Heatherdale Completes Acquisition of Niblack Mineral Development Inc. & Niblack Project, Assembling Team to Advance Project

VANCOUVER, Jan. 18, 2012 /CNW/ - Further to its previous announcements, Heatherdale Resources Ltd. ('Heatherdale' or the 'Company') announces the successful completion by court-approved plan of arrangement (the 'Arrangement'), of the acquisition of Niblack Mineral Development Inc. ('Niblack'). Heatherdale has acquired all the outstanding common shares of Niblack in exchange for the issuance of 19,221,578 Heatherdale common shares, and now holds a 100% interest in the Niblack copper-gold-zinc-silver project located in southeast Alaska, USA.

Under the Arrangement, former shareholders of Niblack received 0.50 common shares of Heatherdale for each common share of Niblack. Each unexercised warrant that was outstanding at closing has been amended to give the warrantholder the right to purchase the number of Heatherdale shares equal to 50% of the number of Niblack shares subject to such warrant, at an exercise price of C$1.20 in the case of warrants that have a current exercise price of C$0.45 and C$1.73 in the case of warrants that have a current exercise price of C$0.65. All unexercised options at closing have been cancelled for C$0.01 per option. Niblack will be delisted from the TSX-V on or about January 20, 2012.

'Consolidating the ownership of the Niblack Project in Heatherdale will provide more flexibility for development and financing options, and enable us to move forward more aggressively with the project to the benefit of all shareholders. We are very optimistic about our future as 100% owner of the Niblack Project and the potential to progress toward a development decision' said Chairman Scott Cousens. 'It is on this positive note that we would like to welcome the Niblack shareholders to Heatherdale.'

A total of 235 surface core boreholes and 164 underground core boreholes have been drilled on the Niblack property between 1975 and late 2011, identifying six volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits within only ¼ of the six miles of a prospective horizon that lies on the property. Of this, over 143,000 feet in 146 holes (136 underground and 10 surface) have been drilled by Heatherdale since 2009 when the Niblack Joint Venture was established.

This work expanded both the Lookout and Trio deposits, outlining significant mineral resources that laid the foundation for engineering and scoping studies initiated in 2011. At a US$50 net smelter return (NSR) cut off(1), these mineral resources comprise 5.6 million tonnes in the indicated category grading 0.95% copper, 1.75 g/t gold, 1.73% zinc, 29.52 g/t silver and an additional 3.4 million tonnes in the inferred category grading 0.81% copper, 1.32 g/t gold, 1.29% zinc, 20.10 g/t silver. Within the indicated resources in the Lookout deposit there is a continuous high grade zone which, at a US$150 NSR cut off, comprises 1.2 million tonnes grading 1.71% copper, 3.21 g/t gold, 3.83% zinc, 62.68 g/t silver.

'Tremendous value has been added to the project over the last three years. The mineral resource in the Lookout and Trio deposits has been significantly enhanced and a robust geological model has been established that is already demonstrating outstanding opportunities to expand the known deposits and find additional high grade copper-gold-zinc-silver mineralization throughout the property,' stated Patrick Smith President and CEO of Heatherdale. 'The project has improved with each level of work completed and I am excited to take Niblack into the next stage of work that includes advanced engineering and economic evaluation. This is the first step in our plans to advance prefeasibility-level studies in 2012.'


Moving Forward in 2012

Plans for 2012 include work to support the completion of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) early in the year, advancement of geotechnical studies and additional metallurgical testwork for a prefeasibility study. The Company will also undertake and a surface exploration program that involves drill-testing of priority targets.

To further advance the Company's engineering efforts, Dr. David Stone has joined the management team as Executive Vice President Project Development. David is a professional mining engineer whose career spans 30 years of engineering and financial consulting on underground and surface mining projects worldwide. He has managed and led multi-disciplinary projects through pre-feasibility and feasibility level evaluations and construction, and has contributed to the engineering, design and construction of several mines. His expertise will be invaluable to Heatherdale through the engineering, prefeasibility and feasibility studies and development phases.


About the Niblack Project

Niblack's location at tidewater on Prince of Wales Island in southeast Alaska presents a number of project benefits, including year-round marine access, a well-trained labour force, a mature supply and service sector, proximity to Asian markets, and the support of community and Alaska Native corporation partners. The project is located 27 miles (44 km) from Ketchikan, a community of 8000 people with important services to support project development, including a deep water port and international airport. The State's burgeoning minerals industry also enjoys a competitive tax regime and stable, predictable permitting and regulatory oversight coordinated by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' 'Large Mine Permitting Team'. For reference, Hecla's Greens Creek, a 2,100-ton per day underground massive sulphide mine, operates 225 miles (370 km) to the northwest of Niblack on Admirality Island.


About Heatherdale

Heatherdale Resources Ltd. is a Vancouver-based exploration and development company focused on advancing the high-grade mine development opportunity at the Niblack Project. It also holds a 60% interest, with the option to acquire 100% in the mid-stage Delta copper-lead-zinc-gold-silver project, located in east-central Alaska. Heatherdale is associated with the Hunter Dickinson group, which has a track record of successful mineral exploration and development projects around the world.

Mark Rebagliati, P. Eng., a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101, is supervising the exploration and quality assurance and quality control programs on behalf of Heatherdale and has reviewed the content of this release.


On behalf of the Board of Directors

Patrick Smith
President and CEO



Neither the 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.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed 'forward-looking statements'. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the Company expects, are forward looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continuity of mineralization, uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary permits, licenses and title and delays due to third party opposition, changes in government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company's continuous disclosure filings that are available at www.sedar.com.


Information Concerning Estimates of Indicated and Inferred Resources

This news release uses the terms 'indicated resources' and 'inferred resources'. Heatherdale advises investors that although these terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations (under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize them. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into reserves. In addition, 'inferred resources' have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of Inferred Mineral Resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, or economic studies except for Preliminary Assessment as defined under 43-101. Investors are cautioned not to assume that part or all of an inferred resource exists, or is economically or legally mineable.

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(1) US$50 Net Smelter Return (NSR) cutoff uses long-term metal forecasts: gold US$1150/oz, silver US$20.00/oz, copper US$2.50/lb, and zinc US$1.00/lb; Recoveries (used for all NSR calculations) to Cu concentrate of 95% Cu, 56% Au and 53% Ag with payable metal factors of 96.5% for Cu, 90.7% for Au, and 89.5% for Ag; to Zn concentrate of 93% Zn, 16% Au, and 24% Ag with payable metal factors of 85% for Zn, 80% for Au and 20% for Ag. Detailed engineering studies will determine the best cutoff.

The November 2011 resource estimates were completed by Deon Van Der Heever, Pr. Sci. Nat., Senior Manager Mineral Resources for Hunter Dickinson Inc. (HDI), a Qualified Person who is not independent of the Company. For further details see Heatherdale News Release dated November 29 2011. The 2011 mineral resource estimates were reviewed and verified by SRK Consulting (SRK), and an updated NI-43-101 technical report has been filed on www.sedar.com.



CONTACT:

on Heatherdale Resources Ltd., please visit the Company's website at www.heatherdaleresources.com or contact Investor Services at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114.