Abacus Provides Update on Willow Drilling
Abacus Provides Update on Willow Drilling
Vancouver, BC – October 6, 2021. Abacus Mining & Exploration Corporation (“Abacus” or the
“Company”) (TSXV: AME) wishes to provide an update on the ongoing drill program on the
Willow porphyry copper property in the Yerington copper camp, southeast of Reno, Nevada.
The program began in early July and the third drill hole has just begun. All holes to date have
intersected the Luhr Hill porphyry, which is the host rock of the four known porphyry copper -
molybdenum deposits in the Yerington camp. Previous drilling in 2018 also intersected this
rock unit, marking the first new discovery of a copper -molybdenum porphyry in the Yerington
camp in over forty years.
Drill progress has been slow, partly due to very fractured rock . The drill contractor has
advanced each hole slowly, bearing in mind that the previous contractor lost two of the three
holes drilled. The pace of the drill progra m has also been affected by covid related delays –
personnel contracting covid and requiring hospitalization, self-isolation of the remaining crew,
supply chain issues causing basic drill supplies to be unavailable – plus site specific issues
including smoke delays due to proximity of the large fires burning near the California/Nevada
border, unavailability of equipment due to those same fires, and a general lack of technical
personnel available.
The net effect of all these issues, is that the Company is behind in logging and sampling of the
core but expects to get caught up later this month. No samples have been submitted to the lab
to date, but once results are received, they will be released in a timely manner.
“I am encouraged by the fact that the host r ock to the other four known porphyry copper-
molybdenum deposits in the Yerington camp continues to be intersected under cover on
Willow” stated Paul G. Anderson, President and CEO of Abacus.” The target is large and
robust, and it generally takes several drill holes to home in on the porphyry center, which is the
objective of the current program.”
Based on past work done by Abacus the target is at least 1.5 km by 1.5 km in size, the Willow
porphyry remains poorly tested, and the porphyry center has not yet been identified. The 2021
program comprises a planned four vertical holes, each to a depth of approximately 600 metres.
The holes will be approximate 200 -300 metre step outs from past drilling by the Company in
2018.
Abacus completed geological, geochemical and geophysical work on Willow beginning in 2017
and then undertook a short core drilling program. 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.
The 2018 drill program was designed to test a very small portion of an extensive zone of intense
silicic and advanced argillic alteration, marked by coincident geological, geochemical and
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geophysical signatures typical of a porphyry copper or Cu -Mo deposit. Porphyry copper
systems are large in extent, and geochemistry collected from the drilling indicates 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 o f 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 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 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 clai ms 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.