Benton Options Forester Lake Property to Parkside Resources and Provides Equity Financing
THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 04/04/11 -- Benton Resources Corp. ('Benton') (the 'Company') (TSX VENTURE: BTC) and Parkside Resources Corp. ('Parkside) ('PRC'), a company organized pursuant to the British Columbia Business Corporations Act, are pleased to announce that they have signed an option and joint venture agreement which grants PRC an option to acquire up to a 70% interest in the Forester Lake gold property, located approximately 100 km north of Pickle Lake, Ontario and approximately 25 km southeast of Goldcorp's Musselwhite Gold Mine in the North Caribou Greenstone Belt (the 'Property'). The Property is owned 100% by Benton and was acquired by staking.
In order for PRC to earn a 60% interest (the 'Initial Option') in the Property it must issue to Benton 1 million common shares on signing and make cash payments totaling $50,000 and spend $300,000 in exploration on the Property (with a minimum of $100,000 in each 12 month period following execution of the agreement) over a three year period. PRC can earn an additional 10% interest (taking its interest to 70%) by spending an additional $700,000 in exploration over a period of three years following the exercise of the Initial Option. In addition, Benton will provide equity financing to PRC totaling $200,000 (including $150,000 in flow-through financing) in exchange for 2 million common shares (taking Benton's interest in PRC to 3 million shares). Parkside is a reporting issuer however its shares do not currently trade on any exchange.
The Property is underlain by several bands of tightly folded iron formation, a similar geological setting to the gold bearing host rocks at the Musselwhite Mine. Historic drilling on the Property has intersected gold mineralization in several drill holes including 16.2 gpt (grams per tonne) gold over 0.5 metres, 12.3 gpt gold over 1.5 metres and 13 gpt over 0.9 metres. The Company has recently completed a high definition airborne magnetic survey over the property and has identified magnetic features (folding iron formation) directly associated with some of the above gold intercepts.
Parkside and Benton are planning an aggressive exploration program to evaluate this exciting gold project.
Stephen Stares, President and CEO of Benton commented 'We are very pleased to complete this transaction and look forward to Parkside receiving their listing. The Forester Lake project possesses excellent exploration potential and lies in close proximity to the multi-million ounce gold-producing Musselwhite mine with similar magnetic features.
Donald Goldman, President and CEO of Parkside added 'we are looking forward to working with the Benton Resources team. They have a proven track record of sourcing out quality projects.'
The above agreement is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.
About Benton
Benton is a Canadian based junior with multiple joint ventures and a diversified property portfolio in Gold, Nickel, Copper, and Platinum group elements. The Company currently has approximately $15.6 million in cash, owns approximately 55.4 million shares and 2.43 million warrants in Coro Mining Corp. (TSX: COP), holds approximately 348,000 shares of Stillwater Mining Company (NYSE: SWC), holds 782,500 shares in Marathon Gold Corp. (TSX: MOZ), holds 1.6 million shares in Puget Ventures (TSX VENTURE: PVS), holds 4 million shares of Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: MMV), and holds 815,000 shares of Bell Copper Corporation (TSX VENTURE: BCU). Benton is currently in the process of spinning out the majority of its assets by a plan of arrangement into a new listed company in order to separate its 41.6% investment in Coro Mining from its cash, equities and exploration assets. Benton shareholders will receive a pro-rata interest in this new company at a ratio as yet to be determined and pursuant to regulatory approval.
About Parkside
Parkside Resources Corporation is a Canadian based mineral exploration company dedicated to building shareholder value through focused exploration, discovery and development of high quality precious and base metal projects. The Company has entered into an Option and Joint Venture Agreement with Benton Resources Corporation to explore the Forester Lake Gold Property which is located approximately 100km north of Pickle Lake, Ontario and roughly 25km southeast of Goldcorp's Musselwhite Gold Mine. Parkside Resources Corporation is a reporting issuer in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta.
Clinton Barr (P.Geo.), V.P. Exploration for Benton Resources Corp., is the qualified person responsible for this release.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Benton Resources Corp.,
Stephen Stares, President
Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties.
THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
Contacts:
Benton Resources Corp.
Stephen Stares
President
(807)475-7474
(807)475-7200 (FAX)
www.bentonresources.ca
Investor Relations
Clair Calvert
204-799-2086