CASA GRANDE, Ariz. & TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc. (TSX:ASCU | OTCQX:ASCUF) (“ASCU” or the “Company”) infill drilling at the Parks/Salyer (“P/S”) Project continues to demonstrate grades and thicknesses supportive of an underground operation within the planned Prefeasibility Study, expected by Q1 2024. The Company is announcing an additional 9 drill hole assays from the Parks/Salyer infill to indicated program, spaced at 250 ft (76 m). A total of 45 infill drill holes are now complete, from within the 46-hole, 105,000 ft (32,000 m) planned program. Parks/Salyer (“P/S”) is located on private land, contiguous to the Cactus Mine Project, in Pinal County, Arizona (see FIGURES 1-10).
Highlights:
-
ECP-122: 546.5 ft (166.6 m) @ 1.14% CuT, 1.00% Cu TSol, 0.007% Mo (enriched)
- Incl 176.5 ft (53.8 m) @ 2.03% CuT, 1.88% Cu TSol, 0.005% Mo
-
ECP-125: 545.2 ft (166.2 m) @ 1.09% CuT, 0.99% Cu TSol, 0.020% Mo (enriched)
- Incl. 217.0 ft (66.1 m) @ 1.75% CuT, 1.66% Cu TSol, 0.009% Mo
- 635.5 ft (193.7 m) @ 0.46% CuT, 0.018% Mo (primary)
- ECP-114: 463.5 ft (141.3 m) @ 1.14% CuT, 0.98% Cu TSol, 0.028% Mo (enriched)
- ECP-116: 570.0 ft (173.7 m) @ 0.86% CuT, 0.64% Cu TSol, 0.015% Mo (enriched)
-
ECP-124: 361.8 ft (110.3 m) @ 1.14% CuT, 1.06% Cu TSol, 0.007% Mo (enriched)
- Incl. 179.8 ft (54.8 m) @ 1.87% CuT, 1.79% Cu TSol, 0.010% Mo
-
ECP-119: 89.9 ft (27.4 m) @ 2.31% CuT, 2.21% Cu TSol, 0.011% Mo (enriched)
- 66.2 ft (20.2 m) @ 2.07% CuT, 2.02% Cu TSol, 0.012% Mo (oxide)
- Incl. 14.1 ft (4.3 m) @ 4.07% CuT, 4.05% Cu TSol, 0.017% Mo
NOTE: True widths are not known
George Ogilvie, Arizona Sonoran President and CEO commented, “In early 2022, we announced our first drill holes dedicated to defining the Parks/Salyer Project. We have advanced this greenfield parcel within the brownfield Cactus Property from discovery, through resource declaration of 2.9B lbs (@1.015% CuT), to PFS-level within only two years. The infill to indicated program will be complete this week and by end of May, we expect to have all assays in hand for use in declaring initial reserves in the PFS by 1Q24.
He continued, “Once the infill to indicated drilling is complete the drills will continue drilling at Parks/Salyer as we move to infill to measured drilling, a requirement for our BFS in 2024.”
Infill Drilling Program Recap
High grade intervals from drill holes ECP-114, ECP-116 and ECP-125 each illustrate significant grade thicknesses, consistent with the high-grade core initially identified by the original step out program and further delineated by the infill drilling program. In particular, ECP-125 extends the high-grade core southward towards the newly acquired MainSpring Property. Drill holes ECP-121, ECP-123, ECP-119, ECP-116, ECP-120 and ECP-122 were drilled to define the northern and eastern extents of the deposit itself, where thinner intercepts of similar grade reflect the structural thinning of the core by post mineral faulting, including the Basement Fault. Assays pending from the remainder of the program have focused mostly within the western side of the deposit, defining the area around ECP-065 with 439.7 ft @ 0.97% Cu TSol and 0.033% Mo (press release dated April 5, 2022).
The 105,000 ft (32,000 m) infill drilling program is aimed at upgrading the mineral resource to the indicated category in support of the potential declaration of maiden reserves in the upcoming Pre-Feasibility. To date, 63,795 ft (19,445 m) or 29 holes have been reported via press release, defining a core within the high-grade enrichment blanket within the eastern half of the deposit, extending westward along the southern portion of the deposit.
