Mr. Ron Little reports

WOLFDEN ANNOUNCES POSITIVE PRECIOUS METAL RESULTS AT CANOE LANDING; METALLURGICAL TEST WORK INDICATES POTENTIAL TO DOUBLE GOLD RECOVERIES

Wolfden Resources Corp. has completed proof-of-concept metallurgical testing on its wholly owned Canoe Landing volcanic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit in central New Brunswick, where the current potential in situ precious metal value accounts for more than 50 per cent of the total in situ value. Given that standard flotation processing is expected to deliver reasonably high copper, lead zinc and silver recoveries, the work focused on how to best increase the gold recoveries from the ore which typically averages about 1.0 gram per tonne (g/t) gold (Au). The results of that testwork indicate that gold recoveries can be increased from 32 to 60 per cent via bio-oxidation and thereby the potential to significantly impact the economics of this large VMS deposit.

The deposit was first discovered by Rio Tinto in the 1960s and drilled by Noranda in the 1980s, and represents one of the largest undeveloped polymetallic mineral deposits in the Bathurst mining camp. Like most VMS deposits in the Bathurst camp, there was little attention paid to recovering the precious metals due to lower metal prices and the higher costs associated with improving those recoveries. However, at current and forecast precious metal prices and using modern mineral processing techniques, the company's focus has been to ascertain if the project has the potential to be economically developed in one of the most supportive mining jurisdictions in North America.

(See additional mineral resource estimate information.)

The company worked with the Research and Productivity Council of New Brunswick (RPC), an independent laboratory facility, on a program to largely focus on increasing precious metal recoveries using a postflotation treatment metallurgical process flowsheet. Wolfden provided RPC with 40 kilograms (kg) of historical drill core samples that were assayed and composited to create a representative average grade of the deposit. Samples went through mill standardization, open circuit rougher testing followed by pyrite concentrate oxidation and leaching using various methods over a period of eight months.

The flotation testwork resulted in four concentrates produced: copper, lead, zinc and pyrite. The pyrite concentrate containing 32.8 per cent of the total gold, was then exposed to bio-oxidation to break down the pyrite, and expose the gold grains for subsequent cyanide leaching and recovery. This work was compared with base case results, as well as roasting oxidation. The resulting total process Au recovery is shown in table 1.

The testwork demonstrates that bio-oxidation postflotation treatment of a pyrite concentrate at Canoe Landing supports increased gold recoveries and net revenues for a potential mining operation. "We consider the results to be very positive and warrants the collection of drilled-fresh core samples for further metallurgical testing. This would include verification of the base metal flotation circuit, as well as confirmation and improvement of the postflotation treatment for precious metals," stated Jeremy Ouellette, Wolfden's vice-president of project development. "Our goal with this first round of testing was to identify which methods may provide improved precious metal recoveries. We would like to thank RPC and the particularly the support of Genome Atlantic in these efforts."

Table 2 lists the current potential unoptimized metallurgical recoveries using flotation followed by bio-oxidation. These preliminary results indicate the potential to yield a recoverable metal value of $216 tonne using the current spot prices of $6.51 per pound (lb) copper, $1.73 per lb zinc, 84 cents per lb lead, $4,375.60 per ounce (oz) gold and $64.58 per oz silver. The value includes estimated mining dilution and recoveries, but does not include any capital requirements, operating or smelting costs. Described another way, the bio-oxidation method has the potential to add an approximate additional $36 per tonne in revenue at the above metal prices. These process results are preliminary and there remains further upside through more detailed optimization studies for all of the contained metals.

Bio-oxidation methodology

The bio-oxidation process is initiated by culturing microorganisms naturally present on the ore surface and/or in run-of-mine water. The use of site-specific microorganisms is advantageous, as these organisms are already adapted to the prevailing mineralogical, chemical and environmental conditions. These microbes promote the oxidation of sulphide minerals to ferric iron, sulphate and elemental sulphur, either directly at the mineral surface or indirectly via ferric iron as a strong oxidant. The overall result is extensive sulphide destruction without the need for high temperatures or pressures.

Once bio-oxidation is complete, the residue can then be treated using conventional gold recovery methods. Cyanide leaching of bio-oxidized material typically results in substantially higher gold recoveries compared with untreated feed. Relative to roasting or pressure oxidation, bio-oxidation offers lower energy requirements and reduced gaseous emissions, making it a technically and environmentally favourable pretreatment for refractory gold ores.

Next steps

Wolfden intends on designing a subsequent sample collection and testing program that can be used to confirm both the flotation circuit and precious metals recoveries. Future testing will focus on further increasing all metal recoveries by using fresh (unoxidized) drill core and more focused circuit chemistry using open circuit cleaner testing and closed circuit testing. Results from flotation are expected to improve the pyrite circuit gold recovery, as well as minimize the mass split to the pyrite concentrate resulting in reduced capital and operating cost of the postflotation treatment circuit. In addition to further optimizing the bio-oxidation and leaching circuit, Wolfden intends on testing other technologies such as Albion and to further optimize roasting to ensure the best postflotation treatment process is selected for future programs.

About Wolfden Resources Corp.

Wolfden is a North American exploration and development company focused on high-margin metallic mineral deposits, including precious, base and critical metals, which represent significant development projects with the potential to produce domestic supply of strategic metals.

The information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Ron Little, PEng, president and chief executive officer, and Mr. Ouellette, who are qualified persons under National Instrument 43-101.

We seek Safe Harbor.