AQM Copper Drills 102.7 Metres of 0.30 % Cu and 0.13 g/t Au at the New La Rechazada Zone and Announces Positive Results from the Sicera Sur Satellite Target at the Zafranal Project, Peru
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 07/27/11 -- AQM Copper Inc. (TSX: AQM)(BVLAC: AQM) ('AQM Copper' or the 'Company') is pleased to announce positive results from a new discovery located 700 metres west of the westernmost limit of the Zafranal Main Zone in southern Peru. The new discovery has been named 'La Rechazada'.
La Rechazada
At La Rechazada, a zone of weak phyllic alteration within a diorite body similar to that seen on the main part of the Main Zone was identified by Project geologists in 2010 and was partially covered by an Induced Polarization geophysical survey completed in March of this year. A chargeability anomaly spatially associated to the diorite intrusive led to the planning of 3 exploration drill holes. Results from the first two have now been received and are detailed in the following table:
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Drill Hole From (m.) To (m.) Interval (m.) Cu % Au g/t
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ZFDDH11-168 62 74.75 12.75 0.22% 0.04
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And 184 198 14 0.21% 0.07
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And 220 235 15 0.22% 0.12
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ZFDDH11-169 66 82 16 0.42% 0.20
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And 96 110.60 14.60 0.31% 0.12
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And 118 188 70 0.29% 0.13
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And 202.30 305 102.70 0.30% 0.13
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And 351 363 12 0.28% 0.74
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And 399 405.5 6.5 0.26% 0.08
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And 426 442 16 0.27% 0.16
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Drill hole ZFDDH11-168 showed strong magnetite-chlorite alteration and silicification, with weak hypogene copper mineralization associated to a quartz stockwork with locally significant gold grades.
A second hole, ZFDDH11-169, was drilled 100 metres to the southwest and intersected significant disseminated copper mineralization and a mineralized quartz stockwork, with locally elevated gold numbers. The Induced Polarization geophysical survey has recently been extended to better cover the discovery area and to extend the survey approximately 800 metres to the west. The results show a strong east-west trending chargeability anomaly under hole ZFDDH11-169 which extends to the limit of the survey. Significantly, the E-W geometry of the geophysical anomaly matches the geometry of the Main Zone, possibly suggesting that La Rechazada may represent the western extension of the Main Zone deposit.
AQM Copper geologists are currently interpreting the geophysical results and designing a drill program aimed at testing the anomalies identified to date and growing the La Rechazada zone.
Sicera Sur
A 9-hole Reverse Circulation drilling program was planned and completed at the Sicera Sur target. The program was aimed at extending the limits of the mineralization identified during 2010 in drill holes SSRC10-008 and SSRC10-009 (36m @ 0.29% Cu and 48m @ 0.64% Cu respectively). Results of the 2011 Sicera Sur drilling completed to date are detailed in the table below:
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Drill Hole From (m.) To (m.) Interval (m.) Cu %
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SSRC11-013 158 209 51 0.36
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SSRC11-014 10 118 108 0.28
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SSRC11-015 54 98 44 0.24
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SSRC11-016 No Significant Results
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SSRC11-017 30 46 16 0.40
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And 97 189 92 0.32
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And 318 340 22 0.35
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SSRC11-018 26 39 13 0.27
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And 126 148 22 0.35
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And 158 237 79 0.31
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And 257 267 10 0.21
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And 274 284 10 0.21
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And 307 350(i) 43 0.33
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SSRC11-019 40 111 71 0.35
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And 132 138 6 0.44
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SSRC11-020 66 153 87 0.24
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And 185 191 6 0.50
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And 204 219 15 0.30
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And 225 252 27 0.50
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And 260 270 10 0.24
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And 289 345 56 0.31
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SSRC11-021 0 127 127 0.32
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And 147 168 21 0.26
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And 207 247 40 0.22
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And 318 350(i) 32 0.27
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(i)Hole ends in mineralization
All of the drill holes completed, with the exception of SSRC11-016, encountered significant hypogene copper mineralization, with supergene enrichment being identified in at least two of the drill holes. More significantly still, two of the drill holes, SSRC11-018 and SSRC11-021, ended in mineralization, which leaves the zone open at depth.
Mineralization at Sicera Sur occurs as fine grained disseminated chalcopyrite hosted in several generations of diorite and quartz diorite intrusive rocks. Mineralization has now been identified over an area measuring 400 x 300 metres, and remains open in all directions and at depth.
Hole SSRC11-020 was the first drill hole to have been completed under a west verging reverse fault which was believed to mark the eastern limit of the zone. However, the results show that the mineralization continues eastwards in the footwall of the fault, and it remains open in that direction.
The Company is planning to mobilize one diamond drill rig to Sicera Sur in order to gain a better geological understanding of the controls on mineralization, and to assist the RC rig in growing the zone.
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 analyzed for gold, copper and multi-element ICP.
Alvaro Fernandez-Baca, P.Geo, Vice President Exploration for AQM Copper Inc. and 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.
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