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Reports Results of Copper Creek Project Scoping Study

posted on Feb 27, 2009 09:22AM
February 27, 2009
Redhawk Reports Results of Copper Creek Project Scoping Study
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Feb. 27, 2009) - Redhawk Resources, Inc. ("Redhawk" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:RDK)(FRANKFURT:QF7), through its wholly owned subsidiary Redhawk Copper, Inc., is pleased to announce the results of a Scoping Study (Preliminary Assessment) on its 100% owned Copper Creek Project located in the Bunker Hill Mining District, Pinal County, Arizona. The Scoping Study was prepared by KD Engineering of Tucson, Arizona under the direction of Joseph M. Keane, P. Eng., of KD Engineering pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators. The Scoping Study is based upon NI 43-101 compliant resource estimates prepared by Independent Mining Consultants ("IMC") of Tucson, Arizona and released on October 29, 2008. Golder Associates, Milne & Associates, WestLand Resources, Call & Nicholas Engineers, and METCON, all well recognized consulting firms, contributed to the Scoping Study authored by KD Engineering. All dollar numbers in this news release and in the Scoping Study are in $US.

The Scoping Study financial analysis is pre-tax and based upon an initial mining rate of 2,500 tons per day ("TPD") in near surface breccia resources and increasing to 10,000 TPD as the deeper porphyry resources get developed. Using a copper price of $2.25 per pound, $15.00 per pound molybdenum, $600 per troy ounce gold, $10 per troy ounce silver, and $1000 per pound rhenium, the economic analysis results in a pre-tax NPV of $80.8 million and an IRR of 11% at a 7.5% discount rate. The breakeven copper price is $1.80 per pound (NPV of zero at a zero discount rate). At a 7.5% discount rate, a NPV of zero is produced at a copper price of $2.09 per pound. The NPV of the project based upon the approaches and costs utilized in the Scoping Study at various discount rates is shown below:

Discount Rate          Pre-Tax NPV

0%                 $ 545.2 million
5%                 $ 175.6 million
7.5%               $  80.8 million
10%                $  18.3 million
Joe Sandberg, President of Redhawk, commented: "The Scoping Study is a thorough and conservative baseline starting point to evaluate and improve the economics of the Copper Creek project. The Scoping Study was initiated in May 2008 when metal prices were well above levels seen today and correspondingly many of the costs used were also at higher levels. A 25% to 30% contingency has also been built into this financial analysis. Redhawk believes the Copper Creek project has considerable upside both in terms of exploration potential of the district and potential enhancement of the project economics. The Company has identified numerous factors that reasonably can be expected to dramatically improve the project economics. These include reduction of the current 5.25% net smelter royalties; potential open pit production from the Old Reliable breccia deposit (briefly discussed in the Scoping Study); realization of significant gold and silver credits from the Keel and American Eagle deposits with additional assay information; possible reduction in mining costs in certain of the breccias if development shows ground conditions to be better than the current study anticipates; and the discovery of additional high grade resources from the 80% of Copper Creek which has not been explored including more than 400 additional known breccias. Redhawk, along with many others in the mining industry, believes that metal prices will recover to better levels as the world economies improve and Copper Creek, which could be in operation in a three to five year time frame, will be a very attractive US based project when this occurs."

A summary of the inputs, methodology, and results of the Scoping Study are discussed below. For complete information on the Scoping Study inputs, methodology, and results, the reader is referred to the complete Scoping Study that will be posted on SEDAR.com.

The Copper Creek property consists of more than 5,000 acres (2,030 hectares) in one contiguous block on the west flank of the Galiuro Mountains, approximately 75 miles (121 km) north east of Tucson, Arizona. The Copper Creek resources consist of numerous "higher grade" breccia hosted deposits and deeper "porphyry like" deposits of Laramide age and situated within the southwest porphyry copper province of North America. The deposits host significant copper mineralization, many with strong molybdenum contribution, and by-product silver and gold.

IMC estimated Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resources of the Copper Creek project at cutoff grades of 0.75% copper equivalent ("CuEq") in the breccia deposits and 0.60% CuEq in the porphyry deposits as follows:

                   Tons
Category         (short)    Cu%     Mo%   Au opt    Ag opt      Pounds (Cu)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured
 (breccia)    5,898,000   1.41   0.013     0.002     0.128     166,722,000

Indicated
 (breccia)    1,411,000   1.76   0.034     0.003     0.106      49,556,000

Indicated
 (Keel)      20,025,000   0.90   0.022   not est.  not est.    360,450,000

Inferred
 (breccia)    2,091,000   1.37   0.027     0.008     0.063      57,293,000

Inferred
 (Keel/AE)  157,126,000   0.75   0.016   not est.  not est.  2,356,890,000

(% equals percent; opt equals troy ounces per short ton; not est. equals
not estimated in resource due to insufficient number of assays from
historical data; CuEq equals Cu + 6.67 x Mo + 13.33 x Au + 0.27 x Ag as
this reflects metal recovery and production costs)
The Scoping Study base case involves initial mining from the surface and near surface breccia resources at a rate of 2,500 TPD increasing to 10,000 TPD as the Keel and American Eagle ("AE") porphyry deposits are developed. Mining in the breccias is anticipated to be a combination of blast hole stoping with fill and mechanized cut and fill methods. Mining in the Keel and AE is anticipated to be post-pillar room and pillar with engineered fill. Based upon the above mining rates and methods, cutoff grades of each of the deposits were calculated using $2.25/pound (lb) copper, $15.00/lb molybdenum, $600/troy ounce (oz) gold, $10.00/troy oz silver, and $1000/lb rhenium. The breakeven cutoff grades used were 1.00% CuEq for the Childs, Prince, and Globe breccia deposits; 1.30% CuEq for the Mammoth and Old Reliable breccia deposits; and 0.70% CuEq for the Keel and American Eagle deposits. Indicated economic resources are shown in the table below:

