VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 28, 2022 /CNW/ – NGEx Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: NGEX) ("NGEx Minerals" or the "Company") is pleased to report initial drill results and an update on its ongoing drill program at the Valle Ancho copper-gold project in Catamarca Province, Argentina (the "Valle Ancho Project"). Highlights are listed below. View PDF

• Drill hole VADH001 which tested the Nordin Gold Target returned 150m at 1.05 g/t Au from surface. The entire intercept is in oxidized rock.
• Drill hole VADH002 intersected 0.63 g/t Au over 198m from surface in oxidized rock, including a higher-grade interval of 0.90 g/t Au over 70m.
• Mineralization is associated with closely spaced quartz veinlets and is consistent with the style of mineralization seen in the nearby Maricunga District in Chile.
• A total of approximately 2,750 metres in 8 holes has been completed to date of the planned 3,000 metre Valle Ancho drill program and additional assay results are pending.

Wojtek Wodzicki, President and CEO, commented "We are pleased with these initial drill results from the Nordin target which improve upon and extend the results seen in historical RC drilling. We are encouraged by the consistent grade distribution within the drill holes and the fact that the mineralization starts at surface and is oxidized to at least 200 metres depth.  The Valle Ancho project has many of the same geological characteristics that we saw in the early days of our previous discoveries in the Vicuña District, and we are very pleased to be drill testing some of the exciting targets resulting from our earlier reconnaissance work and look forward to reporting further drill results from La Quebrada and Anomalia 4 in the coming weeks."

Nordin Target

The Nordin target is an area of strong hydrothermal alteration and gold-bearing banded quartz veins and hydrothermal breccias surrounded by younger gravel cover and thin volcanic flows.  The alteration is typical of the upper levels of an epithermal gold system and similar to that seen in some of the major deposits of the Maricunga Gold Belt located just across the border into Chile. 

Drill hole VADH001 returned 150m at 1.05 g/t Au from surface.  The entire intercept is in oxidized rock. VAD001 was drilled from the same collar and parallel to an historic shallow reverse circulation hole which reported 84m at 1.15 g/t Au, and extended the mineralization seen in that hole by 42 metres. 

Drill hole VADH002, collared 75m west of VADH001 and drilled in the other direction, intersected 0.63 g/t Au over 198m from surface in oxidized rock, including a higher-grade interval of 0.90 g/t Au over 70m.  This hole was a twin of an historic reverse-circulation hole which reported 1.02 g/t Au over 62m from surface, within a broader zone of 0.73 g/t Au over 110m, extending the mineralized zone by 88 metres  

Mineralization in both holes is associated with closely spaced quartz veinlets and is consistent with the style of mineralization seen in the nearby Maricunga District in Chile.  The historic RC drilling combined with surface sampling has outlined an area of 300m x 750m with oxidized gold mineralization occurring in drillholes and surface trenches.  The two diamond drill holes reported here confirm and extend the mineralization encountered in historic drilling, and provide strong evidence for the occurrence of a significant oxide gold zone at Nordin.  Additional drilling is planned in order to establish the size and geometry of this mineralized system. 

La Quebrada

La Quebrada is a porphyry copper-gold target located approximately 15 km southeast of Nordin.  The alteration in La Quebrada outcrops in an erosional window through younger cover rocks and extends over an area of approximately 2.5 km by 1 km.   The outcropping mineralization has the characteristics of a leached cap of a porphyry system, with the presence of oxide minerals including jarosite, goethite and hematite and locally copper oxides.  Oxide mineralization occurs in veinlets and disseminated and is most intense in areas with a higher density of quartz veining.  The 174 rock chip samples taken by NGEx in 2019/2020 in the area average 0.5 g/t gold and 0.2% copper which is considered encouraging in an area where the rocks are oxidized and leached.  Leaching commonly removes copper which is mobile in a supergene environment and therefore even low-level copper numbers can be important indicators of mineralization at depth.  Higher gold and silver numbers were obtained from structurally controlled zones in the area with values ranging up to 8.57 g/t gold and 114 g/t silver.

During the current program, five holes were completed on the La Quebrada copper-gold target. These holes tested an area measuring approximately 1 kilometer by 0.5 kilometer which had strong surface alteration and geochemistry as well as a strong geophysical (chargeability) anomaly. Drill results are pending.

Anomalia 4

One hole is currently underway at Anomalia 4, a target area located approximately halfway between Nordin and La Quebrada.  The drill hole is targeting an area of sub-cropping silicified structures and hydrothermal breccias with strongly anomalous gold values ranging from 0.5 g/t to 7.07 g/t and silver values up to 580 g/t.   

An induced polarization geophysical survey completed last month outlined a large chargeability anomaly associated with this target.

About the Valle Ancho Project

The Valle Ancho Project consists of two Exploration and Mining Reserve Areas held by the Province of Catamarca that cover approximately 1,000 km² of highly prospective and underexplored ground on the Argentinian side of the Maricunga Gold Belt. More than 100 million ounces of gold have been discovered on the Chilean side of the border whereas the Argentinian side has seen much less exploration despite having similar geology.

The project area was initially explored in the 1990's resulting in the identification of several interesting gold and copper-gold targets. Despite the encouraging results obtained by earlier explorers the area was not available for exploration for most of the last 20 years. The main targets lie along a major northwest trending structural corridor called the Valle Ancho Lineament. Many of the major deposits in the Andes are spatially related to similar northwest trending lineaments. 

The Company has an option to earn a 100% interest in the Valle Ancho Project from the government of the Province of Catamarca by completing approximately US$8 million in expenditures by December 2022.  Of this amount approximately US$1.5 million was spent prior to the start of the current program with the remaining US$6.5 million expected to be invested over the current field season.

ABOUT NGEX MINERALS

NGEx Minerals is a copper and gold exploration company based in Canada with projects in Chile and Argentina. NGEx Minerals holds the large-scale Los Helados copper-gold deposit, located in Chile's Region III, as well as other early-stage projects located in Argentina. NGEx Minerals is the majority partner and operator for the Los Helados Project, subject to a Joint Exploration Agreement with Nippon Caserones Resources Co., Ltd. (formerly, Pan Pacific Copper Co., Ltd.). While NGEx Minerals' operational focus will be on exploration at the Valle Ancho and Los Helados projects for the foreseeable future, it remains open to adding quality projects to its portfolio as part of its overall growth strategy.  The Company is listed on the TSXV under the trading symbol "NGEX".

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

The information contained in this news release was accurate at the time of dissemination but may be superseded by subsequent news release(s). The Company is under no obligation nor does it intend to update or revise the forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

QP AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Bob Carmichael, B.Sc., P.Eng., who is the Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.  Mr. Carmichael is Vice President, Exploration for the Company.

Reverse circulation drilling was completed on the Nordin target by Eldorado Gold Corporation during the 1995/1996 season.  NGEX has reviewed the original annual exploration report detailing the drilling and sampling methodology as well as the original assay certificates.  Samples were collected every two metres, and were split twice resulting in 1/8 of the original sample being retained for analysis.  Field duplicates were included in the sample batches, however no assay standards or blanks were included.  Analyses were completed by Bondar Clegg Inchcape Testing Services in North Vancouver, Canada.  Bondar Clegg Inchape was an accredited assay lab which was independent of Eldorado Gold Corporation.  Gold analyses were by fire assay fusion with AAS finish on a 30g sample.  In addition, NGEX has reviewed chips from the sample intervals.  Drilling, sampling and assaying was done to industry standards at the time, and NGEX has no reason to believe that the analytical data reported here is inaccurate, however the Company has not completed its own sampling to independently verify the assay results. 

Sample results reported above from the 2019/2020 NGEx program are grab samples from individual locations and are not associated with a length of width of the mineralized zone.  Samples were collected in the field by NGEx geologists, identified with sample tags and placed in plastic sample bags for transportation to the lab via truck.  Samples were delivered to the ALS prep lab in Mendoza, Argentina who sent a prepared sub-sample on to the ALS assay laboratory in Lima, Peru for analysis.  Samples were assayed for gold by fire assay and AAS on a 50g sample (Au-AA24), mercury by ICP-MS following aqua regia digestion (Hg-MS42) and a suite of 48 elements using ICP-MS and ICP-AES following a four-acid digestion (ALS ME-MS61L) with overlimit (>10,000ppm) copper samples re-analyzed with Cu-AA62.

Diamond drill core was sampled in 2 metre intervals (except where shortened by geological contacts) using a rock saw. Samples were bagged and tagged and packaged for shipment by truck to the ALS preparation laboratory in Mendoza, Argentina where they were crushed and a 500g split was pulverized to 85% passing 200 mesh. The prepared samples were sent to the ALS assay laboratories in either Lima, Peru or Santiago, Chile for copper, gold and silver assays, and multi-element ICP and sequential copper analyses.  Gold assays were by fire assay fusion with AAS finish on a 30g sample. Copper and silver were assayed by atomic absorption following a 4 acid digestion.  Samples were also analyzed for a suite of 36 elements with ICP-ES. Copper and gold standards as well as blanks and duplicates (field, preparation and analysis) were randomly inserted into the sampling sequence for Quality Control. On average, 9% of the submitted samples are Quality Control samples. No data quality problems were indicated by the QA/QC program.

ALS is an accredited global analytical company which is independent of the Company.

On behalf of NGEx Minerals,

Wojtek Wodzicki,
President and CEO

Additional information relating to NGEx Minerals Ltd. may be obtained or viewed on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com  or on the Company's website at www.ngexminerals.com.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made and information contained herein in the news release constitutes "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking information"). The forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on information available to the Company as of the date of this news release. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information. Generally, this forward-looking information can frequently, but not always, be identified by use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events, conditions or results "will", "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotations thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements contained in this news release include statements regarding the nature and timing of the work to be undertaken to advance the Valle Ancho Project and the potential for the discovery of extensions of mineralized zones and new exploration targets.  For example, the Company expects to be able to drill approximately 3,000 metres however, it has never drilled at Valle Ancho before and may encounter unexpected drilling and other challenges, costs, or delays that could prevent the company from completing the expected number of metres. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to risks related to:  the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic and the risk that an intensification of the pandemic or an outbreak at the project could impact the company's ability to carry out the program and could cause the program to be shut down, estimations of costs, and permitting time lines; ability to obtain environmental permits, surface rights and property interests in a timely manner; currency exchange rate fluctuations; requirements for additional capital; changes in the Company's share price; changes to government regulation of mining activities; environmental risks; unanticipated reclamation or remediation expenses; title disputes or claims; limitations on insurance coverage; and other risks, uncertainties and other factors identified in the Company's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. In addition, these statements involve assumptions made including, that the current price of and demand for commodities will be sustained or will improve, that the general business and economic conditions in Argentina will not change in a material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and when needed on reasonable terms and that the Company will not experience any material labour dispute, accident, or failure of plant or equipment.  These factors are not, and should not be construed as being, exhaustive.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligations to publicly update and/or revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of additional information, future events and/or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is provided for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans and allowing investors and others to get a better understanding of the Company's operating environment. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that would cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. All the forward-looking information contained in this document is qualified by these cautionary statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information due to the inherent uncertainty thereof.

Cautionary Note to U.S. Readers

Information concerning the mineral properties of the Company contained in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Canadian securities laws, which differ in material respects from the requirements of securities laws of the United States applicable to U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE NGEx Minerals Ltd.