Hinterland Options 1661ha Ballarat Property in White River Gold Play, Yukon

Hinterland Metals Inc. announce that it has signed an option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the 12 claim Ballarat property located approximately 15km to the south of the Golden Saddle zone where Underworld Resources Inc. recently reported notable gold values in drill intersections. Under the terms of the option, Hinterland has agreed to pay the Vendor $40,000 cash, issue 400,000 shares and complete $500,000 of exploration work scheduled over a three year period to earn a 100% interest in the property subject to a 2% royalty on mineral production. Hinterland will have the option to purchase 1% of the royalty for $1 Million and will have the right of first refusal on the remaining 1%. In addition Hinterland has agreed to pay the Vendor an advance royalty of $110,000 upon the completion of a 43-101 compliant report that defines measured or indicated gold resources of 110,000 ounces or more on the property. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval. All securities issued pursuant to the option agreement will be subject to a four month hold period from the date of issue.

The Vendor has been active in the White River area as far back as 1980 when he was involved in placer mining. He first staked the 102 “NEAR” claims in 1990 that covered most of Underworld’s present Black Fox property. In 1996 he re-staked the 12 “KIT” claims at the head of Ballarat Creek to cover a southeast-trending soil geochemical anomaly outlined in 1991 that showed maximum individual values of 811ppb (0.8g/t) gold (Yukon Geology AFR 092982). Quartz boulders on the Kit claims were also reported to return values up to 0.925opt Au. Subject to the option agreement, Hinterland has staked the adjacent 68 “TIK” claims to cover the projected southeastern extension of the geochemical anomaly. Assuming all the staked claims are accepted and recorded by the Yukon Mining Recorder, the Ballarat property will include 80 claims (1661ha) covering the southeastern slopes of Thistle Mountain. Historical cumulative placer gold production from creeks draining Thistle Mountain including Ballarat, Thistle, Kirkman, Sparkling and Barker is reported to be 104,604 ounces in the period 1913 to 2006 (Compiled from Yukon Placer Mining Industry volumes published by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada).