Junex (TSX VENTURE: JNX) announces an update on activities and recent results from its Anticosti Oil exploration program targeting the Macasty Shale (the "Macasty") on its 100%-held 233,275 acre-sized exploration holdings on Anticosti Island. Recently-received laboratory results infer that the Macasty may have the potential to be a tight, oil to liquid hydrocarbon-rich producing shale formation on Junex's acreage. Consequently, Junex has proceeded to the next step of its exploration program by completing a geophysical survey on its acreage.

Junex recently received the laboratory analytical results of samples it collected from drill cuttings in the Macasty in the Arco Anticosti No. 1 well (the "Arco well") that was originally drilled as a stratigraphic test well in 1970. This well, located on one of five petroleum and natural gas exploration permits held by Junex on Anticosti Island, was drilled to a total depth of 3,850 metres and is the deepest well drilled on the island to date.

The laboratory results of the Macasty, as sampled in the Arco well, indicate that the Macasty may have the potential to be a tight, oil to liquid hydrocarbon-rich producing shale formation on Junex's Anticosti acreage:

--  Utica Equivalent - The Macasty is the stratigraphic equivalent of the
    Utica Shale in the St. Lawrence Lowlands. For reference, Junex is the
    largest net acreage-holder in the Utica Shale in the Saint Lawrence
    Lowlands where it controls the vast majority of the Liquids-Rich fairway
    of the Utica.
--  Greater Thickness - The Macasty is 88.4 metres (290 ft.) thick in the
    Arco well, which is much thicker than the 40 metres (131 ft.) of Macasty
    encountered in the Petrolia/Corridor Chaloupe No. 1 well as reported by
    these parties in a press release dated February 9, 2011.
--  Potential for Stimulation - The mineralogy of the Macasty indicates that
    it should be favourable for fracture stimulation as it contains a high
    "brittle" mineral content of quartz and carbonate with a low "ductile"
    clay content. The samples had an average composition of 50% Quartz +
    Feldspar, 35% Carbonate, and 15% Clays.
--  Oil to Liquid Hydrocarbon Prone - The Organic Matter/Kerogen Type of the
    Macasty is Type II. Type II kerogens have great capacities to generate
    liquid hydrocarbons and account for most petroleum source rocks
    worldwide.
--  Rich in Organic Content - The Macasty has Good to Excellent Organic
    Richness with an average Total Organic Carbon content of 2.6 weight %
    (range of 1.2 to 3.7 wt. %).
--  Good Porosity - The Macasty has an average porosity of 6.3% (range of
    4.0 to 8.6%), which compares favourably with other North American shale
    resource plays and which may be a positive indicator for potential
    resources initially-in-place.
--  Oil / Liquid Hydrocarbon Potential - The Macasty in the Arco well is
    between 2,399 and 2,487 metres in depth, where it has attained its full
    thermal maturity for Oil Generation and is in the Late Oil Window to
    Early Condensate - Wet Gas Window of thermal maturity (Rock-Eval/Tmax
    data). Junex's mapping interprets that the Macasty on most of its
    acreage varies between approximately 800 metres to 2,200 metres in
    depth. As formation temperatures are generally lower at shallower
    depths, the formation temperature of the Macasty on most of Junex's
    acreage should be lower than in the Arco well, therefore potentially
    placing the Macasty more firmly within the lower temperature Oil Window
    of thermal maturity.
--  Reservoir Energy - Being deeper than other areas on the island, the
    Macasty on Junex's acreage should have greater formation pressure (or
    reservoir energy). More reservoir energy could translate into an
    increased production potential in the event that the exploration program
    continues to yield positive results.

Most of Junex's acreage is located south of the Jupiter Fault Zone where Junex's mapping interprets that the Macasty averages approximately 80 metres in thickness over its acreage, or approximately two times thicker than the correlative 40 metres of Macasty encountered in the Petrolia/Corridor Chaloupe No. 1 well as reported by these parties in a press release dated February 9, 2011. Also, recent press releases made by neighbouring exploration licence-holders Petrolia and Corridor (on June 29, 2011 and on July 13, 2011 respectively) report that independent evaluations of the Total Petroleum Initially-In-Place on a gross acreage basis exceed 30 billion barrels.

Consequently, Junex is progressing to the next step of its multi-year Macasty Shale Oil exploration program that is planned to sequentially include the following:

--  Airborne gravity geophysics survey (just completed) to identify major
    structural elements. The company has observed that natural fracturing is
    an important component of shale reservoir development in the Utica Shale
    in the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and it expects the same situation to
    apply to the Macasty on Anticosti.
--  Follow-up seismic and/or re-entry of an existing well and/or drilling of
    stratigraphic test wells in 2012 and later.
--  The drilling, completion and production testing of additional wells.
--  Pilot project and later play development.

"We are very encouraged by these positive lab results and are quickly advancing to the next step of our Shale Oil program on Anticosti. These strategic lands form part of our petroleum/liquids-rich portfolio that also includes our Oil-rich landholdings at Galt and Haldimand on the Gaspe Peninsula. Exploration of these oil properties will be Junex's focus for the next few years as our activities have been slowed down in the Utica Shale Basin." commented Mr. Jean-Yves Lavoie, P. Eng., Junex's President and Chief Executive Officer.

Other

The government of Quebec adopted Bill 18 (2011, Chapter 13) in the National Assembly. As indicated in this new legislation and further clarified in a letter from the Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife that Junex receive, there exist provisions to exempt petroleum and natural gas exploration permit holders "from performing the work required under the Mining Act until the date determined by the Minister, which date may not be later than 13 June 2014". The duration of the exploration permits was also extended by the same period of time as the exemption. This aspect of the legislation is important as it will permit Junex to conserve its rights into the future.

Notwithstanding this, exploration permit holders may continue to perform work during the exemption period if they so wish, subject to certain requirements related to the government's Strategic Environmental Evaluation that might apply to some types of operations. In this new legislation, the government also unilaterally revoked without compensation all of the oil and gas exploration permits located in the St. Lawrence River and on Orleans Island, which impacted only about 4% of Junex's landholdings in Quebec.