Sonoro and Northern Empire Expand Hilltop Land Position

VANCOUVER, BC - Sonoro Metals Corp. and Northern Empire Resources Corp. announced the acquisition through staking of 23,880 acres (9,664 hectares) to expand the Hilltop Gold Project located 90 km southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska.

Pursuant to an option agreement the two companies have expanded the size of Hilltop, from 7,840 acres to an aggregate 31,720 acres, through claim staking. The new claim block is comprised of 147 - 160 acre State of Alaska claims and 9 - 40 acre State of Alaska claims. The Hilltop block is now contiguous with Northern Empire's Richardson Property to the east.

John Robins, Northern Empire's Chairman said, "We have effectively quadrupled the size of our land position because of an opportunity identified by our technical team. Hilltop now covers a significant geophysical magnetic and resistivity anomaly generated by a State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Survey airborne survey completed in 1994 and also consolidates claims covering prospective structural extensions."

Kenneth MacLeod, President & CEO, added, "Through the engagement of Northern Empire as the operator of the Hilltop project, we have been able to expeditiously capitalize on the extensive regional knowledge of the Northern Empire technical team to secure the compelling exploration targets surrounding the original Hilltop property."

Northern Empire holds a 100% interest in the block of claims forming the Hilltop project within the broader Richardson Gold District (excluding placer gold). Hilltop is an exploration stage gold project located 90 km southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska and 70 km northwest of Delta Junction in east-central interior Alaska. Hilltop is located approximately 75 km from Sumitomo's Pogo mine (4.973 million ounces at 12.5 g/t gold.