Mr. Elmer Stewart reports

COPPER FOX PROVIDES UPDATE ON THE PRELIMINARY ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT FOR VAN DYKE

Copper Fox Metals Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Desert Fox Copper Inc., have provided a progress report on the preparation of the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on its 100-per-cent-owned Van Dyke oxide copper project. Moose Mountain Technical Services (MMTS) is managing preparation of the PEA to assess and review the following components:

• Quantify the impact on project economics based on the increased soluble copper content and copper recovery factor established in the 2020 resource estimate;
• Mine plan updates;
• Well field redesign and layout;
• Metallurgical recovery/process flowsheet design;
• Operating, capital and sustaining costs and the conceptual plan on timeline, development and operations;
• Preparation of a pretax and posttax cash flow analysis.

Elmer B. Stewart, president and chief executive officer of Copper Fox, stated: "Our focus during preparation of the PEA will be to work with the engineering companies to identify, assess and eliminate potential bottlenecks to enhance value. The impact on the potential to increase mine life and life-of-mine copper production based on the positive results outlined in the 2020 resource estimate need to be quantified. With the underground access plan having been completed, work has commenced on the well field layout and expected copper production. Once the PEA has been completed, a path forward for the project can be determined."

The PEA is conceptual in nature and is being completed at an order of magnitude (plus or minus 35 per cent) comparable with a preliminary economic assessment level of study.

Background to the updated PEA

In 2015, Copper Fox completed a PEA for Van Dyke that returned a posttax NPV 8 per cent of $209-million and an internal rate of return of 27.9 per cent (see news release dated Nov. 25, 2015) based on an inferred resource of 183.1 million tonnes grading 0.20 per cent soluble copper (containing 797 million pounds of soluble copper) and a $3-(U.S.)-per-pound copper price.

In 2020, Copper Fox filed on SEDAR a National Instrument 43-101 technical report titled, "Technical Report and Updated Resource Estimate for the Van Dyke Copper Project" dated May 4, 2020, prepared by MMTS with an effective date of Jan. 9, 2020. Highlights of the 2020 resource estimate are (see news release dated March 25, 2020):

1. Indicated resource: 97.6 million tonnes, grading 0.24 per cent RecCu (recoverable copper) containing 517 million pounds of soluble copper;
2. Inferred resource: 168.0 million tonnes, grading 0.19 per cent RecCu containing 699 million pounds of soluble copper;
3. The deposit is amenable to recovery using in situ copper recovery (ISCR) with an estimated metallurgical recovery of 90 per cent.

2020 PEA

Mine plan

The 2020 mine plan has been completed using smaller dimensions for the main access ramp and declines and a staged development to reduce and defer capital costs. Stage 1 envisions a main access ramp to the top of the deposit and a decline following the Gila/Pinal schist contact to allow early access to the higher-grade portions of the deposit. This approach is expected to reduce the total volume of underground development and results in shorter injection/recovery wells. Stage 2 is expected to commence toward the end of Stage 1 to access the lower grade portion of the deposit for well field installation and production.

Block modelling

To support mine planning, a net smelter return (NSR) Isopach map was generated using the resource blocks set out in the 2020 resource update to identify higher grade areas of the deposit from which to commence operations. The NSR for the blocks was calculated using the following equation: NSR is equal to (RecCu multiplied by 3.15 multiplied by 22.0462) multiplied by ECON per cent divided by 100 divided by 0.77 minus (RecCu multiplied by 3.15 multiplied by 22.0462) multiplied by QT per cent divided by 100 divided by 0.77 multiplied by 0.625.

Copper price is $3.15 (U.S.) per pound; foreign exchange is 77 U.S. cents to $1 (U.S.); RecCu is total recoverable copper; ECON per cent is per cent of the block within the reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction resource; QT per cent is per cent of the block within the Quiet title area.

To generate the Isopach, the NSR values are summed vertically and multiplied by the total tonnes per block for a column of blocks within the deposit. The higher grade areas of the deposit occur around the historical Van Dyke shaft and in the north-central portion of the deposit. The stage 1 mine plan accesses these zones to increase copper production in the early stage of the project to accelerate capital recovery.

Well field design/copper recovery plan

With completion of the mine plan and NSR Isopach map, preparation and design of the injection/recovery well layout and conceptual copper production schedule have commenced. The well field layout, while still preliminary in nature, is scaled to match other ISCR projects in Arizona with a well spacing equivalent to 22 m (70 feet) for a well density of 455 cubic metres per metre of well length, within the mineralized zone.

Cost estimation

MMTS is in the process of obtaining costs estimates from suppliers for the various components of the mine and surface facilities. The general strategy for cost estimation is to obtain costs updates from contractors/consultants where possible. When an update is not available, industry standard inflation factors will be applied where necessary to comparable projects.

The PEA is managed by MMTS with supporting services provided by Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc. (metallurgical test work/process design), Piteau Associates (well field development/installation), Knight Piesold (rock mechanics/geotechnical), and Ray Huff and Associates (oversight on well field and copper recovery).

Elmer B. Stewart, MSc, PGeol, president of Copper Fox, is the corporation's nominated qualified person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the technical information disclosed in this news release.

About Copper Fox Metals Inc.

Copper Fox is a Tier 1 Canadian resource company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange focused on copper exploration and development in Canada and the United States. The principal assets of Copper Fox and its wholly owned Canadian and United States subsidiaries, being Northern Fox Copper Inc. and Desert Fox Copper Inc., are the 25-per-cent interest in the Schaft Creek joint venture with Teck Resources Ltd. on the Schaft Creek copper-gold-molybdenum-silver project located in northwestern British Columbia and a 100-per-cent ownership of the Van Dyke oxide copper project located in Miami, Ariz. For more information on Copper Fox's other mineral properties and investments visit the company's website.

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