VANCOUVER, BC, May 13, 2024 /CNW/ - NGEx Minerals Ltd. ("NGEx Minerals" "NGEx" or the "Company") (TSX:NGEX) (OTCQX:NGXXF) is pleased to report its results for the three months ended March 31, 2024. View PDF Operating highlights for the three months ended March 31, 2024, and subsequent period thereto, include the following, details of which are discussed further below: Recently completed drill program at Lunahuasi successfully confirms size and grade potential of deposit; Assays to date continue to deliver bonanza-grade intersections, such as DPDH009 returning 62.0 metres at 6.98% copper equivalent ("CuEq"), including 26.1 metres at 13.36% CuEq, and DPDH014 returning 184.2 metres at 4.61% CuEq, including 23.0 metres at 23.02% CuEq; In addition, drilling to date has also intersected longer intervals of mineralization at elevated grades, such as DPDH013, which intersected 509.4 metres at 1.33% CuEq and DPDH018, which intersected 429.4 metres at 2.31% CuEq. Graduation to the Toronto Stock Exchange in February 2024, followed by the Company's common shares commencing trading on the OTCQX in March; and Strong treasury balance of $63.5 million at March 31, 2024. Wojtek Wodzicki, President and CEO, commented, "The Lunahuasi drill program has continued to deliver mineralized intercepts that rank among the highest copper grades encountered globally in recent years. Our drill results demonstrate the potential for a large volume of high-grade stockwork mineralization in addition to the previously identified bonanza-grade veins. With its increasingly evident size potential, elevated grades, and central location within the evolving Vicuña District, NGEx is positioning Lunahuasi as a significant asset with growing strategic importance to the region's future development. The potential for further discovery and expansion at Lunahuasi remains strong with mineralization open in all directions. With our objectives for the campaign accomplished, drilling for the season has now ended and our team has demobilized from the field. Our focus over the coming weeks will be on processing the remaining core collected from the final six holes of the 2023-2024 program and expediting the samples through the assay laboratory. At the same time, NGEx will continue to update its geological interpretation of the Lunahuasi deposit, which will feed into the development of an exploration strategy for Lunahuasi's next program, set to begin early in the fourth quarter." Q1 2024 and Subsequent Period Highlights NGEx Successfully Illustrates Size and Grade Potential at Lunahuasi; Looks Ahead to 2024-2025 Program In April 2024, the Company finished the 2023-2024 Lunahuasi drill program (the "2023-2024 Lunahuasi Program"), with 12,952 metres of drilling in 15 holes. The program, which began in mid-October 2023, successfully extended the high-grade mineralization first intersected in last year's discovery holes and also drilled long intervals of stockwork mineralization, which has confirmed Lunahuasi's size potential. To date, the Company has identified two distinct styles of porphyry-related mineralization at Lunahuasi: bonanza-grade vein mineralization and high-grade stockwork mineralization. The presence of both styles of mineralization is consistent with the Company's current geological interpretation that drilling completed to date has intersected the peripheral parts of a porphyry copper-gold system at Lunahuasi. The grades and thickness of the mineralization observed within drill holes completed at Lunahuasi are positive indicators of the strength and potential of the system that is thought to be the source of these high-grade structures. Highlights from the vein mineralization intersected during the recently completed drill campaign include: DPDH009: 62.0 metres at 6.98% CuEq (3.75% Cu, 3.43 g/t Au, 83.2 g/t Ag), including: 26.1 metres at 13.36% CuEq (7.53% Cu, 5.83 g/t Au, 178.6 g/t Ag); DPDH010: 102.0 metres at 4.56% CuEq (2.45% Cu, 1.71 g/t Au, 97.3 g/t Ag), including: 62.6 metres at 5.84% CuEq (3.10% Cu, 2.09 g/t Au, 138.3 g/t Ag), including: 9.4 metres at 12.10% CuEq (4.86% Cu, 4.49 g/t Au, 450.2 g/t Ag); and DPDH014: 184.2 metres at 4.61% copper equivalent ("CuEq") (2.85% Cu, 2.15 g/t Au, 22.3 g/t Ag), including: 71.9 metres at 9.63% CuEq (5.79% Cu, 4.70 g/t Au, 46.9 g/t Ag), including: 23.0 metres at 23.02% CuEq (14.68% Cu, 9.95 g/t Au, 123.1 g/t Ag). Highlights from the high-grade stockwork mineralization intersected during the 2023-2024 Lunahuasi Program include: DPDH010: 460.9 metres at 1.09% CuEq (0.64% Cu, 0.35 g/t Au, 22.2 g/t Ag); DPDH013: 509.4 metres at 1.33% CuEq (0.75% Cu, 0.55 g/t Au, 19.6 g/t Ag); DPDH015: 328.0 metres at 1.10% CuEq (0.73% Cu, 0.30 g/t Au, 16.4 g/t Ag); and DPDH018: 429.4 metres at 2.31% CuEq (1.41% Cu, 0.67 g/t Au, 46.6 g/t Ag). Select drilling and assay results from the 2023-2024 Lunahuasi Program as noted above are summarized in Appendix 1 to this news release. Drilling and assay results from the 2023-2024 Lunahuasi Program released to date are discussed in news releases dated January 8, 2024, February 21, 2024, April 30, 2024, and May 9, 2024. The assumptions and formula used to calculate copper equivalent for the Lunahuasi drill intersections noted above are provided in the technical notes at the end of this news release. A summary of the status of the drill holes of the 2023-2024 Lunahuasi Program as of the date of this new release are as follows: Hole ID Status DPDH009 Hole completed; Results published January 8, 2024 DPDH010 Hole completed; Results published January 8, 2024 & February 21, 2024 DPDH011 Hole completed; Results published February 21, 2024 DPDH012 Hole completed; Results published April 30, 2024 DPDH013 Hole completed; Results published April 30, 2024 DPDH014 Hole completed; Results published February 21, 2024 DPDH015 Hole completed; Results published April 30, 2024 DPDH016 Hole completed; Results published April 30, 2024 DPDH017 Hole completed; Results pending DPDH018 Hole completed; Results published May 9, 2024 DPDH019 Hole completed; Results pending DPDH020 Hole completed; Results pending DPDH021 Hole completed; Results pending DPDH022 Hole completed; Results pending DPDH023 Hole completed; Results pending Remaining assays from the final six holes of the 2023-2024 Lunahuasi Program will be released once received, analyzed and confirmed by the Company.  Exploration potential at Lunahuasi is excellent, with mineralization remaining open in all directions, including at depth, as noted most recently in hole DPDH018, which ended with the final 20.4 metres averaging 3.37% CuEq (2.87% Cu, 0.45 g/t Au, and 20.2 g/t Ag). Both the vein and stockwork mineralization are interpreted to be part of a porphyry copper-gold system, which the Company believes may be centered to the west of current drilling at Lunahuasi. As the Company receives and analyzes the final assay results from the 2023-2024 Lunahuasi Program, it will update its geological interpretation of the deposit, which will form the basis for developing its exploration strategy for a third Lunahuasi drill campaign to begin early in the fourth quarter of 2024. NGEx Graduates to the TSX; Commences Trading on the OTCQX The Company graduated to the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") and began trading on the exchange at market open on February 22, 2024. There were no changes to the symbol, and the Company continues to trade under "NGEX". As a result of the graduation to the TSX, the Company's common shares were voluntarily delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange at the end of trading on February 21, 2024. In addition, on March 8, 2024, the Company's common shares commenced trading in the United States on the OTCQX (the "OTCQX") under the symbol "NGXXF". Financial Results (In thousands of Canadian dollars, except per share amounts)