Mr. George Ogilvie reports

ARIZONA SONORAN EXPLORATION DRILLING CONFIRMS MINERALIZATION 3,000 FT (915M) NE OF CACTUS EAST, AT THE NE EXTENSION

Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc.'s exploration drilling at the NE Extension target confirms 990.7 feet (302 metres) of 0.42 per cent total copper of continuous copper mineralization, collared 3,000 feet (914 m) northeast of the Cactus East (CE) deposit. Both the NE Extension, as well as the Gap zone, were highlighted as priority targets following a propertywide ionic leach program and magnetic imaging program targeting exploration potential along the four-kilometre Cactus mine trend. During 2023, a total of $900,000 is budgeted for additional exploration in the Gap zone and the NE Extension. Additionally, two infill to measured drill holes from Cactus East were returned from the laboratory, confirming continuous grade and thickness within the current mine plan.

Highlights:

• ECE-076 (CE):
  • 491.0 feet (149.7 metres) at 1.51 per cent total copper (CuT), 1.34 per cent total soluble copper (Cu TSol) and 0.023 per cent molybdenum;
    • Including 211.7 feet (64.5 m) at 1.75 per cent CuT, 1.65 per cent Cu TSol and 0.012 per cent Mo (oxide);
  • And 279.3 ft (85.1 m) at 1.38 per cent CuT, 1.11 per cent Cu TSol and 0.031 per cent Mo (enriched)
  • Including 79.3 ft (24.2 m) at 2.87 per cent CuT, 2.61 per cent Cu TSol and 0.028 per cent Mo.
• ECE-078 (CE):
  • 377 ft (114.9 m) at 1.25 per cent CuT, 1.15 per cent Cu TSol and 0.035 per cent Mo (enriched);
  • Including 20 ft (6.1 m) at 2.10 per cent CuT, 1.98 per cent Cu TSol and 0.035 per cent Mo.
• ECN-128:
  • Continuous mineralization of 990.7 ft (302.0 m) at 0.42 per cent CuT;
  • 118.1 ft (36.0 m) at 0.97 per cent CuT, 0.94 per cent Cu TSol and 0.004 per cent Mo (oxide);
  • 653.4 ft (199.2 m) at 0.40 per cent CuT and 0.008 per cent Mo (primary).

Note: True widths are not known.

George Ogilvie, Arizona Sonoran president and chief executive officer, commented: "Exploration by ASARCO in the sixties and seventies was superfocused on discovering and developing open-pit copper resources. As a result, ASARCO walked away from both the Cactus NE Extension and the Parks/Salyer project, both underground targets. Our team has had great success with Parks/Salyer last year, adding 2.9 billion pounds of contained copper in an inferred maiden resource and Cactus East drilling, and we see tremendous blue-sky potential at both the Gap zone and the NE Extension. We know the mineralization in these two zones has not been drilled to depth and both remain excellent exploration targets. To follow up, the team has allocated expenditures to ensure proper evaluation of the four-kilometre porphyry copper mine trend, while concurrently executing on the work plan to deliver our Cactus and Parks/Salyer PFS [prefeasibility study] due later this year."

Exploration at NE Extension and Gap zone

The combined results of the recent ionic leach survey, and the 2020 SkyTEM survey, identify the Gap zone directly west of the Cactus West open pit and east of the tailings facility as a high-potential target for future drilling. In addition, the success of ECN-128, in the far northeast of the property, indicates that additional drilling should be conducted between the known Cactus East deposit and hole ECN-128. The zone to be explored contains a strike length of 2,952 ft (900 m).

Ionic leach samples were collected on a 328 ft (100 m) grid (with local infill to 164 ft (50 m)) along the entire length of the Cactus project trend from Parks/Salyer, in the southwestern corner, through to the NE Extension zone, in the NE corner of the project. As expected, copper values were elevated over the Parks/Salyer mineral resource area, and also at the GAP area between the Cactus West open pit and Parks/Salyer. Interpretation of the ionic leach results at Parks/Salyer (relative to underlying mineralization in drilling) suggests that stronger levels of metals are associated with thicker intervals of leached rock overlying the resource as opposed to areas where primary or enriched mineralization is exposed at the top of bedrock. The NE Extension area and ECN-128 demonstrate a similar relationship.

The NE Extension exploration hole was collared approximately 40.0 ft (12.2 m) from ASARCO's hole S-68 and intersected mostly continuous mineralization from 996.7 ft to 1,987.4 ft (in vertical depth). The intersect includes 118.1 ft (36.0 m) of 0.94 per cent Cu TSol oxide mineralization from 996.7 ft (303.8 m). ECN-128 was designed to verify the oxide/enriched mineralization relationships previously drilled by S-68 (included in the attached drill assay highlights table) and to explore the previously underexplored primary mineralization by drilling through the full bedrock profile to the basement fault.

Historic drilling by ASARCO in the Gap zone and NE Extension focused on near, or relatively near, surface, enriched copper mineralization exploring for open-pit resources. Rarely was deeper mineralization tested to its full extents or to the depth of the underlying basement fault. The success of ECN-128 in extending demonstrated oxide, enriched and primary copper mineralization from those known drill intercepts provides encouragement to take the same approach in the Gap zone, where historical Asarco holes did not test copper mineralization to depth.

In 2020 the company flew a 650-line-kilometre SkyTEM electromagnetic/magnetics survey over the Cactus project area.

Ionic sampling was successfully used at Parks/Salyer to guide company drilling on blind targets, or deeply buried mineralization not detectable by traditional soil sampling. Ionic surveys are typically not impacted by physically transported contamination from past operations such as dust or runoff. Areas that were disturbed by construction works during the mining of the Sacaton (Cactus West) pit were not sampled for this survey. The technique has been successfully implemented by other copper explorers in Arizona at other mine locations.

