VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NorthWest Copper (“NorthWest” or “the Company”) (TSX-V: NWST) (OTCQX: NWCCF) is pleased to announce that assays have been received from the initial surface expansion and confirmation drilling at Kwanika. The results, with consistently high-grade intercepts starting at 25 to 36 metres downhole, support Kwanika as a unique high-grade porphyry copper-gold deposit and expand the near-surface footprint of potential open pit mineralization. Additional Kwanika results will follow for ongoing deeper drilling and step-out drilling. As a reminder our first East Niv drill program is also in progress. Additional assay results will be disclosed as results become available.
Highlights are given below:
- Drillhole K-21-205 – 230.95m¹ at 0.99% CuEq² including 94.6m at 1.62% CuEQ
- Drillhole K-21-207 – 187m at 0.81% CuEq including 73.0m at 1.22% CuEQ
- Drillhole K-21-208 – 196m at 0.65% CuEq including 52.5m at 1.47% CuEQ
- Drillhole K-21-209 – 154.5m at 0.93% CuEq including 53m at 1.66% CuEQ
- Drillhole K-21-211 – 137.5m at 0.91% CuEq including 71m at 1.34% CuEQ
To view the accompanying plan map and figures please visit the following links:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3ff54604-5de4-44f8-a8dd-8d016d543a55
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ac4af1c1-a456-4f82-9489-ef32c4ededb6
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/57dff3a9-9ec4-4f03-a4fc-58aa0a12bd1e
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8662fdd6-4f0b-4c5d-8907-395a7b848f8f
The 2021 drill program at Kwanika was designed to expand and better define coherent zones of high grade Cu-Au mineralization and use this as a basis for an updated resource estimate and future economic study. Since the creation of NorthWest in March 2021 we have focussed on our high-grade Stardust deposit and on the high-grade portion of Kwanika. We delivered favourable Stardust metallurgy in April 2021 and an updated and expanded high-grade Stardust resource in May 2021. The current drill assay results enhance and expand the near-surface high-grade portion of Kwanika. These results, along with a set of deeper holes still to be released, will support an updated Kwanika resource planned for Q4 2021. Kwanika is unique not only in having a distinct and coherent high-grade zone of mineralization, but also by having it come close to the surface. The current near-surface results clearly support this.
The assays from this drilling enhance the existing block model³. The holes extend high-grade mineralization into previously modelled lower grade zones and add confidence to the interpolated grade in other areas. Two of the holes are outside of the historic grade boundary. These two holes, K-21-207 and K-21-208, can be seen to intersect grades up to and above 1% copper equivalent (“CuEQ”) into areas with lower grade to no grade. This can be seen in Figure 2.
Peter Bell, President & CEO of NorthWest states: “These are excellent first results and a great start for our new company, NorthWest Copper. They highlight the high-grade nature of our Kwanika deposit and increase the near-surface footprint of that mineralization. The new results will be incorporated in our updated Kwanika resource planned for Q4 2021. We will have additional drill results from deeper holes and step out targets to follow these results.”
“The expansion of the Kwanika high-grade footprint compliments the new high-grade resource at our adjacent Stardust project, presented to the market in May. We believe both deposits to be exceptional and the results to date support our strategy of advancing these scalable high-grade Cu-Au projects. Every hole in this program intercepted significant intervals of copper equivalent grade above 1% starting at the bedrock surface as shallow as 25 m. The identification of additional high-grade so close to surface is especially valuable to the project as it is easy to access and early in the life of a potential mining operation.”
These results represent the first 2,000 metres of a program of more than 8,500 metres of drilling at Kwanika. We expect additional results later this month for the deeper Kwanika holes followed by ongoing results from East Niv and Kwanika regional exploration.