Chalcocite and covellite are the dominant copper species in the enrichment blanket, replacing primary pyrite and chalcopyrite in their original depositional habits, such as veins, breccia fillings, voids and disseminations. These replacements styles, shown in FIGURES 1-10, are representative of our enriched mineral zone. Chalcocite also tends to build on itself, resulting in zones of higher-grade mineralization where the enrichment fluids had time and opportunity to continue the secondary enrichment process.
TABLE 1: Parks/Salyer Drilling Highlights
Hole Id |
Zone |
Feet |
Metres |
CuT % |
TSol % |
Mo % |
||||
From |
To |
Length |
From |
To |
Length |
|||||
ECP-114 |
enriched |
1,288.0 |
1,321.2 |
33.2 |
392.6 |
402.7 |
10.1 |
3.08 |
2.84 |
0.021 |
enriched |
1,392.0 |
1,437.3 |
45.3 |
424.3 |
438.1 |
13.8 |
3.43 |
2.90 |
0.026 |
|
enriched |
1,534.0 |
1,997.5 |
463.5 |
467.6 |
608.8 |
141.3 |
1.14 |
0.98 |
0.028 |
|
including |
1,534.0 |
1,554.0 |
20.0 |
467.6 |
473.7 |
6.1 |
1.76 |
1.64 |
0.013 |
|
and |
1,680.0 |
1,743.0 |
63.0 |
512.1 |
531.3 |
19.2 |
1.70 |
1.62 |
0.022 |
|
and |
1,913.0 |
1,997.5 |
84.5 |
583.1 |
608.8 |
25.8 |
1.46 |
1.34 |
0.041 |
|
primary |
1,997.5 |
2,233.3 |
235.8 |
608.8 |
680.7 |
71.9 |
0.28 |
0.02 |
0.021 |
|
ECP-116 |
oxide |
1,454.0 |
1,481.6 |
27.6 |
443.2 |
451.6 |
8.4 |
0.74 |
0.71 |
0.010 |
enriched |
1,481.6 |
2,051.6 |
570.0 |
451.6 |
625.3 |
173.7 |
0.86 |
0.64 |
0.015 |
|
including |
1,492.0 |
1,578.0 |
86.0 |
454.8 |
481.0 |
26.2 |
1.24 |
1.17 |
0.015 |
|
and |
1,878.0 |
1,938.0 |
60.0 |
572.4 |
590.7 |
18.3 |
1.21 |
1.09 |
0.011 |
|
and |
1,972.0 |
2,051.6 |
79.6 |
601.1 |
625.3 |
24.3 |
1.24 |
1.10 |
0.015 |
|
primary |
1,965.0 |
2,220.6 |
255.6 |
598.9 |
676.8 |
77.9 |
0.23 |
0.02 |
0.009 |
|
ECP-119 |
oxide |
1,488.1 |
1,524.1 |
36.0 |
453.6 |
464.5 |
11.0 |
1.28 |
1.27 |
0.012 |
enriched |
1,524.1 |
1,614.0 |
89.9 |
464.5 |
491.9 |
27.4 |
2.31 |
2.21 |
0.011 |
|
oxide |
1,650.0 |
1,716.2 |
66.2 |
502.9 |
523.1 |
20.2 |
2.07 |
2.02 |
0.012 |
|
including |
1,702.1 |
1,716.2 |
14.1 |
518.8 |
523.1 |
4.3 |
4.07 |
4.05 |
0.017 |
|
enriched |
1,849.2 |
1,879.0 |
29.8 |
563.6 |
572.7 |
9.1 |
0.50 |
0.43 |
0.013 |
|
primary |
1,879.0 |
2,358.1 |
479.1 |
572.7 |
718.7 |
146.0 |
0.24 |
0.03 |
0.004 |
|
ECP-120 |
enriched |
1,562.0 |
1,610.8 |
48.8 |
476.1 |
491.0 |
14.9 |
0.66 |
0.66 |
0.003 |
enriched |
1,814.0 |
1,936.7 |
122.7 |
552.9 |
590.3 |
37.4 |
1.63 |
1.56 |
0.016 |
|
including |
1,894.0 |
1,934.0 |
40.0 |
577.3 |
589.5 |
12.2 |
1.94 |
1.82 |
0.028 |
|
ECP-121 |
oxide |
1,288.0 |
1,425.4 |
137.4 |
392.6 |
