Callinex Discovers Four Copper-Zinc-Gold-Silver Rich VMS Lenses in a Single Drill Hole at the Pine Bay Project, MB

Highlights:

• New discovery called the "Descendent" contains four Cu-Zn-Au-Ag bearing mineralized lenses;
• Large geophysical target associated with intersection that projects along strike to the southwest for 400m and at depth for 850m;
• Abundance of Zn-Au-Ag indicates potential intersection at edge of a VMS system similar to Cu rich Rainbow deposit;
• Located within mineral lease and situated 550m, 1.4km and 2.9km from the Pine Bay, Rainbow and Alchemist deposits, respectively; and
• Fully funded drill campaign will undertake an immediate step-out program at the Descendent.

VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Callinex Mines Inc. (the "Company" or "Callinex") (TSXV: CNX) (OTCQX: CLLXF) is pleased to announce a new high-grade copper, zinc, gold and silver discovery (the "Descendent") at the Company's 100% owned Pine Bay Project (the "Project"), located near Flin Flon, MB (Pine Bay Project Plan View). The discovery hole, DSC-111, intersected four separate volcanogenic massive sulphide lenses ("VMS") with significant base and precious metal values within a total core width of 67.7m. The most significant section returned 7.14m grading 1.70% copper equivalent ("CuEq") containing 3.34% Zn, 0.29 g/t Au, 14.38 g/t Ag, and 0.11% Cu. Additional massive sulphides intersected include a 10.57m grading 1.36% CuEq, with 1.47% Zn, 0.58 g/t Au, 16.51 g/t Ag, and 0.26% Cu and 2.15m of 1.27% CuEq, made up of 0.87% Zn, 0.52 g/t Au, 18.3 g/t Ag, and 0.43% Cu (Descendent Discovery Long Section). The intersection in DSC-111 is the deepest to date associated with the Cabin Horizon and is located 350 meters below PBM-024 which intersected 2.58m of 0.53% Zn, 0.92% Au, 34.60 g/t Ag, and 1.64% Cu (See news release dated May 1, 2017). The Descendent is situated 550m from the Pine Bay deposit, 1.4km from the Rainbow deposit and 2.9km from the Alchemist deposit, which are all located within a mineral lease.

Max Porterfield, President and CEO, stated, "We are extremely excited by the Descendent discovery which indicates another, potentially very large, deposit to be located within the existing mineral lease at Pine Bay. This exploration success comes on the heels of the recently announced maiden mineral resource estimate at the Project, which included the Rainbow and Pine Bay deposits." Mr. Porterfield added, "An interpretation of results from a recently completed borehole pulse electromagnetic survey on discovery hole DSC-111 is underway and will be immediately followed by aggressive step-out drilling on the Descendent."

JJ O'Donnell, Exploration Manager, stated, "The distribution of the base and precious metal sulphides intersected by DSC-111 have the potential to become a significant discovery for Callinex. Geologically, the Cabin Zone area has always been considered one of the most promising areas to host additional VMS deposits." 

Jim Pickell, member of Callinex's technical team, added "Given similar, zinc-dominant, but much thinner, massive sulphides in the near-surface portion of the Rainbow deposit, the thick analogous massive sulphide intersections in drill hole DSC-111 strongly suggest exceptional exploration potential at depth." 

Since the discovery of Rainbow and Alchemist, Callinex's technical team has a deeper understanding of how the VMS deposits sit along the stacked horizons located within the main controlling growth fault corridor at the Project. This refined geological based target, supported by geophysical and geochemical data, led the Company to renew exploration efforts in this area of the Project and the discovery of the Descendent.

The Descendent was intersected at a down-hole depth of 1,318m and remains open in all directions. Many of the largest deposits within the Flin Flon Greenstone Belt have been discovered at depth, such as the 777 Mine that was discovered at a down-hole depth of 1,278m, the Lalor Mine that was discovered at a down-hole depth of 781m and the Company's Rainbow deposit which was discovered 933m down-hole.

The abundance of zinc, gold and silver indicates that the hole may have intersected the edge of the VMS system similar to what occurs at the Rainbow deposit. Additionally, the significant width of the massive sulphide intervals suggests that the system is long-lived and robust (See Table 1). The four VMS lenses are separated by dykes and sills, which is typical in many VMS systems, and allows for the potential for one large massive sulphide body.

The geophysical interpretation also supports the geological interpretation. The Company's geophysical data from previously drilled hole PBM-024 is modeled to have similar conductance as the intersected zone and extends for approximately 400m along strike and 850m in vertical extent. The intersected zones consist primarily of lower conductivity or non-conductive minerals including zinc. Several historic deposits at the Pine Bay Project, along with the Centennial Mine to the south, are poor geophysical conductors.

This discovery hole 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. A major alteration zone had previously been identified at surface and spans 1,100m by 700m as defined by values of more than 90 using the Hashimoto (Ishikawa et al.) Alteration Index (See Figure 2), a quantitative approach to evaluate alteration trends that ranges from 0 to 100. 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. 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 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.

Assay results are still pending from other samples taken from the Descendent discovery hole DSC-111. Earlier in the campaign drill hole PBM-194 was drilled to test the down plunge extent of the Rainbow deposit but veered too far to the north and the deposit remains open at depth (Pine Bay Project Long Section and Pine Bay Project Cross Section). Drill hole ALC-117 was drilled to test the Alchemist deposit but is interpreted to have veered just north of the plunge line and intersected 2.0m of 1.90% CuEq including 1.44% Cu, 0.14 g/t Au, 7.76 g/t Ag, and 0.80% Zn. The Alchemist and target area Odin will continue to be followed-up this winter after freeze up allows access to necessary drill pads.

At the Descendent discovery, a BPEM survey was recently completed and results are being interpreted by Callinex's technical team. An aggressive fully funded step-out drilling campaign will immediately be carried out at the Descendent.

Table 1: Pine Bay Drill Results

Notes:

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.

QA / QC Protocols
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.

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SOURCE Callinex Mines Inc.