Eagle Plains Commences Work on B.C. Olympic Dam Target

Cranbrook, B.C.: Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (EPL:TSX) Preliminary work is now underway on Eagle Plains Resource’s (EPL:TSX) Iron Range property, located in the Goat River area 15km NE of Creston, BC. The claims consist of 74 units (4,500 acres) owned 100% by Eagle Plains and carry no underlying royalties or encumbrances. The property is well situated with respect to infrastructure with a high pressure gas pipeline, high voltage hydro-electric line and major highway within 8 km of property boundaries. The CPR mainline is also located within this transportation-power corridor providing efficient access to the Teck-Cominco smelter in Trail, B.C.

The Iron Range deposits were originally staked in 1897 and were covered by Crown Grants held by Cominco Ltd. and the CPR. Past work on the Iron Range deposit by Cominco Ltd. focused on the considerable iron oxide resource with trenching and very shallow (20m depth) diamond drilling along the Iron Range Mountain ridge. Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. staked the current claims when the Crown Grants reverted in 2000.

Mineralization on the Iron Range property occurs within the Iron Range fault zone and varies from massive lenses of hematite and magnetite to hematite-magnetite breccia bodies within a strongly albitized alteration halo. The Iron Range Fault system represents a major structural feature that is markedly different from other structures in the area in terms of deformation and alteration. The Iron Range deposits are directly linked to this structure which has a strike length of at least 90 kilometers. The mineralized zone on the Iron Range Property is exposed over approximately 4 kilometers strike length and is up to 150 meters wide. Structural, mineralization and alteration relationships indicate that the property has potential for both Olympic Dam type Cu–Au-U-REE deposits and Sullivan type sedimentary-exhalitive deposits.

Eagle Plains Resources has retained Lucas Marshall, to undertake a compilation study on the Iron Range area and to oversee 2002 fieldwork. Mr. Marshall is currently completing a doctoral thesis on Olympic Dam type deposits at James Cook University in Queensland Australia. Available data relating to the property includes GSC and BCGS geological mapping, airborne geophysical data from a 1996 government survey and extensive geochemical data from survey completed by Eagle Plains in 2001. Preliminary results from the compilation indicate that the Iron Range geochemistry compares favorably with that of other Olympic Dam type deposits. Based on the final results from the compilation and fieldwork, Eagle Plains Resources anticipates completing a diamond drilling program during the 2002 field season which will be designed to test the Iron Range structure at depth.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Tim J. Termuende, P.Geo.
President and CEO