Indicated Economic Resources

Deposit              Tons (short)      Cu%      Mo%   Au opt     Ag opt
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Childs                 1,523,000    1.822    0.065     0.005      0.156
Prince                   433,000    2.132    0.005     0.001      0.083
Globe                     92,000    1.267    0.003         0      0.048
Mammoth                1,854,000    1.985    0.001     0.001      0.173
Old Reliable             581,000    1.524    0.014     0.003      0.100
                     --------------------------------------------------
Subtotal Breccias      4,483,000    1.869    0.003     0.003      0.147
                     --------------------------------------------------

Keel (Ind. + Inf.)    48,925,000     0.92    0.028   not est.   not est.
AE (Inf.)             64,200,000     0.83    0.015   not est.   not est.
                     --------------------------------------------------
Subtotal Porphyry    113,125,000    0.869    0.021   not est.   not est.
                     --------------------------------------------------

Grand Total          117,608,000    0.907    0.020
                     --------------------------------------------------
                     --------------------------------------------------
At a mill feed rate of 3.6 million tons per year (10,000 TPD), this would indicate a mine life of approaching 30 years, depending upon mining recovery rates. Due to the recent downturn in the price of copper, a higher cutoff grade than the breakeven cutoff grade of 0.70% CuEq, indicated for the Keel and American Eagle deposits, was considered more appropriate to use as a base case. At a 0.90% CuEq cutoff grade, the resulting indicated and inferred tons and grades for both deposits is shown in the table below:

Indicated Economic Resources for Keel and American Eagle at 0.90% CuEq
 Cutoff

Deposit              Tons (short)      Cu%      Mo%   Au opt     Ag opt
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Keel (Ind. + Inf.)    26,450,000    1.120    0.039   not est.   not est.
AE (Inf.)             27,463,000    1.010    0.017   not est.   not est.
                     --------------------------------------------------

Grand Total           53,913,000    1.106    0.028   not est.   not est.
                     --------------------------------------------------
                     --------------------------------------------------
The smaller tonnage is still generally contained in discreet blocks, or lenses, that lend themselves to good stoping shapes for efficient mining. At the 3.6 million tons per year mill feed rate, the resource would indicate about 10.5 years of mine life using a 70% mining recovery. As the first 3 to 4 years of production are from the breccias, the remaining years of production are from the Keel and AE resources that are above 0.80% CuEq cutoff to complete a minimum mine life of 20 years. At a cutoff grade of 0.80% CuEq, an additional 23 million tons, at an average grade of 0.97% copper and 0.024% molybdenum, would become available extending the mine life to over 21 years.

Capital expenditures in the Scoping Study are estimated as shown below:

Mine Development       $268,159,000

Tailings Facility        26,455,000

Environmental             2,029,000

Plant and Equipment      92,454,000
                       ------------

TOTAL MINE AND MILL    $398,098,000
                       ------------
                       ------------
The current mining plan calls for a phased approach with the majority of the capital contributions spread over the initial three years of mine development.

Operating costs used in the Scoping Study are shown below:

Direct Mine Operating Costs       US$ per ton
---------------------------------------------
Prince                                  31.06
Globe                                   31.06
Childs                                  31.06
Mammoth                                 35.32
Old Reliable                            35.32
Keel                                    18.02
American Eagle                          18.02

Process Costs                     US$ per ton
---------------------------------------------
2,500 TPD                               14.31
10,000 TPD                               9.15
Estimated process recoveries used in the Scoping Study are shown below:

Copper - (Childs, Mammoth, Globe, OR)     95%
Copper - Keel, AE                         90%
Molybdenum                                80%
Gold                                      40%
Silver                                    90%
R. Joe Sandberg, CPG, President and Director of Redhawk Resources is the qualified person within the meaning of N1 43-101 who supervised the preparation of the information that forms the basis of this news release.

About Redhawk

Redhawk is a Canadian-based resource exploration and development company with primary focus on the accelerated development of its advanced stage Copper Creek copper-molybdenum project in San Manuel, Arizona. The Company also has two gold/silver properties in Nevada.

The 100% owned Copper Creek property consists of approximately seven square miles of almost totally contiguous patented and unpatented mining claims and state prospecting permits, located about 70 miles northeast of Tucson, Arizona and about 15 miles east of San Manuel. The property is in the prolific southwest US porphyry copper belt at the projected intersection of a major northwest belt of porphyry copper deposits or mines (Ray, Miami/Globe, Superior/Resolution, Johnson Camp) and a major east-northeast belt of porphyry deposits (San Manuel/Kalamazoo, Silver Bell, Lakeshore, Safford, Morenci). The property is within sight of the former BHP Kalamazoo/San Manuel copper smelter and mine and within 30 miles of an existing operating copper smelter. The area is a mining friendly and politically secure location with excellent and readily accessible infrastructure.

Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The Scoping Study (preliminary assessment) includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary assessment will be realized.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

R. Joe Sandberg, President
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