Callinex Intersects the Descendent in 125m Step-out at the Pine Bay Project, MB

Highlights:

• New drill hole DSC-112-W1 is a 125m step-out from Descendent discovery hole DSC-111;
• DSC-112-W1 intersects multiple Cu-Zn-Au-Ag zones including 7.00m of 1.71% CuEq and 9.0m of 0.65% CuEq;
• Grades intersected at Descendent are comparable to grades intersected at the top of the nearby Rainbow deposit;
• Recent intersection confirms a previously identified large geophysical target that projects along strike to the northeast for 340m and at depth for 840m; and
• Plans underway for an exploration campaign to define the size and extent of the Descendent.

VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Callinex Mines Inc. (the "Company" or "Callinex") (TSXV: CNX) (OTCQX: CLLXF) is pleased to provide results from the recently completed drilling to expand the new high-grade copper, zinc, gold and silver Descendent discovery at the 100% owned Pine Bay Project located in the Flin Flon Mining District of Manitoba. (See news release dated September 12, 2023) (Pine Bay Project Plan View).

Max Porterfield, President and CEO, stated, "Today's results confirm yet another exciting discovery at our Pine Bay Project with potential to quickly build significant tonnage alongside our recently established resource base. The Descendent discovery has unique characteristics that make it an opportunity worth immediately seizing through additional drilling. This year's exploration campaign will be another exciting one where we will remain focused on growing Pine Bay into a tier one asset with numerous expanding high-grade discoveries."

Step-out drill hole DSC-112-W1 intersected the Descendent 110m vertically below and 50m to the south of discovery hole DSC-111 and returned 7.00m of 1.71% copper equivalent ("CuEq") (0.13% Cu, 0.51 g/t Au, 15.80 g/t Ag and 2.87% Zn) including 3.59m of 2.30% CuEq (0.08% Cu, 0.46 g/t Au, 14.31 g/t Ag and 4.68% Zn) and 9m of 0.65% CuEq (0.41% Cu, 0.20 g/t Au, 3.44 g/t Ag, 0.20% Zn) including 3m of 1.20% CuEq (0.90% Cu, 0.29 g/t Au, 5.19 g/t Ag and 0.15% Zn). The Descendent remains open to the north, and vertically below DSC-112-W1 (Descendent Discovery Long Section).

The intersection in DSC-112-W1 is the deepest result to date associated with the Descendent and is located 460 meters below PBM-024-W1 the most shallow hole to intersect the Descendent. PBM-024-W1, a 37m step-out vertically above parent hole PBM-024, intersected 4.00m of 1.37% CuEq (0.53% Zn, 0.92 g/t Au, 34.60 g/t Ag, and 1.64% Cu). Parent drill hole DSC-112 intersected the southern extent of the Descendent 50m south and 25m above the DSC-112-W1 intersections. 

Jim Pickell, member of Callinex's technical team and recipient of the Bill Dennis Prospector of the year award for the discovery of the 777, Konuto and Photo mines, commented, "Although Callinex's Rainbow VMS Deposit and its newly discovered Descendent VMS mineralization share many similar geological and mineralogical features, what sets the Rainbow and Descendent apart is the much larger stratigraphic 'footwall' VMS feeder alteration system (possibly up to eight to ten times larger) associated with the Descendent versus the Rainbow deposit. This same Descendent-associated 'footwall' alteration package, with its spectacular 1100 by 700 metre surface footprint, has both inspired and eluded previous explorers who also believed that this extra-large alteration system was spatially associated with a correspondingly large to giant VMS deposit. It is also important to note that the elevated silver and zinc grades in the latest Descendent drilling appear to be quite similar to the near-surface, 'distal' (to feeder) lower grade portions of the Rainbow deposit that rapidly transition into thicker, higher grade, copper-dominated massive sulphides at depth, closer to its 'proximal' alteration (feeder) pipe."

The most significant section returned from drill hole DSC-111 is 7.14m grading 1.70% CuEq (3.34% Zn, 0.29 g/t Au, 14.38 g/t Ag and 0.11% Cu) with additional intersections including a 10.57m grading 1.36% CuEq (1.47% Zn, 0.58 g/t Au, 16.51g/t Ag and 0.26% Cu). The results announced today confirm and validate a large geophysical target associated with discovery hole DSC-111 that projects along strike to the northeast for 340m and at depth for 840m that was previously identified in a borehole pulse electromagnetic survey of the hole.

The grades intersected to date at the Descendent are comparable to grades intersected at the top of Rainbow. At Rainbow, the average drill hole composite grades are 1.55% CuEq (0.56% Cu, 0.46 g/t Au, 1.63% Zn and 9.27 g/t Ag) within the first 200m (-100m to -300m elevation) of the deposit, which also remains open below the 900m level. Descendent is interpreted to have the same vertical plunge and steeply dipping orientation as nearby Rainbow, Pine Bay and Alchemist deposits which are located 1.4km, 0.9km and 2.9km away respectively, and all within Callinex's mineral lease. The Company's exploration thesis is that, like at Rainbow, the grades will continue to improve and transition into high grade copper at depth with further drilling at Descendent.

