Florence Copper Project Advances Towards Development

VANCOUVER, July 20, 2011 /CNW/ - Curis Resources Ltd. (TSX: CUV) ("Curis" or the "Company") reports a formal update on activities at the Company's flagship advanced stage Florence Copper project in central Arizona, USA.

"We are very pleased with our progress in advancing the Florence Copper project (FCP) with the goal of completing the feasibility study and necessary amendments to permits to enable near term production" said Michael McPhie, President and CEO of Curis. "A number of significant milestones have been achieved over the past several months. These have further affirmed the development plan and timeline outlined by Company management earlier this year and supporting our confidence in the engineering viability of this world class in-situ copper recovery project".

In summary these developments include:

• Advancing a project feasibility study with targeted completion in Q4 of this year.
  
  
• Advancing the engineering and development work including preparing to issue a request for proposal for an EPCM contract to design and build Phase 1 of the Florence Copper project.
  
  
• Nearing completion of a drill program at the Florence project site that indicates both the anticipated copper mineralization and geological structure of the oxide copper zone.
  


• Continuing to advance project permitting with Arizona State and Federal agencies, this is on track for completion in late 2011/early 2012.

McPhie continued. "As copper markets continue to strengthen, our company is one of the few in the world with the opportunity and ability to advance a low cost high value copper project in the near term. We expect Curis to be able to benefit from continued investor interest in pure copper play companies."

Key milestones and updates for the Florence Project are as follows:

FEASIBILITY STUDY UPDATE

Numerous feasibility level optimization and design studies for the Florence Copper project are now in advanced stages of engineering review and are targeted for completion this fall. The studies are being led by M3 Engineering of Tucson, Arizona with support from a number of prominent engineering firms and consultants with extensive experience in SX/EW technology, hydrogeological engineering and in-situ extraction methodologies (see Press Release issued by Curis on April 12, 2011). These individual studies will be compiled into a comprehensive feasibility study report scheduled for completion in Q4 2011.

The focus of the current studies is to provide +15% capital and operating cost estimates based on the new trade-off studies and updated project plans. These studies build on the pre-feasibility studies completed by Magma Copper Company (1994) and BHP Copper (1997) and updated by SRK Consulting on September 30, 2010 with the issuance of "NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Florence Project". In support of the current design efforts, particular attention has been focused on optimizing or otherwise refining:

• the general plant layout arrangement
• project infrastructure
• plant logistical controls
• manpower
• construction and operating materials requirements
• acid and energy requirements (including sourcing)
• water balance
• water treatment
• metallurgical processes
• well and well field design
• well field operation and controls
• life-of-project copper extraction plans
• project schedules
• operating and post-closure land use

A geological drilling and testing program is also underway at site (see below) and will provide input into an updated block model which will support a revised life-of-project copper extraction plan.

PHASE 1 - EPCM CONTRACT

The first phase of the project is scheduled to be constructed at the Florence site beginning in Q1 of 2012, following the receipt of amended commercial operating permits currently under review by State and Federal agencies. This would be considered as the project "start-up" phase. It will consist of a 24-well copper extraction field constructed to simulate full scale operations. Copper rich solutions from recovery wells will be piped to a new Solvent Extraction/Electrowinning (SX/EW) facility for copper recovery and the plating of pure copper cathode. This phase will also allow the opportunity to field verify several operating parameters and provide supportive engineering data for inputs into final plant design and development.

An Engineering Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) bid package for Phase 1 is currently being prepared by Curis staff. Several prominent Arizona firms that specialize in process engineering and construction have been identified for inclusion on the bidders list. Plant designs will include equipment, processes, control systems and performance factors that will be trialed for acceptance and inclusion in the design of the commercial plant. Contract award is expected in August with primary construction to start in early 2012. A mid-2012 start-up date for the SX/EW plant is forecasted.

DRILL PROGRAM

A 6-hole, 8,000 foot core drilling program was initiated at the Florence Copper project site in late April of this year and is currently in progress. The program consists of 3 holes in the area of the proposed Phase 1 development program, 2 holes on Arizona State Land under mineral lease to Curis, and 1 hole in the area of the former BHP Copper in-situ recovery well field that was operated in 1997. The program is expected to be completed by early August.

Results

The copper oxide zone which is the target for extraction by in situ recovery methods at Florence as observed in the core from this drill program is 400 to 800 feet in thickness and is characterized by chrysocolla veins, chrysocolla and tenorite fracture coatings, and copper clays replacing plagioclase grains in Precambrian quartz monzonite host rock. The quartz monzonite was mineralized by Laramide granodiorite porphyry dikes and intrusive bodies similar to those seen elsewhere in southern Arizona copper porphyry deposits. The host and intrusive rocks are highly fractured, and hence, suitable to the in-situ copper recovery method.

