Cascabel Exploration Update – Alpala Deposit Growing in Size and Quality

OTTAWA, Nov. 13, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. (“Cornerstone” or “the Company”) (TSXV:CGP) (Frankfurt:GWN) (Berlin:GWN) (OTC:CTNXF) is pleased to announce the following update on the exploration program at its Cascabel copper-gold porphyry joint venture exploration project in northern Ecuador, in which the Company has a 15% interest financed through to completion of a feasibility study and repayable out of Cornerstone’s share of project cash flow, plus 9.25% of the shares of joint venture partner and project operator SolGold Plc, for a total direct and indirect interest in Cascabel of approximately 23%.

Figures referred to in this news release can be seen in PDF format by accessing the version of this release on the Company’s website (www.cornerstoneresources.com) or by clicking on the link below:

http://www.cornerstoneresources.com/i/pdf/NR18-29Figures.pdf.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Recent drilling highlights expected to add significantly to an updated Alpala Maiden Resource (MRE)¹ projected for release in December 2018 include:
  • Hole 69 (Alpala Western Limb): 852m (true width² 340m) @ 1.14% copper equivalent (CuEq³, 0.77% Cu and 0.57 g/t Au) from 740m depth, including:
    • 502m @ 1.55% CuEq (true width 200m, 1.01% Cu and 0.85 g/t Au) from 1068m, and
    • 152m @ 2.49% CuEq (true width 61m, 1.53% Cu and 1.52 g/t Au) from 1296m.
       
  • Hole 68 (Alpala Central): 664m @ 1.53% CuEq (true width 265m, 0.88% Cu and 1.03 g/t Au) from 1004m and open at depth, including
    • 348m @ 2.25% CuEq (true width 139m, 1.26% Cu and 1.57g/t Au) from 1200m.
       
  • Hole 67 (Alpala Central): 1028m @ 1.29% CuEq (true width 411m, 0.71% Cu and 0.91 g/t Au) from 886m, including:
    • 544m @ 2.17% CuEq (true width 217m, 1.14% Cu and 1.59 g/t Au), and
    • 146m @ 4.07% CuEq (true width 58m, 1.96%Cu and 3.36g/t Au) of intense porphyry mineralization containing visible gold from 1510m. 
       
  • Hole 66 (Alpala NW): 634m @ 1.25% CuEq (true width 253m, 0.74% Cu and 0.81 g/t Au) from 870m, including:
    • 174m @ 2.46% CuEq (true width 69m, 1.36% Cu and 1.73 g/t Au) of mineralization containing visible gold from 1330m.
       
  • Hole 64 (Alpala NW-Trivinio): 402m @ 0.65% CuEq (true width 160m, 0.48% Cu and 0.26 g/t Au) from 1690m, including:
    • 162m @ 0.95% CuEq (true width 65m, 0.70% Cu and 0.41 g/t Au) – this is considered the discovery of a new zone, north of the Alpala Breccia unit, containing primary bornite⁴ mineralization that merits follow up drill testing that could lead to the discovery of a second porphyry system adjacent to the Alpala Deposit, or that the new zone and Alpala are both offshoots of a single, larger, source porphyry system at depth.
       
• An additional 82,400m metres of additional drilling (Holes 33-67) to be included in second MRE in December 2018 (Dec 2017 MRE estimated from only 53,616m of drilling). 
   
• Total metres drilled at Cascabel to date 160,000 (153,000 at Alpala + 7,259 at the Aguiñaga target).
   
• Assays returned to date at Alpala – 137,000m.  Assays outstanding at Alpala –  16,000m.
   
• Approximately 20,000m of further drilling to be completed at Alpala in 2018.  2019 drilling campaign to continue to expand the deposit at Alpala SE, Alpala NW, Trivinio and Alpala Western Limb.
   
• Preliminary Economic Assessment projected for release in January 2019.

President and CEO Brooke Macdonald said: “These new drill results are a further indication of the size and grade potential of the large mineralized system at Cascabel. With the in-fill drilling it is expected that a sizable portion of the inferred resources will be re-classified into the indicated category. It is also encouraging that the new intersections in Alpala Central exceeded the high grade cut-off used in the MRE. Mineralized intercepts adjacent to the current resources should also add to the overall resource inventory. Significantly, the limits of the deposit are yet to be established.”

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Cascabel is located in northwestern Ecuador in an under-explored northern section of the Andean Copper Belt, 60 km northeast of the undeveloped inferred resource of 982 million tons at 0.89% Cu Llurimaga (formerly Junin) copper project⁵ (Figure 1).

A data cut-off date for the (in progress) Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) projected for release in December 2018, was effected in late October 2018 and includes drill holes 1 to 67. Highlights of selected drilling intercepts from Holes 1 to 67, expected to add significantly to the Dec 2018 Mineral Resource at Alpala are summarized in Table 1 .

The Alpala deposit continues to grow beyond this, as exemplified by strong results achieved in Holes 68 (Alpala Central) and 69 (Alpala Western Limb) (Table 2). 

A chart accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8c1109a6-a732-4647-b8cb-601e620646b7

High priority drill targets for 2019 include planned resource extensions at Alpala SE, Alpala NW, Trivinio and Alpala Western Limb (Figure 2).

Joint venture partner and project operator SolGold envisages further MRE updates in 2019 as they move beyond the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) projected for release in January 2019) and towards a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) as the project continues to mature.

About the Cascabel Joint Venture with SolGold:

Exploraciones Novomining S.A. (“ENSA”), an Ecuadorean company owned by SolGold Plc and Cornerstone, holds 100% of the Cascabel concession. Subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including SolGold’s fully funding the project through to feasibility, SolGold Plc will own 85% of the equity of ENSA and Cornerstone will own the remaining 15% of ENSA. SolGold is funding 100% of the exploration at Cascabel and is the operator of the project. SolGold shall receive 90% of Cornerstone’s distribution of earnings or dividends from ENSA to which Cornerstone would otherwise be entitled until such time as the amounts so received equal the aggregate amount of expenditures incurred by SolGold that would have otherwise been payable by Cornerstone, plus interest thereon from the dates such expenditures were incurred at a rate per annum equal to LIBOR plus 2 per cent until such time as SolGold is fully reimbursed.

Alpala Mineral Resource Estimate            

A maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Alpala deposit, estimated from the initial 53,616m of drilling, was completed December 18, 2017 and announced on January 3, 2018 (see Cornerstone news release 18-01 dated January 3, 2018) and the corresponding Technical Report prepared by SRK Exploration Services Ltd. and qualified persons James Gilbertson, Martin Pittuck, and John Willis in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 was filed at www.sedar.com on  February 16, 2018 (http://www.cornerstoneresources.com/i/pdf/AlpalaMRE_0218.pdf).

The MRE announced resources shown in the table below:

Alpala Mineral Resource statement as of December 18, 2017

Notes:

• Mr. Martin Pittuck, MSc, CEng, MIMMM, is responsible for this Mineral Resource estimate and is an “independent qualified person” as such term is defined in NI 43-101
• The Mineral Resource is reported using a cut-off grade of 0.3% copper equivalent calculated using [copper grade (%)] + [gold grade (g/t) x 0.6] based on a copper price of US$2.8/lb and gold price of US$1,160/oz
• The Mineral Resource is considered to have reasonable potential for eventual economic extraction by underground mass mining such as block caving
• Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability
• The statement uses the terminology, definitions and guidelines given in the CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (May 2014)
• The MRE is reported on 100 percent basis
• Values given in the table have been rounded, apparent calculation errors resulting from this are not considered to be material
• The effective date for the Mineral Resource statement is December 18, 2017

Logging, sampling, assaying and reporting

Holes referred to in this release were or are being drilled using HTW, NTW, NQ and BQ core sizes (respectively 7.1, 5.6, 4.8 and 3.7 cm diameter). Geotechnical measurements such as core recovery, fracturing, rock quality designations (RQD’s), specific gravity and photographic logging are performed systematically prior to assaying. The core is logged, magnetic susceptibility measured and key alteration minerals identified by experienced loggers and sometimes using an on-site portable spectrometer. Core is then sawed in half at the ENSA core logging facility, and half of the core is delivered by ENSA employees for preparation at ALS Minerals Laboratories (ALS) sample preparation facility in Quito. Core samples are prepared crushing to 70% passing 2 mm (10 mesh), splitting 250 g and pulverizing to 85% passing 75 microns (200 mesh) (ALS code CRU-31, SPL21 and PUL-32). Prepared samples are then shipped to ALS in Lima, Peru where samples are assayed for a multi-element suite (ALS code ME-MSP61, 1g split, 4-acid digestion, ICP-MS finish). Over limit results for Ag (> 100 g/t) and Cu, (> 1%) are systematically re-assayed (ALS code Ag-AA62, 4-acid digestion, AAS finish). Gold is assayed using a 30 g split, Fire Assay (FA) and AA finish (ALS code Au-AA23). 

Quality assurance / Quality control (QA/QC)

The ALS Laboratory is a qualified assayer that performs and makes available internal assaying controls. Duplicates, certified blanks and standards are systematically used (1 control sample every 15-20 samples). Rejects, a 100 g pulp for each core sample and the remaining half-core are stored for future use and controls.

Qualified Person:

Yvan Crepeau, MBA, P.Geo., Cornerstone’s Vice President, Exploration and a qualified person in accordance with National Instrument 43-101, is responsible for supervising the exploration program at the Cascabel project for Cornerstone and has reviewed and approved the information contained in this news release.

About Cornerstone:

Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration company with a diversified portfolio of projects in Ecuador and Chile, including in the Cascabel gold-enriched copper porphyry joint venture in north west Ecuador.

Further information is available on Cornerstone’s website: www.cornerstoneresources.com and on Twitter. For investor, corporate or media inquiries, please contact:

Investor Relations:
Mario Drolet (Montreal); Email: Mario@mi3.ca;
Tel. (514) 346-3813

Corporate Matters: Sabino Di Paola, CFO (Ottawa); Email: sdipaola@cornerstoneresources.ca;
Tel. (343) 689-0714

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Cautionary Notice:
This news release may contain ‘Forward-Looking Statements’ that involve risks and uncertainties, such as statements of Cornerstone’s plans, objectives, strategies, intentions and expectations.  The words “potential,” “anticipate,” “forecast,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “may,” “project,” “plan,” and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify ‘Forward-Looking Statements.’  Although Cornerstone believes that its expectations reflected in these ‘Forward-Looking Statements’ are reasonable, such statements may involve unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors disclosed in our regulatory filings, viewed on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.  For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets, predicting natural geological phenomena and from numerous other matters of national, regional, and global scale, including those of an environmental, climatic, natural, political, economic, business, competitive, or regulatory nature.  These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our Forward-Looking Statements.  Although Cornerstone believes the facts and information contained in this news release to be as correct and current as possible, Cornerstone does not warrant or make any representation as to the accuracy, validity or completeness of any facts or information contained herein and these statements should not be relied upon as representing its views after the date of this news release.  While Cornerstone anticipates that subsequent events may cause its views to change, it expressly disclaims any obligation to update the Forward-Looking Statements contained herein except where outcomes have varied materially from the original statements.

On Behalf of the Board,
Brooke Macdonald
President and CEO

Neither 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.

¹ See heading below titled “Alpala Mineral Resource Estimate”.

² True widths of down hole intersections are estimated by project operator SolGold to be approximately 25-50%.

³ All references in this news release to copper equivalent (CuEq) grades are composed of copper and gold values, calculated using a gold conversion factor of 0.63, determined using an updated copper price of USD3.00/pound and an updated gold price of USD1300/ounce. 

⁴ Bornite is a mineral containing 52-62% Cu.

⁵ 0.4% Cu cut-off grade; Micon International Co. Ltd. Technical Report for Ascendant Exploration SA, August 20, 2004, pages 28 & 29. Mineralization identified at the Llurimaga copper project is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization on the Cascabel Property.