Copper Mountain Mining Corporation announces positive results from 18 drill holes, totalling 6,924 metres, drilled at the New Ingerbelle copper-gold open pit (“New Ingerbelle”), as part of ongoing exploration at the property.  The current drill program has encountered long intercepts of high-grade mineralization with continuity, doubling the vertical extent of mineralization below the existing pit. The Company plans to add two more drill rigs to augment the two rigs currently operating on-site as part of the ongoing exploration program. New Ingerbelle is situated one kilometre from the main active mining area of the Copper Mountain Mine, located in southern British Columbia, near the town of Princeton.

“These results confirm our view on New Ingerbelle that there is huge reserve growth potential. The deposit continues to get bigger and better with drilling. We have already doubled the depth of the mineralization and extended it along strike, yet the deposit remains open.  The results validate our belief that there is a high potential to substantially increase the Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves at our BC operation. More drilling remains to be done at New Ingerbelle, the north pit, and the main pit, and the Company plans to continue to drill for the remainder of this year and into 2022.”

commented Gil Clausen , Copper Mountain’s President and CEO. 

The goal of the current drill program is to extend mineralization laterally and to depth and fill gaps within earlier drilling.  The New Ingerbelle deposit is a combination of disseminated and fracture-controlled mineralization with strong vertical continuity.  The current drill program to date has significantly extended New Ingerbelle mineralization to depth and along strike.  Geology, alteration intensity, and copper-to-gold ratios appear to be relatively consistent over the vertical extent of mineralization.

The Company is continuing to drill at New Ingerbelle to define the vertical and lateral extents of the deposit and infill for resource estimation purposes.  Copper Mountain aims to add two more drill rigs in the third quarter of 2021 with plans to continue drilling into 2022. The Company plans to incorporate the results of the 2021 drilling into its year-end Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources update, which will be published in the first quarter of 2022.  The Company expects to produce a new “Life of Mine Plan ” for publication in the second quarter of 2022, which will incorporate an updated Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources estimate based on the complete drill program.

New Ingerbelle is a past-producing open-pit mine discovered and developed in the late 1960s, with mining occurring between 1972 and 1996.  Copper Mountain renewed exploration drilling in 2017 and 2018.  New Ingerbelle’s Mineral Reserve as at January 1, 2021  is 193 million tonnes grading 0.24% Cu, 0.15 g/t Au and 0.48 g/t Ag (0.33% CuEq) ⁽³⁾ containing 1.0 billion lbs Cu, 920k oz Au and 3.0 million oz Ag (as disclosed in Copper Mountain’s Annual Information Form dated March 29, 2021, available on SEDAR).