Kootenay Drills 237 gpt Silver eqv over 51m, Including 526.2 gpt Silver eqv over 18 m; Step Out Holes Return Multiple High Grade Silver Intercepts Across a 1 Kilometer Corridor

VANCOUVER, April 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Kootenay Gold Inc. (TSX VENTURE: KTN.V) is pleased to announce assay results from an additional 10 drill holes as part of a 10,000 meter, ongoing, multi-phase drilling program on its Promontorio Silver Project in Sonora, Mexico.

    
    Drilling Highlights Extend the Mineralized Zone to Over 1 Km in Length:

               From     To Interval Silver Lead  Zinc  Silver
    Drill Hole  (m)    (m)   (m)    (g/t)   (%)   (%)  (eqv*)
    PC-020-11   3.0   10.5   7.5    145.4  0.211 0.305 167.4
    PC-020-11  39.0   48.0   9.0    264.7  0.398 0.594 307.1
    PC-023-11  28.5   31.5   3.0    205.5  0.759 0.817 273.1
    PC-024-11  183.0 189.0   6.0     63.8  0.232 0.409  91.0
    PC-025-11  174.0 177.0   3.0    157.0  0.509 0.585 203.9
    PC-025-11  193.5 195.0   1.5    190.0  0.625 0.406 234.6
    PC-028-11  132.0 183.0   51.0    91.3  0.928 2.514 237.0
     including 133.5 151.5   18.0   188.0  2.256 5.726 526.2

    *Prices used to calculate silver eqv.: Ag $15/oz; Zn $.91/lb; Pb $.97 lb

Drill holes encountered consistent, widespread silver mineralization and multiple high-grade silver intercepts in Promontorio's newly extended Northeast and Southwest Zones, which sit outside of the current 43-101 Pit Resource. (To view map please visit: http://www.kootenaygold.ca/i/projects/Promontorio/drillingupdate20110304.pdf)

States Kootenay CEO James McDonald "We are very pleased and enthused with current results from the 10,000 meter drilling program and believe our objective of building Promontorio into a significant mining entity is coming into focus".

"We are consistently hitting high and medium grade silver mineralization to the North East of our Pit Resource expanding the North East Zone to over 300 meters, which is double the strike length of our current 43-101 silver resource. Moreover, widely spaced step out holes have encountered multiple, high grade silver intercepts confirming the exciting upside potential of the entire 1.0 kilometer long mineralized corridor at Promontorio" Adds McDonald.

New Discovery Zone

Step out drilling on broad 100 meter spaced holes returned significant intercepts of silver mineralization along Promontorio's entire 1.0 kilometer trend. A new high priority zone of high-grade silver mineralization was discovered in the Pit NE zone between the Pit Resource and the Northeast Zone, remaining open on strike and to depth.

Kootenay reports RC drilling is closing in on the final holes of the current 10,000 meter program. In keeping with the Company's aggressive strategy to begin further expanding its growing silver resource, Kootenay recently added a diamond drill rig on Promontorio to test the deposit at depth where previous drilling bottomed out in silver mineralization and to further establish the general geometry of the mineralization.

Based on highly encouraging results achieved from the program thus far, Kootenay further announces the Company is planning a greatly expanded program of aggressive, closely spaced, in-fill drilling to tie in multiple zones of widespread silver mineralization present Northeast and Southwest of the 43-101 Pit Discovery Zone in preparation for a new Independent Resource Calculation. Details of the new expansive program on Promontorio will be forthcoming in a future release.

Table of the full results follows:

The North East Zone consistently returned medium and high-grade intercepts in broadly spaced holes and extend the strike length to over 300 meters. Silver values are consistently in the range of 70 to 200 gpt Ag within the North East Zone. Highlights include:

    
    - PC 28:
    - 18 meters of 188 gpt Ag, 0.89 gpt Au, 7.98% Pb-Zn within:
    - 51 meters 98 gpt Ag, 1.28 gpt Au, 3.44% Pb-Zn bottoming in
      mineralization.
    - PC 25
    - 3 meters of 157 gpt Ag, 0.99 gpt Au, 1.09% Pb-Zn with
    - 25.5 meters of 38 gpt Ag, o.46 gpt Au, 0.31% Pb-Zn
    - PC 24
    - 6 meters of 63 gpt Ag, 0.43 gpt Au, 0.641% Pb-Zn

