Mr. Elmer Stewart reports

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

The metallurgical and process portion of the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) along with copper production schedules on Copper Fox Metals Inc.'s 100-per-cent-owned Van Dyke ISCR (in situ copper recovery) project have been completed. Moose Mountain Technical Services (MMTS) is managing preparation of the PEA. Highlights are:

• The base case annual production has been set at 85 million pounds per year compared with 60 million lb/year in 2015.
• The base case production scenario yields an 18-year life of mine (LOM) compared with an 11-year LOM in 2015.
• There is an overall reduction in average well length and metres drilled LOM.
• An overall sweep efficiency of 89 per cent has been used with preconditioning of the rock accounted for to ensure connectivity of fracturing for copper recovery.
• Metallurgical recovery at 90 per cent, unchanged from the May 4, 2020, resource estimate.
• Preparation of pretax and posttax cash flow models in progress.

Elmer B. Stewart, president and chief executive officer of Copper Fox, stated: "With completion of these portions of the PEA, MMTS can complete the capital, operating and sustaining costs estimates and cash flow models. The 85 million lb/year production scenario resulted from a trade-off study that contemplated mine life, capital costs and future development of the project based on exploration potential. With the considerable progress to date, the PEA is expected to be completed by the end of November, 2020."

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

The initial progress report and resource statement for the PEA is set out in a news release dated Oct. 7, 2020.

2020 PEA updates

Well field design/copper recovery plan

The injection/recovery well field layout contemplates two phases in line with the underground development plan. The proposed copper production schedule is based on completing the required number of injection and recovery wells each year to maintain production with approximately 1,900 injection and recovery wells required over LOM. An overall reduction in the average length of injection and recovery wells and total number of metres drilled over LOM has also been achieved.

Forecasted copper production

Forecasted copper production is a function of solubility of the copper mineralization and the volume of the mineralization contacted by the injected fluids, a term referred to as sweep efficiency. In preparing the copper production schedule, preconditioning of the mineralized zone has been accounted for to ensure for a high sweep efficiency. Copper Fox assessed two options for LOM copper production. The 60 million lb/year option supports a 22-year mine life. The 85 million lbs/year option (similar in scale to the Florence ISCR project) supports an 18-year mine life. Both scenarios include a ramp-up year at 60 per cent of production capacity and a three-year ramp-down period at reduced annual production. The 85 million lb/year option has been selected as the base case in the PEA.

Rationale for base case

While yielding a shorter LOM (18 years), it was considered prudent to select the 85 million lb/year option given the significant exploration potential to expand the size of the Van Dyke deposit. The May, 2020, updated resource estimate concluded that, "The Van Dyke deposit is open to the southwest and the exploration potential for additional resources is extensive to the south, and at depth" (see news release dated May 5, 2020). With exploration success, the 85 million lb/year option incorporates an upscaled SX-EW capacity and the additional capital/operating/sustaining costs today to be able to assess the potential value of the Van Dyke deposit at a later date.

Cost estimation

The estimated initial capital and operating and sustaining costs are based on comparable projects and quotes from suppliers where available. When information from comparable projects or from suppliers are not available, industry standard inflation factors will be applied where necessary to comparable projects.

Elmer B. Stewart, MSc, PGeol, president of Copper Fox, is the corporation's nominated qualified person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, Standards of 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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