Mr. Michael McPhie reports

CURIS TO FILE PREFEASIBILITY STUDY TECHNICAL REPORT & ANNOUNCES FURTHER DEVELOPMENT CASE SCENARIOS FOR ITS FLORENCE COPPER PROJECT

Curis Resources Ltd. will file the technical report for the prefeasibility study on its Florence copper project in central Arizona, United States, on March 28, 2013. The PFS projects low capital and operating costs and favourable economic potential for the Florence in situ copper-recovery operation.

Results for the base case, utilizing a 70-per-cent copper recovery, were announced on Feb. 13, 2013.

"These engineering evaluations illustrate the robustness of the project under changing economic and operating parameters, confirming both the economic and technical viability and the significant near-term development opportunity associated with the Florence copper project," said Michael McPhie, president and chief executive officer of Curis Resources.

In finalizing the results, it was recognized that preproduction costs associated with developing a production-grade pregnant leach solution would have to be included in the initial capital cost. As a result, estimated initial capital cost has increased to $208-million for the base case from the estimated $196-million announced on Feb. 13, 2013; the internal rate of return at $2.75 per pound copper decreased slightly to 29 per cent; and adjustments in operating cost, total production cost, operating income and net cash flow after tax are less than 1 per cent.

The following are some key aspects and development plans included in the current PFS:

• An extraction plan that utilizes existing facilities and locates the well field, copper processing plant, water management facilities and related infrastructure on the 160-acre ASLD lease area controlled by Curis for the first nine years of operations;
• An annual production scenario averaging 55 million pounds of copper cathode for years one through six, optimum production averaging 85 million pounds of copper cathode during years seven through 21 and a decline thereafter.

Copper-recovery estimates are based on metallurgical test work undertaken by Metcon Research of Tucson, Ariz., and supervised by Dr. Terence McNulty, PE, of T.P. McNulty and Associates Inc. of Tucson, Ariz. (see Curis news release dated Jan. 7, 2013).

The results include costs relating to project site reclamation and water treatment.

The study is based on 339,953,000 tons of probable mineral reserves grading 0.358 per cent total copper at a cut-off grade of 0.05 per cent total copper (see Curis news release dated Feb. 13, 2013).

The PFS report is authored by M3 Engineering & Technology Corp. (U.S.), with input from a number of other specialized and experienced consulting and advisory firms in the areas of hydrology, geology, in situ extraction, oxide metallurgy and cultural resources. Independent qualified persons include Richard Zimmerman, RM-SME, of M3, and Dr. Terence McNulty, PE, of TP McNulty and Associates, who have reviewed this release.

The Florence copper project

The Florence copper project is an advanced-stage copper development project located in central Arizona and owned 100 per cent by Curis. The project site hosts a shallowly buried porphyry copper deposit with a significant oxide mineral resource that is amenable to in situ copper recovery and industry-standard solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) copper production. The Florence deposit was advanced to a prefeasibility-study level of assessment and achieved full project permits when owned by BHP Copper in the late 1990s. Since acquiring the project in 2009, Curis and its consultants have advanced technical studies, culminating in the completion of the current PFS, as well as amending and updating the operational permits for the project through a well-defined and time-limited amendment process.

Project status and near-term development plan

Curis is awaiting approval from the Environmental Protection Agency for an underground-injection-control permit for the Florence copper project phase 1 production test facility, and once received, and after completion of the administrative review process relating to the aquifer-protection permit issued by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, the company plans to initiate formal construction and operations of the phase 1 PTF.

We seek Safe Harbor.