Abacus Provides News on Willow Option
Abacus Provides News on Willow Option
Vancouver, BC – January 9, 2023. Abacus Mining & Exploration Corporation (“Abacus” or the
“Company”) (TSXV: AME) is pleased to announce an extension to the earn -in period on the
Willow porphyry copper project in the Yerington copper camp, southeast of Reno, Nevada.
The Company originally optioned the Willow property from Almadex Minerals Ltd. in 2017 with
an obligation to issue shares and to spend USD 3 million over five years to earn an initial 60%
interest in the project. Further expenditures would allow Abacus to increase their interest to
75%, whereupon a Joint Venture with Almadex would be established.
Due to market conditions, the Company finds itself just short of the required USD 3 million
spending requirement and has negotiated an extension with Almadex. Abacus now has until
December 31, 2025, to earn the initial 60% interest in Willow, for the issuance of 2,000,000
shares and for the expenditure of an additional USD 2 million. All other terms of the op tion
remain the same, and the amendment is subject to regulatory approval.
“I am pleased to extend the Willow option period” commented Paul G. Anderson, President
and CEO of Abacus “as the property has an excellent potential to host a new porphyry copper-
molybdenum (Cu-Mo) deposit in the Yerington camp. The Company has identified the granite
on Willow which hosts the other four known porphyry Cu-Mo deposits at Yerington and has
assayed low grade Cu -Mo over considerable drilled intervals . This is a significant new
discovery in the camp, and more work is definitely merited. Porphyry copper systems are large
in extent, and much of Willow remains untested.”
To date, Abacus has completed a comprehensive program of geological, geochemical and
geophysical work on Willow, identifying an extensive zone of intense silicic and advanced
argillic alteration, marked by coincident geological, geochemical and geophysical signatures
typical of a porphyry Cu-Mo deposit.
The Company has also completed two core drillin g programs on Willow, which identified the
Luhr Hill granite, which is the host to the other known porphyry deposits in the camp. You
cannot have a porphyry deposit at Yerington without the presence of this host rock. The granite
on Willow contains significant composited intervals of low -grade copper and molybdenum
mineralization, including:
• 0.11% Cu over 72.2 m *
• 0.12% Cu over 57.5 m (including 0.37% Cu over 1.1 m and 0.19% Cu over 34 m)
• 0.1% Cu over 37.9 m within a longer intercept of 0.08% Cu over 308.4 m
• 0.38% Cu over 0.2 m
• 0.24% Cu over 2.3 m
• 0.17% Cu over 1.8 m
• True widths are estimated at 80-85% of the drilled interval
Suite 1000 – 1050 West Pender Street
Vancouver, B.C. V6E 3S7 Canada
Tel: 604.682.0301
email: [email protected]
website: www.amemining.com
TSX Venture Exchange Symbol: AME
In addition, m olybdenum (Mo) values are elevated in all holes and are a particularly strong
indicator that you are close to a porphyry copper center, although this center has not yet been
intersected on Willow.
Cu-Mo porphyry deposits at Yerington occur at the contact of the Luhr Hill granite porphyry and
surrounding volcanic rocks, or else close to the granite but associated with porphyry dyke
swarms off the granite that extend further into the volcanic package. As there are no known
instances of this granite in the camp without an associated porphyry, the discovery of Luhr Hill
granite on Willow marks a key new discovery, which means that there is a very high likelihood
of a Cu-Mo deposit being found on Willow.
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. Because the target at Willow is covered by later volcanism, prospectin g by drill and
sampling for geochemistry 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.
Of the Porphyry Cu-Mo deposits in the camp, the Ann Mason deposit lies adjacent and east of
Willow and is held by HudBay Minerals. In 2021, Hudbay announced an updated PEA on Ann
Mason with a revised M&I resource of 2.2 billion tonnes at 0.34% Cu. Lion Copper and Gold
(formerly Quaterra Resources) control the Yerington, Bear and MacArthur porphyries further
to the east. Anaconda mined the Yerington porphyry between 1952 until 1978, producing 1.6
billion pounds of copper. MacArthur ((M&I of 159MT at 0.212% Cu) * has seen some pas t
production and is currently undergoing a Prefeasibility Study . In March of 2022, Lion
announced that Rio Tinto had taken an option on the company’s Yerington assets . Nevada
Copper is in production to the southeast at its Pumpkin Hollow skarn (P&P of 572 MT at 0.4%
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 co pper
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 Information
This 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, o r 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 metallur gical recovery,
operating and capital costs, foreign exchange rates, ability to obtain required permits on a timely basis, exploitation and e xploration 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.