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oTue Dec 12, 2006
Roca Expands Surface Tungsten Zone at MAX Project

 Vancouver, British Columbia: Roca Mines Inc. (ROK: TSX-V)("Roca" or the "Company") announces that new tungsten mineralization has been discovered during exploration and sampling at the Company's MAX Molybdenum Project in the Revelstoke Mining Division of British Columbia, Canada.

Roca is focused on the fast-tracked development of the known molybdenum resource at MAX but has also reviewed previous exploration work by others on the MAX claim group. That review highlighted the property's potential for tungsten mineralization based on past work by others, including an historic high-grade mining operation, which has seen little follow-up exploration.

Working at higher elevations on the project claims in September 2006, the Company's prospectors discovered scheelite mineralization (a tungsten mineral, WO3) southeast of the "Ridge Zone" and hosted in low-sulphide, garnet-rich skarn boulders and outcrop. The new area, named the "Upper Ridge Zone" begins approximately 200 metres on-strike from the Ridge Zone and appears to extend for at least a further 200 metres along the east flank of the ridge. Higher grades of WO3 appear to be associated with brecciated and faulted zones of skarn with significant pinkish-brown garnet development, similar to the mineralization observed at the Ridge Zone. The Ridge Zone was originally discovered by Newmont Exploration of Canada Ltd. in 1977. Assays for tungsten from samples of the newly discovered Upper Ridge Zone are reported in the table below;

Upper Ridge Zone (Roca 2006)
Sample   Description   From -- To   Interval   Assay
No.                    (metres)    (metres)   % WO3
277601   Float                                0.63
277604   Float                                0.77
277605   Float                                1.50
277606   Float                                1.15
277607   Float                                0.88
277609   Float                                0.88
277610   Float                                0.54
277611   Chip(A)      0.0-1.0       1.0       0.43
277612   Chip(A)      1.0-2.0       1.0       0.14
277620   Chip(B)      1.0-2.0       1.0       0.83
277621   Chip(B)      2.0-3.0       1.0       1.07
277622   Chip(C)      0.0-1.0       1.0       0.68
277623   Chip(C)      1.0-2.0       1.0       0.52
277624   Chip(C)      2.0-2.8       0.8       1.00
277625   Chip(D)      0.0-1.0       1.0       0.23
277626   Chip(D)      1.0-2.0       1.0       0.20
277627   Chip(D)      2.0-2.9       0.9       0.15
277628   Chip(E)      0.0-2.0       2.0       0.16
277629   Chip(E)      2.0-3.0       1.0       0.08
277630   Chip(E)      6.5-8.0       1.5       0.15
277631   Chip(F)      0.0-2.0       2.0       1.35
277632   Grab                                 1.19
277633   Grab                                 0.74
277634   Float                                2.06
All assays reported above were carried out by ACME Analytical Laboratories of Vancouver, BC. Mr. Scott Broughton, P.Eng. is the 43-101 qualified person who supervised the sampling program in 2006.

Tungsten Exploration by Newmont
In 1979 Newmont conducted systematic chip sampling of their discovery trench at the Ridge Zone and obtained assays of 0.32% WO3 across 110 feet. Subsequent to that work three diamond drill holes were then drilled in 1979 proximal to the trench on approximately 200 ft centres and along trend, with selected results shown in the table below;
Ridge Zone (Newmont 1979)
Drill Hole  From    To   Interval   Assay
           (feet) (feet) (feet)     % WO3
79-12        16     45    29        0.11
79-12       430    492    62        0.26
79-13        38     94    56        0.40
79-14        61     76    15        0.29
79-14       398    449    51        0.18
Mr. Terry Macauley, P.Eng is the 43-101 qualified person who supervised the trenching and diamond drilling program in 1979.

Tungsten Exploration by Others
Previous exploration for tungsten to the northwest of the Ridge Zone took place between 1942 and 1958 and results were reported in British Columbia's Ministry of Mines' Annual Reports, including samples obtained from skarn showings exposed intermittently over a length of 900 feet and a vertical range of 600 feet. The sampled skarn reportedly occur at the contact of dolomite and a quartzitic rock. These samples are reported by the BC Department of Mines Bulletin No. 45 by Fyles and Easwood, 1962 with results shown in the table below;

Copper Chief Zone (1962)
Sample   Description  Interval  Assay
No.                    (feet)   % WO3
1           Chip         8.0   0.20
2           Chip         4.0   1.06
3           Chip         6.0   0.50
4           Chip         4.0   0.11
5           Chip         8.0   0.04
6           Chip         4.0   1.62
7           Chip         4.5   1.02
Also, reported in British Columbia's Ministry of Mines' Annual Reports in 1953 were results of work by B.W. MacDougal as follows;

Copper Chief Zone (1953)
Sample   Description  Interval  Assay
No.                    (feet)   % WO3
2          Chip         11.0    0.42
2a         Chip          8.0    0.92
3          Chip         11.0    0.48
3a         Chip          8.0    0.12
3b         Chip         18.0    0.12
3c         Chip         10.0    0.33
3d         Chip         10.0    0.61
The Company wishes to caution the reader that the historical results reported above, having been taken from what are considered to be reliable sources, are not in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 and should not be relied upon.

With the addition of the newly discovered Upper Ridge Zone the strike length of tungsten mineralization as indicated by all of the outcrop sampled to date and encompassing all three zones now totals 1450 metres in length and extends over a vertical range of 600 metres. Roca plans to aggressively explore the potential for tungsten mineralization in 2007. Since only three diamond drill holes have tested one of the zones to date, new exploration work will focus on delineating immediate drill targets.

Tungsten is an essential metal, noted for its hardness and high-melting point. It is used primarily in cemented carbide and high speed steel tools for the construction and mining industries and for general wear protection of steel alloys. Unalloyed tungsten in the form of wire is used as filaments in lamps, and as heating elements for furnaces and heaters.


ROCA MINES INC.

"Scott Broughton"

Scott E. Broughton, P.Eng. -- President & CEO


For further information contact:
Doug Fosbrooke
Investor Relations
Tel: 604-684-2900
Fax: 604-684-2902
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.rocamines.com

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