CEO.CA Chairman's Briefing

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arras Minerals Corp. (TSX-V: ARK) (“Arras” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of five mineral exploration licences. The new licences held by the Company’s 100 % owned Kazakh Subsidiary, Ekidos Minerals LLP, cover a total of 2,122 square kilometers (“sq km”) in northeastern Kazakhstan focussed on the Bozshakol-Chingiz and Baidaulet-Akbastau metallogenic belts.

Highlights:

• A total of five new mineral exploration licenses (namely, “Maisor”, “Aktasty”, “Elemes”, “Norgubek”, and “Akkuduk”) totaling 2,122 sq km have been granted by the Ministry of Industry and Innovational Development, Government of Kazakhstan, increasing the Company’s total land package in northeastern Kazakhstan by 70% to 3,028 sq km. All licenses are located within a 120 km radius of Arras' operational base in the city of Ekibastuz, Pavlodar facilitating cost-effective exploration.
• Arras is now the largest license holder in the highly prospective Bozshakol-Chingiz metallogenic belt, and the third largest in the Republic of Kazakhstan, after Fortescue Metals Group and Rio Tinto.

• The Bozshakol-Chingiz and Baidaulet-Akbastau metallogenic belts host the producing Bozshakol porphyry copper-gold mine and Maikain volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (“VHMS”) mine, respectively, as well as Arras’ Beskauga porphyry-epithermal copper-gold project where an initial 10,000-meter drill program (permitted for 30,000m) is currently underway.
• Compilation, digitization, and interpretation of Soviet-era geological and geophysical datasets for the new licenses has identified multiple targets for porphyry, epithermal, VHMS, and orogenic gold mineralization.
• Historical, non-NI 43-101 compliant drill intercepts support the significant exploration potential, including:
  • “Berezski East” – porphyry target (Elemes licence)
    • 105 meters grading 1.17 g/t gold (“Au”) and 0.2 % copper (“Cu”)
    • 93 meters grading 0.51 g/t Au and 0.12 % Cu
    • 68.4 meters grading 0.95 g/t Au and 0.18 % Cu
  • “Quartzite Goka” – intermediate sulfidation epithermal target (Elemes Licence)
    • 143 meters grading 0.71 g/t Au and 0.42 % Cu
    • 72 meters grading 1.06 g/t Au and 0.38 % Cu
    • 84 meters grading 0.78 g/t Au and 0.34 % Cu
  • “Amankol” – epithermal target (Akkuduk Licence)
    • 14.5 meters grading 0.89 % Cu (no Au assays reported)
    • 8 meters grading 1.42 % Cu (no Au assays reported)
    • 10 meters grading 1.79 % Cu (no Au assays reported)
  • “Akkuduk-Norgubek” porphyry-epithermal target (Norgubek Licence)
    • 30.5 meters grading 1.65 g/t Au and 0.18 % Cu
    • 40.5 meters grading 1.07 g/t Au (no Cu assays reported)
    • 30.2 meters grading 1.19 g/t Au (no Cu assays reported)
      
• Soil sampling, detailed geological mapping, and alteration mapping (using TerraSpec SWIR/NIR spectroscopy) are in progress at two of the new license areas, Elemes and Akkuduk. Fieldwork at the Norgubek license is scheduled to begin in late August.
  

Commenting on the acquisition of the new licence areas, Tim Barry, CEO of Arras stated, “We are delighted to have been granted five new licences areas. Acquisition of these licences is core to our strategy of building a belt-scale portfolio focused on the Bozshakol-Chingiz belt. Acting on our first mover advantage we have been able to expand our footprint by 70%. This is a testament to the potential we recognize within this underexplored belt and substantially increases exposure to copper and gold for the Company and our shareholders. The new licences include prospective ground immediately adjacent to and along the same trend as KAZ Minerals' Bozshakol porphyry copper-gold mine, one of the largest copper resources in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Significantly, the two near-mine licences are both concealed by overburden and have not seen any post-Soviet-era exploration. This provides us with a unique exploration opportunity to search beneath cover by applying modern geochemical and geophysical techniques and top-of-bedrock drilling. Our field crews are now on-site at the newly granted Elemes and Akkuduk licences and we look forward to updating the market on the results of our regional exploration programs shortly."