434.5 |
41.9 |
1.03 |
1.01 |
0.009 |
including |
1,318.0 |
1,338.0 |
20.0 |
401.7 |
407.8 |
6.1 |
2.30 |
2.29 |
0.007 |
|
oxide |
1,467.0 |
1,499.0 |
32.0 |
447.1 |
456.9 |
9.8 |
0.64 |
0.57 |
0.003 |
|
enriched |
1,510.7 |
1,537.0 |
26.3 |
460.5 |
468.5 |
8.0 |
0.91 |
0.85 |
0.003 |
|
primary |
1,537.0 |
1,953.0 |
416.0 |
468.5 |
595.3 |
126.8 |
0.17 |
0.05 |
0.001 |
|
including |
1,537.0 |
1,628.0 |
91.0 |
468.5 |
496.2 |
27.7 |
0.32 |
0.08 |
0.001 |
|
ECP-122 |
enriched |
1,264.5 |
1,811.0 |
546.5 |
385.4 |
552.0 |
166.6 |
1.14 |
1.00 |
0.007 |
including |
1,264.5 |
1,441.0 |
176.5 |
385.4 |
439.2 |
53.8 |
2.03 |
1.88 |
0.005 |
|
ECP-123 |
oxide |
1,207.0 |
1,223.0 |
16.0 |
367.9 |
372.8 |
4.9 |
0.79 |
0.78 |
0.014 |
oxide |
1,259.9 |
1,314.3 |
54.4 |
384.0 |
400.6 |
16.6 |
1.25 |
1.22 |
0.014 |
|
oxide |
1,632.3 |
1,652.0 |
19.7 |
497.5 |
503.5 |
6.0 |
0.65 |
0.64 |
0.004 |
|
enriched |
1,652.0 |
1,798.0 |
146.0 |
503.5 |
548.0 |
44.5 |
0.84 |
0.82 |
0.009 |
|
including |
1,676.8 |
1,741.4 |
64.6 |
511.1 |
530.8 |
19.7 |
1.13 |
1.12 |
0.008 |
|
primary |
1,798.0 |
2,278.1 |
480.1 |
548.0 |
694.4 |
146.3 |
0.24 |
0.03 |
0.005 |
|
including |
1,875.0 |
1,925.5 |
50.5 |
571.5 |
586.9 |
15.4 |
0.45 |
0.04 |
0.004 |
|
and |
1,960.8 |
1,975.4 |
14.6 |
597.7 |
602.1 |
4.5 |
0.75 |
0.09 |
0.003 |
|
and |
2,087.0 |
2,107.0 |
20.0 |
636.1 |
642.2 |
6.1 |
0.53 |
0.04 |
0.006 |
|
ECP-124 |
oxide |
1,152.0 |
1,182.0 |
30.0 |
351.1 |
360.3 |
9.1 |
1.40 |
1.36 |
0.011 |
enriched |
1,219.2 |
1,581.0 |
361.8 |
371.6 |
481.9 |
110.3 |
1.14 |
1.06 |
0.007 |
|
including |
1,219.2 |
1,399.0 |
179.8 |
371.6 |
426.4 |
54.8 |
1.87 |
1.79 |
0.010 |
|
primary |
1,581.0 |
2,411.0 |
830.0 |
481.9 |
734.9 |
253.0 |
0.13 |
0.02 |
0.004 |
|
including |
1,747.9 |
1,770.0 |
22.1 |
532.8 |
539.5 |
6.7 |
0.40 |
0.05 |
0.003 |
|
and |
1,891.0 |
1,912.3 |
21.3 |
576.4 |
582.9 |
6.5 |
0.50 |
0.04 |
0.013 |
|
ECP-125 |
oxide |
559.0 |
697.3 |
138.3 |
170.4 |
212.5 |
42.2 |
0.76 |
0.73 |
0.007 |
including |
586.0 |
616.0 |
30.0 |
178.6 |
187.8 |
9.1 |
1.68 |
1.64 |
0.006 |
|
enriched |
814.8 |
1,360.0 |
545.2 |
248.4 |
414.5 |
166.2 |
1.09 |
0.99 |
0.020 |
|
including |
1,097.0 |
1,314.0 |
217.0 |
334.4 |
400.5 |
66.1 |
1.75 |
1.66 |
0.009 |
|
primary |
1,360.0 |
1,995.5 |
635.5 |
414.5 |
608.2 |
193.7 |
0.46 |
0.04 |
0.018 |
|
including |
1,383.0 |
1,543.0 |
160.0 |
421.5 |
470.3 |
48.8 |
0.71 |
0.06 |
0.034 |
|
and |
1,573.0 |
1,603.0 |
30.0 |
479.5 |
488.6 |
9.1 |
0.65 |
0.04 |
0.016 |
|
- Intervals are presented in core length and are drilled with very near vertical dip angles.
