SPOKANE, Wash., Dec. 2, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Timberline Resources Corporation (Pink Sheets:TBLC) announced today that it has finalized an agreement with Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) to earn 49 percent of Hecla's Snowstorm Trend Project in north Idaho's "Silver Valley".
The newly formed project area features the historic Snowstorm Mine, a small but highly profitable operation from the early 1900s that produced 800,000 tons of ore averaging 4 percent copper and 6 ounces per ton silver. Mineralization at the Snowstorm occurred as disseminated copper and silver found in the same Revett quartzites that host the well-known Troy, Rock Creek and Montanore deposits in western Montana, but was of a significantly higher grade. The Snowstorm property lies in the southwest corner of the Montana Copper Sulfide Belt where it overlaps the northeast corner of the Coeur d'Alene Mining District. The project area includes unpatented claims recently staked by Timberline along with patented mineral rights owned by Hecla and will be unitized, subject to Timberline's completion of earn-in requirements.
Timberline President Stephen Goss stated, "We are excited to be working with a partner of the quality and prominence of Hecla Mining Company. We believe the Snowstorm project area has excellent potential to host an economic silver and copper deposit."
Timberline has recently performed preliminary sampling and mapping programs at Snowstorm Trend. Timberline geologists will spend the winter months compiling the results of this summer's programs, along with substantial data from past exploration efforts on the property, in advance of detailed mapping and other fieldwork planned for next spring. A drilling program will follow the initial geologic work.
The Snowstorm Trend agreement calls for Timberline to conduct and fund a Phase I exploration program on the property ending no later than October 2006, with minimum exploration expenditures of $250,000 required to earn a 49 percent participating interest in the project. Following the delivery of a Phase I report and a Phase II exploration proposal from Timberline, Hecla can elect to maintain its 51 percent participating interest or can opt out and retain a 4 percent net smelter returns royalty on future production from the project.
Timberline Resources Corporation is a Spokane-based junior mineral exploration company focused on the cost-effective acquisition, exploration, and development of promising mineral properties in the western United States. Timberline stock trades on the OTC Market under the symbol "TBLC".
Certain statements contained in this press release are "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on beliefs of management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results.