Geological Setting of the New License Areas

Four of the newly granted license areas (see Figure 1) are located within the Bozshakol-Chingiz metallogenic belt. The belt hosts the giant Bozshakol porphyry copper-gold deposit (1.123 billion tonnes grading 0.35 % Cu, 0.14 g/t Au and 1.00 g/t silver (“Ag”)) operated by KAZ Minerals Ltd (Figures 1 and 2). It also hosts the Company’s Beskauga porphyry-epithermal copper-gold project with a current Mineral Resource Estimate of 1.75 million ounces (“Moz”) of gold and 333.6 thousand tonnes of copper in the “Indicated” category, and 1.49 Moz of gold & 222.2 thousand tonnes of copper in the “Inferred” category (refer to Arras’ news release dated June 20, 2022). An initial 10,000-meter drill program is currently underway at the Beskauga project.

Akkuduk the southern-most of the newly granted licenses (see Figure 1) is located within the Baidaulet-Akbastau magmatic arc. The Baidaulet-Akbastau arc hosts several gold-rich VHMS deposits including the producing Maikain VHMS ore field with a non-NI43-101 compliant historical resource of 40 million tonnes grading 1.14 % Cu, 2.4 g/t Au, 43 g/t Ag, 2.5 % zinc (“Zn”) and 0.44 % lead (“Pb”) as shown in Figure 2.

The Bozshakol-Chingiz and Baidaulet-Akbastau metallogenic belts are both Late Cambrian to Early Ordovician age magmatic arcs that forms part of the larger Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) one of Earth’s most richly mineralized regions, which hosts several world-class deposits, including Muruntau in Uzbekistan, the largest known orogenic gold deposit in the world, the behemothian Oyu Tolgoi porphyry Cu-Au deposit in Mongolia, the super-giant Kal’makyr-Dalnee and Saukbulak (collectively Almalyk) porphyry Cu-Au deposits in Uzbekistan, and the giant Kounrad and Aktogai porphyry Cu-Au deposits of the Balkhash region in eastern Kazakhstan.

Figure 1. Arras’ mineral exploration licences in northeastern Kazakhstan. Also shown is the location of Arras’ exploration office in the city of Ekibastuz and the producing Bozshakol and Maikain mines.

Figure 2. Arras’ mineral exploration licences in northeastern Kazakhstan. Also shown is the location of neighboring current and historical mines, including several significant gold-rich VHMS and porphyry copper-gold deposits.

Qualified Person:

The technical disclosure included in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Joshua Hughes, the Vice President Exploration, and a full-time employee of Arras Minerals Corp., who is also a Member and Chartered Professional Geologist (MAusIMM CP(Geo)) of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists (FSEG) and a Fellow of the Geological Society of London (FGS). Mr Hughes is a "Qualified Person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Tim Barry"

Tim Barry, MAusIMM CP(Geo)
Chief Executive Officer and Director

INVESTOR RELATIONS:
+1 604 687 5800
info@arrasminerals.com 

About Arras Minerals Corp.

Arras Minerals Corp. is British Columbia incorporated public company trading on the TSX-V exchange under the symbol “ARK.” The Company is advancing a portfolio of copper and gold assets in northeastern Kazakhstan, including the Option Agreement on the Beskauga copper and gold project.

Further information can be found on the Company’s website https://www.arrasminerals.com or follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arrasminerals

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and Arras’ future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Exchange Act, and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding the use of net proceeds from the recent private placement, plans and expectations of the drill program Arras is in the process of undertaking, including the expansion of the Mineral Resource, and other aspects of the Mineral Resource estimates for the Beskauga project. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about Arras’ exploration projects, the industry in which Arras operates and the beliefs and assumptions of Arras’ management. Words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “targets,” “goals,” “projects,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “continues,” “may,” variations of such words, and similar expressions and references to future periods, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond management’s control, including undertaking further exploration activities, the results of such exploration activities and that such results support continued exploration activities, unexpected variations in ore grade, types and metallurgy, volatility and level of commodity prices, the availability of sufficient future financing, and other matters discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in the Non-Offering Prospectus filed on the Company’s profile on SEDAR on May 31, 2022 and in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2021 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed on February 17, 2022 available on www.sec.gov. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by the Company in this release is based only on information currently available and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise. 

Figure 1

Arras’ mineral exploration licences in northeastern Kazakhstan. Also shown is the location of Arras’ exploration office in the city of Ekibastuz and the producing Bozshakol and Maikain mines.

Figure 2.

Arras’ mineral exploration licences in northeastern Kazakhstan. Also shown is the location of neighboring current and historical mines, including several significant gold-rich VHMS and porphyry copper-gold deposits.