Eagle Plains/Bluefire Enter into Option Agreement on K-9 Project, South-Eastern British Columbia

Cranbrook, B.C., May 12, 2011: Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (EPL:TSX-V) and Bluefire Mining Corp.(a private B.C. company) have entered into an agreement whereby Bluefire may earn an interest in the K-9 copper-gold property, located in south-eastern British Columbia. Under terms of the agreement, Bluefire has the option to earn a 60% interest in the 9,760 ha property by completing $5M in exploration expenditures, making $500,000 in cash payments, and issuing 1.0M common shares to Eagle Plains over 5 years. Eagle Plains will maintain a 4% Gross Metal Royalty on the claims, which may be reduced to 2% upon payment of $2M. 

The K-9 property is located 30km west of Kimberley and covers the projected northern extension of the Iron Range structure, currently the focus of ongoing exploration by Eagle Plains and its partner Providence Resources Ltd. The property surrounds the historic Great Dane Crown grants. The target mineralization on the K9 property is stratabound massive sulphides within Creston Formation rocks possibly related to the same regional structure as the Iron Range deposits.

In the early 1900’s, miners drove a 300-foot tunnel at the Great Dane to exploit a 1.8 meter wide stratabound lens of silver-bearing lead-zinc-copper sulphides. Channel sampling of this mineralization in the mid 1980’s returned values including 20.29 ounces per ton silver, 2% Cu, and 61.50% lead across a width of 0.6 meters, 18.2 ounces per ton silver and 45.40% lead across 0.6 meters and 10.12 ounces per ton silver and 32.60% lead across 0.5 meters.(BCMEMPR AR 15309) The parties caution that past results or discoveries on proximate land are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the K9 property.

After acquiring the area surrounding the Great Dane Crown Grants in 1996, work by Eagle Plains identified a 7m-deep shaft sunk within a 2.7m-wide massive pyrrhotite lens, located at a similar elevation, and directly on strike with, the Great Dane adits. Grab samples of the massive sulphides returned values of up to 27.6 g/t Ag, and 2.13% Cu. The 1996 work also delineated a strong, 1.5 kilometer-long geochemical anomaly which indicates that one or more mineralized horizons may be present within the property area. Results from an airborne geophysical survey flown in 2004 by Eagle Plains indicate a number of anomalous electromagnetic responses which appear to be related in part to the known mineralized zones. These zones remain untested.

The K9 claims cover a steeply dipping package of phyllitic quartzites and dolomitic limestones belonging to the Proterozoic Creston and Kitchener Formations. The mineralization at the Great Dane and K9 adits appears to be related to a near vertical structure which may be part of the regional Iron Range Fault Zone. 

Bluefire and Eagle Plains plan to carry out an airborne geophysical survey during the summer of 2011 and intend to follow up results of this work with additional exploration activity. 

Update on Eagle Lake Project

Sandstorm Resources Ltd has recently notified Eagle Plains that it will not proceed with its option on the Eagle Lake U – REE Project, located 30 km south of the Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan. Work by Eagle Plains and Sandstorm has led to the discovery of basement hosted uranium mineralization on the property. 

The Red October showing has been defined in over 270 meters of strike length in trenches, within a geochemical anomaly of over 500 meters strike length associated with an airborne geophysical anomaly of greater than 1 kilometer. Samples collected from the showing and trenches returned exceptional uranium assays including a 1.0 m yellow-stained chip sample which returned 1.56% U3O8 and a grab sample of a yellow-stained black alteration selvage which returned 2.24% U3O8. The mineralization is associated with intrusions and meta sediments of the Wollaston Group.

The claim region is part of a newly recognized >300km long belt of U - REE-bearing pegmatites and intrusions within the Wollaston Domain defined by numerous new properties currently under investigation by Eagle Plains and which is seeking a partner to continue to advance this exciting project. 

About Eagle Plains Resources 

Eagle Plains continues to conduct research, acquire and explore metal projects throughout western Canada. In addition to holding mining royalties on various projects, Eagle Plains controls over 35 gold, base-metal and uranium projects, several with third parties including Aben Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:ABN), Providence Capital Corp., Waterloo Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:WAT.P), Windstorm Resources Inc., Blackrock Resources Ltd. (a private B.C. company); Heemskirk Canada Ltd., Touchdown Capital Inc. (TSX-V: TDW), Active Growth Capital (TSX-V:ACK) and Giyani Gold Corp. (TSX-V:WDG). In recent years, Eagle Plains has completed option agreements with Teck Limited (TSX:TCK.B), Alexco Resource Corp. (TSX-V:AXR), Billiton Metals, Rio Algom Exploration, NovaGold Resources, Kennecott Exploration and numerous other junior exploration companies, resulting in over 53,600m (163,370’) of drilling and over $28.3 million in exploration spending on its projects since 1998. 

Expenditures during 2010 on Eagle Plains’ projects were approximately $3,240,000, funded by Eagle Plains and third party partners. This work resulted in approximately 3,580m of drilling and extensive ground-based exploration work and facilitated the advancement of numerous projects at various stages of development.

Signed,

“Tim J. Termuende”
President and CEO

For further information on EPL, please contact Mike Labach at 1 866 HUNT ORE (486 8673)
Email: mgl@eagleplains.com or visit our website at http://www.eagleplains.com

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Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.