Rimfire Minerals Corporation. Vancouver, B.C., TSX.V : RFM

Rimfire explores for precious and base metals in British Columbia, Yukon Territory, Australia, Nevada and Alaska.

The Company has cash in highly liquid term deposits which is sufficient to fund operations for at least two to three years, including continued exploration expenditures, and has no need for immediate financing.

The Company will strive to identify opportunities that may arise during this downturn in order to build the Company and its exploration portfolio.

The Phase I program on the Grizzly Project, BC, completed at the end of July, resulted in a correlation between surface mineralization at the Grizzly Showing and geophysical anomalies identified in the IP program. A second IP target with coincident molybdenum-gold-copper soil geochemistry occurred on the Mirko grid. The Phase II drilling program targeting these anomalies was completed in early October.

Encouraging trenching results from the Boulevard Project in Yukon were followed up with a diamond drill program from September – October, 2008. In coordination with the drill program, an IP, ground magnetometer and soil survey was completed to aid in refining drill targets.

In the Lachlan Fold Belt of Australia, exploration has progressed from the initial reconnaissance programs completed in early 2008.

The Company has since completed an IP survey on the Springfield Property and a diamond drilling program on the Walmer Property.

Current and former partners include:

• AngloGold Ashanti Limited
• Barrick Gold Corporation
• Newmont Mining Company
• Inmet Mining Corporation
• Northgate Minerals Corporation
• Fronteer Development Group Inc.
• Rubicon Minerals Corporation
• American Creek Resources Ltd.
• Island Arc Exploration Corporation
• Jaguar Minerals Limited
• BWG

Gillis Property, British Columbia

The Gillis Property, covering 6,182 hectares, is located in the Nicola Mining Division of British Columbia, approximately 30 kilometers south of Merritt. The Company signed an option agreement effective September 5, 2008 to earn a 100% interest in the property by funding a total of $300,000 in exploration and making cash payments totaling $165,000 by the third anniversary. The vendor will also be paid 2.5% of annual exploration expenditures until a positive decision to mine. Upon a public announcement by Rimfire of a NI 43-101 compliant gold resource of at least 500,000 oz, the Company will issue 250,000 shares to the vendors.

Grizzly Property, British Columbia

The Grizzly Property, covering 2,652 hectares, is located in the Liard Mining Division of British Columbia, approximately 50 kilometres east of the Galore Creek project and within four kilometres of the partially completed Galore Creek access road. The Company owns a 100% interest in these claims, subject to an underlying 2% NSR, 100% of which can be purchased for $2 million.

Inmet Mining Corporation signed an option agreement to acquire the Grizzly Property effective January, 2008. Under the terms of the agreement, Inmet can earn a 60% interest by funding at least $5 million in exploration at the Grizzly over four years, including $800,000 in the first year, which has now been completed. Inmet will make staged cash payments totalling $250,000 over the earn-in period, including $50,000 received upon signing.

Jake Property, British Columbia

The Jake Property, covering 27,754 hectares, is located in Kamloops Mining Division of British Columbia, approximately 13 kilometres west of Clearwater, BC. The Company signed an option agreement effective October 29, 2005 to earn a 100% interest in the Jake claims (1,204 hectares), subject to a 4% NSR, half of which can be purchased for USD$2 million. The Company will make cash payments totalling USD$300,000 over ten years and has completed the required $300,000 (Canadian) in exploration expenditures. The surrounding claims were staked to cover geology prospective for high grade intrusion-related and orogenic gold mineralization.

Effective May 14, 2007 the Company signed an option agreement with Island Arc Exploration Corporation (“Island Arc”) whereby Island Arc will earn a 51% interest in the Jake Property by incurring $1,750,000 in exploration expenditures by March 31, 2010. In addition, Island Arc will make the underlying vendor payments, and issue 600,000 shares to the Company over the earn-in period of the agreement. An additional 250,000 shares will be issued upon announcement of a NI43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate.

Quesnel Trough, British Columbia

The Quesnel Trough Project, covering 36,060 hectares, is located in the Cariboo and Omineca Mining Divisions of British Columbia. Eight properties comprise the project and are located from 15 kilometres south of Prince George to 40 kilometres north of Fort St. James. The Company owns 100% of these claims. Exploration is targeting possible porphyry copper – gold mineralization based on regional geophysical anomalies.

A brief reconnaissance program was completed on the properties in late May in preparation for an exploration program consisting of mapping, soil sampling and IP geophysics to be carried out in the 2009 exploration season. The Company is seeking a partner to move this project forward.

Boulevard, Yukon Territory

The Boulevard Property, consisting of 310 claims, is located approximately 135 kilometres south of Dawson City, Yukon. The Boulevard Property is held jointly by Rimfire and Northgate Minerals, with each company having funded the initial $330,000 in exploration that led to staking of the property. To date, Northgate has funded approximately $1.4 million of the required $1.5 million in exploration expenditures to earn an additional 10% interest (for a total of 60%) in the property.

