N Inma-47              No Significant Results
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela         9400N Inma-48 285.15 - 285.35       0.2      0.2  10.2   674
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela        11800N Inma-49              No Significant Results
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela Splay   9600N Inma-50 103.75 - 105.65       1.9      1.9   4.9    39
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela        10100N Inma-51              No Significant Results
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela        10200N Inma-52   143.1 - 152.9       9.8      8.0   9.0   132
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
               including       143.1 - 144.5       1.4      1.1  43.0   377
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela        10900N Inma-53 275.25 - 287.75      12.5     11.0   2.2   186
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
               including     275.25 - 281.7       5.75      5.0   3.0   208
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
Angela        11000N Inma-54  244.5 - 246.15      1.65      1.6   2.0    93
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----


                              Intersection               True
                                 from to   Intersection  Width   Au    Ag
Target       Section   DDH      (meters)     (meters)  (meters) (gpt) (gpt)
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
San Salvador    200N   SS-01  107.4 – 121.5       14.1  unknown   0.4    26
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
San Salvador    100N   SS-02              No Significant Results
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----
San Salvador    400N   SS-03   20.0 – 38.0        18.0  unknown   0.7    20
             ------- ------- --------------- --------- -------- ----- -----