Cornerstone signs option agreement with Great Western
Minerals Group Ltd on Chaleur REE property in
northern New
Brunswick
Mount Pearl, NL, Canada: Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc.
("Cornerstone") (TSXV-CGP) (F-GWN) (B-GWN) (OTC-CTNXF) today
announced
that it has signed a formal option agreement ("the option agreement")
granting Great Western Minerals Group Ltd (TSXV-GWG) ("Great
Western")
the right to earn a 51% interest in Cornerstone's Chaleur rare earth
element (REE) property in northern New Brunswick. The general terms of
an earlier letter agreement ("the letter agreement") between
Cornerstone and Great Western respecting a portion of the Chaleur
property were previously announced on May 19, 2010 (see Cornerstone
News Release:
http://www.cornerstoneresources.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=400541).
Under the option agreement the size of the subject property has
increased from 200 mineral claims (the letter agreement) to 380 claims
and, as a result, the underlying payment and work commitments have been
revised. Great Western fulfilled its initial commitments under the
letter agreement by issuing to Cornerstone 25,000 GWN shares and
expending a minimum of $50,000 on exploration. Upon execution of the
option agreement, Great Western made a cash payment to Cornerstone of
$35,000 and will issue an additional 65,000 GWN shares following
receipt of regulatory approval. Great Western may elect to make further
payments of cash and shares totaling $75,000 and 340,000 respectively
during the next three years and incur additional exploration
expenditures totaling $1,350,000. The parties will then form a joint
venture to further explore and develop mineral resources on the
property. Great Western is operating the exploration programs during
the option period in conjunction with their on-going Benjamin River REE
project located adjacent to the Chaleur property.
"This option agreement validates Cornerstone's prospect generation
business model," said Brooke Macdonald, President, Cornerstone Capital
Resources Inc. "Our shareholders will benefit not only from the
infusion of cash and shares from Great Western but also from their
funding of a significant exploration program that is likely to greatly
enhance the value of the Chaleur property."
The Chaleur property is underlain by the Siluro-Devonian
Chaleurs
Group, which comprises bimodal felsic and mafic volcanic rocks with
minor intercalated sedimentary units. Locally these rocks are intruded
by small bodies of Silurian or Devonian granites. In the district, a
number of copper-iron skarn prospects are known in the
metamorphic
aureole of these intrusions. Great Western has been exploring its
Benjamin River project immediately to the north where a number of heavy
rare earth element enriched, apatite-diopside-magnetite
dykes occur
adjacent to one such intrusion.
2010 Exploration Program and Results
During 2010 Great Western completed exploration programs on two
separate project areas on the Chaleur property: i)
Claim Group 5323
(200 claims); and ii) Claim Group 5720 (180 claims). Exploration work
included reconnaissance geological mapping, prospecting, mobile metal
ion (MMI) soil geochemistry surveys and follow up bedrock chip
sampling.
The MMI soil samples were collected at a grid spacing of 50 m x 100 m,
and focused on areas where previous work by Cornerstone had identified
anomalous REE concentrations in outcrop and stream sediment samples. A
total of 819 MMI soil samples were collected over the east-central
portion of Claim Group 5323, and 564 samples were collected over the
southern portion of Claim Group 5720. With the exception of several
isolated anomalies, the majority of MMI REE anomalies are concentrated
along the banks and flood plains of streams and brooks. On Claim Group
5720, rock chip sampling of rhyolite outcrops exposed
along the banks
of two streams immediately above the MMI soil anomalies did not return
significant REE values. Planned exploration work during 2011 will focus
on identifying the source of the MMI soil anomalies utilizing more
detailed geochemistry surveys, geological mapping and prospecting.
All MMI soil samples were prepared and analysed at
SGS Minerals
Services (SGS) in Toronto, ON utilizing the MMI-M package. Rock chip
samples were prepared and analyzed for REE and whole rock by lithium
metaborate fusion and ICP-OES at SRC (SRC) Geoanalytical Laboratories
in Saskatoon, SK. Both SGS and SRC follow strict QA/QC protocols which
includes the insertion of blanks, duplicates and standard reference
materials into the sample stream.
This press release was prepared by Terry Brace, P.Geo., Cornerstone's
VP Exploration and a Qualified Person (QP) in accordance with National
Instrument (NI) 43-101. Exploration programs on the Chaleur property
are being carried out under the supervision of John Pearson, P.Geo.,
Great Western's VP Exploration and a QP in accordance with NI 43-101.
About Cornerstone
Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration company
based in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, with a
diversified portfolio of projects in Canada, Ecuador and Chile, and a
strong technical team that has proven its ability to identify, acquire
and advance properties of merit. The company's business model is based
on generating exploration projects whose subsequent development is
funded primarily through joint venture partnerships. The company is
well funded and commitments from JV partners constitute significant
validation of the strength of Cornerstone's projects.
About Great Western
Great Western Minerals Group Ltd is an integrated Rare Earths
processor. Its specialty alloys are used in the battery, magnet and
aerospace industries. Produced at the Company's wholly owned
subsidiaries Less Common Metals Limited in Birkenhead, U.K. and Great
Western Technologies Inc. in Troy, Michigan, these alloys contain
aluminium, nickel, cobalt and Rare Earth Elements. As
part of the
Company's vertical integration strategy, GWMG has signed an Off-take
Agreement for 100% of the Rare Earth Elements produced at the former
producing Steenkampskraal mine in South Africa and
holds 70.2%
ownership in Rare Earth Extraction Co. Ltd., the owner of the
Steenkampskraal mine. GWMG also holds interests in
seven Rare Earth
exploration and development properties in North America.
Cautionary Notice:
Certain statements contained in this press release may be considered as
forward-looking. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from estimated or implied results. While Cornerstone anticipates that
subsequent events may cause its views to change, it expressly disclaims
any obligation to update the Forward-Looking Statements contained
herein.
Further information is available on Cornerstone's website:
www.cornerstoneresources.com or for investor, corporate or media
inquiries, please contact:
Investor Relations:
Email: communications@crigold.com
North America toll-free: 1 (877) 277-8377
Martti Kangas - Direct
Line: 1 (647) 521-9261
Paul Benwell / Pat Kairns -
Direct Line: 1 (514) 904-1333
Investors can access and join the following Cornerstone social media
channels:
Facebook
(http://www.facebook.com/cornerstoneresourcesinc)
Twitter (http://twitter.com/Cornerstone_cgp)
YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/CornerstoneResource)
Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cornerstoneresources)
The link to a recent CEO video interview is:
http://www.cornerstoneresources.com/i/media/SHCornerstone.asx
The link to recent CEO audio interviews is:
http://www.cornerstoneresources.com/s/Interviews.asp
The link to a recent Corporate presentation with narration is:
http://www.cornerstoneresources.com/s/Presentations.asp
On Behalf of the Board,
H. Brooke Macdonald
President
Further information is available on the Cornerstone Web site at
www.cornerstoneresources.com; via e-mail at communications@crigold.com;
or toll free at 1-877-277-8377.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as
that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange)
accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.