* District-Scale "Carlin-Style" Gold Target Presents
a Premier American Exploration Opportunity
* Surface Channel Sample by BHP Returned 40 Ft of
0.37 Oz/Ton Gold (within 140 Ft of 0.12 Oz/Ton)
* Formerly Producing Santa Rosa Silver-Lead-Zinc Mine
Included in Acquisition
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho, July 19, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Timberline Resources Corporation (OTCBB:TBLC) today announced the finalization of a Lease / Option to Purchase Agreement for the Conglomerate Mesa Project in Inyo County, California. The project hosts structurally and stratigraphically controlled, sediment-hosted gold mineralization similar to the "Carlin-type" deposits of north-central Nevada.
Since signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the project last September, Timberline has expanded its land position at Conglomerate Mesa to 325 unpatented lode claims, covering more than 10 square-miles. The original property includes several mineralized gold zones identified by prior operators (Newmont and BHP-Billiton). The expanded property also includes the historic Santa Rosa Mine, a silver-lead-zinc occurrence which had limited production by several operators including Anaconda Copper.
Since signing the MOU, Timberline has also completed extensive data compilation and submitted a Plan of Operation to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and to Inyo County. The Plan will allow the reopening of an access road along with an initial 7-hole drill program to evaluate several areas of strong geochemistry. Timberline has also retained Klepfer Mining Services to perform the environmental and permitting services necessary to advance the project.
Timberline's V.P. of Exploration, Paul Dircksen stated, "We are extremely pleased to finalize our acquisition of Conglomerate Mesa which, we believe, represents one of the premier gold exploration projects remaining within the Great Basin province of the western United States. The host rock lithology, alteration, geochemistry, and controls of mineralization bear striking similarities to well-documented Carlin-style gold mineralization and demonstrate excellent potential for a multi-million ounce gold discovery. With the Agreement now finalized, we are eager to proceed with exploration and drilling."
Conglomerate Mesa was originally explored by Newmont while it was within the Cerro Gordo Wilderness Study Area (WSA). An initial 22-hole (10,360 feet) reconnaissance drill program focused primarily on just one of the property's mineralized zones ("Resource Area") outlining a mineralized resource estimate pre-dating (and not compliant with) NI 43-101 standards totaling 175,000 ounces of gold contained in 3-million tons grading 0.06 ounces per ton (oz/t). Highlights from the Newmont drill program include the following:
Resource Area CGL-01 5 ft of 0.24 oz/t gold
CGL-02 20 ft of 0.08 oz/t gold
CGL-03 45 ft of 0.07 oz/t gold
CGL-04 20 ft of 0.08 oz/t gold
CGL-12 45 ft of 0.04 oz/t gold
CGL-19 20 ft of 0.09 oz/t gold
South Drainage Area CGL-16 35 ft of 0.05 oz/t gold
Newmont withdrew from Conglomerate Mesa in 1993. Federal agencies dropped the property's WSA status the following year because it did not meet the necessary criteria for inclusion in a Wilderness Area and, in doing so, removed significant impediments to its future development.
In late-1995, BHP-Billiton acquired Conglomerate Mesa and identified a much larger hydrothermal gold system with excellent bulk-mineable potential. The property's core area was explored that year, with eight target zones identified by soil geochemistry and surface road cut channel sampling which returned the following highlights:
Dragonfly Area 40 ft of 0.37 oz/t gold
(within 140 ft of 0.12 oz/t gold)
7 ft of 0.25 oz/t gold
15 ft of 0.11 oz/t gold
Middle CMFS Area 10 ft of 0.03 oz/t gold
Resource Area 40 ft of 0.15 oz/t gold
East Area 5 ft of 0.10 oz/t gold
15 ft of 0.21 oz/t gold
South Drainage Area 6 ft of 0.12 oz/t gold
20 ft of 0.04 oz/t gold
In 1997, BHP conducted a widely-spaced, 10-hole (8,060 feet) reconnaissance drill program at Conglomerate Mesa which included the following highlights:
Dragonfly Area CM97-3 20 ft of 0.06 oz/t gold
CM97-4 30 ft of 0.10 oz/t gold
40 ft of 0.11 oz/t gold
30 ft of 0.05 oz/t gold
CM97-5 40 ft of 0.04 oz/t gold
Middle CMFS Area CM97-6 35 ft of 0.04 oz/t gold
Resource Area CM97-9 35 ft of 0.03 oz/t gold
BHP subsequently made a corporate decision to terminate all of its worldwide gold exploration activities and dropped the property.
