AQM Copper Drills 104.3 Metres of 0.35% Cu at Its Sicera Norte Copper Porphyry Discovery Within the Zafranal Project
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 06/02/11 -- AQM Copper Inc. (TSX VENTURE: AQM)(BVLAC: AQM) ('AQM Copper' or the 'Company') is pleased to provide results for the first 16 diamond drill holes completed on its Sicera Norte porphyry copper discovery, located approximately 10 km northwest of the Zafranal deposit. Initial drilling focused in the area surrounding the two discovery Reverse Circulation ('RC') drill holes (SNRC10-005 and SNRC10-006 - News Release dated July 28th 2010) completed during the Company's 2010 exploration drilling campaign.
This first round of systematic drilling at the newly discovered Sicera Norte satellite target shows that copper porphyry mineralization occurs over an area measuring at least 400 metres by 200 metres and remains open to the north and east. Significant intervals are summarized in the table below:
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Hole No. From To Interval Cu% Au ppm
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SNDDH11-001 262.1 318 55.9 0.27% 0.03
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SNDDH11-002 30.2 174 143.8 0.27% 0.03
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SNDDH11-003 38 80 42 0.35% 0.05
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And 246 260.8 14.8 0.32% 0.03
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SNDDH11-004 no significant results
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SNDDH11-005 89 118 29 0.25% 0.02
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SNDDH11-006 366 398.2 32.2 0.23% 0.02
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SNDDH11-007 no significant results
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SNDDH11-008 100 199.85 99.85 0.31% 0.03
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And 240 258 18 0.27% 0.02
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SNDDH11-009 149 157 8 0.73% 0.05
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SNDDH11-010 no significant results
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SNDDH11-011 326 390.7 64.7 0.22% 0.01
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SNDDH11-012 no significant results
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SNDDH11-013 no significant results
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SNDDH11-014 34.5 138.8 104.3 0.35% 0.03
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SNDDH11-015 no significant results
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SNDDH11-016 94 206 112 0.30% 0.02
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And 228 238 10 0.33% 0.06
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(i)Cut-off grade: 0.2% Cu and 6m maximum internal dilution
Drill holes SNDDH11-004, SNDDH11-007, SNDDH11-010 and SNDDH11-015 tested the potential southern extension of the zone, with poor results. However, wide intercepts of significant hypogene copper mineralization were identified north of the RC discovery holes, and show that the zone extends further north than previously thought. Drill holes SNDDH11-014 and SNDDH11-016 are particularly significant as they include some of the best grades identified on Sicera Norte so far, and extend the hypogene mineralization to the north and northeast. An updated drill plan and sections from the Sicera Norte drilling is available at the Company's website (www.aqmcopper.com).
To the west, the zone is constrained by a reverse fault which truncates the mineralization and displaces part of the porphyry system. The missing portion of the Sicera Norte porphyry has not yet been identified, and additional scout drilling is planned to test areas where weaker surface alteration may indicate blind targets.
Mineralization on Sicera Norte is hosted in highly deformed diorite and quartz-diorite intrusive pulses, cut by thin quartz-feldspar dykes and small plugs. These later events may have contributed some of the mineralization found in Sicera Norte. Alteration varies from potassic to weak propyllitic retrograde assemblages.
On behalf of the joint venture AQM Copper is continuing its systematic drilling campaign on Sicera Norte with three diamond rigs. An additional 2 diamond rigs are drilling along the eastern extension of the Zafranal Main Zone, where a Measured and Indicated Resource of 301Mt of 0.47% Cu and 0.08 g/t Au remains open to the east and at depth.
The Company has established a rigorous QA/QC program at Zafranal, which includes the insertion of blanks, duplicates and certified standards into the sample stream. Core is photographed on site and subsequently sawed in half, with one half sent for analysis and the other half stored for future reference and assay verification. RC chips are split twice on site using a riffle splitter, with 25% of the sample being sent to the laboratory for assay and the rest stored for future verification purposes. All Zafranal samples are shipped to ALS Chemex's sample preparation facility in the city of Arequipa, where they are crushed and pulverized. Prepared samples are shipped to ALS Chemex's certified laboratory in Lima where they are analysed for gold, copper and multi-element ICP.
Alvaro Fernandez-Baca, P.Geo, General Manager for AQM Peru, the Company's Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101, has approved the information contained in this news release.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Bruce Turner, President and CEO
ABOUT AQM Copper: AQM Copper Inc. (formerly Apoquindo Minerals) is a Canadian 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. Management and directors have extensive experience working for the world's largest mining Copper producers. Please refer to the Company's website for further information regarding the Company and its projects: www.aqmcopper.com.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Pinnacle Capital Markets LTD.
Spyros P. Karellas
Investor Relations
(416) 433-5696 or (416) 800-8921
spyros@pinnaclecapitalmarkets.ca
www.pinnaclecapitalmarkets.ca