Commencement Of Drilling At Bear Copper Deposit

VANCOUVER, BC - Quaterra Resources Inc. and its subsidiary Singatse Peak Services LLC (SPS) announced that exploration drilling has commenced at the Bear deposit, a large porphyry copper system located on the Company's 51-square-mile property in the historic Yerington Copper District of Nevada.

The 22,500-foot, five- to seven-hole drill campaign follows an announcement on June 15, 2015, that SPS intends using US$7.1 million in option payments by Freeport-McMoRan Nevada LLC to explore and define the Bear deposit. Freeport Nevada is a wholly owned subsidiary of Freeport Minerals Corporation, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. ("FCX").

Boart Longyear has been selected as the drill contractor. Each hole will include Rotosonic drilling to bedrock followed by coring to total depth. Drill results will be released starting before the end of the year. Drilling is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2016.

Quaterra has also performed a magneto telluric (MT) geophysical survey over the Bear target area, consisting of 108 stations at 250 meter spacing. Data processing is in progress. It is anticipated that the MT survey may assist in the detection of major fault structures, intrusive rock types and alteration patterns, all of which may be used to gain a better understanding of the Bear deposit, and to assist in drill site selection.

Quaterra President and CEO Steven Dischler says this year's drilling will focus on the Bear deposit because of its large footprint and potential to contain copper grades above district averages. "The Bear deposit as presently known covers at least two square miles. We are excited to have an opportunity to drill and test the potential northerly extension of this large mineralized system in the Yerington District," says Dischler. "With success, the Bear deposit could be a catalyst to expedite development of the entire district."

 

The Bear deposit was explored forty to fifty years ago by two major companies. Quaterra has consolidated key acreage covering the area of the Bear deposit and has compiled data from 125,000 feet of historic drilling in 49 drill holes that indicate the deposit is still underexplored and open in several directions. Quaterra, however, does not treat earlier historic resource estimates of the Bear as current mineral resources. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify historic estimates as a current mineral resource. Additional drilling is required to confirm the extent and grades of mineralization at the Bear, and to bring any resource estimate in line with NI 43-101 standards.

The Bear deposit is one of three known copper deposits on Quaterra's 51-square-mile property at Yerington, a district with a rich history of successful copper production. Quaterra's land position also contains the Yerington pit previously mined by Anaconda and the MacArthur deposit. Quaterra has invested some US$28 million in the Yerington District since 2006, and has released oxide and sulfide resources at MacArthur and Yerington, and a preliminary economic assessment at MacArthur. It also owns valuable water rights in the district and has additional water rights under option. Together, Quaterra's Yerington assets have the potential to be transformed into a large-scale, long-life copper mining operation.