The drillholes in this release were all collared as angle holes with an inclination of -50 to -65 degrees. All exhibit similar geology. Mineralization in all holes was encountered directly below overburden with the strongest mineralization occurring coincident with porphyritic monzonite with strong potassic alteration. Alteration associated with high-grade includes intense quartz stockwork veining with chalcopyrite with minor bornite. Zones of moderate grade mineralization occur in monzonite, monzodiorite and diorite with moderate potassic alteration and quartz veining grading into propylitic alteration with local zones of mineralized potassic alteration as vein and fracture selvage alteration. This intrusive complex is cut by feldspar porphyry dikes. A full table of results is provided below:
| Table 1: Significant Drill Results From This News Release | |||||||
| Drill Hole | From (m) | To (m) | Interval (m) | Cu (%) | Au (g/t) | Ag (g/t) | CuEq (%) |
| K-21-205 | 35.70 | 266.65 | 230.95 | 0.56 | 0.58 | 1.9 | 0.99 |
| incl. | 35.70 | 130.30 | 94.60 | 0.8 | 1.10 | 2.6 | 1.62 |
| K-21-207 | 25.50 | 212.50 | 187.00 | 0.62 | 0.24 | 1.6 | 0.81 |
| incl. | 25.50 | 98.50 | 73.00 | 0.90 | 0.41 | 2.5 | 1.22 |
| K-21-208 | 25.50 | 221.50 | 196.00 | 0.49 | 0.20 | 1.5 | 0.65 |
| incl. | 25.50 | 78.00 | 52.50 | 1.09 | 0.49 | 3.6 | 1.47 |
| K-21-209 | 28.50 | 183.00 | 154.50 | 0.58 | 0.47 | 1.9 | 0.92 |
| incl. | 28.50 | 81.50 | 53.00 | 0.96 | 0.95 | 3.2 | 1.66 |
| K-21-211 | 36.00 | 173.50 | 137.50 | 0.64 | 0.36 | 1.9 | 0.91 |
| incl. | 36.00 | 107.00 | 71.00 | 0.88 | 0.61 | 2.7 | 1.34 |
| Assumptions used in USD for the copper equivalent calculation were metal prices of $3.25/lb. Copper, $1,600/oz Gold, $20/oz Silver, and recovery is assumed to be 100% given the level of metallurgical test data available. The following equation was used to calculate copper equivalence: CuEq = Copper (%) + (Gold (g/t) x 0.7182) + (Silver (g/t) x 0.0090). | |||||||
Quality Assurance / Quality Control
Drilling completed at Kwanika in 2021 was supervised by on-site NorthWest personnel who collected and tracked samples 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 Bureau Veritas (BV) in Vancouver BC for analysis. BV’s quality control system complies with global certifications for Quality ISO9001:2008. Core samples were analyzed using a combination of BV’s MA200 process for all samples (ICP-MS/4 acid digestion) and the MA370 process for overlimit samples of higher level concentration (ICP-ES/4 acid digestion). Gold assaying was completed with FA430, a 30-gram fire assay with AAS finish. A silica wash was used between high-grade samples to ensure no sample carry over.
Technical aspects of this news release have been reviewed, verified and approved by Ian Neill P.Geo., Vice President Exploration of NorthWest, who is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Minerals Projects.
Stardust
As a continuation of the Kwanika drilling, NorthWest is drilling three holes at Stardust. These are intended to test continuity of mineralization below the main trend and parallel to the main trend. The three-hole program is expected to commence shortly.
About NorthWest Copper:
NorthWest Copper is a new copper-gold explorer and developer with an exciting pipeline of projects in British Columbia. With a robust portfolio in a tier one jurisdiction, Northwest Copper is well positioned to participate fully in a strengthening global copper market. Additional information can be found on the Company’s website at www.northwestcopper.ca .
On Behalf of the Board of Directors of NorthWest Copper Corp.
“Peter Bell”
Director, President and CEO
For further information, please contact:
Adrian O’Brien, Director Marketing & Communications
Tel: 604-809-6890
Email: aobrien@northwestcopper.ca
