Capitan Mining Inc. (TSX-V: CAPT) is pleased to report the last two drill holes of its 2020 drilling program. These holes are part of a larger ongoing 6,000m drill program targeting the El Capitan oxide gold zone at the 100% owned Peñoles Project in Durango, Mexico.

Highlights Include:

• 20- CARC-16 intersected 64m of 0.59 g/t gold equivalent; including 25.8m of 0.87 g/t gold equivalent
• 20-CARC 17 intersected 35.1m of 0.33 g/t AuEq and 35.1m of 0.26 AuEq
• Drill results to date demonstrate the potential for expansion and continuity of the Capitan Main Zone 
• The discovery and delineation of Hanging Wall Zone; provides a near surface opportunity to expand gold mineralization
• Mineralization at the El Capitan gold zone remains open to expansion to the east west and down-dip

Drill Results Discussion

Drillholes 20-CARC-16 and 17 were the last drillholes completed prior to the holiday shutdown in December 2020. Both holes were collared on sections adjacent to hole 20-CARC-11 (see Figure 1), which returned 57.9m of 0.94 g/t AuEq (see January 11, 2021 press release) in order to test the continuity of this higher grade zone of mineralization along strike and down plunge and confirm the presence of the Hanging Wall zone.

Hole 20-CARC-16 was collared on Section 150, approximately 50m to the west and 45m down-dip of hole 20-CARC-11. The hole confirmed the presence of the high-grade gold shoot in CARC-11, returning an interval of 64m of 0.59 g/t AuEq, including 25.8m of 0.87 g/t AuEq, as well as intersecting the Hanging Wall zone in the upper part of the hole (see Table 1).

Hole 20-CARC-17 was collared on section 000, approximately 100m to the southeast and 10m down-dip from CARC-11. The hole intersected the main Capitan Hill zone as expected and successfully extended the zone down-dip approximately 60-80m from hole 20-CARC-10 but appears to have been drilled just above the main plunge of high-grade mineralization returned in 20-CARC-11. Nevertheless, numerous intervals of Capitan style mineralization were reported including 35.1m of 0.33 g/t AuEq in the Hanging Wall Zone and 35.1m of 0.26 AuEq. in the Capitan Main Zone (see Table 1).
 

Capitan’s CEO, Alberto Orozco, stated: “We are excited to see how drilling at the El Capitan oxide gold zone at the Penoles project is expanding gold mineralization down-dip and along strike from the drilling that was used for the maiden 43-101 Resource (2015).  In addition, the discovery and delineation of the Hanging Wall Zone provides an opportunity to expand the near-surface gold mineralization and enhance the overall project. While it’s early days, we see that the Peñoles Project has similar characteristics to other projects that Capitan’s technical team has worked on in the past, and we are encouraged to continue working with the goal of developing a new heap-leach gold project in Mexico.  

Drilling is ongoing and we are making good progress on our 2021 program. We have already completed six (6) drill holes to date, which target the on-strike extensions to the southeast and northwest. The Capitan Mining team is pleased with the results to date and we are very motivated and committed to advancing the Penoles Project.” 

Figure 1: Fall 2020 Drill Hole Map at Capitan Hill Target

Table 1. Table of Drill Results (Holes 16 – 17)

Note: Only drill intercept lengths are reported in the table. Drillholes are oriented to cut mineralized zones as close to true width as possible, with  reported intersections varying from 80-90% of reported lengths.

*gold equivalent calculated at 80:1 ratio
**No significant values

Figure 2: Cross Sections

Capitan Zone Resource Expansion: Mid-term Update

Below are the highlights and milestones that have been achieved thus far in the 2020/2021 drill program El Capitan oxide gold zone:

• 17 RC drillholes completed, all of which intersected and returned Capitan style hill mineralization (100% hit rate).
• Over 75% of the known strike length of Capitan Hill main zone, has seen a significant increase in the down-dip extension of mineralization, with the “on section” increase ranging from 50 to 200m as illustrated in figure 3.
• Discovery of a new high-grade zone of silver mineralization that was previously unknown and is open to expansion (see Figure 3), which has the potential to add incremental value to the project.
• Confirmation and continued delineation of the Hanging Wall zone, which has been defined over strike length of 600m. with new zones being discovered in step-out holes to the south, and which continues to be expanded along strike and at depth.
• Drilling in 2021 will continue to focus on expanding all Capitan Hill zones, with a focus on testing continuity and delineation towards the east of the main resource outline, where very little drilling has taken place.

Figure 3: Isometric view of the El Capitan zone gold mineralization including 2020 drilling

Qualified Person & QA/QC:

The scientific and technical data contained in this news release pertaining to the Peñoles Project was reviewed and approved by Marc Idziszek, P.Geo, a non-independent qualified person to Capitan Mining, who is responsible for ensuring that the technical information provided in this news release is accurate and who acts as a “qualified person” under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Capitan Mining Inc. has a Quality Assurance/Quality Control program that includes insertion and verification of control samples including standard reference material, blanks and duplicates consistent with industry standards.

RC drill samples from the Peñoles Project are collected and split at the drill site using a Gilson Universal Splitter. The samples are stored in either plastic bags (dry) or micropore bags (wet) and secured with plastic zip-ties and then transported to the preparation laboratory of Bureau Veritas in Hermosillo, Sonora. The sample pulps are then transported to the Bureau Veritas’ laboratory in Vancouver, where they are assayed for gold by fire assay with atomic absorption finish (FA430 assay method code; 0.005 to 10 ppm detection limit). Samples over 10 ppm Au are assayed with gravimetric finish (Assay code FA530). All samples are also assayed by ICP-ES (code AQ300) for a suite of 33 elements.

All summarized intervals reported in this press release were calculated using a 0.10 ppm Au cut-off grade. Intervals contain no more than 3 metres of internal dilution. High grades have not been capped.

About Capitan Mining Inc.:

Capitan Mining is a well-funded junior exploration company focused on its 100% owned gold and silver Peñoles Project in Durango, Mexico. The company is led by a management team that has successfully advanced and developed several heap leach operations in Mexico over the past 16 years.