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2008 Drilling Significantly Increased Resource and Produces Improved Mine Plan and Agreements With Mitsubishi Materials Corporation Progressing

Posted on: Thursday, 16 April 2009, 13:04 CDT

VANCOUVER, April 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Copper Mountain Mining Corporation ("CMMC" or the "Company") is pleased to report the Company continues to advance the Copper Mountain Project towards production by mid 2011. Discussions with Mitsubishi Materials Corporation ("Mitsubishi") continue, long lead equipment items have been ordered and site work is progressing as planned and under budget.

Site activities continue to be funded with the $28.75 million line of credit provided by Mitsubishi. To date, the Company has drawn approximately 50% of the line of credit to fund long lead equipment items, and support ongoing project activities to maintain the target production schedule for mid 2011. Detailed engineering and site geotechnical excavations for the concentrator are progressing on schedule. The office and warehouse complex is now fully functional with: power, heat, water, telephones, internet, and sewerage. The Company and Merit Consultants International Inc. (Construction Manager) have completed refinements to the development program and have adjusted the construction schedule to take advantage of seasonal activities and the cost benefits of the current economic downturn. Prices for construction materials are currently more favourable than originally anticipated in the Feasibility Study. It is estimated that the project will provide employment for 200 construction workers at its peak and the ongoing operations will create 257 full time positions.

The Company reports that the 2008 drilling has been very successful in increasing the resource of the property to approximately 5 billion pounds of copper based on the updated resource prepared by Gary Giroux of Giroux Consultants Ltd. of Vancouver British Columbia, an independent qualified person as defined by Canada's National Instrument 43-101 and includes all of the Company's drilling up to the end of 2008. A comparison of the updated resource is provided in the table below:

Measured Plus Indicated Resources ------------------------------------------------------------------ 2008 Feasibility Study April 2009 Resource Updated Resource ------------------------------------------------------------------ Tons Grade Copper Tons Grade Copper Cutoff SDT Cu Lbs. SDT Cu Lbs. (Cu %) (000's) (%) (000's) (000's) (%) (000's) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.15 365,920 0.304 2,224,800 518,600 0.311 3,229,102 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.20 260,220 0.357 1,858,000 359,560 0.373 2,681,634 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.25 185,960 0.411 1,528,600 256,610 0.433 2,224,360 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.30 137,910 0.459 1,266,000 189,180 0.490 1,855,702 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- Percent Increase ---------------------------------- Tons Grade Copper Cutoff SDT Cu Lbs. (Cu %) (000's) (%) (000's) ----------------------------------------- 0.15 41.7% 2.3% 45.1% ----------------------------------------- 0.20 38.2% 4.5% 44.3% ----------------------------------------- 0.25 38.0% 5.4% 45.5% ----------------------------------------- 0.30 37.2% 6.8% 46.6% -----------------------------------------

Total tonnes to the mill under the updated production plan have increased by 20% above the feasibility study results and the mine life has been extended by three years. Average head grade in the first 10 years of operation has been increased 7.69% to 0.42% Copper, which resulted in payable copper increasing by 407 million pounds or 37% over the previously reported total in the feasibility study. Likewise, payable gold and silver were also up by 109,461 oz gold and 876,709 oz silver respectively over the life of the mine. This all combined has had a very positive effect on the valuation of the project.

The following updated mine schedule and production plan was prepared based on the updated resource prepared by Giroux Consultants Ltd. A comparison of the Company's feasibility study to the updated mine schedule and production plan is provided in the table below:

Comparison Of Feasibility Study with 2009 Updated Production Plan As At April 2009 Feasibility April 2009 % Description Study Study Increase Increase ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tonnes Milled (000's) 175,818 211,184 35,366 20.12% Head Grade (LOM) 0.33% 0.36% 0.03% 9.39% Payable Copper (000's Lbs) 1,080,030 1,487,836 407,806 37.76% Payable Gold (Oz) 323,830 433,291 109,461 33.80% Payable Silver (Oz) 3,205,943 4,082,652 876,709 27.35% -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Negotiations of the agreements with Mitsubishi, including a Shareholders' Agreement, Management Agreement, Concentrate Sales and Purchase Agreement and Share Subscription Agreement, whereby Mitsubishi may purchase a 25% interest in the Copper Mountain Project, are now nearing completion, but which remain subject to the ongoing discussion and the approval by both company's board of directors. Accordingly, the Company and Mitsubishi have extended the MOU signed last year to April 30, 2009 to provide the necessary time to finalize the agreements and a possible extension to the MOU

Quality Assurance

The Company employs a system of quality control for drill results which includes the use of blanks, certified reference material (standards) and check assaying. Core is logged on site and split with a diamond saw. Samples are shipped to Pioneer Laboratories for geochemical analysis of copper with all values of greater than 1000 ppm copper being re-analysed by assay methods for copper, gold and silver. The drilling program was being supervised by Peter Holbek, M.Sc., P.Geo., a qualified person as defined by National Policy Instrument 43-101.

About Copper Mountain Mining Corp.:

CMMC is a BC resource company managed by an experienced team of professionals with a solid track record of exploration and development success. The Company's shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "CUM". The Company currently owns 100% of Copper Mountain Project which holds the mineral claims and crown grants over the 18,000 acre mine site. CMMC's goal is to develop the Copper Mountain Project as a mid tier copper and precious metal mine to produce approximately 100 million pounds of copper per year by mid 2011. Additional information is available on the Company's web page at www.CuMtn.com.

On behalf of the Board of COPPER MOUNTAIN MINING CORPORATION "Jim O'Rourke" Jim O'Rourke Chief Executive Officer

Note: This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future events or results. Readers are referred to the documents, filed by the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, specifically the most recent reports which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to review or confirm analysts' expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statement.

SOURCE Copper Mountain Mining Corporation

Source: PR Newswire

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