Thierry

Kapkichi Nickel Mines Ltd. conducted the first exploration, geophysical surveys and diamond drilling activities in the area from 1956 to 1958.  In 1969, Union Miniere Explorations and Mining Corporation (UMEX), a Belgium-based company, optioned the Thierry property from Kapkichi Nickel Mines Ltd. and proceeded to carry out intensive exploration and drilling operations to delineate Cu and Ni mineralization.  This exploration focused on four 'high-priority' areas (the K1-1, K1-2, G, and J zones) all of which are located on the Richview property.

The K1-2 zone was the most extensively explored and became the Thierry Mine. 

Initial mining of the Thierry deposit was by two open pits commencing in October 1976 that eventually progressed to underground operations in 1978.   Between 1976 and 1982, UMEX mined and processed 5.8 million tons of ore producing 480.1 million lbs. of copper, making it one of the major copper producers in Canada.  In 1981, UMEX recognized the value of nickel and other elements that occurred in the ore body and revised the mill recovery process to recover that metal.  The change resulted in the production of 15.2 million pounds of nickel and recovery of 17,500 oz. of platinum; 47,000 oz. Palladium; and 17,000 oz. of Gold. UMEX temporarily closed the mine in 1982 due to decline in copper prices.

In 2004, Richview Resources entered into a joint venture with Iberian Minerals ("IZN") to acquire a 75% interest in the property by continuing the detailed exploration and evaluation of the property. Richview commenced a diamond drilling program in 2004 to evaluate the Thierry deposit as well as other zones on the Thierry property. The objective was to follow up the IZN drilling and to confirm the historical UMEX data so that all the previous geological data and sampling could be used to undertake an updated resource calculation on the UMEX mineralized zone and to establish the technical feasibility and economic viability of the project.   A total of fifteen holes for a total of 32,347 feet were drilled on the Thierry Deposit during this program. 

In 2005 additional exploration drilling totaling 16,608 feet was completed on the Thierry Mine property.  The results of this program demonstrated that the mineralized zones are continuous along a 6000 foot strike length and the depth extent of the mineralization was increased to 3000 vertical feet.   Drilling was conducted across the Thierry deposit to provide intersections required to infill information gaps due to a lack of historic data and to prove the continuity of the mineralization. As a result the Company was able to prepare a new resource estimate in September, 2006:

Resource Estimate for the Thierry Underground Deposit

Cutoff grade is based on an NSR value of $45.53/t

* Note: This resource estimate utilizes metric tonnes while the previous estimate (Press Release dated February 17, 2006) included in the report filed on SEDAR was calculated in imperial tons. This change was made to be consistent in the reporting of values in g/t.

(1)     Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.  The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing, or other relevant issues.

(2)     The quantity and grade of reported inferred resources in this estimation are conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define an indicated mineral resource on the property and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in discovery of an indicated or measured mineral resource on the property

The mineral resources in this press release were estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM"), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM Council December 11, 2005.

In addition six drill holes, totaling 10,782 feet, targeted the possible western extension of the Thierry deposit in the area of the K1-1 zone that had been mined by UMEX.  Additional follow up on these results is proposed for 2007.

Geology

The Thierry property lies within the Uchi Greenstone Belt, an area that is known to contain mineralized zones that contain precious metal deposits including gold, silver, and platinum-grade metals.  Lithologies in the belt are characterized by massive to pillowed mafic volcanics intercalculated with chert-magnetite iron formation and metasediments.  The sequence is intruded by ultramafic to gabbroid and gratinoid bodies. 

The main Thierry ore deposit extends over 2,000 meters long and continues to a depth of over three kilometers occurring in a shear structure overlying ultramafic and underlying mafic volcanics.  Similar to any shear-zone deposit, there are predictable areas of dilation and compression where the shear zone bends or splays.  Mineralization,  commonly accumulates in areas of dilation, as these areas are local low-pressure zones, physically favoring sulphide precipitation, and allowing fluid mixing, which can provide a chemical trigger for precipitation.  Unusual for Canadian mines, Thierry's tailings are not acid-producing because of carbonate in the ore.

The presence of platinum group elements ("PGE's") in the Thierry deposit has long been recognized and minor amounts of PGEs were recovered during historical mining operations conducted by UMEX.  Since then, further technical studies have consistently shown that high PGE concentrations coincide with high Cu-Ni concentrations.  The Thierry ore's nickel and PGE content is derived from hydrothermal fluids percolating down from overlying ultramafics.  Copper-Nickel-PGE mineralization can generally be classified into one of three ore types:

• Chlorite Biotite Schist (CBS)
  • Low Grade (1.0% Cu, 0.1% Ni, 0.8 g/tons PGE's)
  • ~ 56% of total ore
• Breccias 
  • High grade (2.95% Cu, 1.29% Ni, 8.64 g/tons PGE's)
  • ~ 40% of total ore
• Massive Sulphides
  • Very high grade (13.8% Cu, 2.3% Ni, 32.4 g/tons PGE's)
  • ~ 4% of total ore

Richview initial internal analysis indicates that the project is economically viable and technically feasible using standard underground mining methods and normal floatation concentration methods to recover all valuable metals.

While there is no established surface mining infrastructure on the Thierry Property remaining from prior mining operations by UMEX (1976-1982).  There is, however, considerable underground development including a three compartment shaft and a decline to a depth of 550 metres. In addition there are development at the 180-, 360-, and 550-meter levels.  In total there are approximately 22 km of underground development completed on the deposit.

This established underground infrastructure reduces the development capital and the time required to conduct detailed exploration and development by enabling the Company to access the underground mineralized zones quickly. The mine only requires dewatering and the Company has all the permits and licenses in place to commence that program.