Compass Gold Corp. provided an update on the recent trench sampling program at the Tarabala prospect, located on the Company's Sikasso Property in southern Mali. Four trenches, 5-m deep and totaling 208 m in length, have been completed at Tarabala and Massala.

979 samples have been submitted to the assay laboratory, and all results are expected in late August. Metallurgical studies will begin once the assays have been reviewed. Further trenching is planned following the rainy season.

Depending on the assay results, bulk samples from these initial trenches would be submitted for metallurgical analysis before the next phase of trenching. The metallurgical test work would investigate the gold recovery rates and indicate the most appropriate processing methods for a potential small-mining operation at Tarabala. Once the trench channel assay results have been received and assessed, Compass plans to send a series of large (50-60 kg) samples for metallurgical test work at SGS (Lakefield) in Canada.

The test work would include metallic screen fire assaying to check gold grades, and a series of gravity and chemical tests would determine gold recovery rates and the appropriate method of processing. provided the results received are positive, the Company plans to excavate an additional fifteen 5-m deep and up-to-100-m-long trenches starting in November when the rains abate. The assay results from this program, combined with the planned metallurgical study, would be used to perform a resource estimate on the near-surface mineralization and provide the relevant information concerning the potential for a near-surface small mining operation at Tarabala.

Two trenches were excavated at the Tarabala prospect to test the surface exposure of the mineralized structure encountered during previous drilling. Bedrock drilling identified a wide zone (up to 25 m) of mineralization at the prospect, e.g., 16 m @ 1.51 g/t Au (SAAC02) and 19 m @ 1.68 g/t Au (SARC022.) A total of 17 trenches, 5 m deep and up to 100 m in length, over a distance of 800 m with a spacing of 50 m, were planned at the prospect. Only two trenches could be completed at the start of the rainy season.

Trench 1 was excavated in a plateau area characterized by a hard iron-cemented crust (termed cuirass or hard cap), whereas the second trench was to the south of the eroded plateau and excavated in much softer laterite. The trenches were located to test the surface expression of a mineralized zone identified by drilling, including 24 m @ 2.35 g/t Au (SA AC123). Previous drilling at Massala identified at least six gold-bearing veins in a 900 m wide zone over a distance of 1.7 km.

Like Tarabala, trenching was performed in the hard cap as well as in the saprolite. Local artisanal miners reported coarse-grained (2-3 mm) gold grains being recovered from the hard cap. A total of 979 1-m channel samples were collected continuously along the length of the trench at 1 m depths, and vertical channel samples were also collected.

The samples are currently being analyzed for gold using a cyanide-leach (LeachWELL) assay method. Results for all four trenches are expected to be ready in late August. Technical Details.

Both trenches at Tarabala and both trenches at Massala were excavated at Tarabala were excavated.