Mr. Michael McPhie reports

CURIS RESOURCES ANNOUNCES PRELIMINARY COPPER RECOVERY RESULTS AT FLORENCE COPPER

Curis Resources Ltd. has released preliminary results for laboratory testwork performed on metallurgical samples obtained from the summer 2011 drilling program at the Florence copper property in Arizona.

Metallurgical testing to confirm and improve on historical copper recovery estimates began in June, 2011, at Metcon Research of Tucson, Ariz. Bottle-roll testing has been completed on 16 initial samples from the 2011 drilling; the results compare favourably with work completed by BHP Copper in the mid-1990s, as summarized in Curis's September, 2010, preliminary economic assessment (PEA). Results for the bottle-roll tests as well as the four completed laboratory-scale in situ copper recovery (ISR) tests are summarized herein. The remaining 12 in situ recovery tests are in progress with completion expected in the second quarter of 2012.

"We are very pleased with the preliminary results from our extensive metallurgical test program which is being overseen by Dr. Terry McNulty. of T.P. McNulty and Associates Inc. and Dr. Dave Dixon of the University of British Columbia," stated Dan Johnson, Curis's vice-president, environment and technical services. "The results of these tests indicate that there are significant opportunities to improve on historical estimates of copper recovery at Florence Copper and, ultimately, the overall positive economics of this project."

Bottle-roll test overview

Curis delivered sections of core from four drill holes to Metcon. These holes were part of a larger six-hole program drilled in summer 2011 as described in news releases dated Aug. 16 and Oct. 13, 2011. Sections of the core were then selected to make up 16 samples, four samples from each of the four drill holes. Total copper contained in head samples analyzed by Metcon ranged from 0.19 per cent to 0.77 per cent, with an average of 0.42 per cent copper. Samples were also submitted for mineralogical characterization at Montana Tech of the University of Montana in Butte, Mont., which confirmed chrysocolla as the dominant copper mineral, consistent with the PEA results. However, other non-sulphide copper species are also present.

A total of 16 bottle-roll tests were each run for 72 hours while maintaining constant acid concentrations. On average, the acid-soluble copper (AS Cu) head grades represented 68 per cent of the total copper present, versus the 67 per cent assumed in the six-year recovery model used for the PEA. At the nominal concentration of 10 grams per litre (g/l) sulphuric acid for extraction testing purposes, the average AS Cu extraction was 90 per cent versus the 86-per-cent extraction that was assumed in the PEA and in BHP's prefeasibility study.

In situ recovery overview

The goal of the continuing ISR test program is to represent a mineralized block cross-section and simulate in situ treatment of the Florence copper mineralized resource by allowing recovery solutions to flow horizontally through intact pieces of drill core using a specially designed laboratory apparatus. Historical in situ laboratory simulations relied on columns that simulated vertical flow rather than horizontal flow and also did not keep the core intact without the use of stabilizing agents. The current program is believed to be much more representative of actual in-ground conditions expected at Florence.

"I believe that the ISR simulation protocol that has been developed by Curis and Metcon staff is the most realistic approach that has been taken to resolving this difficult technical challenge," stated Terry McNulty, T.P. McNulty and Associates. "The tests have proceeded smoothly, and I feel very positive about the physical conditions of the leached core, the leaching kinetics and the percentage of copper that dissolved during the leaching."

ISR test results are given in the attached table. A graph of recovery over time is posted in the news release on the company's website. To date, four of 16 ISR tests have been completed with copper extraction ranging from 45 per cent to 81 per cent as compared with a recovery of 49 per cent reported in the PEA. Of these, the tests run using five g/l sulphuric acid solution averaged 46-per-cent copper recovery while the tests run at 10 g/l sulphuric acid averaged 71-per-cent copper recovery.

                ISR LABORATORY TEST RESULTS
        Feed     
Test  sulphuric  Leach   Rinse   Calculated  Cumulative
No.     acid     cycle   cycle   head assay  extraction
        (g/l)    (days)  (days)   (% Cu)       (% Cu)

Box 1     5       152      43      0.46        47.47  
Box 3    10       152      43      0.58        81.32  
Box 5     5       158      38      1.22        44.76  
Box 7    10       154      42      0.52        59.91  

A report on the metallurgical test program that includes additional details and photographs is also posted with the release on the company's website.

The metallurgical test program is being supervised by Dr. Terry McNulty, PE, of T.P. McNulty and Associates Inc. of Tucson, Ariz., who is a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 and has reviewed this disclosure.

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