46% Increase At The Copperwood Project

LONGUEUIL - Highland Copper Company Inc. reported an updated Mineral Resource estimate for its 100%-owned Copperwood Project located in Gogebic County, in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Highlights: 46% increase in Measured and Indicated Resources at 1.5 billion pounds of copper at 1% Cu cut-off grade; Copper and silver resource grades largely unchanged; Resource newly identified in the Upper Copper Bearing Sequence (UCBS) zone; Mineralization remains open along strike and down dip; and Conversion from Inferred to Indicated Resource categories was robust across the deposit.

The updated Mineral Resource estimate prepared by G Mining Services Inc. represents a 46% increase in Measured and Indicated Resources compared to the previous resource estimate. The new resource is estimated at 42.5 million tonnes grading an average of 1.59% copper and 3.9 g/t silver containing 1.5 billion pounds of copper and 5.4 million ounces of silver in the Measured and Indicated Resource category, using a cut-off grade of 1.0% Cu. There were gains in all resource categories except in the satellite zones. This will provide a solid base for the current update to the feasibility study that is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2018.

The 2017 drilling program consisted of 32 HQ-diameter and three PQ-diameter drill holes for a total of 6,784 meters of core or approximately 74% of the planned 9,198 meters budgeted for the drilling program. The program was designed to upgrade the current Inferred Mineral Resources at the eastern section of the deposit, obtain metallurgical samples and carry out geotechnical studies to refine the mining plan - all of these objectives were realized. Every drill hole intersected copper-silver mineralization, as expected. The drilling provided 527 samples for copper and silver assaying and 607 kg taken for metallurgical testing.

The current Mineral Resource estimate is based on 2,738 assay results from 359 diamond drill holes totaling 66,577 meters, drilled by four companies between 1956 and 2017. The conversion of Indicated Resources into Measured Resources was robust in the zones drilled during 2017. Complete results of the drilling program will be posted on the Company's website. The Company anticipates that, once the drilling program in the eastern section of the deposit is completed, most of the Inferred Resources in the Copperwood LCBS (Lower Copper Bearing Sequence) will move into the Indicated Resource category.

The Mineral Resource estimate was based on a block model characterized by two separate copper-bearing sequences, the Lower Copper Bearing Sequence ("LCBS": including the Gray Laminated, Red Massive, and Domino units), and the Upper Copper Bearing Sequence ("UCBS"). Individual units within the LCBS were modeled and estimated separately according to the logged geological units. Uncapped raw assays were composited into separate geological units (Domino, Red Massive and Grey Laminated), with one composite per drill hole produced for each unit. For the UCBS, a grade-based modeling approach was adopted where a single layer was modeled based on assays greater than 1% Cu. This approach was applied due to a lack of historical logging and some ambiguity regarding the UCBS position in the stratigraphy. Variography studies undertaken on each geological unit highlighted strong continuity of copper and silver grades, with a low nugget effect observed. A bulk density of 2.7 g/cm3 was app lied to Domino and Red Massive units, and 2.72 g/cm3 was applied to the Grey Laminated and UCBS units. Copper and silver grades were estimated using the ordinary kriging (OK) interpolation method in three successive passes, using ellipse ranges of 175 m, 250 m, and 350 m. To address the currently accepted minimum mining height of 2 m, copper and silver grades were diluted in areas where the LCBS is less than 2 m in height. Dilution grades were derived from a grade estimation of the hanging wall sediments (Red Laminated unit), which was modeled as a 50 cm buffer zone situated directly above the LCBS.

To define resource categories, G Mining outlined groups of globally similar interpolation passes. Measured Mineral Resources thus constitute the bulk of the mineral resources in the Copperwood Deposit area and include blocks interpolated generally in the first pass. Indicated Mineral Resources are located at the periphery of the measured category where blocks are generally interpolated in the second pass. All other interpolated blocks are categorized in the Inferred Mineral Resource category, including all blocks in the satellite deposits.