Atna Acquires Copper Project in Chile.

Business Editors

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 11, 2001

Atna Resources Ltd. (TSE:ATN.) is pleased to announce that it has signed an Agreement to acquire a 100% interest in Barreal Seco, a copper oxide and sulphide deposit located in north-central Chile.

The Agreement requires Atna to undertake expenditures of US$250,000 within a 6 month period and to complete a Pre-Feasibilty Study for the exploitation of the oxide resource. It is Atna's expectation that development of the oxide resource, with a low strip ratio (0.20:1), can be completed in less than 3 years to produce a minimum of 10,000 tpy copper cathode from an open-pit mine and SX-EW plant, over a mine life in excess of 10 years.

The Barreal Seco Properties are located in close proximity to infrastructure, at an elevation of 1200 metres, 80 km northeast of the coastal port of Chanaral and 50 km northwest of Codelco's El Salvador smelter/mine complex. Power is available nearby and access is by gravel road from the Pan-American Highway. The cities of Chanaral and Taltal are within commuting distance from the mine site. Past activity at site has included small-scale mining for oxides and sulphides, which were delivered to the Enami concentrator and copper cement facility at Taltal.

The Barreal Seco mining claims were optioned by RTZ Mining and Exploration Ltd from 1992 through 2000 and were recently returned to the property owners. More than 20,000 meters of drilling has been undertaken in the deposit area (2,407 metres by Enami and 17,700 by RTZ) with 85 holes in the oxide resource.

The existing Barreal Seco resources as estimated by RTZ are stated as:

Oxides     17 Mt 0.70% Cu @ 0.30% Cu cut-off
           (Strip Ratio:  0.20:1)
Sulphides  54 Mt 0.65% Cu @ 0.40% Cu cut-off
           (260 Mt 0.34% no cut-off)

The deposit consists of a specularite-rich breccia body of 600 metres length by 180 to 300 metres width and 450 metres depth, hosted in andesitic volcanic and sedimentary rocks. The oxide zone extends 90 to 120 metres below surface followed by a 10 to 20 metre thick enrichment zone, which overlies the hypogene zone. Copper oxide mineralization consists of atacamite, malachite and chrysocolla. Secondary sulphides are mainly chalcocite and covellite. Hypogene mineralization consists of chalcopyrite and pyrite with minor bornite.

Under the Agreement, Atna has a 6 month option period to undertake a minimum work expenditure of US$250,000 on an initial work program designed to advance the project through to a Pre-Feasibility Study. After completion of this work, Atna may exercise its option to enter into a 50:50 Joint Venture with the Barreal Seco property Owners. Further, Atna has the right to purchase the Owners' 50% interest for US$5MM payable in 5 equal annual instalments of $1,000,000 commencing 3 months after commercial production or 30 months after Atna exercises its option during the initial 6 month option period.

Atna is the operator of the Project at all stages of the Agreement and is responsible for arranging the project financing through to commercial production. The right to purchase the Owner's interest becomes an obligation to purchase in the event that Atna determines to make a production decision.

Atna's initial evaluation shows that a minimum 10,000 tpy copper cathode SX-EW mine is economically viable at present market prices. A production decision is expected in mid-2002 and commercial production is within 3 years of the Agreement, assuming that no unexpected delays occur in arranging the necessary permits and financing.

David Watkins, President of Atna said, "I am extremely pleased to have concluded this agreement. It provides Atna with an opportunity to establish a producing mine with positive cash-flow in a short time frame. Atna intends to actively pursue other properties in the area and is planning to use Barreal Seco as a central processing plant acting as a catalyst to unleash the potential of other deposits. We consider that Barreal Seco, with its low entry cost, will provide the first building block to reach our goal of creating a mid-cap mining company. To this end, Atna continues to pursue other attractive strategic acquisitions."