Cactus East infill drilling

Chalcocite and covellite are the dominant copper species in the enriched mineralization, replacing primary pyrite and chalcopyrite in their original depositional habits, such as veins, breccia fillings, voids and disseminations. These replacement styles are representative of the company's enriched mineral zone. Chalcocite also tends to build on itself, resulting in zones of higher-grade mineralization where the enrichment fluids had time and opportunity to continue the secondary enrichment process.

                  CACTUS EAST AND NE EXTENSION DRILLING HIGHLIGHTS
 
               From        To   Length    From      To   Length    CuT   TSol      Mo
Hole ID          ft        ft       ft       m       m        m      %      %       %                  

ECE-076     1,204.0   1,415.7    211.7   367.0   431.5     64.5   1.75   1.65   0.012
including   1,271.7   1,412.0    140.3   387.6   430.4     42.8   2.37   2.25   0.013
            1,415.7   1,695.0    279.3   431.5   516.6     85.1   1.38   1.11   0.031
including   1,415.7   1,495.0     79.3   431.5   455.7     24.2   2.87   2.61   0.028
            1,695.0   1,899.6    204.6   516.6   579.0     62.4   0.43   0.04   0.030
including   1,845.0   1,896.2     51.2   562.4   578.0     15.6   0.69   0.05   0.026
ECE-078     1,293.0   1,314.0     21.0   394.1   400.5      6.4   0.59   0.53   0.007
            1,324.0   1,701.0    377.0   403.6   518.5    114.9   1.25   1.15   0.035
including   1,354.0   1,424.0     70.0   412.7   434.0     21.3   1.80   1.75   0.036
and         1,494.0   1,534.0     40.0   455.4   467.6     12.2   1.72   1.63   0.061
and         1,594.0   1,614.0     20.0   485.9   491.9      6.1   2.10   1.98   0.032
            1,701.0   2,043.0    342.0   518.5   622.7    104.2   0.31   0.04   0.017
including   1,876.0   1,975.1     99.1   571.8   602.0     30.2   0.45   0.03   0.019
ECN-128       996.7   1,114.8    118.1   303.8   339.8     36.0   0.97   0.94   0.004
            1,182.6   1,334.0    151.4   360.5   406.6     46.1   0.46   0.38   0.006
including   1,182.6   1,206.4     23.8   360.5   367.7      7.3   1.35   1.34   0.002
            1,334.0   1,987.4    653.4   406.6   605.8    199.2   0.40   0.03   0.008
including   1,419.0   1,469.0     50.0   432.5   447.8     15.2   0.55   0.04   0.021
and         1,510.0   1,629.0    119.0   460.2   496.5     36.3   0.58   0.04   0.009
and         1,733.3   1,752.3     19.0   528.3   534.1      5.8   1.60   0.10   0.007
S-68*       1,016.5   1,044.5     28.0   309.8   318.4     28.0   1.23     n/a    n/a 
            1,078.5   1,208.8    130.3   328.7   368.4    120.3   1.52               
including   1,171.2   1,208.8     37.6   357.0   368.4     37.6   3.45               
            1,254.6   1,444.0    189.4   382.4   440.1    189.4   0.54               
including   1,254.6   1,290.1     35.5   382.4   393.2     35.5   1.05               
and         1,322.4   1,354.1     31.7   403.1   412.7     31.7   0.97               
            1,444.0   1,526.0     82.0   440.1   465.1     82.0   0.45               

* Historic ASARCO drill hole.

(1) Intervals are presented in core length and are drilled with very near-vertical dip 
    angles.
  
(2) Drill assays assume a mineralized cut-off grade of 0.5 per cent CuT reflecting the 
    potential for heap leaching of underground material in the case of oxide and enriched 
    or in the case of primary material, 0.1 per cent CuT, to provide typical average grades. 
    Holes were terminated below the basement fault.

(3) The enriched intercept in the NE Extension exploration hole assumed a mineralized 
    cut-off grade of 0.1 per cent CuT to provide the average grade of the tenor of 
    mineralization.
  
(4) Assay results are not capped. Intercepts are aggregated within geological confines 
    of major mineral zones.
  
(5) True widths are not known.
  
(6) ASARCO did not assay for soluble copper or for molybdenum content. Please see press 
    release dated Nov. 20, 2020, for disclosures on Arizona Sonoran-initiated relogging and 
    reassaying program.
  
 

Quality assurance/quality control

Drilling completed on the project between 2020 and 2022 was supervised by on-site Arizona Sonoran personnel who prepared core samples for assay and implemented a full QA/QC program using blanks, standards and duplicates to monitor analytical accuracy and precision. The samples were sealed on site and shipped to Skyline Laboratories in Tucson, Ariz., for analysis. Skyline's quality control system complies with global certifications for quality International Organization for Standardization 9001:2008.

Technical aspects of this news release have been reviewed and verified by Allan Schappert -- certified professional geologist No. 11758, who is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc.

The company's objective is to become a mid-tier copper producer with low operating costs and to develop the Cactus and Parks/Salyer projects that could generate robust returns for investors and provide a long-term sustainable and responsible operation for the community and all stakeholders. The company's principal asset is a 100-per-cent interest in the Cactus project (former ASARCO, Sacaton mine) which is situated on private land in an infrastructure-rich area of Arizona. Contiguous to the Cactus project is the company's 100-per-cent-owned Parks/Salyer deposit that could allow for a phased expansion of the Cactus mine once it becomes a producing asset. The company is led by an executive management team and board which have a long-standing record of successful project delivery in North America complemented by global capital markets expertise.

We seek Safe Harbor.