Minfocus Announces Advisory Board Appointment of Geologist and MVT Specialist Dr. Cynthia R. Coron

Toronto - Minfocus Exploration Corp. (TSX-V: MFX) (“Minfocus” or “Company”) is pleased to announce the appointment of geologist Cynthia R. Coron, Ph.D. to the Minfocus Advisory Board. She is a Professor of Earth Science in economic geology and a distinguished specialist in Mississippi-Valley-Type (“MVT”) Lead-Zinc deposits, who also worked as a senior geologist at the former Teck Newfoundland Zinc Mine. Minfocus is fortunate to have such a distinguished geologist and scientist with direct experience on the Daniel’s Harbour Zinc Project area and across Newfoundland. The Minfocus Board looks forward to her valuable contributions and insights as Minfocus prepares its exploration plans for the Daniel’s Harbour Zinc Project in Newfoundland and for its portfolio of other MVT zinc projects.

Kenneth de Graaf, President and CEO of Minfocus, stated, “The addition of Dr. Coron to the Minfocus advisory team further bolsters our goal to have the leading tier-one group of global MVT experts and the most experienced geologists with direct on-the-ground experience exploring MVT deposits in western Newfoundland. Dr. Coron has reinforced our confidence that the Daniel’s Harbour Zinc Project may have the potential to host several more high-grade zones within the upper stratigraphic horizon historically associated with the Newfoundland Zinc Mine deposit, as recent announced drilling in the nearby mine areas has demonstrated, and equal potential for discovery of new mineralized zones in the lower stratigraphic horizons at Daniel’s Harbour, which have been given little attention.”


Minfocus Advisory Board

Dr. Cynthia Coron is a geologist with extensive global experience and a specialist in Mississippi-Valley-Type (“MVT”) Lead-Zinc deposits. She completed her Ph.D. dissertation on the origins of the deposit at the Newfoundland Zinc Mine near Daniel’s Harbour, Newfoundland, where she had three seasons as a senior geologist for Teck/Amax undertaking field exploration including surface, open-pit and underground mapping, core logging, analysis of stratigraphy and lithofacies distribution, ore petrography and isotope geochemistry. Dr. Coron has also investigated other MVT prospects in northwestern Newfoundland, in the Appalachian Basin and Michigan Basin portions of the Niagara Escarpment, and has undertaken fieldwork at all major MVT deposits in the Appalachian and Ouachita Metallogenic Provinces of the eastern U.S. Her past experiences include the Fallon Gold Syndicate with Teck-Cominco-Lynx examining paleoplacer gold deposits, Lynx Canada at Marjorie Lake, Ontario (exploring for epithermal gold deposits in northeastern Ontario) and a six-year term as Senior Geologist with Amoco International on international assignments in Central and South America, as well as the Far East. Dr. Coron is currently a Full Professor and former Chair of the Department of Earth Sciences at Southern Connecticut State University and is in her third term as President of the Eastern Section of the Society of Sedimentary Geology (ESSEPM). She holds a Ph.D. in economic geology from the University of Toronto, Canada.


Corporate Update – Zinc, Lead and Nickel Prices Reach New Multiyear Highs

Zinc metal prices on the LME have continued to rise since the end of January and remain near the recently reached +10-year high of +$3575 USD/tonne ($1.62 USD/pound) supported by a record low LME inventory of only 151,000 tonnes, not seen since 2008. Lead metal prices remain near the +$2600 USD/tonne ($1.18 USD/pound) following a fall in LME inventories to 2009 levels near 117,000 tonnes. Minfocus’ zinc properties, the Daniel’s Harbour Zinc Project, the Peregrine Zinc Project and the Coral Zinc Project, are all MVT deposits which typically produce low-iron and low-impurities lead and zinc concentrates that are preferred by smelters compared to other types of lead-zinc deposits.

Nickel metal prices, like prices for zinc and lead, have continued to rise since January to prices exceeding $13,500 USD/tonne nickel ($6.13 USD/pound), prices not seen since mid-2015. The use of nickel in the evolution of high energy density batteries for use in the growing Electric Vehicles (“EVs”) market continues to expand. Nickel is some 80% by weight of Tesla’s NCA batteries and the NMC batteries in the Chevy Bolt car are expected to rise to about the same level in the near future from the current levels below 50% nickel by mass, according to a recent UBS report examining the impact of EVs on commodities demand. In Canada alone, there were 48,000 EVs on the road in 2017, which is a 65% increase over the year earlier, following a record 18,564 EVs sold across Canada, up 68% from 2016. Both the Myst Metals Nickel project in British Columbia and the Nipigon Reefs Nickel-Copper PGE project in NW Ontario provide Minfocus exposure to nickel projects.


Stock Options Granted

Minfocus has granted 300,000 stock options to Dr. Coron upon her appointment to the Minfocus Advisory Board in accordance with TSXV policy and the Minfocus Stock Option Plan.


About Minfocus Exploration Corp.

Minfocus Exploration Corp. is a Canadian company currently advancing a portfolio of base-metal projects including three Mississippi-Valley-Type zinc projects in British Columbia and Newfoundland, an awaruite (Ni3Fe, a natural alloy) nickel project in northern British Columbia and a Platinum Group Element (“PGE”) –enriched Ni-Cu-Pt-Pd project in N.W. Ontario. Minfocus has a successful management group with a record of multiple discoveries of deposits worldwide, including gold and uranium deposits in Mongolia and PGE-rich resources in Ontario, including the discovery of the first platinum-rich Ni-Cu-Pt-Pd deposit in the Midcontinent Rift, the Current Lake deposit (+700,000 oz. Pt-Eq).



For further information, please contact:

Minfocus Exploration Corp.
Kenneth B. de Graaf, President & Chief Executive Officer
Email: kennethd@minfocus.com



The Qualified Person who has reviewed and approved the technical content contained in this release is Dr. Graham C. Wilson, P.Geo.(Ont), a director of Minfocus.


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

This press release includes certain forward-looking statements concerning the future performance of the Company’s business and operations as well as management’s objectives, strategies, beliefs and intentions. Forward-looking statements are often identifiable by the use of words such as “may”, “will”, “might”, “would”, “plan”, “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “estimate”, “scheduled”, “forecasts” and similar expressions or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases. Forward-looking statements are based on the current opinions and expectations of management, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those currently anticipated by such statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, the possibility that future exploration results will not be consistent with the Company’s expectations, fluctuating commodity prices, delays in commencing the Company’s proposed drilling program, exploration costs varying significantly from estimates, the availability of financing, and other risks identified in the Company’s documents filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com. Any forward-looking statement speaks only of the date on which it is made, and except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

Source: Minfocus Exploration Corp. (TSX Venture:MFX)