Sun River Energy, Inc. Announces Gravity Data Delineates Elevator Basin in Colfax Project

DENVER, Jan. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sun River Energy, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: SNRV) -- Sun River Energy is pleased to be in receipt of a report from Thomasson Partner Associates Inc. (1/15/2010) detailing preliminary findings from an assessment of recent gravity and seismic licenses in Sun River's Colfax Project.

Sun River Energy received data from 4927 gravity stations on January 4, 2010.  The data are licensed from Getech Group plc., and cover the majority of Sun River's acreage position in Colfax County, New Mexico.  Preliminary review of these data strongly corroborate the presence of an ancient, buried sedimentary basin - an "elevator basin" - potentially similar to that being developed for natural gas by Shell in Guadalupe County, New Mexico.

For an explanation of the purpose and use of gravity and aeromagnetic data, please refer to the report on Sun River's website www.SunRiverEnergy.com.  On both gravity and magnetic data, an elevator basin is expected to manifest as a field strength low.

The detailed gravity data in the Colfax Project area indicate a pronounced low that corresponds almost exactly to a low on the aeromagnetic data.  "The aeromagnetic and gravity anomalies map out right on top of one another," says Sun River President Jay Leaver.  "Together, they give us confidence as to the location and trend of the elevator.  The next step is to obtain an estimate of the depth."

Sun River intends to acquire new high-quality aeromagnetic data over the Project area in the coming month, and has solicited quotes from leading data acquisition firms.  With detailed, digital magnetic and gravity data, it will be possible to quantitatively estimate the depth of the elevator basin.  "The basin depth is the critical parameter," Mr. Leaver explains.  "The deeper the basin, the thicker the section of organic-rich source beds it may have preserved, and the more likely these will have generated significant hydrocarbons."

With detailed gravity and aeromagnetic data, Sun River will be in a position to design a suitable seismic exploration program.  "We could only find one 2D seismic line available for license over the elevator," comments Mr. Leaver.  Sun River purchased a license to this data from Seismic Exchange Inc. in October 2009 and had it reprocessed by modern methods by North Seismic, LLC.  The reprocessed data corroborates the gravity and magnetic data, but poor seismic image quality at depth make depth estimation difficult.  "The good news is the elevator basin is deep, and perhaps even deeper than initially estimated," says Mr. Leaver.  "This is a case where deeper is better."

Basement modeling using the detailed gravity and aeromagnetic data provide an independent check on the apparent seismic depth.  If both gravity and magnetic modeling and seismic agree that this basin is of greater depth than that penetrated by Shell's first completion in Guadalupe County, Sun River may be in a position to drill based on the current data set.  Alternately, the gravity and magnetic data indicate that the deepest section is not under the existing seismic line.  Sun River may opt to shoot swath seismic before drilling.  Mr. Leaver affirms, "Our next steps will be guided by good science."

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements," as that term is defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, the development, costs and results of our exploration program at our energy properties and any anticipated future production. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with petroleum exploration and development stage exploration companies. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate.

SOURCE Sun River Energy, Inc.