The exploration program was conducted under an Exploration Alliance with Northgate signed in December, 2005. This alliance targeted "Pogo-style" intrusion-related gold deposits in an area fitting the model criteria and possessing placer gold deposits without a known bedrock source. The Boulevard area was selected from a much larger regional compilation and reconnaissance silt sampling program that led to the identification of anomalous gold and pathfinder elements in creeks draining the Boulevard. Detailed soil sampling in 2007 outlined the multi-element geochemical anomaly that was tested by trenching in July 2008. In light of positive trench results Rimfire and Northgate staked an additional 96 claims.

Diamond drilling in September 2008 was focused on trenched areas with significant widths of gold mineralization. Additional targets were identified from results of a magnetometer survey and previous soil geochemistry data. A total of 525 metres of core was drilled in seven holes from six different locations. In total, 4.85 line kilometres of IP and 45 line kilometres of magnetometer survey were completed. The soil survey grid was extended southeast from the existing Boulevard grid.

Other Properties

The Company’s other mineral property interests are:

• Adam Property, covering 1,823 hectares, is located in the Skeena Mining Division of British Columbia, approximately 70 kilometres northwest of Stewart. On April 16, 2007 the Company sold 100% of these claims to Paget Resources Ltd. for a cash payment of $10,000. The Company retains a 2% NSR.
  • Auddie Property, covering 674 hectares, is located in the Omineca Mining Division of British Columbia, approximately 42 kilometres west of Germanson Landing. The
  • Company has an option to earn a 100% interest in the claims for $115,000 in staged cash payments over four years. The Company’s interest is subject to a 1% NSR, half of which can be purchased for $1 million.
• Chachani Property, covering 3,452 hectares, is located in the Liard Mining Division of British Columbia, approximately 148 kilometres north-northwest of Stewart and two kilometres north of the Grizzly property. The Company owns 100% of these claims.
• Fer Property, consisting of 118 claims, is located in the Watson Lake Mining District of Yukon Territory, approximately 20 kilometres west of Tungsten in the Northwest Territories and approximately 200 kilometres north of Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. Subsequent to the end of the quarter, the Company acquired a 100% interest in these claims by granting NVI Mining Ltd. a 2% NSR, half of which can be purchased for $1 million. A brief four day program was carried out on the property this fall consisting of geological mapping and selective sampling. No significant geochemical results were obtained.
• Kizmet Property, covering 18,411 hectares, is located in the Atlin Mining Division of British Columbia, approximately 130 kilometres northwest of Telegraph Creek. The Company owns 100% of these claims subject to a 1% NSR in favour of RGLD Gold Canada, Inc.
• Poker Creek Property, covering 15,954 hectares, is located in the Liard Mining Division of British Columbia, approximately 220 kilometres north-northwest of Stewart. The Company owns 100% of these claims. In August 2008 a helicopter supported seven day reconnaissance program of soil sampling, prospecting and geological mapping was carried out on the claims. Two soil lines returned highly anomalous results in copper and to a lesser extent gold over a roughly one by one kilometre area. Adjacent silt sample results indicate an area in excess of three kilometres east to west that is highly anomalous in both copper and gold. The metal signature and local geology of the area indicate potential for porphyry copper-gold-style mineralization.
• RDN Property, covering approximately 11,441 hectares, is located in the Liard Mining Division of British Columbia, approximately 120 kilometres northwest of Stewart, British Columbia. This property is currently optioned to Northgate Minerals Corporation, subject to an underlying NSR. On February 21, 2007, the Corporation signed an amendment suspending the terms of the Joint Venture Option agreement until such time as the Galore Creek road access is constructed across the RDN property.
• Simpson Property, consisting of 8 claims, is located in the Watson Lake Mining District of Yukon Territory, approximately 105 kilometres northwest of Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. The Company owns 100% of these claims.
  • Thorn Property, covering 16,970 hectares is located in the Atlin Mining Division of British Columbia, approximately 120 kilometres northwest of Telegraph Creek. This property was a joint venture with Cangold Limited as operator. Cangold held a 51% interest in the property, subject to an underlying NSR. Effective April 11, 2008 the Company signed a purchase agreement to acquire Cangold’s interest in the property by making a cash payment of $100,000 and issuing 100,000 shares. In the event a
  • third party partner becomes involved in the exploration and development of the property, the Company will pay to Cangold 25% of any cash or share payments received from the third party partner. The Company is actively seeking joint venture partners for this project.
• The Tide Property, covering 2,964 hectares, is located in the Skeena Mining Division of British Columbia, approximately 36 kilometres north of Stewart, British Columbia. American Creek Resources Ltd. has earned 51% of the project. American Creek can earn an additional 9% interest by funding a further $3.5 million in exploration on or before December 31, 2010. Their interest can be increased to 65% interest by funding a bankable feasibility study, and, at the Company’s election, to a 70% interest by providing 100% of the initial project development financing. American Creek is operator and did not conduct exploration on the property in 2008.
• Williams Property, covering 26,136 hectares, is located in the Liard Mining Division of British Columbia, approximately 150 kilometres southeast of Dease Lake, British Columbia and 330 kilometres north of Smithers. The Company is actively seeking a joint venture partner for the Williams Property.

