New Jersey Mining Company Acquiring Interest In Butte Highlands

COEUR D'ALENE, ID - New Jersey Mining Company has signed a binding Letter of Intent to acquire a 50-percent interest in Butte Highlands Joint Venture LLC (BHJV) from Timberline Resources Corporation.

BHJV owns the high-grade underground Butte Highlands Gold Project, located 15 miles south of Butte, Montana, within a prolific gold-producing region that includes several world-class, multi-million ounce gold deposits including Butte, Golden Sunlight, Montana Tunnels, and Virginia City.

NJMC's interest in Butte Highlands is "carried to production" by the joint venture partner, Montana State Gold Company LLC ("MSGC"), which is funding all mine development costs through to commercial production with NJMC's share of those costs to be repaid from proceeds of future mine production.

To-date, MSGC and prior funding partner, Highland Mining LLC ("Highland"), have invested more than $30-million at Butte Highlands including more than 4,500 feet of underground development and construction of surface facilities for the project, all of which are located on private lands owned by BHJV. Mine and facility construction at Butte Highlands was completed primarily by Small Mine Development Corporation ("SMD"), which also constructed a modern gold mine at NJMC's Golden Chest project.

The project has experienced significant timeline delays due, in part, to miscalculations of the permitting process and other technical issues. However, with the Road Use Permit now issued by the U.S. Forest Service, and the Hard Rock Operating Permit EIS and MPDES Water Discharge Permit also issued in the last 30 months, the project is now fully permitted.

NJMC President John Swallow stated, "The gold mine at Butte Highlands is a natural fit for us as we seek to leverage our mining and milling expertise to expand our base of potential cash flow producing assets. As at Golden Chest, the mine was built by industry leader SMD. We believe that our technical team can help finalize engineering and development of the mine - and while it would entail additional permitting, we also see an opportunity to possibly enhance project economics by constructing an on-site mill."