Commander Announces 4,000 m Drill Program at its Burn Copper-Gold Discovery, British Columbia
Vancouver, July 13, 2023 - Commander Resources Ltd. (TSXV: CMD) ("Commander") is pleased to report that it will follow-up its successful inaugural drill program at the Burn Copper and Gold porphyry project (the "Burn Property" or "Burn") with 4,000 metres ("m") of drilling scheduled to begin on July 15, 2023. The Burn Project is located 100 km north of Smithers, British Columbia. Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc. ("Freeport") is earning up to a 75% interest in the Burn Property and Commander is the operator. Commander completed an inaugural drill test of the project comprised of four drill holes totaling 1,513 m from three drill sites in October 2022.
Highlights:
- Burn represents a new greenfields porphyry copper and gold discovery.
- 4,000 metre fully funded drill program to begin July 15th .
- Targeting a large 9 km2 partially exposed porphyry system drill tested for the first time in 2022.
- Successful drilling in 2022 discovered a central porphyry zone in Hole BU22-01 that returned 50 metres @ 0.24% CuEq and a separate gold-rich zone in hole BU22-02 that returned 83.5 metres grading 1.08 g/t Au.
- Targets to be tested comprise step outs from 2022 holes and drilling of widespread magnetic and soil geochemical targets.
The Burn Property, which covers 17,675 ha was acquired directly by Commander in 2018 to cover prominent gossans exposed along ridges and has seen limited historical exploration. The 2022 program was the first time the property has been drilled. The Burn Property is located within the Babine Porphyry belt 70 km north of two past producing mines at Bell and Granisle (Figure 1). Initial work at Burn in 2018 identified widespread phyllic-style alteration with trace amounts of chalcopyrite. There is no record of previous geophysical surveys or drilling. Past work by Commander, funded by Freeport, included a property wide airborne magnetic survey which outlined two prominent circular magnetic rings and several linear magnetic highs that coincide with stocks and dykes of Eocene age. A property-wide program of stream sediment sampling, soil and rock sampling, and geological mapping outlined four alteration zones of which the largest is referred to as the Central zone, the focus of the current drill program. It is underlain by numerous phases of feldspar-biotite-hornblende porphyry dykes and stocks exhibiting alteration from chlorite to chlorite-magnetite, and moderate quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP) to intense QSP with local quartz veinlets.
Robert Cameron, President and CEO states "Our successful initial program of drilling in 2022 confirms Commander's view of the high potential of the Burn project with two of the three sites tested returning highly mineralised intervals from within a large 9 km2 target area. This year's program will continue to test additional targets as well as complete step-out drilling from last years holes. This grassroots copper and gold discovery represents a northerly extension of the well-established porphyry copper and gold Babine District and was acquired directly by Commander following a regional data compilation and a single day of ground prospecting, which is a testament to the strength and expertise of our technical team. Our partner, Freeport-McMoRan, recognised the potential and partnered with us at an early stage funding the systematic evaluation of this large tenure package that culminated in this drill discovery."
2022 Drill results are presented below in Table 1
Table 1: Drill Hole Summary
| Hole | from (m) | to (m) | Length (m) 1 | Cu % | Au (g/t) | Ag (g/t) | CuEq.2 |
| BU22-01 | 4.0 | 52.0 | 48.0 | 0.11 | 0.05 | 0.59 | 0.14 |
| 84.0 | 134.0 | 50.0 | 0.11 | 0.20 | 0.58 | 0.24 | |
| BU22-02 | 4.5 | 154.0 | 149.5 | 0.66 | 1.85 | ||
| including | 4.5 | 88.0 | 83.5 | 1.08 | 2.47 | ||
| including | 28.0 | 32.0 | 4.0 | 11.1 | 3.88 |
Notes
1: length is core length. True widths are unknown.
2: CuEq.: Copper equivalent is calculated using metals prices ($US) of $3.50/ lb for Cu, $1750/oz for Au and $20/lb for Ag and assumed net metal recoveries of 85% for Cu, 72% for Au and 65% for Ag summarized in the following formula. CuEq % = Cu% + ((Au g/t * (Au recovery / Cu recovery) * (Au $ per oz/ 31.1034768) / (Cu $ per lb* 22.05)) + ((Ag g/t * (Ag recovery / Cu recovery) * (Ag $ per oz/ 31.103) / (Cu $ per lb* 22.05)). Metal prices are not economic parameters and are used solely for determining relative weighting factors in CuEq calculations. Recoveries are arbitrary and informed from peer company practice and documented metallurgical studies of similar nearby deposits. No metallurgical work has been completed at Burn.
Figure 1: Location Map
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Summary of Freeport Earn-In Agreement terms.
Freeport has been granted the right to earn up to a 75 % interest in the Burn Property through staged option payments and work expenditures totaling $2,500,000 in exploration expenditures and $560,000 in payments to Commander following which the companies would enter a 75% Freeport/25% Commander Joint Venture. On October 6, 2022, the Burn property was expanded by optioning a 100% interest in a seven mineral tenure cells (127 ha.) from private vendors for aggregate payments of $290,000. Separately from Commander, Freeport has partnered with ITOCHU Corporation to co-fund their portion of expenditures. Freeport will be fully vested at the conclusion of this program.
2022 Drill Program QA/QC (Quality Assurance/Quality Control)
Commander's 2022 exploration program was supervised by Stephen Wetherup P. Geo., Commander's Vice President of Exploration. The drill contractor was ITL Drilling of Smithers BC. Half-core NQ (47.6 mm) sawed samples from continuous intervals throughout the reported drill holes were sealed on site and shipped to Bureau Veritas ("BV") labs in Vancouver, BC. where fire assay and multielement analyses were completed. Drill core was crushed, pulverized and analyzed for 48 elements using a four-acid dissolution followed by ICP-MS (MA250) with a 30 g sample analyzed for gold by fire assay and fusion Au by ICP-ES (FA330-Au) with overlimit gold analysed by lead collection fire assay 30g fusion with gravimetric finish (FA530). Blanks and commercially certified reference materials were inserted blind into the sample stream with an overall insertion rate of 10%. Field duplicates representing a quarter core split of the original sample are inserted at 2.5%. In addition, pulp and crush duplicates are inserted by the laboratory. The QA/QC results were reviewed and the QA/QC results for the reported drill holes are acceptable.
Qualified Person
Robert Cameron, P. Geo. is a qualified person within the context of National Instrument 43-101 and has read and takes responsibility for the technical aspects of this release. All fieldwork completed to date and on-site supervision of the drill program was by Stephen Wetherup.
About Commander Resources
Commander Resources is a Canadian focused exploration company that has leveraged its success in exploration through a combination of partnerships and sole funded exploration. Commander has a portfolio of base and precious metal projects across Canada. Commander also retains royalties from properties that have been partnered, optioned, or sold.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Robert Cameron, P. Geo., President and CEO
For further information, please call:
Robert Cameron, President and CEO
Toll Free: 1-800-667-7866
info@commanderresources.com
@CommanderCMD
www.commanderresources.com
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This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws.
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