Buchans & benton to commence 2011 exploration program at long range - goldquest among targets to be drilled

Jun. 9, 2011 (Canada NewsWire Group) --

Trading Symbol: TSXV: BMC
Shares Outstanding: 150,898,545

WINDSOR, NS, June 9, 2011 /CNW/ - Buchans Minerals Corporation (TSXV: BMC) ("Buchans Minerals") and Benton Resources Corp. (TSXV: BTC) ("Benton") or the "Companies" are pleased to announce that an exploration program has begun on the Long Range 50/50 joint venture property in central Newfoundland. The program is primarily focused on advancing exploration for gold at the recent Goldquest gold discovery (announced January 10, 2011) and surrounding area, as well as testing select base metal targets. At Goldquest, previous prospecting identified abundant mineralized quartz vein material containing trace to several percent sulphides and assaying up to 106.38 g/t gold and 364.3 g/t silver in float as well as grab samples from outcrop assaying up to 8.52 g/t gold and 30.7 g/t silver.  Of a total of 42 samples collected from mineralized quartz float and bedrock, assays for gold and silver range between 5 ppb and 106.4 g/t gold (average 6.93 g/t Au) and between 0.2 g/t and 364.3 g/t silver (average 92.6 g/t Ag).

At Goldquest, the Companies will undertake further prospecting as well as trenching in advance of diamond drilling. The Companies will also conduct exploration for gold on their recently expanded land position surrounding Goldquest, where the Companies acquired 241 additional claims (6,025 ha), expanding the Joint Venture's land position to 45,050 hectares (450.5 km²).

In addition to exploring for gold, the Companies intend to advance exploration on select base metal targets, including the Range copper prospect, where potential exists for discovery of significant copper-bearing massive sulphide deposit. Initial work will include further geophysical surveys to determine the extents of mineralization along strike and down dip of recently completed drilling that confirms the prospect is host to a 7 to 13 metre thick zone of copper-bearing, semi-massive to massive sulphides that remains open in several directions (announced April 20, 2011).

The approved budget and program comprises a firm budget commitment of $0.5 million focused largely on further exploration for gold and select base metal targets (Phase 1).  The Companies have also earmarked a conditionally approved budget for additional drilling of select targets for a total conditionally approved budget of $1 million for 2011.

Warren MacLeod, President and CEO of Buchans Minerals stated. "Together with Benton, we are delighted to resume work on our Goldquest discovery and look forward to future results from this new discovery and other prospects within our Long Range Joint Venture."

Qualified Person:
Paul Moore, M.Sc., P.Geo., (NL), Buchans Mineral's Vice President of Exploration, is acting as Qualified Person in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 with respect to this release and has reviewed the contents for accuracy.

About Buchans Minerals:
Buchans Minerals is an Atlantic Canada based resource company that is focused on exploring and developing mineral properties in New Brunswick and the historic Buchans mining camp in central Newfoundland, Canada.

About Benton Resources:
Benton is a Canadian based junior with multiple joint ventures and a diversified property portfolio in Gold, Nickel, Copper, and Platinum group elements.  The Company currently has approximately $13.2 million in cash, owns approximately 57.9 million shares of Coro Mining Corp. (TSX.COP), holds approximately 348,000 shares of Stillwater Mining Company (NYSE:SWC), holds 782,500 shares in Marathon Gold Corp. (TSX.MOZ), holds 1.6 million shares in Puget Ventures (TSX-V.PVS), holds approximately 6.47 million shares of Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd. (TSX-V.MMV), and holds 815,000 shares of Bell Copper Corporation (TSX-V.BCU).  Benton is currently in the process of spinning out the majority of its assets by a plan of arrangement into a new listed company in order to separate its investment in Coro Mining from its cash, equities and exploration assets.  Benton shareholders will receive a pro-rata interest in this new company via one new common share for each share held as of the effective date as yet to be determined and pursuant to regulatory approval.

Forward Looking Statements:
Certain information contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Although Buchans Minerals and Benton (the "Companies") believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, they can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. The Companies caution that actual performance will be affected by a number of factors, many of which are beyond their control, and that future events and results may vary substantially from what the Companies currently foresee. The Companies' forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.