Cochise County, Arizona — Excelsior Mining Corp. announced that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has issued an operating permit, the Class III Underground Injection Control (“UIC”) Area Permit, for the Gunnison Copper Project, located in Cochise County between Benson and Willcox in southeastern Arizona.

Excelsior Mining “The Copper Solution Company” is a mineral exploration and development company that is advancing the Gunnison Copper Project in Cochise County. The project is an advanced staged, low cost, environmentally friendly in-situ recovery copper extraction project.

Excelsior’s technical work on the Gunnison Copper Project is supervised by Stephen Twyerould, Fellow of AUSIMM, President & CEO of Excelsior and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Twyerould has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

Twyerould said, “The completion of this key milestone brings us one step closer to initiating low-cost in-situ copper production at one of the most environmentally friendly and economically compelling mine sites in the United States. We look forward to continuing our work with all regulatory agencies and stakeholders as we head into the construction phase this summer.”

The EPA has issued Excelsior a UIC Permit with an effective date of August 1, 2018.  Once effective, the UIC Permit (along with the Aquifer Protection Permit), requires the Company to be in compliance with protective permit conditions prior to the initiation of production activities. The UIC Permit is good for production of up to 125 million pounds per annum; this is the final operating permit required to get into production. In 2017, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality issued an Amended Aquifer Protection Permit for the Johnson Camp Mine, and an Aquifer Protection Permit for the Gunnison Copper Project.

Mark Morabito, the Chairman added, “There has not been a new copper mine permitted within the state of Arizona in over a decade; I congratulate the Excelsior management team for achieving this important milestone that keeps Excelsior Mining on schedule to become the next new copper producer in the United States.  In addition to generating significant economic benefits, the Gunnison Copper Project genuinely represents a more environmentally-friendly era of mining for Arizona.”

Additional information about the Gunnison Copper Project can be found in the technical report filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com entitled: “Gunnison Copper Project, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Feasibility Study” dated effective December 17, 2016.  The Feasibility Study projected an after-tax NPV of US$ 807 million and an IRR of 40% using a US$ 2.75 per pound copper price and a 7.5% discount rate.

For more information on Excelsior, please visit our website at www.excelsiormining.com.

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A wholly owned  subsidiary of Arizona-based Excelsior Mining Corp. has successfully completed the acquisition of all assets of Nord Resources Corporation, as they relate to the Johnson Camp Mine (JCM). Excelsior’s flagship Gunnison Copper Project is located immediately adjacent to JCM in Cochise County, southeastern Arizona.

“We are pleased with our recent acquisition of the Johnson Camp Mine. The copper processing plant and related infrastructure at JCM have the ability to greatly facilitate the       goal of bringing our adjacent Gunnison Copper Project into production. We look forward to working with the experienced people at JCM and integrating the workforce into Excelsior’s mining team,” said Excelsior President and CEO Stephen Twyerould.

Excelsior’s primary interest is in the existing facilities at JCM but Excelsior intends to review and evaluate the exploration and copper mining potential. During this evaluation period and prior to production from the Gunnison Copper Project, the site will be staffed by existing JCM employees on a care and maintenance and evaluation schedule.

As part of the acquisition, approximately $3.99 million of back taxes owed by the previous owner were paid to Cochise County.

JCM mining claims are contiguous with Excelsior’s Gunnison Copper Project. The property consists of 59 patented lode mining claims, 117 unpatented lode mining claims and fee simple lands. The existing facilities include a 4,500 gallon per minute solvent extraction plant, a tank farm, an electrowinning plant with 88 electrowinning cells with capacity for 25 million pounds of copper cathode per annum, solution storage ponds, a truck shop, core storage building, offices, warehouse, laboratory, mechanical shop, a primary and secondary crusher, and various other equipment.

Mining operations at JCM date back to the 1880s and have continued intermittently under various owners. Since mining stopped in 2010, there has been limited copper produced from passive leaching of the existing leach pad. The mine had been in receivership since 2014.

Excelsior is a mineral exploration and development company working to advance the Gunnison Copper Project.  The Excelsior management team consists of experienced professionals with proven track records of advancing mining projects into production. Further information about the Gunnison Copper Project can be found in the technical report filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com entitled:” Gunnison Copper Project, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Prefeasibility Study” dated February 14, 2014. Details about Excelsior can be found at: https://www.excelsiormining.com.