| Eastern Resources, Inc. to Provide Current Corporate Presentation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DENVER, June 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Eastern Resources, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ESRI), a Delaware corporation ("ESRI" or, the "Company"), announced today that the Board of Directors of the Company will post its current Corporate Presentation on its website www.easternresourcesinc.com, this week. The Corporate Presentation details the history and development of the Company's Golden Dream Mine, the Montana Tunnels Mine, and the Diamond Hill Mine. Through a reverse triangular merger completed on April 6, 2012, the Company acquired from Elkhorn Goldfields LLC ("EGLLC"), the two operating subsidiaries of EGLLC, Elkhorn Goldfields, Inc. ("EGI"), a Montana corporation and the owner of the Golden Dream Mine, and Montana Tunnels Mining Inc. ("MTMI"), a Delaware corporation and the owner of the Montana Tunnels Mine and Diamond Hill Mine[1]. Presented below is a brief review of the material information contained in the Corporate Presentation and not previously presented: Summary of Investment Highlights: The Company owns three fully permitted mines in the Unites States; has an experienced management team; the existing permitted mines present strong economics; the Company expects approximately 150,000 ounce[2] equivalents of gold production annually at full production; more than $300 Million has been spent on existing infrastructure; and there is an additional exploration potential of 2 to 3 million ounces of gold[2]. Timeline: 1998 - EGI purchased the Elkhorn Project from Newmont Gold Corp.; Sept. 2006 - EGI and Apollo Gold Corp. entered into a 50:50 joint venture to operate the Montana Tunnels Mine; July 21, 2008 - EGI was granted its Exploration Permit by the Montana DEQ; Oct. 27-Nov. 3, 2008 - MTMI received a Favorable Records of Decision for the M-Pit expansion of by the Montana DEQ and US BLM; April 2009 - EGI acquired the remaining 50% of MTMI; November 30, 2011 - the Montana DEQ granted EGI a full operating permit; April 6, 2012 - ESRI acquired EGI and MTMI via reverse merger. Current Development Plan Reserves:
Montana Permitting: Montana Regulation - In 1998, Montana's voter initiative banned the use of cyanide in open pit cyanide-leach gold and silver mining for new operating permits. ESRI's Solution - Redesign mine plans utilizing underground mining methods and conventional milling scenarios. Permitting Results - ESRI has operating permits for Golden Dream Mine, the Montana Tunnels Mine, and the Diamond Hill Mine from the Montana DEQ (Department of Environment Quality) and the BLM (Bureau of Land management). EGI - Elkhorn Property History: Located in Elkhorn Mining District, Jefferson County, Montana, the original Elkhorn mine discovered Silver, Lead & Gold in the 1870s; silver & lead mining ran sporadically through the 1940s; modern exploration techniques lead to the discovery of the Carmody gold mine in 1984 by Gold Fields Mining Corp., and concentrated exploration began; since the mid-1980s exploration including approximately 500,000 feet of drilling by mining majors, including Gold Fields Corp., Santa Fe Pacific, and Newmont Corp. have outlined a mineral resource of 1.653 million ounces[3] of gold and four mineralized deposits within the Elkhorn Property boundaries; in 1996, Sante Fe Pacific Gold completed a resource estimate for the Sourdough/Golden Dream Deposit; the initial mine target, the Golden Dream Mine, developed approximately 20% of the known Elkhorn gold resources; EGI purchased the Elkhorn Property from Newmont Corp. in 1998; East Butte, Carmody and Gold Hill expansion planned for after development of Golden Dream Mine; and on November 30, 2011, EGI received its operating permit for the Golden Dream Mine from the Montana DEQ. The Golden Dream Mine: March 2006, EGI commenced work on the Golden Dream Mine Exploration Permit, which was granted by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) in May 2006; Autumn 2006, EGI commenced work on the Golden Dream Mine plan, confirmation drilling and Full Operating Permit. The Permit was granted on July 18, 2008 by the Montana DEQ; summer 2011, EGI put in place the reclamation bond and commenced construction of the Golden Dream Mine; December 2011, Golden Dream Mine intercepted the ore body as targeted; and Golden Dream Mine estimated to be in full production in 4Q 2012. Golden Dream Mine Development Plan: EGI is implementing a staged expansion at the Golden Dream Mine: 1) Install water treatment system - Originally, it was believed EGI could successfully mine the oxide zone prior to the installation of the water treatment system. However, water was encountered above the water table, but within the oxide zone. The water treatment system was completed in March 2012 and is now operational. Production from the oxide zone is likely to be 1,500-2,000 tons/month due to the fractured nature of the ore. 2) Extend primary access ramp at Golden Dream Mine to reach deeper ore zones in early summer. 3) Diamond Hill mill will be fully refurbished and $5 million in bonding will be placed with the Montana DEQ before start up. 4) A "bore" raise will be completed from surface into the main access ramp as a secondary egress - Full production expected to be achieved by September/October 2012.
