Agnico Eagle Buys Sonoro's Chipriona for $4 Million Plus 1% NSR

VANCOUVER, Dec. 14, 2016 /CNW/ - Sonoro Metals Corp., ("Sonoro" or the "Company") (TSXV: SMO), announces that through its wholly-owned Mexican subsidiary, Minera Mar de Plata, S.A. de C.V., it has entered into an assignment agreement (the "Agreement") with Agnico Sonora, S.A. de C.V. ("Agnico"), a subsidiary of Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd., for the sale to Agnico of Sonoro's Chipriona project in Mexico for $4 million plus a 1% net smelter returns royalty ("NSR"). The NSR may be purchased by Agnico at any time for $1.5 Million.

The Chipriona project is located in the Mulatos Mining District in Sonora State and is comprised of several concessions totaling 515 hectares, covering the Chipriona group of concessions, Los Pinos concession and private land near or adjacent to Agnico's La India gold mine. The Chipriona concessions account for approximately 4% of Sonoro's total exploration portfolio of 14,351 hectares.

Consideration for the Agreement is to be paid in four tranches by Agnico, with an initial installment of $650,000 payable upon execution of the Agreement. Three additional sequential installments of $650,000, $800,000 and $1,900,000 respectively are due and payable over the coming months following registration of title at Mexico's Public Registry of Mining, commencing with the registration of title from the original vendors through to final registration under Agnico.

"We are pleased with the significant value being realized by Sonoro's shareholders from the sale of the Chipriona project," said Kenneth MacLeod, President and CEO of Sonoro. "The $4 million cash injection into Sonoro's treasury without any resulting share dilution provides ample capital for the ongoing exploration of the Company's San Marcial project in Mexico and the Hilltop project in Alaska."

Sonoro's technical team is preparing the 2017 exploration program at the San Marcial gold/silver project, currently under option to purchase by the Company, located 20 km east of Timmins Gold's operating San Francisco Mine in the prolific Sonora-Mojave Megashear geologic structure of Sonora State. The San Marcial property includes the original mine workings of the San Marcial and Soledad mines that were developed during the early 1900s. Recent exploration by Sonoro has confirmed and expanded upon the presence of four anomalous zones within the 1,000 hectare concessions.  Follow-up geological mapping and sampling are planned to commence in January 2017 within the 4 main large gold anomalies in addition to the investigation of three smaller gold anomalous areas.  Further details may be found in a Sonoro news release dated March 4, 2016. 

Sonoro is also earning a 60% interest in the 12,836 hectare Hilltop Gold Project in Alaska. An exploration program conducted at Hilltop in 2015 confirmed known gold mineralization there. Soils and trenching in an area of previous exploration exposed an emerging gold in soils footprint and included rock samples from new trenching with values to 19.45 g/t Au from continuous channel samples in flat lying arsenopyrite bearing quartz veins collected in Trench 5 from the 1.0 to 2.0 m interval in a zone that averaged 9.71 g/t Au from the interval 0.0 to 4.0 m as more fully described in the Company's news release dated August 10, 2015. Due diligence soil sampling at Hilltop South confirmed the anomalous nature of that area and expanded the footprint of anomalous gold in soils to 400m x 1,800m. Continuation of the exploration program is being planned for 2017.

Stephen Kenwood, P. Geo. is a director of the Company and a qualified person within the context of National Instrument 43-101 and has read and takes responsibility for this news release.

The Agreement is subject to review and acceptance for filing by the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Sonoro Metals Corp.

Sonoro Metals Corp. is a TSX Venture Exchange listed ("SMO-TSXV") exploration and development company with a portfolio of precious metals properties in Sonora, Mexico and Alaska, USA. Sonoro's skilled exploration team in Mexico is headed by Hermosillo-based Chief Geologist Melvin Herdrick, with 45 years of mine related experience, including 10 years as Chief Geologist for Phelps Dodge in Mexico followed by 7 years as Vice President, Exploration for Pediment Gold in Mexico until its takeover by Argonaut Gold in 2011. Sonoro's Chief Operating Officer is professional geologist Stephen Kenwood, with over 20 years of experience in mineral exploration and development.

On behalf of the Board of Sonoro Metals Corp.

Per:         "Kenneth MacLeod"

                KENNETH MACLEOD

President & CEO

Forward Looking Statement Cautions: This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, relating to, among other things, the exploration of the San Marcial project, located in Sonora State, Mexico and the Hilltop Project, located in Alaska. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include, possible accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances necessary to carry out the Company's exploration plans, the risk that the Company will not be able to raise sufficient funds to carry out its business plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.   

SOURCE Sonoro Metals Corp.