United States

Alaska Properties

The Alaska Properties, located in the Goodpaster Mining District, Alaska, 65 kilometres northeast of Delta Junction, consist of four claim groups totaling 182,800 acres (74,000 hectares). The Company signed an option agreement dated February 22, 2007 with Evanachan Limited which was subsequently assigned to Rubicon Minerals Corporation (“Rubicon”). The terms of the agreement provide that Rubicon will fund a total of USD$4.8 million in exploration over 6 years to earn a 60% interest in the Alaska properties. Upon vesting, Rubicon may obtain a further 10% interest in the properties by completing a feasibility study, and at the Company’s election, may obtain an additional 5% (for a total of 75% interest) by providing a project financing loan to be repaid from the Corporation’s free cash flow upon production.

The ER-Ogo-Fire and portions of the Eagle-Hawk claim groups are subject to a 2% NSR in favour of AngloGold Ashanti (U.S.A.) Exploration Inc. Portions of the California-Surf is subject to a 1.75% NSR in favour of Western Keltic Mines Ltd. Bou-Swede is wholly owned by Rimfire Alaska, Ltd.

As operator Rubicon has completed a USD$1.1 million program in 2008 that included property-wide reconnaissance exploration including geological mapping, prospecting and soil sampling with limited drilling on the ER-Ogo-Fire property. Drilling targeted new mineralization found approximately 300 metres northwest of an area drilled in 2003 and 2004 by then-partner AngloGold Ashanti. Angular mineralized talus was identified over an area 100 metres in length, where nine of 40 samples returned in excess of 2.5 g/t gold, including a highlight of 58.8 g/t gold. Three holes, totaling 300 metres, were completed to test this mineralization. Results of the drilling program have yet to be received from Rubicon.

Australia

Lachlan Fold Belt Properties

The Company has eight exploration licences covering 92,674 hectares in the Lachlan Fold Belt, New South Wales, Australia. The licences encompass high-priority targets identified in a Neural Network data study conducted by a private company, BWG. BWG granted the Company a two-year exclusive right to use the study's target maps and data to acquire licences and conduct exploration in the 120,000 square kilometre study area. The Company has completed the required expenditures of USD$150,000 and designated project areas within two of the licences for which BWG will retain a 2% NSR The Company will pay fees based exploration expenditures within the designated areas.

The Lachlan Fold Belt in New South Wales Australia is richly endowed with a diversity of deposit types that host in excess of 150 million ounces of gold. Deposit types include copper-gold porphyry, epithermal gold, volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS), gold-copper skarn, sediment-hosted disseminated gold and intrusion-related gold deposits.

The Company has signed an option/joint venture arrangement with Jaguar Minerals Limited (“Jaguar”) to explore the Springfield gold project in the Lachlan Fold Belt. The Springfield gold project lies 12 km south-southeast of the historic mining town of Gulgong and 80 km to the northeast of Newcrest’s Cadia Valley porphyry copper-gold mining complex.

In September, the Company completed a diamond drilling program on the Trounce prospect on the Walmer property. This program was targeting geological and geophysical targets identified in the early 2008 reconnaissance exploration program. The Trounce prospect consists of a small outcropping of silicified sediments with quartz -pyrite veining and stockwork. Two of seven grab samples from the showing returned gold values of 2.4 and 3.6 g/t gold and the remaining five assayed from 0.21 to 0.61 g/t gold. On surface, the showing occurs within a subtle, north-south striking topographic high, coincident with anomalous gold soil geochemistry and a 40 metre-wide by 500 metre long chargeability and resistivity high. The diamond drilling program consisted of four diamond drill holes for a total of 285 metres. Assays from the drill program are pending.

Victoria Goldfields Properties

Effective July 28^th 2008, the Company entered into a new exploration partnership with Northgate Minerals Corporation, which granted the Company an option on its Stawell Corridor gold exploration properties in the State of Victoria, Australia.

The Stawell Corridor is a 240 km long belt bound by the Congee and Moyston faults and cored by Northgate's five million ounce Stawell Gold Mine (20 Mt at 8 g/t gold). Mineralization consists of gold-bearing quartz veins in iron-rich sediments associated with basalt centres. This deposit has been studied extensively, resulting in the identification of large-scale characteristics that can be used in the exploration for similar deposits elsewhere in the district. Geophysical techniques such as gravity and magnetics surveys have proven effective in targeting basalt centres associated with mineralization. These techniques will be important in evaluating the rest of the Stawell Corridor and refining targets for drilling.