Premier Hardrock Drilling intersects high grade gold at Tenacity 16.86g/t Au across 5.5m

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THUNDER BAY, ON, April 15 /CNW/ - PREMIER GOLD MINES LIMITED (TSX:PG - News) is pleased to announce that ongoing drilling at the Hardrock Project in Geraldton, Northwestern Ontario continues to return high-grade gold mineralization in the Tenacity Zone, as well as high grade narrow vein mineralization in a deeper target (KL Zone). This drilling suggests that the Tenacity Zone may improve with depth as confirmed by an intersection of 16.86 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) across 5.5 metres (m) in the furthest down-plunge section drilled to date. Additionally, drilling has confirmed high grade gold in a deeper target beneath Tenacity with intersections of 40.1g/t Au across 1.0m and 17.45g/t Au across 1.9m. Highlights of recent Tenacity drilling include:

	    -   Drilling suggests the potential to develop both open pit and
	        underground resources with apparent improvement in grade and
	        continuity down-plunge.
	    -   Exploration drilling (three holes) confirmed high grade gold
	        mineralization within a narrow vein target with intersections in
	        excess of 17.14 g/t Au ((greater than) 0.50 oz/ton).
	    

Follow-up drilling at Tenacity, as well as the testing of other target areas, is on-going.

"Our success in drilling numerous target sites at Hardrock speaks volumes of the quality of this Project", stated Ewan Downie, President of Premier. "Gold mineralization found over appreciable widths in multiple horizons support our view that a sizeable gold resource will be delineated on the Project".

The Hardrock Project is operated under a joint venture with Roxmark Mines Limited (TSX-V:RMK - News; Premier earning a 70% interest). The Hardrock Project is host to several past-producing mines which collectively produced more than 2.0 Million ounces of gold from the same shallow deposits within 2000 feet (600 metres) of surface from 1938-1968. The mined zones remained open at depth at the time mining ceased and developed historical resources were left in place within the existing mine workings (a qualified person has not done sufficient work to verify the historical resource, the company is not treating the historical resource as a current resource and the historical resource should not be relied upon).

	    TENACITY ZONE
	    -------------
	    

Drilling at the Tenacity Zone has confirmed the potential for both open pit and underground-style gold mineralization. Drilling has defined open pit-style mineralization over a strike length of approximately 400 metres and is now testing for higher-grade mineralization that could be amenable to mining from a ramp below the potential pit workings. Mineralization remains open at depth with the strongest intersection being seen in hole TN025, the first hole with assays from the western-most (down-plunge) section drilled to date. Tenacity intersections of more than 20 metres have been visually confirmed down-dip from hole TN025, which returned 16.86g/t Au across 5.5m.

A longitudinal section of the Tenacity Zone, including historic intercepts, is available on the Premier website or by pressing the following link, www.premiergoldmines.com.

Follow-up drilling continues to intersect strong vein zones including several occurrences of visible gold. Highlights from recent drilling are presented in Table 1 (Note that holes TN013, 016, 017, 019, 021 and 023 were drilled east of the main area under the ice with no significant intercepts):

	    Table 1  Recent Tenacity Zone Intercepts

	    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
	                Grid              Inter-
	               Coord-     Dip/   section
	    Hole       inates  Azimuth   From-To      Int.  Int.   Au     Au
	    No.         (m)   (degrees)    (m)        (m)   (ft)  (g/t) (oz/t)  Zone
	    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
	            505449 mE             181.3-                                Ten-
	    TN018  5502553 mN  -50/360    198.7      17.4  57.1  1.93   0.06   acity
	    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
	            505449 mE             322.3-                                Ten-
	    TN020  5502456 mN  -50/360    323.7       1.4   4.6  3.97   0.12   acity
	    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
	                                   98.8-
	                                  111.2
	            505449 mE             231.1-     12.4  40.7  2.36   0.07    Ten-
	    TN022  5502532 mN  -60/360    252.7      21.6  70.8  1.16   1.16   acity
	    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
	            505400 mE             192.0-                                Ten-
	    TN025 55502556 mN  -50/360    197.5      5.50 18.00 16.86   0.49   acity
	    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
	    (x) True widths estimated at approximately 70% of intersection widths

	    KL ZONE
	    -------
	    

Three holes have successfully tested a high grade narrow vein target (KL Zone) below the main Tenacity Zone. This drilling confirms the potential to define high grade underground gold mineralization and the zone remains open, both up and down-plunge.

