Perth, Apr 6, 2006 (ABN Newswire) - The first resource estimate for an emerging large-scale gold project in northwest Tasmania is to be announced this month.

Addressing the 2006 Gold Conference in Perth today, Bass Metals Limited (ASX: BSM) Managing Director, Mr Michael Rosenstreich, said the first resource estimate for the Company's 100%-owned Mount Charter gold project in the northwest of Tasmania, was due in a couple of weeks.

"We are targeting an initial resource of 250,000 ounces and believe Mount Charter has the potential to be a one million ounce plus deposit," Mr Rosenstreich said.

"April is a pivotal month for Mount Charter, with a resumption of exploration drilling and the commencement of metallurgical testwork on the mineralisation."

Bass Metals has the largest tenement holdings in the Mount Read Volcanics - one of the most mineralised systems in the world. The Company's Mount Charter target has previously been drilled for base metals but has not been subjected to any systematic gold evaluation although it features strong indications of a large gold-silver system.

"Our new April exploration program will initially focus on high order gold in soil anomalies as a follow-up to our initial drilling which returned gold equivalent intersections of 52.5 metres at 2.6 grams per tonne gold," Mr Rosenstreich said.

He added that Bass Metals had budgeted for a continuous drilling program in 2006 over its strategic 1,000 square kilometres of acreage.