COEUR D'ALENE, IDAHO -- (Marketwire) -- 02/28/13 -- Timberline Resources Corporation (TSX VENTURE: TBR)(NYSE MKT: TLR)(NYSE Amex: TLR) ("Timberline" or the "Company") today announced an increase to its National Instrument 43-101 compliant gold resource estimate at its Lookout Mountain Gold Project in central Nevada. Lookout Mountain is the most advanced project within Timberline's district-scale South Eureka property, which lies within the prolific Battle Mountain - Eureka Trend. The 2012 drilling program was designed foremost to upgrade the resource categorization of the Lookout Mountain mineralization, but also to collect material for metallurgical test work and to site hydrology monitoring wells.
Timberline's updated gold resource estimate at Lookout Mountain, which was prepared by Mine Development Associates ("MDA") of Reno, Nevada, consists of:
- 508,000 ounces Measured & Indicated Gold Resource (28,940,000 tons at 0.018 opt gold (26,254,000 tonnes at 0.62 g/t)) - 141,000 ounces Inferred Gold Resource (11,709,000 tons at 0.012 opt gold (10,622,000 tonnes at 0.41 g/t))
Gold ounces in the Measured & Indicated Resource(1) categories increased by 30-percent from the 2012 resource estimate, and are now 78-percent greater than Timberline's initial 2011 resource estimate. The resources were calculated utilizing a cut-off grade of 0.006 ounces of gold per ton (opt) (0.21 grams per metric tonne (g/t)) for oxide material and 0.030 opt (1.03 g/t) for sulfide material. Approximately 84-percent of the resource ounces are from oxide material and 16-percent are from sulfide material. Many of these ounces were upgraded from the Inferred Resource(2) category as the 2012 exploration program concentrated primarily on infill drilling of the existing mineralization.
Paul Dircksen, Timberline's Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are pleased with our 2012 South Eureka drill program and our updated resource at Lookout Mountain, which includes the South Adit zone. The program was successful in upgrading the resource ounces to more than half a million in the Measured and Indicated categories, demonstrating continuity in mineralization and confirming the underlying geologic model. Most importantly, this increase in resources is critical to advance the project into a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") stage as we consider mine development."
In 2012, Timberline's technical consultants conducted initial investigations to support potential mine permitting and planning at Lookout Mountain, including:
-- Golder Associates, Inc. completed a scoping-level pit slope evaluation at Lookout Mountain concluding that rock conditions appear favorable for the development of moderately steep to steep pit slopes.-- Schlumberger, Inc. initiated collection of baseline hydrologic data including installation of three monitoring wells and water quality samples.-- Kappes Cassiday and Associates continues to perform metallurgical leach studies with planning in progress for program expansion in the current year.-- Newfields, LLC has delivered a heap leach pad and rock storage area facilities alternatives analysis based on the location of the Lookout Mountain resource.