Montana Tunnels Mine Production History: Mine Startup - February 1986; Length of Operation - 24 Years; Total Ore Processed - 98 Million tons; Gold Recovered - 1.7 Million oz.; Silver Recovered - 30.8 Million oz.; Lead Recovered - 400 Million lbs.; Zinc Recovered - 1.1 Billion lbs.. $4.85 billion at today's prices. M-Pit Fully Permitted: July 2004 - MTMI applied for a Major Amendment for the M-Pit mine expansion. November 2008 - Following an Environmental Impact Statement process, MTMI received favorable Records of Decision from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality ("DEQ") and the US Bureau of Land Management ("BLM"). 2008 – 2009 - MTMI received authorization to construct compensatory wetlands for the M-Pit plan from the US Army Corps of Engineers. Wetland mitigation was completed. 2009 - Additional reclamation bond has been agreed to for the M-Pit mine expansion plan. Present posted bond amount is $18.7 million ($15.1 million cash and $3.6 million appraised real estate). An additional approximately $15.0 million bond posting is required to be funded in order fulfill the M-Pit bonding requirement of approximately $34 million. Today – All other permits and licenses required to operate the Montana Tunnels Mine are current subject to bonding.
Long-term Growth Strategy: ESRI plans to grow aggressively utilizing its current asset profile, knowledge of Montana's precious metals landscape, and existing infrastructure. EGI and MTMI both have exploration potential outside of their currently defined resources. As further resources are proven, the amount of production and life of mine are expected to increase. Diamond Hill has been extensively mined, but surrounding drill results suggest additional mineralized structures. Diamond Hill can provide valuable ore to process through the Montana Tunnels mill facility. ESRI has the capability to acquire and develop nearby projects in Montana that have already been identified through management's local knowledge and experience over the past 15 years The milling facilities, especially at Montana Tunnels Mine, have excess capacity to process additional ore discovered at ESRI's current projects or deposits acquired nearby ESRI's long term goal is to be a major gold producer with annual production of 500,000 ounces of gold. There can be no assurances, however, that ESRI will achieve these goals.
About Eastern Resources, Inc. About Montana Tunnels Mining, Inc. About Elkhorn Goldfields, Inc. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements This press release of Eastern Resources, Inc. ("ESRI" or, the "Company") contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. securities laws. Such forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements regarding the business strategy, plans and goals of the Company, plans for the Montana Tunnels Mine and the Golden Dreams Mine (the "Mines") including anticipated scheduling and production estimates, and direction of production, as well as estimated capital and other costs; future gold, silver, zinc, lead and copper prices; reserve and resource estimates; estimated gold and silver and base metal potential for expansion of existing resources; timing and results of drilling programs; hedging practices; currency exchange rate fluctuations; government regulation of mining operations; environmental risks; unanticipated reclamation expenses; share valuation, including valuation relative to other resource companies and other statements that are not historical facts. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends" "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions. The anticipated timing and cost of activation of the Mines as well as the expected production from the Mines are based on the following assumptions: Capital and operating cost estimates are based on recent cost estimates of construction and mining costs developed by independent consultants and ESRI personnel; production estimates are based upon the actual metal recovery achieved on the Golden Dream Mine and Montana Tunnels Mine ores; and ore tonnage estimates and precious and base metal grades are as indicated in the plans and production schedules for the Mines developed by Company personnel and outside consultants. Although ESRI management believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, among others; risks relating to the planned activation of the Mines including risks of delays in receipt of reclamation bond approval and delays in completion of construction, uncertainties relating to availability and timing of capital for financing the planned reactivation, risks relating to availability of outside contractors, risks of shortages of equipment or supplies, uncertainties relating to obtaining approvals and permits from government regulatory authorities, and risks of inability to achieve anticipated production volume or manage cost increases; risks that ESRI's acquisition, exploration and property advancement efforts will not be successful; risks relating to fluctuations in the price of precious and base metals, the inherently hazardous nature of mining-related activities and uncertainties concerning reserve and recourse estimates as well as those factors discussed in ESRI's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including ESRI's latest filing on Form 8-K (SEC File No. 000-54645) filed with the SEC on April 12, 2012, as amended on May 16, 2012 and May 31, 2012 and its other SEC filings including. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Cautionary Note to investors concerning estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources: The terms "Mineable Reserve," "Measured", "Indicated" and "Inferred" Resources are used herein. Investors are advised and cautioned that such terms are not recognized by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. "Inferred Mineral Resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of Measured or Indicated Mineral Resources will ever be converted into Mineral Reserves and not to assume that all or any part of a Mineral Resource is economically or legally mineable. [1] For more information about the merger, please refer to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (SEC File No. 000-54645) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 12, 2012, as amended on May 16, 2012 and May 31, 2012. [2] Internal estimates, not SEC Guide 7 compliant proven or probable reserves. [3] Internal estimate, not SEC Guide 7 compliant proven or probable reserves. SOURCE: Eastern Resources, Inc. CONTACT: Robert Trenaman, President and Chief Operating Officer, Eastern Resources Inc., | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
