VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Mar 12, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Bearing Resources Ltd. (“Bearing”, or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the Company has executed a binding letter of intent (“LOI”) to acquire a 100% interest in the 13,400 hectare Kilometer 66 (“Km 66”, also known as Mapimi) silver-gold-lead-zinc property located immediately adjacent the Company’s 26,474 hectare Parrandera property in Durango, Mexico.
Geoff Chater, President and CEO, commented, “With Km 66, Bearing expands its land holdings to over 39,000 hectares in the highly prospective Altiplano Region of Central Mexico and adds a notable historical (2008) National Instrument (NI) 43-101 22 million ounce silver equivalent resource to its project portfolio. Our exploration efforts in Mexico have been focused on targeting precious and base metal-rich systems analogous to the Goldcorp’s Penasquito and Camino Rojo deposits. The Km 66 property exhibits many of the characteristics that typify these deposits, in particular, breccia hosted and carbonate replacement mineralization associated with buried porphyry mineralization. The Company believes that the silver-gold-lead-zinc mineralization identified to date on the Km 66 property may well be indicative of a larger system under shallow cover. Km 66 and Bearing’s existing land holdings have excellent exploration potential.”
The Km 66 property, located approximately 100 kilometres from the Penoles smelter at Torreon, is bisected by a paved highway and power lines. Km 66 covers a five kilometre-long trend of mineralization that includes the La Gloria and Las Palmitas breccia-hosted epithermal silver-gold-lead-zinc deposits. Great Panther Silver Ltd. (“Great Panther”) (who previously held an option to acquire Km 66) filed a technical report containing a mineral resource estimate compliant with NI 43-101 for the La Gloria and Las Palmitas deposits titled “Technical Report on the Mapimi Project, Mexico” dated May 8, 2008 and prepared by Wardrop Engineering (“Wardrop”) of Vancouver, B.C. (the “Technical Report”) (a copy of the Technical Report can be found at www.sedar.com under the profile of Great Panther). The Technical Report calculated a total of 22,297,800 silver equivalent ounces (6,585,900 tonnes grading 28 g/t silver, 0.09 g/t gold, 0.41% lead, 1.14% zinc) in the indicated category and a further 6,305,000 silver equivalent ounces (2,027,900 million tonnes grading 34 g/t silver, 0.13 g/t gold, 0.54% lead, 0.81% zinc) in the inferred category using a cut-off grade of 50 g/t silver equivalent. Metal prices and recoveries used were US $9.55 per ounce and 76 per cent, respectively, for silver, US $530 per ounce and 70 per cent for gold, US $0.63 per pound and 80 per cent for lead, and US$1 per pound and 80 per cent for zinc.
Bearing cautions the reader that the resource prepared by Wardrop for Great Panther is considered a “historical estimate” under NI 43-101 and a qualified person from the Company has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource. In order to verify the historical estimate additional work may be required. This may include, but may not be limited to, re-evaluation and confirmation of previous drilling and assay results; validation of QA/QC (quality assurance/quality control) procedures and recalculation of the resource model using current metal price and recovery assumptions. Bearing is not treating the historical estimate as a current mineral resource.
In addition to the La Gloria and Las Palmitas resource areas, drilling by Great Panther identified quartz-molybdenite veins in the Bull’s-Eye zone (186.22 metres grading 440ppm molybdenum) and carbonate replacement deposits in the North Zone (2.14 metres grading 2.98% zinc and 0.41% lead). The Bull’s-Eye zone is defined by a 2,000-by-800-metre induced polarization anomaly with a magnetic high near its centre. This is interpreted to represent a buried intrusive body, however no intrusive rocks have been observed in the drilling. At the North Zone, mineralization is dominated by zinc with lesser amounts of lead, copper, gold and silver, and occurs in altered rhyolite sills, skarn altered limestone/marble, and in carbonate veinlets within the limestone/marble. The remainder of the property remains unexplored.
Option Terms
To earn a 100% interest in the Mapimi property, subject to a 3% NSR the Company shall pay:
— US$150,000 on signing
— US$150,000 on the first anniversary of signing
— US$150,000 on the second anniversary
— US$400,000 on the third anniversary
— US$500,000 on the fourth anniversary
— US$7,875,000 at the end of year five
At the Company’s election it may purchase the property outright after two years for US$5,575,000 or after three years for US$5,875,000, or after four years for US$6,875,000. The Company may purchase up to 1% of the NSR for US$650,000 per half percent and holds a first right of refusal to purchase the remaining 2%.
The option remains subject to the completion of due diligence and execution of a Definitive Agreement.
Dave Tupper, P.Geo., who is a qualified person within the context of National Instrument 43-101, has read and takes responsibility for this news release.
About Bearing Resources
Bearing is a Canadian based precious and base metal exploration company with projects located in Mexico, British Columbia, and the Yukon. Bearing is conducting exploration focused on targeting precious and base metal-rich systems analogous to the Goldcorp’s Penasquito and Camino Rojo deposits at the 39,000 hectare Parrandera/Km 66 project located in the Mapimi region of eastern Durango, Mexico. Bearing has an option to earn up to a 65% interest in the 12,113 hectare Zymo copper-gold project, located 45 kilometres west from the town of Smithers, British Columbia. The Company’s Mount Polley and October Dome copper-gold projects are located in British Columbia adjacent to Imperial Metals Corporation’s (“Imperial”) Mt. Polley copper-gold mine and includes a production royalty on the Boundary property, with Imperial. In the Yukon, Ryan Gold Corp. has been granted a right to earn up to 75% interest in Bearing’s Flume gold property located within the White Gold District.
BEARING RESOURCES LTD.
Geoff Chater President & CEO
For further information please visit Bearing’s website at www.bearingresources.ca .
This news release includes certain “forward-looking statements” under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements or information, including but not limited to, those with respect to uncertainties in interpreting exploration and drill results, statements about the terms of the proposed option agreement and exploration potential of the property, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Bearing to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such factors include, among others, the actual prices of commodities, the factual results of current exploration, development and mining activities, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in documents filed from time to time with the securities regulators in the applicable Provinces of British Columbia and Alberta.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Bearing Resources Ltd.
Geoff Chater
President & CEO
(604) 614-7830
[email protected]Bearing Resources Ltd.
Paul Reinhart
(604) 488-4907
[email protected]www.bearingresources.ca
