Bacanora Updates Drilling & Activities on the Sonora Lithium Project

CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired - Mar 24, 2015) - Bacanora Minerals Ltd. ("Bacanora" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:BCN) (AIM:BCN) is pleased to provide an update of activities on its wholly owned La Ventana concession as well as on concessions held by Mexilit S.A. de C.V. ("Mexilit") and Megalit S.A. de C.V. ("Megalit"), companies owned 70% by Bacanora and 30% by Rare Earth Minerals plc ("REM") in Sonora, Mexico.


Highlights of programs are as follows:

Exploration and Resource Development:
La Ventana concession:

• A total of 2,100 metres have been drilled in 14 in-fill holes on La Ventana, a further nine holes remain to be drilled in the ongoing program.
• Intercepts of the Upper Clay range from 26.1 to 50.8 metres in length and those for the Lower Clay range from 12.98 to 22.5 metres on La Ventana.
• Analyses received for the first three holes indicate that weighted averages for lithium content in the Upper Clay Unit varies from 955 ppm over 41.6 metres (hole LV-19) to 2,264 ppm Li over 7.75 metres (hole LV-21); for the Lower Clay Unit lithium content varies from 1,618 ppm over 23.84 metres to 2,649 ppm over 12.80 metres. Individual 1.5 metre long samples of clay range up to 5,130 ppm Li.
• As previously announced (press release: March 16, 2015), the Company has retained SRK Consulting (UK) Limited to provide an updated independent lithium resource estimate.

Mexilit S.A. de C.V. (El Sauz and Fleur concessions):

• Drill hole ES-42, a hole that was sited to target further possible expansion in mineral resources, intersected 7.8 metres of the Upper Clay Unit at a depth of 16 metres below surface and 23.0 metres of the Lower Clay Unit at 38.7 metres below the surface.
• The intercepts from hole ES-42, represents an additional mineral resource target area, which Bacanora intends to pursue through further drilling.
• The proximity of this new discovery to the current mineral resource on La Ventana and El Sauz and Fleur, may allow it to be included as part of the mine planning and mine design work currently being carried out.

Minera Megalit S.A. de C.V.(Megalit, Buenavista and San Gabriel concessions):

• First stage reconnaissance geological mapping, prospecting and sampling on the Megalit ground continues on the property.

Lithium Plant and Process Design Work:

• Hatch Pty Ltd. ("Hatch"), Bacanora' s engineering consultant, have completed their initial work and provided Bacanora with several optimization and process engineering recommendations for the production of Lithium Carbonate and Lithium Hydroxide.
• Hatch will continue to work with the Company, in particular they will be involved in the quality assurance and quality control of work produced by the other processing engineering consultants involved in the Sonora Project;
• Process Engineering, LLC, of Tucson, Arizona, in association with Ernest Burga, a lithium process engineer, is continuing work on plant design, scale-up and process certification; at this time the "Process Development and Engineering General Design Criteria for Lithium Carbonate Production" document has been prepared and is being populated with the test work results and parameters used as part of the basic engineering data acquisition.
• Sonora Resources, LLC, of Yuma, Arizona, a private engineering consultancy, has been contracted to provide the pre-feasibility study for the proposed lithium mining and lithium carbonate production facility;
• Ore-to-product metallurgical test work continues on one tonne bulk ore samples taken from surface exposures on the Sonora Lithium Project. This test work is part of the optimization work on lithium carbonate recovery and is required to provide design criteria for full size plant and equipment. Process optimization studies at the Company's pilot plant in Hermosillo have been aided by the addition of a gas-fired rotary calcining unit for roasting lithium-bearing samples as well as resin columns in the lithium carbonate recovery circuit.

Colin Orr-Ewing, Chairman of Bacanora, commented: "We are very pleased by the intercept of clay units in hole ES-42 on the Fleur concession as this clearly opens up the area to expansion of the lithium resource on both La Ventana and Fleur, an exciting discovery for a step-out hole, as the resource potential in this area could be developed by open pit mining methods. It demonstrates that faulted blocks exist on other parts of the property and the bounding faults have the potential to bring the clay units into an economic envelope. Progress on mine and plant design and process certification is advancing quickly."

Carl G. Verley, P.Geo. is the Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and the AIM Note for Mining and Oil and Gas Companies that has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release.


ABOUT BACANORA:

Bacanora is a Canadian and London listed minerals explorer (TSX VENTURE:BCN)(AIM:BCN). The Company explores and develops industrial mineral projects, with a primary focus on lithium and borates. The Company's operations are based in Hermosillo in northern Mexico and it currently has two significant projects under development in the state of Sonora. The two main assets of Bacanora are:

• The Sonora Lithium Project, which consists of ten mining concession areas covering 104,064 hectares in the northeast of Sonora state. The Company, through drilling work to date, has established an NI 43-101 compliant indicated resource of 3.28 mt of LCE at a 2,000 ppm cut-off grade. The Company's 100% owned La Ventana deposit, which lies within the Sonora Lithium Project, hosts an NI 43-101 compliant drill indicated lithium resource of 1.27 mt of LCE; and
• The Magdalena Borate Project, covering 16,503 hectares in Sonora state, Mexico, where the Company's main borate zone, El Cajon, has an NI 43-101 compliant indicated resource of 1.17 mt of B₂O₃, at an eight percent cut-off grade. The Company has completed a number of measures to determine the geological and commercial potential of the project and is undertaking a pre-feasibility exercise to determine the economic benefit of developing the mine and constructing a processing planton site in order to become a supplier of boric acid.

Reader Advisory

Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. In particular, forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to potential increase in existing resources at La Ventana and. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information.

Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: commodity price volatility; general economic conditions in Canada, the United States, Mexico and globally; industry conditions, governmental regulation, including environmental regulation; unanticipated operating events or performance; failure to obtain industry partner and other third party consents and approvals, if and when required; the availability of capital on acceptable terms; the need to obtain required approvals from regulatory authorities; stock market volatility; competition for, among other things, capital, skilled personnel and supplies; changes in tax laws; and the other risk factors disclosed under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

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.

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Contact

Bacanora Minerals Ltd.
Colin Orr-Ewing, Non-Executive Chairman
+44 (0) 77 3310 2648

Bacanora Minerals Ltd.

Shane Shircliff, Chief Executive Officer
(403) 237 6122

Bacanora Minerals Ltd.
Martin Vidal, President

(+52 662) 210-0767