03/24/04
SPOKANE, Wash.–Timberline Resources (OTC:TBLC) is pleased to announce that it has leased the Olympic Mine Property, located in the Bell Mining District of Mineral County, Nevada. The Olympic Mine is approximately ten miles southeast of the Paradise Peak Mine, and two miles northwest of the Company’s Sun Claims. The property consists of 63 unpatented lode mining claims covering 1,260 acres.
In addition to the Olympic Mine, the property also includes the Loo Mine and numerous smaller surface and underground prospects. Historical records credit the Olympic Mine with 40,000 ounces of gold production in the early twentieth century. Ore was mined from a low angle, epithermal quartz vein that ranged from two to seven feet thick and reportedly averaged nearly one ounce of gold and one ounce of silver per ton.
An exploration program conducted around 1980 drilled north and west of the Olympic Mine in search of a faulted extension of the vein. The drilling did not test the immediate area of the workings, or to the east across the Omco fault. The company has access to most of this data, which indicates widespread anomalous gold mineralization that strengthens toward the mine. In 1989, FMC Corporation drilled about 20 holes roughly 1.5 miles south of the Olympic Mine. The Company is in the process of acquiring data from the FMC program.
Company geologists believe that the bonanza vein-type mineralization seen in the Olympic Mine likely continues beyond the existing underground workings. The vein is reported to contain an envelope of lower grade mineralization that was considered uneconomic during former operations but merits modern exploration. Surface samples in the footwall of the vein have assayed up to 0.27 ounces per ton (oz/t) gold and samples 15 feet into the hanging wall have assayed 0.05 oz/t gold. Historic documentation also suggests that a “deeper, parallel quartz vein was encountered in the lower mine workings.” These targets have not been drill tested.
Structurally-controlled and disseminated-type mineralization may also exist along the Omco fault. This fault appears to be a major feeder structure, as indicated by an alignment of strong surface gold anomalies (200 to 1000 ppb gold) and quartz masses along a two-mile strike length. Sampling along a parallel structure at the Loo Mine has shown values up to 0.13 oz/t gold. These targets have also not been drill tested.
The Olympic Mine property was acquired under a Letter of Intent that will be converted to a Mineral Lease agreement. Terms of the lease call for an initial payment of $15,000 and 10,000 shares of Timberline stock, with required payments rising by $5,000 per year to a maximum of $40,000. The lessor retains a 3 percent Net Smelter Royalty (NSR) that can be reduced to 2 percent for a payment of $500,000. The agreement requires a first year work commitment of $50,000, which must include some drilling.
The company plans to conduct detailed mapping and geochemical sampling on the claim group followed by a preliminary drilling program. This work will be carried out by the Company in conjunction with exploration on its nearby Sun Project.
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
(785) 383-9246
www.timberline-resources.com