AQM Copper Announces Three New Directors and Appoints a New Chairman as It Prepares for the Next Phase in the Development of the Zafranal Copper Project

VANCOUVER, 10/05/11 - AQM Copper Inc. (TSX: AQM) (BVLAC: AQM) ('AQM Copper' or the 'Company') is pleased to announce the election of Jasper Bertisen and Steve Botts to the Board of Directors at its Annual General Meeting held on September 28, 2011 and the subsequent appointment of Alan Edwards as a Director and Chairman of the Company.

Mr. Jasper Bertisen is a Principal with Resource Capital Funds ('RCF'), a group of private equity funds that exclusively invests in the mining industry. Mr. Bertisen joined RCF in 2004 and, since that time, has completed technical and commercial due diligence on a large number of mining companies with projects ranging from late stage exploration through production. Mr. Bertisen graduated with a M.Sc. degree in Mineral Economics from the Colorado School of Mines and a M.Sc. degree in Mining Engineering from Delft University of Technology. He will join the Audit, and the Nominating and Compensation Committees of the Board.

Mr. Steve Botts is an international sustainability consultant with over 30 years of mining experience specializing in the area of mining project development, environmental management, stakeholder engagement and sustainable development. Prior to forming Santa Barbara Consultants, he served as Vice President of Sustainability for AngloGold Ashanti Americas, General Manager of Rio Tinto's La Granja Copper Project in Peru, Vice President of Environment, Health and Safety for Minera Antamina in Peru and Director, Environmental Affairs for Echo Bay Mines out of Denver, Colorado. Mr. Botts graduated with a Bachelor of General Studies from the University of Nevada and a Masters of Environmental Policy and Management from the University of Denver. He will join the newly formed Technical and Sustainability Committee as Chairman, to oversee technical aspects of project development and to assist management in its pursuit of world-class environmental stewardship, employee health and safety and social responsibility in all of its activities.

In addition, the Board of Directors approved the appointment of Mr. Alan Edwards as Director of the Company and as Chairman of the Board. Mr. Edwards is a mining professional with over 27 years of diverse mining industry experience. He has held the positions of General Manager of Operations for Phelps Dodge Corporation at the Chino Mine, President and General Manager for Cyprus Amax Minerals Company at the Cerro Verde Mine in Peru, and Executive Vice President and COO for Apex Silver Mine in the development of the San Cristobal project in Bolivia. Mr. Edwards held the position of President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Frontera Copper Corporation and is currently participating as a Director in Copper One Inc., Entree Gold Inc., U. S. Silver Corporation and Gammon Gold, Inc. Mr. Edwards graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mining Engineering and an MBA (Finance), both from the University of Arizona.

Mr. Bertisen and Mr. Botts were each granted stock options as new directors entitling them to purchase 250,000 shares in the capital of the Company subject to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. The options are exercisable until September 28, 2016 at a price of $0.34 per share.

In addition, the Company has granted incentive stock options to certain of its directors, officers, employees and consultants entitling them to purchase an aggregate of 831,000 shares in the capital of the Company subject to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. The options are exercisable until October 3, 2016 at a price of $0.38 per share, including 250,000 stock options for Mr. Edwards as a new director and Board Chairman.

Commenting on the appointment of the new Directors and Board Chairman, Bruce Turner, AQM's President and CEO, said: 'we believe we have added the needed resources and experience to the Board that will enable the Company to successfully take the Zafranal Project to the next phase in its development as an operating mine.'

Mr. Cesar Lopez, former Director and founder of AQM, and Mr. Juan Villarzu, former Board Chairman, decided to pursue other interests and they did not stand for re-election. The Company thanks Mr. Lopez and Mr.Villarzu for their valuable contribution to the success of AQM, in particular the acquisition of the Zafranal Property.

The Company also announces the re-location of its office headquarters from Santiago, Chile to Lima, Peru where it has rented new office space located at Calle Amador Merino Reyna 339 Of. 401 - A, San Isidro, Lima.


ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Bruce Turner
President and CEO



ABOUT AQM Copper:

AQM Copper Inc. (formerly Apoquindo Minerals) is a Canada-based mineral exploration company developing copper deposits in South America. Through its wholly owned Peruvian subsidiary, Minera AQM Peru SAC, the Company is developing the Zafranal Copper-Gold Porphyry Project located in Southern Peru. Minera AQM Peru SAC is the operator of a 50/50 JV with Teck Resources Limited through a sole purpose Peruvian company being formed for Zafranal as announced in its press release on July 8, 2010. The Zafranal project has NI43-101 compliant measured and indicated resources of 301 million tonnes grading 0.47% copper and 0.08 grams per tonne gold, and an inferred resource of 51 million tonnes grading 0.32% copper and 0.06 grams per tonne gold. Management and directors have extensive experience working for the world's largest mining copper producers. Please refer to the Company's website(http://aqmcopper.com/s/Home.asp) for further information regarding the Company and its projects.


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