Anaconda Mining announces initiation of a 17,000-metre drill program

TORONTO, Aug. 3, 2016 /CNW/ - Anaconda Mining Inc. ("Anaconda" or the "Company") (ANX: TSX) is pleased to announce that it has initiated a 17,000-metre diamond drilling campaign (the "2016 Drill Campaign") at the Company's Point Rousse ("Point Rousse") and Viking ("Viking") Projects, located on the Ming's Bight Peninsula and Northern Peninsula respectively, in northeastern Newfoundland (Exhibit A).  The exploration program will focus on near-surface resource expansion as well as targeting relatively higher-grade mineral resources, compared to the Pine Cove pit (1.8 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold over the life of mine), at four main areas – Stog'er Tight, Argyle, Goldenville and Viking. The Company plans to spend approximately $2,000,000 on the 2016 Drill Campaign, which is being funded by a flow-through financing that was closed and announced on July 27, 2016.

The primary goal of the 2016 Drill Campaign is to demonstrate the potential to significantly grow Point Rousse and Viking resource bases while boosting grade. Historically, the Company's drilling activities have been focused on infill and modest step out drilling around known deposits. In the 2016 Drill Campaign, Anaconda will test greenfield areas such as Argyle and Goldenville and aggressively step out from the known deposits at Stog'er Tight and Thor. These targets have potential to either grow existing resources or to host deposits with significantly higher grades than currently mined at the Pine Cove mine.

Anaconda President and CEO, Dustin Angelo, states, "In the last six years, Anaconda has built substantial operating infrastructure, anchored by its 1,200-tonne-per-day Pine Cove mill, to support gold production for many years to come. Resource expansion, coupled with the discovery of high-grade zones or deposits, would help us achieve our goal of doubling production without significant incremental costs. If we can deliver higher head grade to the mill on basically the same fixed mill cost structure with only incremental mining costs, we will expand margins and increase profits substantially. The first step in this process is exploration. The aggressive, drill-intensive, campaign planned for the coming months is designed to provide visibility on significant resource growth and the potential for higher-grade resources, moving the Company closer to achieving its goal."

Exploration activities at the Point Rousse Project will focus on three key target areas: Stog'er Tight, Argyle and Goldenville. Stog'er Tight is located 3.5 kilometres from the Pine Cove mill and contains an existing Indicated Resource* of 204,100 tonnes grading 3.59 g/t and an Inferred Resource of 252,000 tonnes grading 3.27 g/t using a 0.8 g/t cutoff. It is open for further expansion over a 1.5-kilometre strike length. The Company recently completed approximately 1,700 metres of drilling associated with the 2016 Drill Campaign.  

Argyle is the next planned target at the Point Rousse Project. It is a new discovery located approximately 5 kilometres from the mill and is known to have surface mineralization, from channel sample results, over a 250-metre strike length (see press releases dated December 17, 2015 and January 8, 2015). The geological characteristics of Argyle are very similar to Stog'er Tight. 

The Goldenville drill targets are associated with the same iron-stone unit that hosted the Nugget Pond mine (approximately 30 kilometres east of the Point Rousse Project), which had historical production of 166,000 ounces of gold at approximately 11 g/t.  Drilling at Goldenville is aimed at discovering a Nugget Pond style deposit in areas that have similar geological characteristics to the setting of the Nugget Pond gold mine.

Exploration activities at Viking will focus on a 5.6-kilometre trend of anomalous gold-in-soil values coincident with in-situ surface mineralization. Viking also includes the Thor deposit, which contains a historical Indicated Resource** of 937,000 tonnes grading 2.09 g/t and an Inferred Resource of 350,000 tonnes grading 1.79 g/t using a 1.0 g/t cut off.  The Thor deposit contains significantly higher grades at shallow depths suggesting there is potential for higher-grade resources throughout the Viking trend.

* The Indicated and Inferred Resources at the Stog'er Tight deposit referenced in this press release are taken from a technical report filed on SEDAR on December 7^th, 2016, titled "NI43-101 Technical Report, Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Update on the Pine Cove Mine and Mineral Resource Estimate on the Stog'er Tight Deposit, Point Rousse Project, Baie Verte, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada". Prepared for Anaconda Mining Inc., by David Copeland, P. Geo. (independent consultant), Catherine Pitman, P.Geo. (AMC Mining Consultants (Canada) Ltd.), David Evans, P.Geo. (Silvertip Exploration Consultants Inc.), Paul McNeill, P. Geo. (Anaconda Mining Inc.) and Gordana Slepcev, P. Eng. (Anaconda Mining Inc.).

** The Indicated and Inferred Resources at the Thor deposit referenced above are taken from a technical report filed on SEDAR titled "MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE UPDATE FOR THE THOR TREND GOLD DEPOSIT, Northern Abitibi Mining Corp., White Bay Area, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, Latitude 49^o 42' N Longitude 57^o 00' W."  prepared for Northern Abitibi Mining Corp. by Dr. Shane Ebert, P. Geo. and Gary Giroux, P. Eng. MASc., December 30, 2011.

ABOUT ANACONDA MINING INC.

Anaconda is a growth-oriented, gold mining and exploration company with a producing project called the Point Rousse Project and an exploration/development project called the Viking Project in Newfoundland.

The Point Rousse Project includes approximately 6,300 hectares of property on the Ming's Bight Peninsula located in the Baie Verte Mining District in Newfoundland, Canada. Since 2012, Anaconda has increased its property control by ten-fold on the peninsula and gold production to over 16,000 ounces per year. In an effort to expand production, it is currently exploring three primary, prospective gold trends, which have approximately 20 km of cumulative strike length and include five deposits and numerous prospects and showings, all within 8 km of the Pine Cove mill.

The Viking Project includes approximately 6,225 hectares of property in White Bay, Newfoundland, approximately 100 km by water (180 km via road) from the Pine Cove mill. The project contains the Thor Deposit and other gold prospects and showings. The Company's plan is to discover and develop more resources within these project areas and double annual production at the Pine Cove mill from its current rate of over 16,000 ounces to 30,000 ounces.

As the only pure play gold producer in Atlantic Canada, Anaconda is turning the rock we live on into a growing and profitable resource. With a young and motivated workforce, innovative technology and the support of local suppliers, Anaconda is investing in the people of Newfoundland & Labrador and giving back to the communities in which we operate – building a better future for all our stakeholders, from the ground up.

Paul McNeill, the Company's VP of Exploration and a qualified person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical data contained in this press release. 

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This document contains or refers to forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information includes, among other things, the Offering, the use of proceeds from the Offering, statements regarding targets, estimates and/or assumptions in respect of future production, mine development costs, unit costs, capital costs, timing of commencement of operations and future economic, market and other conditions, and is based on current expectations that involve a number of business risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement include, but are not limited to: the approval of the Offering by the Toronto Stock Exchange; the grade and recovery of ore which is mined varying from estimates; capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates; inflation; changes in exchange rates; fluctuations in commodity prices; delays in the development of the any project caused by unavailability of equipment, labour or supplies, climatic conditions or otherwise; termination or revision of any debt financing; failure to raise additional funds required to finance the completion of a project; and other factors. Additionally, forward-looking statements look into the future and provide an opinion as to the effect of certain events and trends on the business. Forward-looking statements may include words such as "plans," "may," "estimates," "expects," "indicates," "targeting," "potential" and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Anaconda's beliefs in the potential mineralization, are based on current expectations and entail various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and we assume no responsibility to update them or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

SOURCE Anaconda Mining Inc.