VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 7, 2011) - Astral Mining Corporation (TSX VENTURE:AA)(TSX VENTURE:AA.WT)(PINK SHEETS:AAMJF)(FRANKFURT:A7DA) ("Astral" or "the Company") is very pleased to announce commencement of diamond drilling on its 4,168ha Los Crestones gold-silver project, located within the Sierra Madre gold-silver belt of western Mexico in Sinaloa state. Three parallel vein/breccia zones, named Corona, Bohemia and Indio will be tested in this first-ever drilling program at Los Crestones. Astral plans to complete a minimum of 2,500m of HQ and NTW sized diamond core drilling during the program using a highly mobile diamond drill supplied by Energold Drilling Mexico.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 7, 2011) - ("Stronghold" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:Z) The Company is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Letter of Intent with Mowasi Gold Corp. ("Mowasi") whereby Stronghold has agreed to acquire a ninety-five (95%) interest in the 23 prospecting permits medium scale and 8 mining permits medium scale (collectively the "Concessions") in which Mowasi has an exclusive interest and which are contiguous to the Company's Eagle Mountain Project in Guyana under the following terms and conditions:

African Barrick Gold, which has four gold mines in Africa's fourth largest gold producer Tanzania, said on Wednesday it was planning to cross-list on the country's bourse by the end of this year.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 7, 2011) - NovaGold Resources Inc. (TSX:NG)(NYSE Amex:NG) The feasibility study completed on the Donlin Gold Project (formerly Donlin Creek) in 2009 is being updated to include power generation utilizing natural gas delivered to site via aproposed 500-kilometer natural gas pipeline from the Cook Inlet to the mine site. Utilizing natural gas is expected to lower costs to generate power and reduce operating risk. In connection with this update, Donlin Gold LLC, owned equally by wholly owned subsidiaries of NovaGold Resources Inc. ("NovaGold") and Barrick Gold Corporation ("Barrick"), has provided its owners with preliminary capital cost estimates of approximately US$6billion for the Project with an additional approximately US$1 billion for the natural gas pipeline.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 7, 2011) - East Asia Minerals Corporation (TSX VENTURE:EAS) wishes to report on the progress of its 2011 summer drilling campaign at its wholly-owned uranium projects located in Mongolia. The drilling campaign was launched in August with the objectives of (a) meeting annual expenditure requirements to keep the projects in good standing; (b) test previously identified targets at the Enger and Ingenii-Nars projects; and (c) initiate early stage exploration at the Ulaan Nuur, Sevsuul Bulag, Bukht Uul and Unegt prospects.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 7, 2011) - Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:PEX) (the "Company") reports that exploration at the Mariposa Property, located within the Yukon's White Gold District, has seen completion of 34 drill holes for a total of 5350 metres drilled so far this season. Receipt of assay results has seen delays due to high volume and continuous sample submittals, as a result of increased exploration activity in the Yukon. The objective of the 2011 drilling program is planned around completion of approximately 6,000 metres of diamond core drilling to test 5 gold exploration targets located within an approximate 26 square kilometer area of the overall 262 square kilometer Mariposa Property.

AAL - Anglo American Latest Prices LONDON (SHARECAST) - Multi-metal mining giant Anglo American is rumoured to be considering an offer for US coking coal miner Walter Energy. According to The Times, the FTSE 100 miner could pitch an offer price at $120

Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX)(TSX:ABX) announced today that it has made two significant gold discoveries on the Company's 100%-owned Cortez property in Nevada(1). These two discoveries, known as Red Hill and Goldrush, are located on highly prospective ground, six kilometers southeast of the Cortez Hills mine and 24 kilometers southeast of the Pipeline mine. Based on the results of wide spaced drilling, the Company has outlined two zones of gold mineralization along a seven kilometer long trend.

At the end of the second quarter this year, global gold demand stood at 919.8 tons, down by 17 percent year-on-year, according to World Gold Council. However, in value terms, gold demand surged five percent to reach $44.5 billion.