Surge Copper Corp. Intersects New Gold Zone at Ootsa
HIGHLIGHTS
- Hole S18-217 intersected 9.4 g/t Au over 2 metres at 130 metres depth.
- Gold mineralization is hosted in an extensional fault zone which has an inferred strike length exceeding 3 kilometres.
- Mineralized porphyry dikes and widespread alteration in the footwall of the extensional fault suggests the new zone has good discovery potential for porphyry style Cu-Au mineralization.
Drill Results
Assay results have been received for holes S18-216 and 217 which tested the north trending Damascus Horst structure (uplifted fault block) located between the East Seel and Damascus deposits. The Damascus Horst can be traced for over 3 kilometres across the Ootsa Property and is bound by extensional faults, with the West Damascus Fault defining the west boundary of the horst structure, and the East Damascus Fault defining the east boundary.
High grade gold mineralization has been intersected along the West Damascus Fault in hole S18-217, which returned 9.4 g/t Au over 2 metres at 130 metres depth. Hole S18-216 also intersected the West Damascus Fault roughly 150 metres down dip from Hole S18-217, returning 0.6 g/t Au over 2 metres. A cross section showing holes S18-216 and 217 is available here. A drill hole location map is available in the map gallery on our website at www.surgecopper.com. High grade silver vein mineralization at the Damascus zone is located 900 metres east of hole S18-217, on the east side of the horst structure associated with the East Damascus Fault.
Holes S18-216 and 217 also intersected zones of anomalous copper and gold mineralization in the footwall of the West Damascus Fault within the Damascus Horst. Mineralization is associated with narrow zones of altered porphyritic intrusive rock and includes 6 metres grading 0.26% Cu and 0.15 g/t Au from 280 to 286 metres in hole S18-216 and 6 metres grading 0.34% Cu and 0.16 g/t Au from 152 to 158 metres in hole S18-217. The presence of mineralized intrusive dikes combined with widespread alteration through the zone supports the Company’s exploration model suggesting a larger mineralized body could occur in the area.
Summary of select drill intercepts – Holes S18-216 and 217
Drill Hole From (m) To (m) Width (m)* Cu % Au g/t Ag g/t
S18-216 280.0 286.0 6.0 0.26 0.15 0.87
S18-216 306.0 318.0 12.0 0.12 0.23 3.42
S18-217 130.0 132.0 2.0 - 9.4 1.90
S18-217 152.0 158.0 6.0 0.34 0.16 1.83
S18-217 296.0 298.0 2.0 0.42 0.11 10.4
*Width refers to drill hole intercepts, true widths have not been determined.
Dr. Shane Ebert President of Surge commented, “New information from 2018 drilling combined with extensive historic data is helping the Company refine its geologic understanding and exploration models for the Ootsa district. We are very pleased to see the extensional faults bounding the Damascus Horst showing potential for high grade gold on the west side and for high grade silver on the east side, as this opens up new exploration opportunities for the district. Follow up drilling will be required to evaluate the significance and size potential of the high-grade gold zone identified in hole S18-217, but it remains a large and well-defined exploration target. 2018 is the first time Surge Copper has drilled into the Damascus Horst, and the discovery of narrow altered porphyry dikes containing copper and gold mineralization demonstrates the area is prospective for porphyry style copper-gold mineralization. 2018 has seen another highly successful exploration program at Ootsa, with the discovery of a new high-grade copper zone in holes S18-212 and S18-214, the identification of high-grade gold and porphyry Cu-Au potential at the Damascus Horst, and the discovery by prospecting of a new unexplored mineralized porphyry at the Ravine Zone. The continued exploration success at Ootsa is a testament to the excellent potential of this under explored district.”
About Surge Copper Corp.
The Company owns a 100% interest in the Ootsa Property, an advanced stage exploration project containing the East Seel, West Seel and Ox porphyry deposits located adjacent to the open pit Huckleberry Copper Mine. The property contains NI 43-101 compliant resources of 224 million tonnes in the Measured and Indicated categories with contained metals of 1.1 billion pounds of copper, 1 million ounces of gold, and 20 million ounces of silver as summarized in the table below.
On February 9, 2016, the Company announced a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the Ootsa Property with potential for low capital cost, low risk and rapid pay back utilizing existing infrastructure in the district with a contract mining and toll milling scenario. The study recommends the Company continue to advance the Ootsa Project with extended and advanced technical studies with the intention of moving the project toward a production decision.
Ootsa Project Pit Constrained Mineral Resource Estimate at $8.50/t NSR Cut-off Value
Tonnes CuEq Au Mo Ag CuEq Cu Au Mo Ag
Category (‘000’s) % Cu % g/t % g/t M lbs M lbs K oz M lbs K oz
Measured 187,148 0.38 0.23 0.15 0.021 2.8 1,568 934 916 85 17,089
Indicated 37,041 0.35 0.21 0.12 0.023 2.8 286 175 146 19 3,368
M&I 224,189 0.37 0.22 0.15 0.021 2.8 1,854 1,109 1,062 104 20,457
The current technical report supporting the resource statement and PEA is available on SEDAR or the Company’s website at www.surgecopper.com and has an effective date of January 2016. The resource estimate uses $8.50 per tonne NSR cut-off value. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and by definition do not demonstrate economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the mineral resource will be converted into mineral reserves. A ‘Measured Mineral Resource’ is that part of a mineral resource for which quantity, grade or quality, densities, shape and physical characteristics are so well established that they can be estimated with confidence sufficient to allow the appropriate application of technical and economic parameters, to support production planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. An ‘Indicated Mineral Resource’ is that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade or quality, densities, shape and physical characteristics can be estimated with a level of confidence sufficient to allow the appropriate application of technical and economic parameters, to support mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. Copper Equivalent (CuEq) calculations are based on base case metal price (US$3/lb Cu, US$1260/oz Au, US$10.30/lb Mo, and US$17/oz Ag) and process recovery assumptions, and take into account smelter payable rates and refining costs. M&I = measured and indicated. The resource update and Preliminary Economic Assessment was completed by P&E Mining Consultants Inc. in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
Quality Control
All drill core is logged, photographed, and cut in half with a diamond saw. Half of the core is sealed in plastic bags and sent to Activation Laboratories Ltd. in Kamloops British Columbia for analysis (which is ISO/IEC 17025 accredited), while the other half is archived and stored on site for verification and reference purposes. Gold is assayed using a 30g fire assay method and 37 additional elements are analyzed by Induced Coupled Plasma (ICP) utilizing a 4-acid digestion. Duplicate samples, blanks, and certified standards are included with every sample batch and then checked to ensure proper quality assurance and quality control.
Dr. Shane Ebert P.Geo., is the Qualified Person for the Ootsa project as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
“Shane Ebert”
President and Chief Executive Officer
For Further information, please contact:
Surge Copper Corp.
Telephone: 604-718-5454
Toll Free: 888-500-4587
info@surgecopper.com
http://www.surgecopper.com Or
Don Mosher, Corporate Development
Telephone: 604-685-6465
don@surgecopper.com
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This News Release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "will", "may", "should", "expects", "plans", or "anticipates" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking-statements. Such uncertainties and risks may include, among others, actual results of the Company's exploration activities being different than those expected by management, delays in obtaining or failure to obtain required government or other regulatory approvals or financing, inability to procure equipment and supplies in sufficient quantities and on a timely basis, equipment breakdown and bad weather. While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect the Company's current judgment regarding the direction of its business, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions or other future performance suggests herein. Except as required by applicable law, the Company does not intend to update any forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results.