Eagle Plains/Excelsior Execute Option Agreement on Wildhorse Gold/Copper Property, South-eastern British Columbia

Cranbrook, B.C., 11 March, 2010: Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (EPL:TSX-V) and Excelsior Mining Corp. (TSX-V:MIN.P) have entered into an option agreement on Eagle Plains' 100% owned Wildhorse project located 40km north of Cranbrook, B.C. Under the terms of the Agreement, Excelsior may earn a 70% interest in the property by completing $3,000,000 in exploration expenditures, making $250,000 in cash payments and issuing 1,000,000 shares to EPL over 4 years. Upon Excelsior exercising its option, a 60/40 joint venture between Excelsior and Eagle Plains will be formed.


The Option Agreement 


Under the terms of the Option Agreement, Excelsior has an option (the “Option”) to earn a 60% interest in the Property which may be exercised by:

  • Making cash payments to Eagle Plains totaling $250,000 over four years;  
  • Issuing a total of 1,000,000 Excelsior common shares to Eagle Plains over a period of four years; and  
  • Incurring exploration expenditures totaling $3,000,000 over four years.  


Excelsior has an option to earn an additional 10% interest (the “Additional Option”), thereby increasing its total interest in the Property to 70%, which may be exercised by: 

  • Exercising the Option;  
  • Issuing a total of 300,000 Excelsior common shares to Eagle Plains; and  
  • Incurring exploration expenditures totaling $1,000,000.  

Excelsior has been appointed as the operator of the Property and has the exclusive and sole responsibility of administering and carrying out the exploration programs on the Property. The Option Agreement includes standard representations and warranties, termination provisions and a three kilometre area of interest. Additionally, the parties have agreed that upon Excelsior exercising the Option to earn a 60% interest, a joint venture will be deemed to have automatically formed and the parties will negotiate in good faith to enter into a formal joint venture agreement.


The property consists of 355 ha located along the Wildhorse River in southeastern British Columbia, the site of BC's third-largest gold rush in the latter part of the 1800's. Placer gravels yielded more than 1,000,000 ounces of gold, with active placer operations in place today along the river.


A number of high-grade mineral occurrences are present on the property: 


Dardenelles (gold): 


Historically this area was known as the Dardenelles and Motherlode Crown grants which were surveyed by the Crown in 1898. An arrastra (mill) was built on nearby Victoria Creek to process gold-bearing massive quartz from two adits drifted on the Dardenelles claim at the end of the nineteenth century. A 95t bulk-sample of vein material was completed in 1975, returning 14.4 g/t (0.463 oz/t) average grade.


Eagle Plains in 2008 completed a 9-hole, 731m diamond drilling program designed to expand the known dimensions of the vein system. Drilling extended the known vein system both laterally and to depth. 


Tit for Tat (gold): 


Located approximately 800m south of the Dardenelles occurrence, high grade vein mineralization has been reported, with gold values ranging from trace to a high of 41.5g/t (1.334 oz/t) over widths up to 0.5m reported by past operators. 


Copper Creek (sedimentary copper-silver):


Quartzite-hosted sedimentary copper-silver mineralization has been reported in rocks age-equivalent to those which host the Spar Lake and Montanore deposits located near Troy, Montana. During the 1970s, the Spar Lake mine produced 44 million tons of ore grading .74% copper and 53 g/t silver. Sampling of disseminated copper-silver mineralization in the Copper Creek area returned 5185ppm Cu and 40 g/t Ag (widths unknown). 


About Eagle Plains Resources


Eagle Plains continues to conduct research, acquire and explore metal projects in western Canada. In addition to holding mining royalties on various projects, the Company controls over 35 gold, base-metal and uranium projects, several with third parties including Swift Resources Inc. (TSX-V:SWR), Prize Mining Corp. (TSX-V:PRZ), Waterloo Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:WAT.P), Touchdown Capital Inc. (TSX-V: TDW) and 99 Capital Corp. (TSX-V:WDG). In recent years, Eagle Plains has completed option agreements with Teck Limited (TSX:TCK.B), Alexco Resource Corp. (TSX-V:AXR), Billiton Metals, Rio Algom Exploration, NovaGold Resources, Kennecott Exploration and numerous other junior exploration companies, resulting in over 53,600m (163,370') of drilling and over $28.3 million in exploration spending on its projects since 1998. 


Expenditures during 2008 and 2009 on Eagle Plains' projects were approximately $7,300,000, funded by Eagle Plains and third party partners. This work resulted in approximately 6,900m of drilling and extensive ground-based exploration work and facilitated the advancement of numerous projects at various stages of development. 


This news release has been reviewed and approved by Tim J. Termuende, P.Geo., hereby designated as a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101. 


On behalf of the Board of Directors

“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.

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