09/15/05
Timberline Prepares for Initial Drill Program at Snowstorm
SPOKANE, Wash., Sept. 15, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) — Timberline Resources Corporation (Pink Sheets:TBLC) announced today that it has retained a drilling contractor for a core drill program at the Snowstorm Project in north Idaho’s “Silver Valley”. Timberline can earn a 49-percent interest in the Snowstorm Project from Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) by completing a Phase I exploration program with minimum expenditures of $250,000 by October 2006.
The Snowstorm Project features the 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 (oz/t) silver. A dump sampling program earlier this field season returned ore grade assays of 0.9 to 2.5-percent copper and 0.5 to 3.0 oz/t silver from multiple locations along a nearly 1.5-mile strike length. These results, along with geologic mapping and fieldwork, have demonstrated the potential for a world-class stratabound copper-silver deposit at Snowstorm similar to those found at Troy, Rock Creek, and Montanore, high-tonnage ore bodies with a combined average grade of 0.74-percent copper and 1.73 oz/t silver.
M2 Exploration of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho has been contracted by Timberline to drill at Snowstorm. Drilling is expected to commence later this month. Specific drill plans will be announced in a subsequent press release.
Timberline also announced today that it has closed a modest financing through Company insiders and accredited investors with a combination of equity and loans. These funds will be used for Snowstorm drilling.
Timberline Resources Corporation is a mineral exploration company focused on the cost-effective acquisition and exploration of promising mineral properties in the western United States. Timberline’s flagship property is the Snowstorm Project in north Idaho’s “Silver Valley,” where it can earn a 49-percent interest from Hecla Mining Company in a bulk-tonnage stratabound copper-silver target, potentially similar to well-known deposits in western Montana. Timberline has less than 7.3 million shares outstanding and its common stock is quoted 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.
CONTACT: Timberline Resources Corporation
Bill Hoyt
Investor Relations Manager
Phone: (785) 383-9246
www.timberline-resources.com