Click the following link to see HQ size core obtained through recent drill program from the Florence Copper Project site: http://files.newswire.ca/980/July_20_2011_Picture.pdf

"The high frequency of prolific fracture patterns and densities observed during the most recent drilling program further confirm that the Florence copper oxide deposit represents the ideal conditions for in-situ recovery of copper. The porous nature of the deposit creates significant hydraulic communication both laterally and vertically across geologic structures and rock types throughout the oxide deposit," stated Dan Johnson, PE, Curis' Manager of Environment and Technical Services at the Florence Copper project.

The drilling program is in support of a feasibility study that is being completed prior to initiating the first phase of development in early 2012. The core holes currently being drilled in the two alternate sites are examining the potential ore blocks for geological continuity, grade, fracture density, rock quality characteristics and other key geological parameters. Results are being used for geological characterization, predictive modeling and to provide details for Phase 1 construction bid preparations.

SRK Consulting (SRK) of Tucson, Arizona is assisting Curis with the geological and geotechnical logging and sample collection of the drill core. Samples have been sent to Skyline Assayers & Laboratories in Tucson for analysis. Visual inspection of the percentage of chrysocolla mineralization in the drill core by SRK geologists indicates the estimated grade ranges fall within the ranges noted by previous operators. Assays are pending.

A single hole has been drilled in the 1997 BHP in-situ well field to analyze geochemical reactions and flow patterns that would have occurred during the BHP production test.

The drill program was supervised by Robert Cluff, P.Geo, Hunter Dickinson Inc., who is a qualified person and has reviewed the drill program section of this disclosure.

PROJECT PERMITTING UPDATE

i.) State and Federal Operating Permit Amendments

Curis began discussions with key State and Federal agencies regarding the need to amend and update permits for the Florence Copper project back in April 2010. In January 2011, Curis submitted a comprehensive application to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) to amend the existing Aquifer Protection Permit (APP) for the Florence Copper Project. The submission of this application formally commenced the amendment review process by ADEQ. In early March 2011, ADEQ acknowledged to Curis that it had completed the "Administrative Completeness Review" process of the permit documents, and was engaged in the technical review process.

In March 2011, Curis submitted a separate application to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to transfer, with amendments the BHP Copper's Florence Copper Inc. Underground Injection Control (UIC) Class III Permit to Curis Resources (Arizona) Inc. The submission of this application formally commenced the amendment review process by EPA. In May 2011, EPA acknowledged to Curis that they had completed their "Administrative Completeness Review" process of the permit documents and was engaged in the formal technical review process.

Both the APP and UIC permits were previously granted to BHP Copper for the Florence Copper Project in 1997. These two permits are the primary permits required for an in-situ recovery operation and will allow Curis to proceed towards the Phase 1 development program and ultimately full commercial production. Curis has been interacting in parallel with experienced technical individuals of both federal and state regulatory agencies to address questions and supply all necessary information in a timely review process to expedite the reissuance of these permits for public review and comment in the fourth quarter of 2011. As a result of the positive and respectful relationships that have been developed between Curis and these two regulatory agencies, the final permits remain on schedule to be re-issued by late 2011/early 2012.

ii.) Town of Florence

In May of this year, Curis submitted an application to request a major amendment to the Town of Florence's General Plan as well as to re-zone a portion of the Company's property that is situated within the boundaries of the town. The consideration of these applications is now underway by Town of Florence staff.

Community Affairs and Outreach

Curis has an extensive community outreach program underway. This program is being led by an experienced team of professionals employed by Curis and supported by several well known Arizona based consulting firms.

Curis is committed to full openness and transparency in all of its work and to date has held five "open houses", taken more than 350 people on personalized site tours and given numerous presentations to community organizations.

"The Florence Copper project has been recognized as a tremendous opportunity for local communities and the State of Arizona in terms of near term economic development and stable, high paying head of household jobs," commented McPhie. "The project enjoys a strong majority of support within the local community and region and" as a company and as a management team, we fully appreciate the need to maintain an active dialogue with all groups and are fully committed to openness and transparency in all of our activities."

For more information about the Florence Copper Project and its projected economic impacts and benefits to the local community, please go to www.florencecopperproject.com.

About Curis

Curis Resources Ltd. is a mineral development company associated with Hunter Dickinson Inc., a diversified global mining company with a 25-year history of mineral development success. Curis is focused on the acquisition, development and operation of high-quality next-generation copper properties in progressive jurisdictions around the world. It is currently focused on advancing its 100% owned Florence Project in Arizona USA to production.

For more project-level information, sign up for the Florence Copper Projects' e-Newsletter.

For further details on the Company, please visit www.curisresources.com or contact Susie Bell, Manager of Investor Relations, at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114.

Michael McPhie
President & CEO

No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved of the information contained in this news release.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include fluctuation in market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continuity of mineralization, uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary environmental, land use and other permits, approvals, licenses and title on a timely basis and delays due to third party opposition, changes in government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company's continuous disclosure filings that are available at www.sedar.com.