Timberline, as part of due diligence efforts at Conglomerate Mesa, collected rock chip samples from three of the known mineralized zones, returning the following results:
Dragonfly Area Cgl06-01 0.35 oz/t gold
Cgl06-02 0.07 oz/t gold
Cgl06-03 0.45 oz/t gold
Resource Area Cgl06-04 0.14 oz/t gold
East Area Cgl06-05 0.52 oz/t gold
Despite excellent surface gold grades encountered by Newmont, BHP, and Timberline, the Conglomerate Mesa property did not see historic mining because the sediment-hosted gold particles are micron-sized and therefore could not be panned by prospectors. This same style of mineralization is present at deposits within Nevada's Carlin and Battle Mountain / Eureka trends, which were also not historically mined, and which did not develop into world-class mining camps until the 1970s.
Mr. Dircksen concluded, "The two prior drill programs at Conglomerate Mesa totaled 31 completed holes over a 5 square-mile area. Newmont completed 21 (of 22) holes and intersected significant mineralization in 15 of them. BHP intersected multiple intervals of significant mineralization in all 10 of their holes, with 4 or more such intervals in 7 of the holes. Given their largely-reconnaissance nature, the outstanding success of these early-stage drill programs suggests the potential for a massive, district-scale gold system at Conglomerate Mesa."
Results from all prior drilling at Conglomerate Mesa are included in the following tables.
Resource Area - Previous Drill Results
--------------------------------------------------------------
Operator Drill Hole From To Length Gold
(ft) (ft) (ft) (oz/t)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Newmont CGL-1 25 30 5 0.240
--------------------------------------------------------------
95 105 10 0.072
--------------------------------------------------------------
CGL-2 200 215 15 0.044
--------------------------------------------------------------
265 275 10 0.030
--------------------------------------------------------------
320 340 20 0.079
--------------------------------------------------------------
370 380 10 0.047
--------------------------------------------------------------
CGL-3 130 175 45 0.073
--------------------------------------------------------------
CGL-4 85 105 20 0.077
--------------------------------------------------------------
CGL-5 75 80 5 0.033
--------------------------------------------------------------
105 115 10 0.126
--------------------------------------------------------------
CGL-6 315 335 20 0.026
--------------------------------------------------------------
350 355 5 0.027
--------------------------------------------------------------
370 375 5 0.038
--------------------------------------------------------------
395 420 25 0.020
--------------------------------------------------------------
CGL-12 500 510 10 0.062
--------------------------------------------------------------
535 540 5 0.025
--------------------------------------------------------------
665 670 5 0.031
--------------------------------------------------------------
690 735 45 0.037
--------------------------------------------------------------
CGL-13 405 410 5 0.024
--------------------------------------------------------------
435 440 5 0.028
--------------------------------------------------------------
455 460 5 0.021
--------------------------------------------------------------
CGL-17 490 495 5 0.021
--------------------------------------------------------------
610 620 10 0.014
--------------------------------------------------------------
CGL-19 85 110 25 0.024
--------------------------------------------------------------
245 265 20 0.090
--------------------------------------------------------------
CGL-20 145 155 10 0.016
--------------------------------------------------------------
260 270 10 0.024
--------------------------------------------------------------
BHP CM97-8 165 175 10 0.028
--------------------------------------------------------------
190 195 5 0.043
--------------------------------------------------------------
245 250 5 0.010
--------------------------------------------------------------
CM97-9 230 235 5 0.024
--------------------------------------------------------------
410 445 35 0.027
--------------------------------------------------------------
CM97-10 520 530 10 0.064
--------------------------------------------------------------
670 675 5 0.064
--------------------------------------------------------------
755 760 5 0.074
--------------------------------------------------------------
880 900 20 0.018
--------------------------------------------------------------
East Area - Previous Drill Results
--------------------------------------------------------------
Operator Drill Hole From To Length Gold
(ft) (ft) (ft) (oz/t)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Newmont CGL-7 30 35 5 0.043
--------------------------------------------------------------
CGL-8 170 185 15 0.053
--------------------------------------------------------------
CGL-9 No significant results
--------------------------------------------------------------
CGL-10 No significant results
--------------------------------------------------------------
CGL-11 No significant results
--------------------------------------------------------------
Middle CMFS Area - Previous Drill Results
--------------------------------------------------------------
Operator Drill Hole From To Length Gold
(ft) (ft) (ft) (oz/t)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Newmont CGL-14 610 620 10 0.016
