Final Environmental Impact Statement issued for Canyon Resources' Briggs Gold project

Business Wire, May 30, 1995

GOLDEN, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 1995--Canyon Resources Corp. (NASDAQ:CYNR), a Colorado-based mining company, announced today that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Inyo County have issued the Final Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for the Briggs gold project in the Panamint Valley of southeastern California.

The Final EIS/EIR finds the Briggs Project to be environmentally superior to all other action alternatives considered.

Publication of the Final EIS/EIR sets the stage for issuance of all state, local and federal permits needed for the project. Canyon expects that all permits will be issued by mid-July 1995. Construction of the Briggs Mine will begin immediately upon receipt of permits. Construction is expected to take about seven months with gold production beginning in the first quarter of 1996.

Mineable reserves at Briggs include 658,000 ounces of gold contained in 22.9 million tons of ore with an average grade of 0.029 ounce of gold per ton. Gold production at Briggs is expected to average 75,000 ounces per year over a 7-year mine life.

"Completion of the Environmental Impact Statement/Report is a significant milestone in the development of the Briggs gold mine. We have worked diligently for 2-1/2 years, since the initial permit applications were filed, to assure that the environmental effects of the project are minimized.

"We believe that the EIS/EIR findings recognize our efforts toward environmental protection. Permit issuance and construction of the Briggs gold mine represent an important step for Canyon Resources in its gold production growth to 150,000 to 200,000 ounces per year," said Richard H. De Voto, president.

Canyon produces gold and silver from the Kendall Mine in Montana and is in the permitting and development stage at the 8.2-million ounce McDonald gold deposit in Montana.

The company also produces and sells industrial mineral products from a mine/plant complex in Nevada.

CONTACT: Canyon Resources Corp., Golden

Cheryl Martin or George S. Young, 303/278-8464