VANCOUVER, British Columbia., March 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NorthWest Copper (“NorthWest” or “the Company”) (TSX-V: NWST) (OTCQX: NWCCF) is pleased to announce 2022 exploration plans for the first phase of exploration on our 100% owned project portfolio in north-central British Columbia, Canada. We plan to explore the 150,000-hectare land package, with drilling starting at Kwanika then moving to Stardust then East Niv (Figure 1). The program follows up on success in 2021 at Kwanika and East Niv and advances new targets at Stardust. Our plans for Lorraine and Arjay will follow in a later release. We are also unlocking value by de-risking our flagship Kwanika/Stardust Project, with results from our preliminary economic assessment (PEA) expected in the second quarter of 2022.
NorthWest has a unique combination of production scale, executability and growth through exploration, in a top tier jurisdiction. We acknowledge that our projects are all within the traditional territories of First Nations and we continue to partner to create mutually beneficial outcomes through the establishment of agreements and business partnerships.
“NorthWest had a very successful first year, discovering additional high-grade at Kwanika Central and a new porphyry centre at East Niv. We also developed new targets at Kwanika South Zone, Stardust and Lorraine” commented President and CEO Peter Bell. “We start our 2022 field season with a wealth of opportunities and a strong balance sheet. This is going to be a catalyst-rich year with abundant discovery potential”
“Exploration is supported by the advancement of the Kwanika/Stardust PEA” continued Mr. Bell. “This is underway currently and we now expect to release results in Q2. We look forward to updating the market with the results.”
Kwanika-Stardust
Kwanika-Stardust is our flagship due to its size, scale, high grade and advanced level of development. Featuring two separate deposits with a combined development plan, we will be carrying out drill programs on each deposit in 2022.
Kwanika Deposit:
Kwanika will be the first project drilled in 2022, benefiting from an abundance of targets, low elevation and easy road access. We expect to be drilling there in late March. Our 2022 program consists of drilling for step outs and for additional structural high-grade at Kwanika Central, follow-ups to successful 2021 holes in the South Zone, and initial holes in two untested regional targets south of Kwanika (Figure 2). We also have planned a 3D induced polarization (IP) survey for the main part of Kwanika to assist with targeting.
Kwanika contains unusually high-grade porphyry copper-gold mineralization and has excellent infrastructure 1 . Kwanika consists of multiple targets – “Kwanika Central”, and “South Zone” are the most advanced. Kwanika Central has been the focus of previous work and contains a high-grade core. The core includes structurally-controlled mineralization of extremely high grade intersected in hole K-21-217 2 which intersected 33.60% CuEq over 9.40m within a broader 235.45m interval of 2.92% CuEq. South Zone is a distinct, poorly tested porphyry system adjacent to Kwanika Central with higher grades of molybdenum. Drilling in 2021 returned an intercept of 34 metres of 1.30% CuEq, highlighting the potential to find additional high-grade.
Stardust Deposit:
Stardust drilling will target zones around the deposit 3 , including the east side of the deposit, untested prospective limestone west of the deposit, and extensions to known mineralization. Additional drilling will focus on converting inferred material to indicated status, de-risking the project and improving geologic understanding (Figure 3). Drilling at Stardust will start later than Kwanika as it is at slightly higher elevation so it tends to have more snow than Kwanika.
Stardust is a high-grade copper-gold carbonate replacement deposit (CRD), located approximately 7 km NW of Kwanika. Mineralization occurs mostly at the intersection of mineralized faults and favourable limestone rocks, within the influence of an intrusive body known as the Glover Stock. The core of the deposit is the Canyon Creek skarn, where the high-grade 421 zone was discovered in 2018 with a drillhole of 100 metres of 5.30% CuEq 4 . Despite the geographic and metallurgical similarities with Kwanika, Stardust sits in a separate geological terrane and has different target characteristics than Kwanika. The upper zones of the Canyon Creek skarn are well drilled, but it remains open at depth, and near-deposit and regional exploration is more limited.
East Niv
East Niv is a grassroots discovery made in 2021 by NorthWest, following up on successful surface work and geophysics. It is a completely new copper-gold porphyry system, with a known footprint of mineralization of about 1.5 x 1 km that remains open in all directions, within a 43,000-hectare land position. This very large property has been only minimally explored. A gold-only mineralized zone was also discovered in 2021 including hole ENV-21-007 5 which intersected 41.00 metres of 1.24 g/t gold, including 2.00 metres of 10.5 g/t within the porphyry footprint, although the relationship between the two mineralization styles is currently unknown.
The East Niv discovery was a key success for NorthWest in 2021. Our geologic knowledge of this new area is evolving and our exploration program in 2022 will remain focussed on understanding the scale of what we have found and the prospectivity of the region around it. We will continue to use helicopter support to maximize flexibility and minimize disturbance from drilling, which will begin after Kwanika and Stardust have started. Our program consists of extending the strongest mineralization, which was intersected at the northwest part of the 2021 drill program, and testing numerous magnetic, induced polarization, and geochemical anomalies to look for additional porphyry copper-gold centres (Figure 4).
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. We are committed to working collaboratively with First Nations to advance our work in a culturally and environmentally respectful manner. 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 |
