Canplats Resources Corporation: Positive Preliminary Assessment For Camino Rojo Gold Project

10:02 am EDT, Monday October 19, 2009

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Oct. 19, 2009) - Canplats Resources Corporation (TSX VENTURE:CPQ - OTC:CPQRF) is pleased to announce the completion of a positive Preliminary Assessment on the 100%-owned Camino Rojo gold project located in Zacatecas state, Mexico. The Preliminary Assessment was prepared by Mine and Quarry Engineering Services Inc. ("MQes") of San Mateo, California, under the direction of Mr. Christopher Kaye, an independent qualified person under Canadian National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"). MQes has been engaged to complete a Prefeasibility Study for the project.

The Preliminary Assessment supports open-pit, heap-leach mining of oxide and transitional mineralization at the Represa deposit. The study does not examine the extensive sulphide mineralization that exists at Camino Rojo, which represents an additional opportunity for Canplats and will be the subject of further studies. Highlights of the Preliminary Assessment, using base case prices of US$750 per ounce gold and US$13.50 per ounce silver, are:

- Base case ultimate pit containing 1.71 million ounces gold and 34.2 million ounces silver (74.9 million tonnes grading 0.71 g/t Au and 14.2 g/t Ag) with a low strip ratio of 0.7 to 1.

- Average annual production of 122,300 ounces of gold and 902,100 ounces of silver over a 10.4 year mine life at a net cash operating cost of US$340 per ounce of gold (including silver credits).

- Initial capital costs estimated at US$133.8 million.

- A pre-tax internal rate of return ("IRR") of 32.5% and a net present value ("NPV") of US$194.9 million at a 5% discount rate, increasing to 65.7% IRR and a US$477.2 million NPV at current metal prices of US$1,036 per ounce gold and US$17.19 per ounce silver (as of Oct. 6, 2009). (my bolding for emphasis)

Table 1: Camino Rojo Preliminary Assessment - Financial Analysis 
  
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                                     Undiscounted          NPV at 
                                        Cash Flow     5% Discount       IRR 
 Price           Gold      Silver   (millions US$)  (millions US$)       (%) 
 Scenario     (US$/oz)    (US$/oz)            (ii)            (ii)      (ii) 
 --------------------  ---------------------------------------------------- 
 Base Case        750       13.50           313.4           194.9      32.5 
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                  850       15.30           457.5           296.8      44.7 
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                  950       17.10           601.6           398.7      56.5 
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 Spot (i)       1,036       17.19           711.9           477.2      65.7 
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 (i) Source: www.kitco.com on Oct. 6, 2009 
  
 (ii) Amounts are on a Pre-Tax Basis

The Preliminary Assessment is based upon resources estimated by Mr. Douglas Blanchflower, P.Geo., of Minorex Consulting in a 43-101 compliant technical report dated January 5, 2009 and entitled "Technical Report on the Mineral Resources of the Camino Rojo Property". Mr. Howard Steidtmann of MQes, an independent qualified person under NI 43-101, used the Minorex resource estimate and Pit Optimization Package (POP!) software to estimate in-pit resources of 74.9 million tonnes grading 0.71 g/t Au and 14.2 g/t Ag containing 1.71 million ounces gold and 34.2 million ounces silver. These in-pit resources included only oxide and transitional mineralization within measured and indicated classifications, and excluded inferred resources and sulphide mineralization.

Table 2: Camino Rojo Preliminary Assessment Summary (i)(ii)(iii) 
  
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   Production Summary 
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 Processed Tonnes (iv)                          74.9 million 
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 Average Gold Grade (iv)                        0.71 g/t 
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 Average Silver Grade (iv)                      14.2 g/t 
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 Processing Rate (Tonnes Per Day)               20,000 
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 Mine Life (Years)                              10.4 
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 Weighted Average Gold Recoveries               75% 
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 Weighted Average Silver Recoveries             27% 
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 Average Annual Gold Production                 122,300 Ounces 
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 Average Annual Silver Production               902,100 Ounces 
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   Estimated Costs 
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 Mining Cost - Life of Mine                     US$248.6 million 
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 Processing Cost - Life of Mine                 US$284.7 million 
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 G&A Cost - Life of Mine                        US$31.5 million 
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 Total Operating Costs - Life of Mine           US$564.8 million 
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 Total Capital Cost Estimate                    US$133.8 million 
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 (i)   All monetary values in U.S. dollars. 
 (ii)  The PA is preliminary in nature and there is no certainty that 
       the PA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral 
       reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. 
 (iii) Base case metal prices of US$750 per ounce gold and US$13.50 per 
       ounce of silver were used 
 (iv)  Material processed does not meet NI 43-101 requirements for 
       Ore (reserves)

A technical report entitled "Preliminary Assessment based on the Report Titled Technical Assessment of the Camino Rojo Project, Zacatecas, Mexico" and dated October 16, 2009 will be filed on SEDAR and can be found on Canplats' web site. http://www.canplats.com/s/Home.asp

The Camino Rojo project hosts measured and indicated resources estimated using a 0.2 g/t gold grade cutoff for oxide and transition materials and a 0.3 g/t gold grade cutoff for sulphide materials to be 3.44 million ounces of gold and 60.7 million ounces of silver at the Represa deposit with additional inferred resources of 0.56 million ounces of gold and 7.6 million ounces of silver (see Table 3 below).

The Represa deposit is situated in flat terrain within an area of excellent infrastructure, less than 5 kilometers from a paved highway and high voltage power lines. Canplats is actively pursuing the acquisition of surface rights in the Represa area.

Mr. Christopher Kaye, an independent qualified person under NI 43-101 and principal author of the Preliminary Assessment, has verified the data disclosed in this news release.

Table 3: Represa Deposit Mineral Resource Summary (i) 
  
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                  Size                  Grade 
              ----------------------------------------     Gold   Silver 
                Tonnes    Gold  Silver    Zinc    Lead   Ounces   Ounces 
 Category    (Millions)   (g/t)   (g/t)     (%)     (%)  (000's)  (000's) 
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 
 Measured         9.58    0.76   13.40    0.34    0.29      235    4,126 
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 Indicated      153.81    0.65   11.44    0.37    0.18    3,210   56,582 
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 Total M&I      163.39    0.66   11.56    0.37    0.19    3,445   60,708 
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 Inferred        31.03    0.56    7.63    0.31    0.10      555    7,612 
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 (i) Based upon a cut-off grade of 0.2 grams gold per tonne for oxide 
     and transitional resources, with a cut-off grade of 0.3 grams gold 
     per tonne for sulphide resources.

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