Andover Announces Discovery of a New Mineralized System at Its Wholly Owned Sun District, Ambler Mineral Belt

VANCOUVER, 09/17/12 - Andover Mining Corp. ("Andover" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: AOX) (OTCBB: AOVTF) (FRANKFURT: R2X) is pleased to report the discovery of a new copper, lead, zinc, silver and gold rich massive sulfide system in the SUN District in the Ambler Mineral Belt, northwest Alaska.

Assays have been received from drill hole STU12-01, which targeted outcropping mineralization that was mapped and sampled by Andover's field team during this year's reconnaissance efforts in the SUN District. The STU target was one of 6 new potential targets identified during 2012. These reconnaissance efforts were previously reported in the new release dated August 8, 2012.

The STU target area is located approximately 8 km west of the Main SUN and S.W. SUN deposits where most of Andover's 2012 efforts have been focused. Drill hole STU12-01 was completed on August 16, 2012. The drill hole was abandoned prior to reaching its planned depth due to drilling difficulties. Assay results are summarized in the following table:

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                                   Inte-   True
            Angle /   TD From   To  rval  Width   Cu   Pb   Zn    Ag     Au
DDH ID #    Bearing  (m)  (m)  (m)   (m)    (m)  (%)  (%)  (%) (g/T)  (g/T)
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STU-12-01  -60/ 015 21.7  0.0  9.4   9.4    8.1 0.49 0.71 2.75  33.5  0.197
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STU-12-01  Includes       0.0  2.1   2.1    1.8 0.78 1.22 6.55  81.4  0.478
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STU-12-01  Includes       8.0  9.0   1.0    0.9 1.52 2.07 6.31  71.8  0.637
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Based on this successful drill hole, a second hole, STU12-02, was designed as a large down-dip step out hole but encountered drilling difficulties and failed to reach the mineralized zone. Andover did not complete any additional holes at STU before the field season in the district was concluded.

"STU12-01 represents an exciting brand new discovery of a metal-rich massive sulfide system within the SUN District, outside of the historic SUN and S.W. SUN deposit areas," says Kent Turner, Andover's Chief Operating Officer. "This discovery is important enough in its own right. The mineralization appears to be hosted in a different portion of the Ambler Mineral Belt stratigraphy than that hosting the Main SUN and S.W. SUN Deposits. This opens up new areas for potential discoveries within the district. It also confirms our belief that our SUN project represents a true "district-scale" exploration opportunity for Andover. We plan on following up on this discovery as a priority for the 2013 program and will continue to develop new prospects within the district as reconnaissance efforts continue."

The 2012 drill core was logged, split and boxed on site by Andover's geologists. The core from STU was shipped to the ALS-Chemex Prep Lab in Fairbanks, Alaska. The pulps from Fairbanks were analyzed for 35 elements at the ALS-Chemex facilities in Vancouver, British Columbia and the gold assays were performed at ALS-Chemex facilities in Reno, Nevada. Base metal over-limits were wet assayed. Blanks and standards were inserted with each sample shipment.

This news release has been reviewed by Bradley C. Peek, Certified Professional Geologist (AIPG CPG-11299) and General Manager for Andover's Ambler District projects. Mr. Peek is a National Instrument 43-101 qualified person and is responsible for the technical aspects of this news release.


About Andover:

Andover is a precious and base metal exploration and development company focused on copper exploration at its flagship asset, the SUN District, located in the Ambler Mineral Belt, Northwest, Alaska. The Ambler Mineral Belt hosts world-class VMS deposits containing copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver. The Ambler Mineral Belt is one of the richest and most-prospective copper mineral belts located in one of the safest geopolitical jurisdictions in the world. Andover controls approximately 36, 800 acres through sole ownership of 230 Alaska State mining claims in the SUN District and approximately 9,120 acres through sole ownership of 57 Alaska State claims in the Smucker area of the Ambler Mineral Belt.

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 replacement deposit, has completed a PEA and is preparing this deposit and the Trixie gold mine toward exploitation. Chief owns fee simple approximately 16,000 acres in Utah.

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
rick@andovermining.com
www.andovermining.com