Benton Advised of Marathon PGM Takeover by Stillwater Mining (SWC)

Benton Resources Corp. announces that Stillwater Mining Company

and Marathon PGM Corp have entered into a definitive agreement whereby Stillwater has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Marathon. Benton currently owns 1.565 million shares of Marathon PGM Corp and also holds a 2% Net Smelter Return royalty on the Bamoos leases which includes approximately 200 meters of the northern portion of the Marathon PGM deposit. Under the proposed terms, Benton will issue 0.3 of a CCC share for every existing Benton share at the date of record. On completion of the spin out, CCC anticipates a concurrent financing of approximately $4 million to fund an extensive drill campaign in an effort to build a NI 43-101 compliant resource along the mineralized trend. Benton will retain a 1% NSR for the Bermuda property.