Aztec - Kootenay JV Completes First 14 Holes of Phase 2 Drill Program on the Cervantes Porphyry Gold-Copper Property in Sonora, Mexico

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 26, 2022 / Aztec Minerals Corp. (TSXV:AZT)(OTCQB:AZZTF), announces that the Aztec-Kootenay JV has completed the first 14 holes totaling 2,810.6 metres (m) of the current 5,000 m, 22-hole Phase 2 reverse circulation (RC) drill program at the Cervantes Property in Sonora, Mexico. Drilling commenced in December 2021, took a Christmas break, and resumed in January. Drill samples were shipped to the Bureau Veritas Minerals laboratory in Hermosillo for geochemical analysis and results are anticipated in the next several weeks.

Four main targets will be tested. The primary objectives of the 2021 - 2022 exploration program are to better define the open pit, heap leach gold potential of the porphyry oxide cap at California, evaluate the potential for deeper copper-gold porphyry sulfide mineralization underlying the oxide cap, test for north and west extensions of the California mineralization at California North and Jasper, and assess the breccia pipe potential of Purisima East.

The initial four holes were drilled for 769.6 m to test the southern portion of the Purisima East target, an area which hosts historic underground mines and prospects. This is area is coincident with IP chargeability and gold-copper-molybdenum anomalies within a breccia along the rim of a porphyry intrusion. All four holes intersected pervasively fractured, oxidized, argillic and silicified sediments and quartz feldspar porphyry dikes and hydrothermal breccias. Over 300 channel samples of 1.5 m lengths were collected along the drill road cuts and geologic mapping conducted as well.

Subsequent to testing the Purisima East target, the drill moved to the principal California target, where the Aztec - Kootenay JV previously discovered extensive porphyry gold-copper mineralization (drill intercepts up to 0.77 gpt gold over 160 m). This mineralization is associated with massive silicification and extensive hydrothermal brecciation of the hosting quartz feldspar porphyry and the surrounding sedimentary rocks. In 2022, the JV has drilled 10 step-out holes for 2,041 m at a 50 m spacings to expand and better define the area of mineralization at California. There remain several drill holes to be completed to be followed by two 500 m deep holes to test the depth extent of the strong underlying IP chargeability anomaly.