Mr. Michael McPhie reports

FLORENCE COPPER PREFEASIBILITY STUDY DEMONSTRATES POSITIVE ECONOMICS

Curis Resources Ltd. is releasing the results of the prefeasibility study (PFS) on its Florence copper project in central Arizona, United States. 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.

The PFS supports the findings of the company's September, 2010, preliminary economic assessment (PEA) projecting low capital and operating costs and favourable economic potential.

Highlights of the outcomes of the base-case analysis are as follows:

• The base-case economics utilize a $2.75-(U.S.)-per-pound long-term copper price and an average design production rate of 55 million pounds (27,500 tons) of copper per year in the first five years, rising to 85 million pounds (42,500 tons) in year 6.
• The base-case economics indicate a pretax net present value (NPV) of $748-million (U.S.) at a 7.5-per-cent discount rate with an internal rate of return of 38 per cent and a pretax 2.4-year payback of initial capital.
• At a $3.00-(U.S.)-per-pound copper price, the pretax NPV increases to $875-million, and the project has an IRR of 41 per cent.
• The life-of-project direct operating cost is estimated at 79 U.S. cents per pound of copper recovered.
• Initial capital costs are estimated at $196-million (U.S.). This represents an 18-per-cent decrease from the initial capital cost estimate presented in the 2010 PEA. The commercial operating life of the project has also been extended from 19 to 25 years.
• Operations will occur on land owned by and leased by Curis from the Arizona State Land Department for a total of 13 years. The first nine years of copper production will occur exclusively on ASLD land and are scheduled to begin in 2016. In year 10, production would expand onto private patented land owned by Curis.

"Completion of a positive prefeasibility study for the Florence copper project is a critical milestone for Curis," said Michael McPhie, president and chief executive officer of Curis Resources. "The study further confirms the robust economic potential indicated by the company's 2010 PEA. And with capital and operating costs that are estimated to be among the lowest in the global copper industry and a revised near-term development plan now in place that provides a clear path to commercial operations, the PFS demonstrates both the economic and technical viability of the Florence copper project."

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. Curis is now amending and updating these operational permits through a well-defined and time-limited amendment process with a goal of initiating copper production at a phase 1 production test facility in late 2013. BHP operated a successful ISCR production test at the Florence copper project in 1998 that confirmed the viability of utilizing in situ production techniques for extracting copper. The production test and an extensive groundwater monitoring program over the past 16 years have also conclusively demonstrated that ISCR techniques can be operated without adverse impacts to local or regional groundwater quality.

Details of the prefeasibility study results

A summary of the PFS results based on long-term copper prices of $2.75 (U.S.) and $3.00 per pound is tabulated.

         FLORENCE COPPER PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDY FINANCIAL MODEL RESULTS          

                                       Base case by M3 at    Base case by M3 at
Category                                      $2.75 Cu/lb           $3.00 Cu/lb

Years of commercial production                         25                    25
Total copper produced (pounds)              1,695 million         1,695 million
Initial capital costs ($)                    $196-million          $196-million
Payback of capital
(pretax/after tax)                    2.4 years/2.9 years   2.4 years/2.9 years
Internal rate of return (pretax)/
internal rate of return (posttax)                 38%/31%               41%/34%
Life-of-mine direct operating cost
($/pound Cu recovered)                              $0.79                 $0.79
Life-of-mine total production cost
($/pound Cu recovered)                              $1.09                 $1.11
Pretax net present value
(7.5% discount rate and long-term
$2.75-per-pound copper price)                $748-million          $875-million
Posttax net present value
(7.5% discount rate and long-term
$2.75-per-pound copper price)                $505-million          $632-million
Total number of years of production
on Arizona state land                                  13                    13

Initial capital costs include an average contingency of 20 per cent.

Key aspects and assumptions of the prefeasibility study

The following are some key aspects and development revisions that have been included in the PFS. These represent key changes or modifications to the plans for developing the project as compared with the development plan included in the 2010 PEA:

• A revised 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;
• A revised annual production scenario averaging 55 million pounds of copper cathode for years 1 through 6, optimum production averaging 85 million pounds of copper cathode during years 7 through 21 and a decline thereafter;
• Updated total copper recovery estimates announced in Curis's Jan. 7, 2013, news release (copper recovery estimates in the PFS based on work undertaken by Metcon Research of Tucson, Ariz., and supervised by Dr. Terrence McNulty, PE, of T.P. McNulty and Associates Inc. of Tucson, Ariz.);
• Inclusion of 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 Cu at a cut-off grade of 0.05 per cent total Cu.

M3 completed the PFS of the ISCR operability of the Florence copper project utilizing industry-standard criteria.

Richard Zimmerman, RM-SME, of M3, co-ordinated overall compilation of the PFS and was involved with process design, infrastructure, capital and operating costs, and economic analysis, with contributions from Dr. Terrence McNulty, PE, of TP McNulty and Associates (metallurgy and leaching recovery); Michael Young, RM-SME, Haley & Aldrich (hydrology, recoverable resource estimates, extraction methods and schedule, environmental studies, and reclamation); and Corolla Hoag, CPG, RM-SME, of SRK Consulting (geology and mineral resources, 2010, 2011). All are qualified persons that are independent of the company and have reviewed this release. David Copeland, PEng, a qualified person who is a director of Curis and supervised the work on behalf of the company, has reviewed and approved the content of this release. A technical report documenting the PFS will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days.

Project status and near-term development plan

Curis is awaiting approval from the Environmental Protection Agency for an underground injection control permit for its phase 1 production test facility at the Florence copper project. The company will initiate formal construction and operations of a phase 1 PTF once the UIC permit is received.

We seek Safe Harbor.