DRC tables new Afton resource (December 31, 2001)

Vancouver – Deeper drilling by DRC Resources (DRC-V) has boosted the mineral resource at the past producing Afton copper-gold mine in British Columbia.

The addition of 26 new diamond drill holes has increased the mineral resource to the southwest and to the northeast of the Afton Main zone, which hosts 22.5 million tonnes grading 2% copper and 1.4 grams gold per tonne. The Southwest zone now hosts an indicated resource of 10.1 million tonnes averaging 1.58% copper and 0.93 gram gold and an inferred resource of 4 million tonnes grading 1.19% copper and 0.93 gram gold.

The indicated mineral resource of the Northeast zone comes in at 1.56 million tonnes grading 0.93% copper and 0.62 gram gold. An additional 1.93 million tonnes averaging 0.77% copper and 0.31 gram gold has been placed in the inferred category.

So far, drilling indicates a continuous 850 metre long mineral zone extending to depths of 775 metres below the upper contact of the Afton Main mineral zone.

Preliminary metallurgical testwork showed recovery rates of 89% for copper and 90% for gold using standard floatation.

DRC can earn a 100% interest in the 6-sq.-km property from Westridge Enterprises and Indo-Gold Development by issuing 2 million shares over a six-year period and spending $6.5 million on exploration over 9 years. The company must also bring the property into production within 10 years to retain its 100% interest.

The Afton mine started production in 1978, cranking out 450,000 oz. of gold and 45 million tonnes of copper before being permanently closed by Afton Mines, a subsidiary of Teck (TEK-T) in May 1997. The remaining resource at mine closure was pegged at 9.5 million tonnes averaging 1.52% copper and 0.9 gram gold per tonne.

DRC expects to table another new resource estimate based on the complete 2001 drill program in the first quarter of the year.