These intersections are also profiled on the longitudinal section of the Tenacity Zone that is available on the Premier website.

Follow-up drilling to test for extensions of the KL Zone has started. Highlights from this drilling are profiled in Table 2.

	    Table 2  Recent KL Zone Intercepts
	    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
	               Grid               Inter-
	              Coord-      Dip/   section
	    Hole      inates   Azimuth   From-To      Int.  Int.   Au     Au
	    No.        (m)    (degrees)    (m)        (m)   (ft)  (g/t) (oz/t)  Zone
	    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
	             505749N                                                      KL
	    TN012   5502617E   -50/360                1.9   6.2  17.45   0.51   Zone
	    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
	             505749N              Assays                                  KL
	    TN014   5502617E   -70/360   Pending                    VG          Zone
	    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
	             505648N                                                      KL
	    TN015   5502605E   -45/360                1.0   3.3  40.20   1.17   Zone
	    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

	    (x)  True widths estimated at approximately 70% of intersection widths
	    (xx) NSV - No significant assay values
	    

These results in both the Tenacity and the KL Zones demonstrate continuity and grade, supporting management's belief that historic and new results will be utilized in a NI 43-101 compliant resource calculation, which is expected to be completed in Q4 2009. The current program at Hardrock is expected to consist of more than 50,000 metres of definition and exploration drilling. Importantly, the Hardrock Project has the potential for defining several styles of mineralization capable of hosting resources, with grades and widths similar to many of Ontario's major gold mines including:

	    1) Open pit-style mineralization with grades exceeding 1.5 g/t Au
	       (Timmins, Hemlo)
	    2) Broad zones of mineralization with grades averaging 5.0+ g/t Au
	       (Musselwhite)
	    3) Narrow vein zones with higher gold grades often exceeding 7.0g/t
	       (Red Lake, Pickle Lake)
	    

Initial drilling is focusing on delineating both open pit and underground resources with the goal of defining a multi-million ounce gold resource that can be moved quickly towards development (See references to historical resources above). The Project offers development advantages with the Trans-Canada Highway, Trans-Canada Pipeline, and major power lines running through the center of the property. Significant potential exists for developing resources in several areas including: 1) Open pit-style mineralization at the site of the original discovery where a resource containing several hundred thousand ounces of gold was partially drilled off by previous operators; 2) Several newer high-grade discoveries have been made throughout this large property package that have received little to no follow-up; 3) Resource blocks reported to remain within the mine workings; and, 4) The main mined zones which remain open below the 600m Level.

Stephen McGibbon, P. Geo., is the Qualified Person for the information contained in this press release and is a Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101. The assay results presented are from core samples sent to Activation Laboratories, an accredited mineral analysis laboratory in Thunder Bay, Ontario, for preparation and analysis utilizing both fire assay and screen metallic methods.

Premier Gold Mines Limited is a well-financed Canadian-based mineral exploration and development company with several projects and deposits in Northwestern Ontario and a joint venture in Mexico. In the Red Lake gold mining camp, two projects are operated in joint venture with Red Lake Gold Mines, and another, adjacent to the Red Lake Gold Mines complex, is operated on a 100% basis. The company also owns a strategic project located on the main Musselwhite Gold Mine trend and is acquiring a 70% interest in the Hardrock Project, an advanced-stage gold project in the Geraldton area.

The statements made in this Press Release may contain forward-looking statements that may involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations and projections.

For further information

Ewan Downie, President & CEO, Phone: (807) 346-1390, Fax: (807) 346-0100, e-mail: Info@premiergoldmines.com, Web Site: www.premiergoldmines.com