Chief Consolidated Mining Co. Signs Proposal for Joint Venture with Kennecott Exploration Co.

EUREKA, Utah, Feb, 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Chief Consolidated Mining Co., ("Chief") announces today that it has signed a non-binding proposal for an earn-in with option to Joint Venture between Kennecott Exploration Co. ("Kennecott"), a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, and Chief on the Company's Big Hill Project located in the East Tintic Mining District Utah, USA. The Big Hill Project is focused on developing a porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum target located on claims presently owned by Chief or its wholly or partially owned subsidiaries.

Under the terms of the proposal, Kennecott may earn a 51% interest in the Big Hill Project by completing a prefeasibility study or incurring $20,000,000, whichever occurs first, and a further 4% interest by sole funding all Project costs until delivery of a feasibility study accepted by the Rio Tinto investment committee. The proposal is subject to final due-diligence and execution of definitive agreements satisfactory to both parties.

The Big Hill porphyry target is located in the Tintic Mining District near Provo, Utah. A stockwork of quartz vienlets occupies the core zone of the target area with a lithocap superimposed on the stockwork, a process termed as telescoping. Lithocaps usually define the shallow parts of porphyry copper systems typically above the main Cu-Au/-Mo zone.

Separate and excluded from the Kennecott agreement, Chief owns additional properties in the District that it proposes to develop. These include but are not limited to, the Trixie Mine, the Ball Park target, the Burgin Mine Complex and mill plus many other former producing mines.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Signed "Gordon Blankstein"

CEO, Chairman  

This release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities to/from any person, nor there any sale of such securities in any jurisdiction in which it is unlawful to make such an offer or solicitation.  A number of statements in this press release are forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act 1995. These forward-looking statements involve a number of projects, compliance with environmental legislation and local environmental rule, laws and procedures, the ability to raise capital to ensure optimization of budgetary planning and other factors described in the Company's filings with SEC. The actual results that the Company may achieve may differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties.

Contact: Gordon Blankstein, +1-604-682-2168

SOURCE Chief Consolidated Mining Co.