JJ O'Donnell, Exploration Manager for Callinex and former Senior Mine Geologist at the 777 mine, stated, "Further testing of the Descendent horizon is warranted based on the geology, alteration patterns, and assays returned by the most recent drill holes. Further testing of the Descendent horizon has a great opportunity to increase the overall value of the Pine Bay Project, and I am excited for the upcoming 2024 drill program."

This Descendent is located within the Baker Patton Felsic Complex, one of the largest and most highly altered accumulations of felsic rocks within the Flin Flon Greenstone Belt. The new discovery is directly associated with a major alteration zone that's previously been identified at surface and spans 1,100m by 700m. Since the huge alteration zone seen at surface is structurally overturned, the exploration thesis is that the massive sulphides associated with this mineralizing event would be preserved at depth, which we are now intersecting with the Descendent discovery. Typically, there is a correlation between the size of an alteration zone and the size of the VMS deposit it is associated with.

The exploration model for large VMS deposits within the Flin Flon-Snow Lake Greenstone Belt, such as the Lalor and 777 deposits, includes having several smaller deposits in close proximity to a large alteration system within a major felsic volcanic center. Historic and recent exploration has identified seven VMS deposits, along with the new Descendent discovery, located in close proximity to the huge Baker Patton alteration zone.

Peter Jones, member of Callinex's team and former CEO of Hudbay Minerals, added, "The recent Pine Bay Project NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate was very encouraging, and I am excited about further extensions to known mineralization and new discoveries both along trend and in depth, at this underexplored part of the prolific Flin Flon Greenstone Belt."

Looking forward, the Company will continue to aggressively expand the resource base with a focus on step-out drilling at Descendent. Additionally, we will continue to advance our pipeline of discoveries at the Pine Bay Project (Rainbow, Alchemist and target area Odin) through additional geophysical surveying and potential drill testing.

Table 1: Pine Bay Drill Results

J.J. O'Donnell, P.Geo, a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release.

Individual samples were labeled, placed in plastic sample bags, and sealed. Groups of samples were then placed in security sealed bags and shipped directly to SGS lab in Vancouver, BC for analysis. Samples were weighed then crushed to 75% passing 2mm and pulverized to 85% passing 75 microns in order to produce a 250g pulverized split. 35 elements including copper, zinc, lead and silver assays were determined by Aqua Regia digestion with a combination of ICP-MS and ICP-AES finish, with over limits rerun using an ore grade analysis (two acid digest ICP-AES). Gold was analyzed by fire assay. Specific gravity (sg) measured for each sample using the pycnometer and water and air method. QA/QC included the insertion and continual monitoring of numerous standards, blanks, and duplicates

Callinex Mines Inc. (TSXV: CNX) (OTCQX: CLLXF) is advancing its portfolio of base and precious metals rich deposits located in established Canadian mining jurisdictions. The focus of the portfolio is highlighted by the rapidly expanding Rainbow deposit at its rich VMS Pine Bay Project located near existing infrastructure in the Flin Flon Mining District. Callinex prepared an indicated mineral resource on the Rainbow deposit of 3.44 Mt grading 3.59% CuEq for 272.4 Mlb CuEq (238.3 Mlb Cu, 56.9 Mlb Zn, 37.6 koz Au, 692.8 koz Ag, 2.3 Mlb Pb), an inferred mineral resource on the Rainbow deposit of 1.28 Mt grading 2.95% CuEq containing 83.4 Mlb CuEq (72.1 Mlb Cu, 19.5 Mlb Zn, 11.1 koz Au, 222.2 Koz Ag, 0.8 Mlb Pb) and an inferred mineral resource at the Pine Bay deposit of 1.0 Mt grading 2.62% Cu containing 58.1 Mlb Cu (see news release dated July 10, 2023). The second asset in the portfolio is the Nash Creek Project located in the VMS rich Bathurst Mining District of New Brunswick. A 2018 PEA generates a strong economic return with a pre-tax IRR of 34.1% (25.2% post-tax) and NPV8% of $230 million ($128 million post-tax) at $1.25 Zinc (see news release dated May 14, 2018). The third asset, 100% owned Point Leamington Deposit in Newfoundland, is located in one of the richest VMS and Gold Districts in Canada. Callinex prepared a pit constrained Indicated Mineral Resource of 5.0 Mt grading 2.5 g/t AuEq for 402 koz AuEq (145.7 koz gold, 60.0 Mlb copper, 153.5 Mlb zinc, 2.0 Moz silver, 1.5 Mlb lead), a pit constrained Inferred Mineral Resource of 13.7 Mt grading 2.24 g/t AuEq for 986.5 koz AuEq (354.8 koz gold, 110.2 Mlb copper, 527.3 Mlb zinc, 6.2 Moz silver, 7.0 Mlb lead) and an out-of-pit Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.7 Mt grading 3.06 g/t AuEq for 168.5 koz AuEq (65.4 koz gold, 13.3 Mlb copper, 102.9 Mlb zinc, 1.4 Moz Ag, 2.6 Mlb lead) (see news release dated October 25, 2021).

Neither the 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.

Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to future expenditures. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, among others, the ability to complete the proposed drill program, obtaining satisfactory results from its drill program and the timing and amount of expenditures. Except as required under applicable securities laws, Callinex does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

SOURCE Callinex Mines Inc.