BENTON RESOURCES SIGNS LOI TO OPTION A 60% INTEREST IN GOLDEN HARP’S COPPER HILL BLOCK A GOLD PROPERTY
Vancouver, BC & Thunder Bay, Ontario – Thursday, March 12, 2009 – Golden Harp Resources Inc. (TSXV:GHR) “Golden Harp” and Benton Resources Corp. (TSXV:BTC) “Benton” today announced they have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) granting Benton the option to earn a 60% interest in Block A of Golden Harp’s 100%-owned 145 sq. km Copper Hill Property. The claims included under the Block A option agreement represent 351 claim units of Golden Harp’s 855 claim units covering several historic gold occurrences including the Cook Zone and the newly discovered MC Zone. The terms of the agreement call for Benton to expend $2 million in work commitments, make $75,000 in cash payments and issue 550,000 common shares; payable over a three year period according to the schedule below. The option does not vest until all commitments have been made. The property is located approximately 100 km south of Timmins, Ontario, along Highway 560 between Shining Tree and Gowganda, within the southern Abitibi Greenstone belt, along what is believed by many to represent the western extension of the prolific Kirkland Lake – Larder Lake break. Below is a map showing the area subject to this option:
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The Cook Zone, first discovered in the 1930’s, is hosted within silicified and carbonate altered mafic and ultramafic volcanic rocks that have been intruded by altered felsic porphyry dykes. The zone has been subject to several diamond drilling campaigns which have intersected significant gold mineralization from several sub-parallel zones. Some of the better down hole drill intersections include 54.2 gpt Au (gram per tonne gold) over 4.0m (metres) (hole B-04) and 5.71 gpt Au over 4.6m (hole B-06) drilled in 1952 by Bessey Mining Syndicate; 5.4 gpt Au over 7.6m (hole T-14) drilled in 1953 by Tenendo Mining and 10.6 gpt Au over 3.1m (hole ORC-01) drilled by Orcana in the 1980’s; and 2.7 gpt Au over 13m (KC-12) drilled by KRL Resources in 1995. The MC Zone, discovered by Golden Harp in 2008, located 1.3 km east southeast of the Cook Zone, is hosted in a thick package of pyritic, green carbonate, albite and hematite altered ultramafic and mafic volcanic rocks. To date, five holes have tested the MC Zone over a strike length of 220m. All holes intersected widespread anomalous gold mineralization with some of the better down hole mineralized intervals returning 44.0m of 0.89 gpt Au including 2.0m of 4.01 gpt Au from hole GH-025 and 9.0m of 3.6 gpt Au including 2.0m grading 14.29 gpt Au from hole GH-019.
Benton views this transaction as part of their ongoing efforts to increase shareholder value by acquiring properties of merit with potential to host economically significant gold mineralization. Golden Harp has put in a tremendous effort in acquiring their highly prospective land position and Benton looks forward to working with them to advance the Copper Hill Block A property.
This transaction benefits Golden Harp, as it avoids equity dilution and ensures that an aggressive exploration and drill program will be ongoing in the near future maximizing the discovery potential of the land package for the shareholders. In this current economic climate, Golden Harp is pleased to have attracted a partner with strong working capital and such a capable technical team, who are highly motivated to continue building on Golden Harp’s exploration work.
Transaction Terms:
Benton Resources may earn a 60% interest in Golden Harp’s interest in the 351 claim units, known as the Copper Hill Block A Property, by spending $2 million over three years, expended annually as follows: $500,000 within 12 months; and $750,000 within 24 months; and $750,000 within 36 months.
In addition to the work commitments above, Benton will issue to Golden Harp, common shares and cash payments, as follows: $25,000 cash payment and 150,000 common shares within 5 days of TSX Venture Exchange approval (Effective Date); and $25,000 and 150,000 common shares on or before the first anniversary of the Effective Date; and $25,000 and 250,000 common shares on or before the second anniversary of the Effective Date.
The LOI also includes a provision for Benton to acquire an additional 10%, increasing their interest to 70%, in the Copper Hill Block A claims by incurring an additional $1 million in work commitments over 24 months; and making a further $50,000 cash payment to Golden Harp. This option must be exercised within 60 days of the 60% interest being earned in and the cash payment must be made within five days of notice being provided of Benton’s election to earn the additional 10%.
Once Benton has earned its interest, the Copper Hill Block A Property will then be subject to a joint venture agreement between Golden Harp and Benton, with Benton as the initial operator. In the event that Golden Harp’s participating interest is reduced to 10%, its interest shall be converted to a 1% NSR on all claims comprising the Copper Hill Block A Property that do not already have an NSR on them and Golden Harp has solely retained the right to purchase the pre-existing NSRs as per the terms under the original agreements. Additionally, Golden Harp retains a $0.50 per carat royalty on any diamonds taken from the Copper Hill Block A Property.
The Letter of Intent is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.
Clinton Barr (P.Geo.), V.P. Exploration for Benton Resources Corp., is the qualified person responsible for this release.
About Benton Resources Corp.:
Benton Resources Corp. (the “Company”) is a mineral exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol BTC. Benton’s aggressive and experienced management team is focused on base and precious group metal exploration. The Company’s diverse property portfolio includes Canadian projects which are highly prospective for gold, uranium, platinum, palladium, nickel and copper. The Company currently has approximately $14 million in working capital and has joint ventured several of their projects to major and junior mining companies. Benton also holds a 34.3% interest in Coro Mining Corp., a company focused on Latin American copper and gold projects in Chile and Argentina.
About Golden Harp Resources Inc.:
Golden Harp Resources Inc. is a Canadian mineral exploration company. Its 145 square km, Copper Hill gold and base metal project is located 100 kilometres south of Timmins, along Highway 560 between Shining Tree and Gowganda, Northern Ontario. The property, situated along the projected western extension of the Cadillac Larder Lake Break in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt, hosts several gold zones in a variety of geological settings; a copper zone; and large portions of the property remain to be evaluated. The Company has 24,673,042 shares outstanding.
For further information please contact:
Stephen Stares, President and CEO, Benton Resources Corp.
611 Montreal Street, Thunder Bay, ON, P7E 3P2
Tel: 807-475-7474 Web: www.bentonresources.ca
Natasha Blackburn, President and CEO, Golden Harp Resources Inc.
2300-1066 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 3X2
Tel: 604-688-4277 Web: www.goldenharpresources.com
Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainness and other factors that may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations in our forward looking statements are reasonable, actual results may vary, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.
The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained herein.
