VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - January 30, 2017) - ExGen Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: EXG) (OTC PINK: BXXRF) ("ExGen") is pleased to announce today that Phoenix Global Mining Ltd, a private British Virgin Islands based mining company focused on base metals development ("Phoenix") has commissioned SRK Exploration Services Ltd. ("SRK") to prepare a JORC-compliant resource estimate on ExGen's copper, gold, silver Empire Mine Project in Idaho, USA. Phoenix intends for SRK to start immediately on the estimate.
Phoenix and ExGen recently amended their Option Agreement on the Empire Mine Project in order to facilitate Phoenix's current plans to IPO on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange ("AIM") during the second quarter of 2017. The Option Agreement was first announced by ExGen on July 21, 2015, with an amendment to the Option Agreement announced by ExGen on November 14, 2016. The Option Agreement, as amended, allows Phoenix to acquire 80% of Konnex Resources, Inc. ("Konnex") subject to the terms disclosed by ExGen in its news release dated November 14, 2016. Konnex is ExGen's wholly-owned subsidiary which holds the mining leases to the Empire Mine Project.
About The Empire Mine Project
The historic Empire Mine is reported to have produced 694,000 tonnes with recovered grades of 3.64% copper, 1.65 g/t gold and 53.9 g/t silver from underground workings during the period 1901 to 1942. US Bureau of Mines records show that the head grades were between 6% and 8% copper. Review of more recent documents shows that the Empire Mine produced an additional 115,500 tonnes from 1943 intermittently to 1973, with recovery grades of 2.27% copper, 1.11 g/t gold and 23.76 g/t silver. The property is classified as a polymetallic copper skarn. The mineralization is represented by a near-vertical zone of copper-gold-silver sulphide mineralization located within and below a larger zone of lower-grade copper-oxide mineralization. Previous work on the property has encountered oxide and sulphide copper mineralization over a strike length of 1,200m, a width of 6 to 70m and to a depth of more than 300m.
Sporadic surface exploration on the property by several companies between 1962 and 2011 resulted in the drilling of 290 holes, many within the area referred to as the Atlantic-Pacific (AP) Pit from which an unknown amount of acid-soluble copper-oxide material was excavated in the mid-1970's. The AP pit is currently the focus of exploration and development by Phoenix as a potential low-strip-ratio open pit with production of solvent-extraction -- electro-winning cathode copper (SX-EW).
Cambior Exploration USA Inc., who explored the property from 1995 to 1997, generated a copper resource estimate, mostly for the AP pit, in 1997. Their estimate was based on 220 drill holes. Cambior reported a "drill-indicated", near surface, oxide copper estimate of 18.23 million tons grading 0.49% copper, 0.19% zinc, 13.5 g/t silver (0.44 oz/t) and 0.51g/t gold (0.015 oz/t) with an additional 9.65 million tons of material grading 0.29% copper and 0.31% zinc with no precious metals. However, subsequent to this estimate, an additional 67 core and reverse circulation holes were drilled by Trio Gold Corp. and Musgrove Minerals Corp. (between 2004 and 2011) as an in-fill drilling program to complement Cambior's drill effort.
The work completed by Cambior is historical in nature and does not comply with National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). A Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current resource estimate under NI 43-101, the work completed by Cambior has not been verified by ExGen and ExGen is not treating the historical estimate as a current resource estimate. The "drill indicated oxide resource" terminology used by Cambior does not follow the terminology outlined in Section 1.2 and Section 1.3 of NI 43-101 and can therefore not be categorized under NI 43-101 guidelines. In order to either upgrade or to verify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource that complies with NI 43-101, a certain amount of additional diamond drilling, assay reviews, confirmation of the extent and grade of the mineralization reported in the core holes used in the historical estimate, density measurements, updated metal prices and additional metallurgical testwork may be required.
Exgen understands that Phoenix intends to update the resource estimate for the Empire Mine by incorporating all of the historical and recent drill holes, metallurgy, assays, confirmatory work, density studies, and current commodity prices into one study, and to modernize the estimate to NI 43-101 standards. For this purpose, Phoenix has chosen SRK, renowned internationally for their mine evaluation services, as lead resource consultant.
The reader is referred to ExGen's November 14, 2016 news release for additional technical information on the Empire Mine Project.
Phil van Angeren, P. Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and verified the technical mining information provided in this release.
Mr. Jason Riley, CEO of ExGen commented: "We are pleased to have such an experienced group like SRK working with Phoenix and ExGen on the development of the Empire Mine Project. We look forward to the completion of the JORC compliant resource estimate and are excited that Phoenix has decided to fast track this important milestone for the project."
About ExGen Resources Inc.
ExGen, formerly Boxxer Gold Corp, is a mineral property aggregator whose focus is on identifying select mineral assets for acquisition and then funding exploration through joint ventures and partnership agreements. This approach significantly reduces the technical and financial risks for ExGen, while maintaining the upside exposure to new discoveries and potential cash flow. The company intends to build a diverse portfolio of projects across exploration stages and various commodity groups. ExGen currently has a portfolio of 6 projects in Canada and the US.
