Canarc Resource - Several Gold Anomalies Delineated at Benzdorp Property, Suriname.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 29, 1997-- Canarc Resource Corp (TSE CCM.) Canarc Resource Corp. (CCM.TSE) announces that several gold anomalies have been delineated by reconnaissance geochemical soil surveys and follow-up deep auger saprolite sampling on the Benzdorp property in southeastern Suriname.

Canarc holds an option to earn an 80 percent interest (100 percent subject to either a 20 percent net profits interest or a 2 percent to 6 1/2 percent net smelter royalty) in Benzdorp from Grassalco, a crown corporation owned by the government of Suriname.

Canarc acquired the Benzdorp property in April, 1996, because it is one of the largest and best known gold producing areas in all of Suriname. Some attributes of the project include:

1. At 1380 sq km, Benzdorp is one of the largest mineral properties in the country.

2. Benzdorp is estimated to have produced over 0.5 million oz. of gold historically, from large scale dredging and small scale placer production of the extensive gold-rich alluvial gravels.

3. Benzdorp continues to produce 30,000 oz. or more of gold each year from shallow alluvial deposits by 200-300 illegal placer miners, or porknockers as they are called.

4. The government geological survey (GMD) discovered several gold and base metal anomalies on the easternmost 5 percent of the property by limited reconnaissance, geochemical stream sediment, and soil surveys in the 1970's and 1980's.

5. Favourable Guyana Shield greenstone rocks and structures are interpreted to extend across the Benzdorp property into several porknocker gold and diamond mining areas.

The most advanced of these gold anomalies is the Jungle Queen A prospect (JQA) which was discovered by the GMD in the 1980's. At that time the GMD had outlined anomalous gold in soils (greater than 0.1 gpt.) covering an area 2.8 km long by 2.5 km wide.

Follow-up soil sampling by Canarc recently defined a higher grade core exceeding 0.5 gpt. gold over an area 700m long by 300m wide. Deep augering to 15m depth within the core of the anomaly has confirmed a broad zone of gold mineralization exceeding 1.0 gpt. gold in quartz stockwork zones and localized shears hosted within a dioritic intrusion. The geology suggests the presence of a gold porphyry-type deposit similar to the 3.0 million ounce Omai mine in Guyana.

Jungle Queen A lies along a north-northeast trending shear zone system that exhibits gold mineralization over at least a 20 km. strike length, from the Lawa River across the Benzdorp property onto the adjoining Antino property of Golden Star Resources. Golden Star recently announced the discovery of the high grade (12 gpt.) Upper Antino gold deposit within the same shear zone system only 7 km. southwest of JQA. It is surrounded to the north and west by Canarc's Benzdorp property.

Reconnaissance soil sampling by Canarc along the property boundary returned anomalous gold values, confirming that the Upper Antino mineralization may in fact extend onto the Benzdorp property. In addition, the 1980's GMD survey also identified a number of very high grade gold-in-soil anomalies extending for 4 km. southwest from JQA towards Upper Antino. The top 13 GMD gold assays in this area ranged from 1.0 gpt. up to 19.3 gpt.

Another significant gold anomaly found by the GMD is the Jungle Queen B prospect (JQB), located 1 km. southeast of JQA. The GMD gold-in-soil anomaly (greater than 0.1 gpt.) covers a 1 km. by 1 km. area and Canarc soil sampling has confirmed several small, higher grade (greater than 0.5 gpt.), core areas, including assays up to 55 gpt. gold.

The JQB gold mineralization is associated with altered quartz- feldspar porphyry dikes intruding volcano-sedimentary rocks, crosscut by another north-northeast trending shear zone system. This shear zone also extends onto the Antino property where Golden Star has drilled a second gold anomaly, known as Lower Antino, near Canarc's Benzdorp property boundary.

Reconnaissance soil sampling by Canarc along the property boundary returned anomalous gold values, confirming that the lower Antino mineralization may also extend onto the Benzdorp property. In addition, the GMD also found a number of very high grade soil anomalies extending 2 km. south from JQB towards Lower Antino. The 13 highest GMD gold-in-soil assays in this area ranged from 1.0 gpt. up to 11.5 gpt.

Canarc also discovered a very large anomalous gold prospect area in the Assici Kreek drainage basin by reconnaissance stream sediment sampling. Based on gold panning results to date, anomalous gold-eye counts indicate an extensive source area covering 9 km. by 3 km. Within this area, BLEG sampling confirmed two higher grade sub-basins assaying up to 0.27 gpt., very anomalous for BLEG values that typically run 0.01 to 0.10 gpt. in non-anomalous areas. Further stream sediment and soil sampling are planned at Assici Kreek in 1997.

There are also unconfirmed reports of diamonds coming out of Assici Kreek. Geologically, the Kreek drains an area of basic and ultrabasic rocks found along a major east-southeast trending crustal break that can be traced on satellite images for more than 100 km. into French Guyana, south of the Dachine diamond prospect of BHP and Golden Star.

Canarc is currently extending the reconnaissance soil sampling survey to the north and south of JQA and JQB and north and west of the Upper and Lower Antino prospects. Follow-up deep augering of gold-in-soil anomolies has recommenced and a diamond drilling program is planned to start within 8 weeks.

Bradford Cooke, President and C.E.O. of Canarc, stated; "Given the immense size and prolific gold mining history of the Benzdorp property, Canarc's chances of finding a large scale gold deposit in the near term appear good. The discovery potential at Benzdorp is an attractive complement to the feasibility program now underway on our 1.4 million oz. Polaris Taku project in northwestern British Columbia.

Canarc Resource Corp. is a growth-oriented, international gold exploration and mining company with active projects worldwide. Major shareholders include Barrick Gold Corp. and Echo Bay Mines Ltd. The Company's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "CCM".

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS CANARC RESOURCE CORP. Bradford J. Cooke, President

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