- Drill assays assume a mineralized cut-off grade of 0.5% CuT reflecting the potential for heap leaching of underground material in the case of Oxide and Enriched or in the case of Primary material, 0.1% CuT, to provide typical average grades. Holes were terminated below the basement fault.
- Assay results are not capped. Intercepts are aggregated within geological confines of major mineral zones.
- True widths are not known.
Table 2: Drilling details
Hole |
Easting (m) |
Northing (m) |
Elevation (ft) |
TD (ft) |
Azimuth |
Dip |
ECP-114 |
421986.7 |
3645197.6 |
1384.6 |
2252.4 |
0.0 |
-90.0 |
ECP-116 |
422068.4 |
3645179.0 |
1386.2 |
2213.7 |
0.0 |
-90.0 |
ECP-119 |
421965.5 |
3645345.6 |
1387.2 |
2406.0 |
0.0 |
-90.0 |
ECP-120 |
422144.8 |
3645025.3 |
1381.3 |
1949.2 |
0.0 |
-90.0 |
ECP-121 |
421571.6 |
3645335.8 |
1383.3 |
2477.0 |
0.0 |
-90.0 |
ECP-122 |
422144.9 |
3644938.2 |
1379.0 |
1857.6 |
0.0 |
-90.0 |
ECP-123 |
421887.3 |
3645337.1 |
1385.3 |
2377.0 |
0.0 |
-90.0 |
ECP-124 |
421537.7 |
3645273.4 |
1379.7 |
2434.2 |
0.0 |
-90.0 |
ECP-125 |
421747.5 |
3644794.8 |
1367.0 |
2039.4 |
0.0 |
-90.0 |
Quality Assurance / Quality Control
Drilling completed on the project between 2020 and 2022 was supervised by on-site ASCU personnel who prepared core samples for assay and implemented a full QA/QC program using blanks, standards, and duplicates to monitor analytical accuracy and precision. The samples were sealed on site and shipped to Skyline Laboratories in Tucson AZ for analysis. Skyline’s quality control system complies with global certifications for Quality ISO9001:2008.
Technical aspects of this news release have been reviewed and verified by Allan Schappert – CPG #11758, who is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101– Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
Links from the Press Release
Figures 1-10: https://arizonasonoran.com/projects/exploration/maps-and-figures/
Press release April 5, 2022: https://arizonasonoran.com/news-releases/arizona-sonoran-park-salyer-drilling-intercepts-302.0-ft-1.23-cut-0.021-mo-including-10.0-ft-7.95-cut-0.112-mo/
Neither the TSX nor the regulating authority has approved or disproved the information contained in this press release.
About Arizona Sonoran Copper Company (www.arizonasonoran.com | www.cactusmine.com)
ASCU’s objective is to become a mid-tier copper producer with low operating costs and to develop the Cactus and Parks/Salyer Projects that could generate robust returns for investors and provide a long term sustainable and responsible operation for the community and all stakeholders. The Company's principal asset is a 100% interest in the Cactus Project (former ASARCO, Sacaton mine) which is situated on private land in an infrastructure-rich area of Arizona. Contiguous to the Cactus Project is the Company’s 100%-owned Parks/Salyer deposit that could allow for a phased expansion of the Cactus Mine once it becomes a producing asset. The Company is led by an executive management team and Board which have a long-standing track record of successful project delivery in North America complemented by global capital markets expertise.
Forward-Looking Statements
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of ASCU to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect the outcome include, among others: future prices and the supply of metals; the results of drilling; inability to raise the money necessary to incur the expenditures required to retain and advance the properties; environmental liabilities (known and unknown); general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; results of exploration programs; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; political instability, terrorism, insurrection or war; or delays in obtaining governmental approvals, projected cash operating costs, failure to obtain regulatory or shareholder approvals.
Although ASCU has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and ASCU disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.
