Eagle Plains/Santa Fe Execute Letter of Intent for Iron Range Option

Cranbrook, B.C., 18 March, 2014: Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:EPL) and Santa Fe Metals Corp. (TSX-V: SFM) have jointly executed a Letter of Intent (“LOI”) outlining the basic binding terms for an earn-in option whereby SFM will have the exclusive right to earn a 60% interest in the Project from EPL over a five-year period.

The proposed option comprises a commitment by SFM over a 5-year period to earn a 60% interest by incurring $10M in exploration expenditures on the property, transferring 6,000,000 SFM shares to EPL (1,000,000 shares on signing) and making $500,000 in cash payments to EPL, conditional on regulatory approval.

EPL will be the operator during the term of the Option. When all of the conditions of the definitive agreement have been met and SFM has exercised the Option, a 60/40 joint venture ("JV") will be formed to further advance the Project.

The Iron Range project is located near Creston, BC, and is owned 100% by EPL, subject to a 1% NSR on a portion of the claim group. A well-developed transportation and power corridor transects the southern part of the property, including a high-pressure gas pipeline and a high-voltage hydro-electric line, both of which follow the CPR mainline and Highway 3. The rail line provides efficient access to the Teck smelter in Trail, B.C.

The Iron Range property covers an extensive area approximately 10km x 60km which overlies the regional Iron Range Fault System (“IRF”). Prior to the acquisition and initial involvement of Eagle Plains in 2001, the property had seen little systematic exploration for other than iron resources known to exist on the property since the late 1800s. Since 2001, Eagle Plains and its partners have completed 17,226m in diamond drilling in 70 holes, collected 2482 line-km of airborne and surface geophysical data and analysed 10,053 soil geochemical samples, 495 rock samples and 5749 drill core samples.

Management of both Eagle Plains and Santa Fe consider the Iron Range project to hold excellent potential for the presence of both copper-gold and Sullivan-style lead-zinc-silver mineralization. Drilling in 2010 resulted in the discovery of the Talon Zone, where drill-hole IR10-010 intersected 2 intervals of strong and continuous mineralization including 14.0m grading 5.1g/t gold, 1.86% lead, 2.1% Zinc, 75.3g/t silver (from 192.0-206.0 meters) and 7.1m grading 8.13g/t gold, 2.84% lead, 3.07% zinc, 86.6g/t silver (from 196.9-204.0 meters). Previous drilling 10km north of the Talon Zone in 2008 by EPL intersected gold mineralization in drill-hole IR08006, which assayed 7.0m grading 51.52g/t (1.50 oz/ton) gold (see EPL news release dated April 20th, 2009).

Update on other Eagle Plains projects

Eagle Plains has been notified by option partner Green Arrow Resources Inc. (formerly SinoGas West Inc.) that the option agreement relating to Eagle Plains’ 100% owned Eagle Lake uranium project in Saskatchewan has been terminated.

About Eagle Plains Resources

Based in Cranbrook, B.C., Eagle Plains continues to conduct research, acquire and explore mineral projects throughout western Canada. Since 1992, EPL has been acquiring and developing early stage projects utilizing an in-house team of geologists, technicians and specialists. Considered a prolific project generator with over 40 properties, EPL invites joint venture participation to expedite development, reduce risk and enhance exposure to discovery.

Current third party agreements if maintained to completion will have exposed EPL to over $36M in exploration expenditures, $4.0M cash and 8M shares in partner companies. Completed agreements have yielded over $17M in exploration spending, $1.8M cash to EPL and a total of 18M shares of partner companies including Alexco Resource Corp., NovaGold Resources Inc., and numerous others.

Expenditures from 2011-2013 on Eagle Plains-related projects were approximately $15M, which was funded by Eagle Plains and for the most part, by third-party partners. This exploration work resulted in approximately 15,000m of diamond drilling and extensive ground-based exploration work facilitating the advancement of more than 23 projects at various stages of development.

Technical aspects of this news release have been reviewed and approved by C.C. (Chuck) Downie, P.Geo.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Signed

“Tim J. Termuende”
President and CEO

For further information on EPL, please contact Mike Labach at 1 866 HUNT ORE (486 8673)
Email: mgl@eagleplains.com or visit our website at http://www.eagleplains.com

 

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.