Cactus Brownfield Project MRE Reports Increase In Total Copper Pounds

CASA GRANDE, AZ – Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc. reported on the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Cactus brownfield copper project, located 45 miles south of Phoenix, Arizona. The updated and expanded MRE is inclusive of a conversion drilling program that targeted the near surface material from the MainSpring property, part of the Parks/Salyer deposit, and step out and conversion drilling from the Cactus West and Cactus East deposits. The Cactus Project is wholly-owned and located on private land in Arizona, with direct road and rail access, power and water, is at an advanced permitting stage and is currently advancing to a Pre-Feasibility Study (2025 PFS), expected in Q4 2025.
Infill drilling converted 51% of the Inferred material to Measured & Indicated (M&I), while dropping the overall M&I grade by 15% due to the inclusion of lower grade near surface material from Parks/Salyer South (formerly MainSpring). Updated total Cactus Project MRE including Primary Sulphide material: 1) Measured and Indicated: 1,143 million short tons @ 0.48% Total Copper (CuT) for 11.0 billion pounds or 5.5 million short tons of contained copper. 2) Inferred: 233 million short tons @ 0.37% CuT for 1.7 billion pounds of copper or 0.85 million short tons of contained copper, representing a decrease of 56% due to conversion to M&I. 3) 75% of the Cactus Project M&I copper pounds are leachable.
At the Parks/Salyer Deposit 100% of the near surface, low grade copper mineralization at Parks/Salyer South converted to the Indicated category. Changes to the M&I classification from the 2024 Parks/Salyer MRE include: 1) 52% increase to 514.1 million short tons above cut‑off. 2) 31% increase of total copper pounds to 6.3 billion. 3) 14% grade reduction to 0.61% CuT and 0.49% Total soluble copper (Cu TSol) – due to incorporating near surface and lower grade Parks/Salyer South material into the Indicated classification. 90% of the Parks/Salyer copper pounds in the M&I classification are leachable
Cactus West and Cactus East Deposits: 1) Mineral Resources expanded to the north, southwest, and at depth to the basement through expansion and infill drilling programs. 2) Reporting of first Measured mineral resources within the Cactus East deposit from finalization of infill drilling program. 3) Changes to the M&I classification from 2024 Cactus West and Cactus East MRE include: 151% increase to 557.6 million short tons above cut‑off; 184% increase of total copper pounds to 4.43 billion pounds; and 19% grade reduction to 0.40% CuT and 0.20% Cu TSol – due to incorporating lower grade Primary Sulphide mineralization surrounding and below the existing Cactus West pit.
George Ogilvie, President and CEO, said, “Through a series of land acquisitions from 2020-2024, a series of scope changes took place as the Project continuously and materially increased the access to mineral resources, resulting in the evolution of the Project’s strong economics, as most recently outlined in the 2024 PEA. Parks/Salyer’s inclusion initially as an underground operation in the 2024 PFS, was later transformed to become a second open pit at the Cactus Project, within the 2024 PEA. The 2024 PEA followed the MainSpring acquisition and the eventual definition and incorporation of Inferred material which signified the final scope change to our Cactus Project. Today’s updated mineral resource estimate reflects the work completed over the past year to upgrade the 2024 PEA to the PFS level. The Cactus Project update reported a significant conversion of Inferred mineral resources resulting in a 51% increase of the copper resource estimate in the M&I classification to 550 million short tons of contained copper or 11.0 billion pounds in all Project deposits, of which 75% is leachable material and 25% is Primary Sulfide material.
Drilling successfully incorporated Parks/Salyer South’s near surface and lower grade material into to the broader Parks/Salyer deposit at the Indicated classification. This material was previously included into the 2024 PEA as an Inferred mineral resource. With this latest mineral resource estimate update, Parks/Salyer M&I classified material forms 57% of the total Cactus Project MRE with 514 million short tons at a grade of 0.49% Cu TSol, comprising almost 90% of total leachable tons. While the overall M&I grade at Parks/Salyer has decreased, the addition of shallow Indicated mineral resource estimates has continued to demonstrate the highly compelling nature of an open pit scenario.
The path forward now is to reflect these updated mineral resource estimates into the pending 2025 PFS, anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2025, and effectively advance three key workstreams – a Definitive Feasibility Study, permit amendments and project financing. We believe this work will support a final investment decision as early as Q4 2026.”