TORONTO, June 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE:MUX) (TSX:MUX) is pleased to report on the progress at the Fox Complex, where we are advancing a new mine on the Stock Property. Production is planned to start in the second half of 2025. Pre-construction activities of the Stock portal have commenced, which will allow access to mining of the three gold zones, West, Main and East. In addition, the portal will provide cost-effective underground drill platforms to enable testing for expected depth extensions of these three zones. Recent exploration resulted in a 29% increase in the estimated gold resources for Stock's East Zone. The Fox Complex is comprised of several properties, including Stock, and has Measured and Indicated gold resources of 1,905,000 ounces at average grade of 4.20 g/t Au and Inferred gold resources of 549,000 gold ounces at average grade of 3.60 g/t Au. Stock Ramp to Access Future Production The Stock Property hosts the Stock Mill and the former Stock Mine, which produced 137,000 ounces of gold from an underground operation between 1989 and 2005. Our exploration has successfully defined three deposits at Stock - the East, Main and West zones. This mineralization has been found on a three-kilometer-long mineralized trend situated along the prolific Destor-Porcupine Fault. Pre-construction activities have commenced at the portal with the removal of overburden. Underground development is expected to begin in Q3. The Stock Ramp will connect the West Zone and the East Zone to the existing historical underground workings of the Main Zone. Stock is expected to provide increased gold production at a lower cost per ounce than our current production from the Froome Mine. The advantages of mining at Stock compared to Froome are significant and the reasons are three-fold: one, there is a significantly lower transportation or haulage cost. The Froome mine is deeper and located 35 kilometers from the Stock Mill, while the gold at Stock is at shallower depths and right next to the Mill; two, increased gold production due to expected higher mill throughput, as a result of the Stock material having a lower (softer) work index compared to what is currently being processed from the Froome Mine; and three, the bulk of Stock is free of royalties, whereas Froome is not. Mining will start in the East Zone, with a recently increased resource, and provide early production and cash flow. Our plan for the Stock development is to concurrently drive the Stock Ramp to the East Zone along with the ramps to the Main and West Zones. This approach will allow for multiple sources of mineralization to be accessed from the Stock Ramp. Figure 1 is a project wide longitudinal section at Stock, illustrating the proposed ramp development (shown as purple straight lines) and mining horizons (shapes in blue) associated with the West, Main and East Zones. Figure 1. Longitudinal Section for the Stock Deposit (Looking North) Figure 1 illustrates three principal plunge directions for mineralization at the Stock Zones. The following historic drill intercepts located towards the lower end of these plunges suggest the gold mineralization could continue at depth: 6.1 g/t Au over 5.6 m (S23-291), 4.3 g/t Au over 20.4 m (S21-202) and 2.7 g/t Au over 11.2 m (S19-31). Fox Complex's Large Resource Base Total Fox Complex Resources are now at 1,905,000 gold ounces of Measured and Indicated mineralization at an average grade of 4.20 g/t Au and 549,000 gold ounces of Inferred mineralization at an average grade of 3.60 g/t Au. These resources are sourced from several deposits, as listed in Figure 2. Table 1. Fox Complex Resources (May 20, 2024) Fox Complex Resources (May 20, 2024) Measured Indicated Inferred Tonnes (000s t) Grade(g/t) Contained Au (oz) Tonnes (000s t) Grade(g/t) Contained Au (oz) Tonnes (000s t) Grade(g/t) Contained Au (oz) Black Fox 304 5.80 57,000 91 5.44 16,000 149 5.33 26,000 Froome 568 3.99 73,000 284 3.95 36,000 143 3.44 16,000 Grey Fox - - - 7,566 4.80 1,168,000 1,685 4.35 236,000 Stock - West & Main - - - 1,938 3.31 206,000 1,386 2.96 132,000 Stock - East Zone - - - 866 2.70 75,000 579 2.66 50,000 Stock Project Total - -