    Highlights of previously announced holes in the same zone:
    - KP 81
    - 16.5 meters of 144 gpt Au, 0.88 gpt Au, 1.97% Pb-Zn including:
    - 4.5 meters of 364 gpt Ag, 1.26 gpt Au, 2.91% Pb-Zn
    - KP 80
    - 29 meters of 78 gpt Ag, 1.17 gpt Au, 1.43% Pb-Zn
    - KP 83
    - 9 meters of 100 gpt Ag, 1.21 gpt Au, 0.72% Pb-Zn
    - KP 40
    - 33.5 meters of 70.9 gpt Ag, 0.83 gpt Au, 0.766% Pb-Zn

Holes PC 28and 26 bottomed in mineralization and will be continued with core drilling. Holes PC 24, 25 and 27 did not reach target depth and will also be continued with core drilling.

A new zone of high-grade mineralization has been discovered in the Pit NE zone between the Pit Resource and the Northeast Zone (NE Zone). Here holes PC 18, 20 and 23 encountered shallow mineralization grading:

    
    - PC 18 (previously released)
    - 10.5 meters of 149 gpt Ag, 1.1 gpt Au, 1.48% Pb-Zn from 115 meters
    - PC 20
    - 7.5 meters of 145 gpt Ag, 0.39 gpt Au, 0.59% Pb-Zn from 3 meters
    - 9 meters of 265 gpt Ag, 0.13 gpt Au, 0.99% Pb-Zn from 39 meters
    - PC 23
    - 3 meters of 206 gpt Ag, 0.28 gpt Au, 1.58% Pb-Zn from 28 meters

Note: Metallurgical testing previously released indicates recoveries of 82% for Ag, 85% for Pb and 91% for Zn. It was found that gold reported to the pyrite concentrate and requires a secondary oxidation process to extract and so was not included in the resource estimate. Metallurgical testing outside the resource has not been conducted so it is not known if gold outside the resource area could be economically recoverable. Additional metallurgical testing will be required.

    
    Remaining holes:
    - PC 21
    - Anomalous silver mineralization
    - PC 22
    - 22.5 meters of 14.3 gpt Ag, 0.40 gpt Au, 0.50 % Pb-Zn
    - PC 26
    - 15 meters 17 gpt Ag, 0.32 gpt Au, 0.79% Pb-Zn
    - PC 27
    - Anomalous silver mineralization

    Highlights of the Promontorio Pit Resource (See Aug 18, 2010 Release):
    - Contained Silver 10,070,000 oz
    - Contained Lead 112,700,000 lbs
    - Contained Zinc 125,100,000 lbs

The AGP Resource Calculation was based on only 27 of 54 drill holes conducted on the project to date. Several extensively mineralized holes at the time of the report were absent from the resource calculation based on the spacing of the drill holes.

QA/QC

All holes were drilled using reverse circulation. Samples were split using riffle or rotary splitters to make representative composites. All samples are over 1.5 meter intervals. All mineralized intercepts are drill hole length drilled across a vertically inclined breccias system at 60 degree angles. Quality Assurance and Quality Control procedures are posted on the Kootenay Gold website.

The foregoing geological disclosure has also been reviewed and verified by Kootenay's CEO, James McDonald, P.Geo (a qualified person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). Mr. McDonald is a director of Kootenay.

ABOUT KOOTENAY

Kootenay Gold is actively developing mineral projects in the Sierra Madre Region of Mexico and in British Columbia, Canada. The Company's flagship property is the former producing Promontorio Silver mine in Sonora State, Mexico. The Company's objective is to develop near term discoveries and long term sustainable growth. Kootenay's management and technical team are proven professionals with extensive international experience in all aspects of mineral exploration, operations and venture capital markets. Multiple, ongoing J/V partnerships in Mexico and Canada maximize potential for additional, new discoveries while maintaining minimal share dilution.

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note to US Investors: This news release may contain information about adjacent properties on which we have no right to explore or mine. We advise U.S. investors that the SEC's mining guidelines strictly prohibit information of this type in documents filed with the SEC. U.S. investors are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on our properties. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.

    
    For further information:
    James McDonald, CEO and President at +1-403-238-6986
    Ken Berry, Chairman at +1-604-601-5652; 1-888-601-5650
    or visit: http://www.kootenaygold.ca