--------------------------------------------------------------
CGL-21 No significant results
--------------------------------------------------------------
CGL-22 No significant results
--------------------------------------------------------------
BHP CM97-6 155 160 5 0.018
--------------------------------------------------------------
560 565 5 0.024
--------------------------------------------------------------
1050 1085 35 0.038
--------------------------------------------------------------
1130 1140 10 0.084
--------------------------------------------------------------
CM97-7 15 25 10 0.022
--------------------------------------------------------------
980 985 5 0.062
--------------------------------------------------------------
1010 1020 10 0.043
--------------------------------------------------------------
South Drainage Area - Previous Drill Results
--------------------------------------------------------------
Operator Drill Hole From To Length Gold
(ft) (ft) (ft) (oz/t)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Newmont CGL-16 15 30 15 0.036
--------------------------------------------------------------
135 170 35 0.046
--------------------------------------------------------------
CGL-18 No significant results
--------------------------------------------------------------
Dragonfly Area - Previous Drill Results
--------------------------------------------------------------
Operator Drill Hole From To Length Gold
(ft) (ft) (ft) (oz/t)
--------------------------------------------------------------
BHP CM97-1 25 35 10 0.018
--------------------------------------------------------------
280 290 10 0.019
--------------------------------------------------------------
335 345 10 0.029
--------------------------------------------------------------
465 475 10 0.012
--------------------------------------------------------------
CM97-2 140 150 10 0.014
--------------------------------------------------------------
210 215 5 0.016
--------------------------------------------------------------
340 345 5 0.067
--------------------------------------------------------------
440 450 10 0.026
--------------------------------------------------------------
CM97-3 5 15 10 0.044
--------------------------------------------------------------
30 40 10 0.028
--------------------------------------------------------------
50 65 15 0.033
--------------------------------------------------------------
75 85 10 0.016
--------------------------------------------------------------
155 175 20 0.058
--------------------------------------------------------------
370 380 10 0.011
--------------------------------------------------------------
525 565 40 0.012
--------------------------------------------------------------
CM97-4 20 35 15 0.029
--------------------------------------------------------------
50 80 30 0.101
--------------------------------------------------------------
140 180 40 0.110
--------------------------------------------------------------
290 320 30 0.045
--------------------------------------------------------------
380 390 10 0.009
--------------------------------------------------------------
530 540 10 0.012
--------------------------------------------------------------
CM97-5 0 15 15 0.038
--------------------------------------------------------------
395 405 10 0.014
--------------------------------------------------------------
480 520 40 0.043
--------------------------------------------------------------
570 575 5 0.039
--------------------------------------------------------------
655 660 5 0.041
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Agreement provides Timberline the right to purchase a 100-percent interest in the Project, subject to a 4-percent NSR production royalty of which 1-percent may be purchased for $1-million. In the first year of the Agreement, Timberline is obligated to make an option payment of $75,000 and 100,000 shares of its common stock to the property owners, along with a commitment to $100,000 in exploration expenditures. The option payment will continue at $75,000 for 2008, and then increase by $25,000 per year annually to a cap of $250,000. Annual share payments and work commitments will remain fixed at 100,000 and $100,000, respectively.
This press release has been reviewed and approved by Paul Dircksen, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.
Timberline Resources Corporation is a unique, growth-oriented company that combines positive cash flow from its ownership of Kettle Drilling, Inc. with "blue sky" upside from its mineral exploration division. Timberline common stock is quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol "TBLC."
Statements contained herein that are not based upon current or historical fact are forward-looking in nature. Such forward-looking statements reflect the Company's expectations about its future operating results, performance and opportunities that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. When used herein, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "plan," "intend" and "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to Timberline Resources Corporation, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, such factors, including risk factors, discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-KSB, as amended, for the year ended September 30, 2006. Except as required by the Federal Securities law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect.