Chief Consolidated Receives Summary of Q1-2012 Exploration Activities From Kennecott Exploration

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 05/22/12 -- Andover Mining Corp. ("Andover" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: AOX)(OTCBB: AOVTF)(FRANKFURT: R2X) is pleased to announce that Chief Consolidated Mining Company ("Chief"), approximately 83.5% owned by Andover, has received a "Summary of Exploration Activities" from Kennecott Exploration Company ("Kennecott") summarizing exploration activities conducted by Kennecott in the First Quarter of 2012 ending March 31, 2012. During the first quarter of 2012, $1,090,839 US was spent on exploration activities at the Big Hill Project, located on Chiefs land in the East Tintic Mining District, Utah.

Under the terms of the agreement, Kennecott may earn a 51% interest in the Big Hill project by completing a Pre-feasibility Study or incurring $20,000,000 in expenditures, whichever occurs first, and an additional 4% interest by funding all project costs until delivery of a Feasibility Study accepted by Rio Tinto plc. Chief is carried on 45% interest until the completion of the Feasibility Study.

Since signing of the joint venture agreement with Chief on August 20, 2010, Kennecott has contracted and completed an airborne magnetic survey, magnetotelluric and IP surveys. Deep porphyry targets are currently being tested with RC and diamond drilling.

The drilling at East Tintic was designed as a two-phase program started with RC drilling to pre-collar the holes followed by diamond core-drilling. Boart Longyear was contracted to complete the pre-collars using a D40 rotary drill rig. A total of 1,355 meters were RC drilled during the first phase and finished with HWT Casing. All holes had E-log down hole surveys completed by Century Wireline Services based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. West-Core Drilling of Elko, Nevada and Tona Tec Exploration of Utah are core drilling to deepen the holes with diamond drilling.

The core sampling was carried out by Kennecott Exploration geologists. Drill holes surveyed every 200 feet with a single shot Flexit tool. Century Exploration conducted both Gamma and E-log surveys.

The core log data includes:

  Lithology
  Alteration (confirmed using a NIR/SWIR spectrometer)
  Mineralization
  Rock Quality Description (for Core)
  Magnetic susceptibility (for Core)

In addition, the drill core is photographed, sampled every 1 to 3 meters and stored for future use.

Blanks, duplicates and standards were inserted every 30 samples to maintain proper QA/QC. All core samples were shipped to ALS Chemex in Elko, Nevada, USA for pulp preparation and subsequently shipped to ALS Chemex in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for analysis. For all elements except Au, the analytical procedure consists of a 4-acid digest (HF, HCIO4, HNO3, HCI) with analysis by ICP-AES. Concentrations with ore grade are analyzed with AAS. Gold is analyzed by conventional fire assay on 50g samples. Once the analyses are completed Kennecott stores all pulps for future checks and assays.

Further information on the project will be released as the data is received from Kennecott.

About Andover:

Andover is a precious and base metal exploration and development company focused on copper exploration at its flagship asset, the SUN project, located in the Ambler Mining District, Northwest, Alaska. The Ambler District hosts world-class VMS deposits containing copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver. The Ambler District is one of the richest and most-prospective copper districts located in one of the safest geopolitical jurisdictions in the world. In Utah, Andover, through its 83.5% ownership of Chief Consolidated Mining Company whose lands located in the historic East Tintic Mining District, has a multi faceted development approach. The Big Hill project, where Kennecott Exploration Company can earn a 55% interest by carrying Chief through to the end of a Feasibility Study is focused on a large porphyry copper prospect. The Burgin Complex, host to a limestone, silver lead zinc deposit has completed a PEA and is preparing this deposit and the Trixie gold mine toward exploitation.

For further information we invite you to visit us at www.andovermining.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Gordon Blankstein, CEO and Chairman

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.

Contacts:

Andover Mining Corp.

Richard Martens

Investor Relations

1-604-682-2168 or Int'l Toll Free: 1-800-266-4484

1-604-682-2169 (FAX)
rick@andovermining.com
www.andovermining.com