Abacus Mining & Exploration Corporation (“Abacus” or the
“Company”) (TSXV: AME) wishes to provide an update on the Willow
porphyry copper project in the Yerington copper camp, southeast of
Reno, Nevada.
The Company drilled three holes totaling
approximately 1700 metres on Willow last year. All holes
intersected the Luhr Hill granite porphyry, which is the host rock
of the four known porphyry copper-molybdenum (Cu-Mo) deposits in
the Yerington camp. Two holes drilled on Willow by Abacus in 2018
also identified this porphyry granite rock, with one hole
intersecting the Luhr Hill just before being lost.
The identification of the Luhr Hill granite on
Willow is significant, as all four known porphyry Cu-Mo deposits in
the Yerington camp are hosted by this rock unit. Rocks of the Luhr
Hill are also not known to exist at Yerington, without an
associated Cu-Mo porphyry deposit. This means that there is a very
high likelihood of a Cu-Mo deposit being found on Willow, which
would mark the first major discovery in the Yerington camp in over
forty years.
The Company analyses all drill holes for a large
suite of geochemical elements, in an effort to vector into a copper
bearing deposit. This work is complicated by the fact that the
originally upright porphyry system is now lying on its side, with
many of its features buried by later volcanics. The geochemical
results are still being processed by the lab, due to volume and
covid related delays, but results are expected sometime in March,
and they will be released once interpreted.
“The Company has drilled a total of 6 holes into
a target that is at least two by two kilometres in size, with two
holes lost in 2018 before reaching depth,” stated Paul G. Anderson,
President and CEO of Abacus. “Considering the large size of the
target, and the fact that it does not come to surface, the four
completed holes have not adequately tested the Willow target.”
Copper porphyry-molybdenum deposits at Yerington
occur at the contact of the Luhr Hill granite porphyry and
surrounding volcanic rocks, or else close to the granite but
further into the volcanic package. Because the target at Willow is
covered by later volcanism, prospecting by drill is the only
effective means of trying to locate a porphyry center, and this
often takes several drill campaigns to achieve, with each
successive campaign vectoring closer to a porphyry center.
Abacus completed geological, geochemical and
geophysical work on Willow beginning in 2017 and then undertook a
short core drilling program the following year. This drilling
identified the Luhr Hill Granite on Willow with copper values in
the 0.1% to 0.2% Cu range along with elevated Mo. This was a key
new discovery, as there are no known instances of this granite in
the camp without an associated porphyry. The Molybdenum values are
a particularly strong indicator that you are close to a porphyry
copper center.
Both drill programs were designed to test a very
small portion of an extensive zone of intense silicic and advanced
argillic alteration, marked by coincident geological, geochemical
and geophysical signatures typical of a porphyry copper-molybdenum
deposit. Porphyry copper systems are large in extent, and
geochemistry collected from the 2018 drilling indicated that a
likely porphyry center occurs north of the area initially drilled.
The Company’s target is essentially identical to the two largest
porphyry deposits in the Yerington camp, namely the past-producing
Yerington mine and the undeveloped Ann Mason deposit.
Of the porphyries in the camp, Anaconda mined
the Yerington porphyry between 1952 until 1978, producing 1.6
billion pounds of copper. The undeveloped Ann Mason porphyry
deposit lies just east of Willow and is held by HudBay Minerals. In
early April of 2021, HudBay announced an updated PEA on Ann Mason
with a revised M&I resource of 2.2 billion tonnes at 0.34% Cu.
Nevada Copper is in production to the east at its Pumpkin Hollow
skarn (P&P of 572 MT at 0.4% Cu). Quaterra Resources recently
announced drilling to support the Prefeasibility Study that is
ongoing on their MacArthur oxide copper project (M&I of 159MT
at 0.212% Cu). *
Abacus has the right to earn a 75% ownership
interest in the Willow property from Almadex America Inc, a wholly
owned subsidiary of Almadex Minerals Ltd. The Company also has a
lease on the contiguous Nev-Lorraine claims giving it the right to
explore and to elect to purchase these claims outright over a
ten-year period. The entire claim group is known as the Willow
Property.
Abacus also holds a 20% ownership interest in
the Ajax copper-gold porphyry project, located near Kamloops,
British Columbia, which is managed by base metal major KGHM Polska
Miedź S.A., who hold the remaining 80%. The Ajax Project contains
significant quantities of copper and gold, within a NI 43-101
Proven and Probable Mineral Reserve of 426 Mt at 0.29% Cu, 0.19 g/t
Au and 0.39 g/t Ag. Contained metal is in the order of 2.7 Bil lbs
Cu, 2.6 Moz Au and 5.3 Moz Ag**.
The technical information in this news release
has been reviewed and approved by Paul G. Anderson, M.Sc., P.Geo.,
a Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument
43-101.
* Data is from the respective Company websites.
The Quaterra report is by M3 Engineering and Technology Corp, May
23, 2012. Amended NI 43-101 Technical Report Preliminary Economic
Assessment Lyon County, Nevada, US.
** Wardrop Engineering Inc. 2012. Ajax
Copper/Gold Project, Kamloops, British Columbia – Feasibility Study
Technical Report. Doc. No. 1054610300-REP-R0004-02. January
2012.
On Behalf of the Board,ABACUS MINING & EXPLORATION
CORPORATION
Paul G. Anderson, P.Geo.President and CEO
About Abacus
Abacus is a mineral exploration and mine
development company currently focused on copper and gold in B.C.
and Nevada. The Company’s main asset is a 20% ownership interest,
together with KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. (80%), in the proposed
copper-gold Ajax Mine located southwest of Kamloops, B.C., which
has undergone a joint provincial and federal environmental
assessment process. On December 14, 2017, a decision was made by
the B.C. Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy and
the Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources to decline to
issue an environmental assessment certificate for the Project. KGHM
have recently reopened an office in Kamloops, B.C. to facilitate
First Nation, community and governmental engagement in order to
advance the project towards a potential resubmission of the
environmental application.
Abacus also holds an option on the Willow
copper-gold property located near Yerington, Nevada in which it can
acquire up to a 75% ownership interest, and the contiguous
Nev-Lorraine claims subject to a ten-year lease agreement.
For the latest reports and information on
Abacus’ projects, please refer to the Company’s website at
www.amemining.com.
Forward-Looking InformationThis
release includes certain statements that are deemed
“forward-looking statements”. All statements in this release, other
than statements of historical facts, that address events or
developments that Abacus expects to occur, are forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not
historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by
the words “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”,
“estimates”, “projects”, “potential” and similar expressions, or
that events or conditions “will”, “would”, “may”, “could” or
“should” occur. Although the Company believes the expectations
expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on
reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of
future performance and actual results may differ materially from
those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause
the actual results to differ materially from those in
forward-looking statements include changes to commodity prices,
mine and metallurgical recovery, operating and capital costs,
foreign exchange rates, ability to obtain required permits on a
timely basis, exploitation and exploration successes, continued
availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market
or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such
statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual
results or developments may differ materially from those projected
in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are
based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's
management on the date the statements are made. Except as required
by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation
to update these forward-looking statements in the event that
management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors,
should change.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation
Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the
TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
Tel: 604.682.0301
email: info@amemining.com
website: www.amemining.com
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