NorthWest Copper Corp (TSX-V:NWST) has announced the eighth and final set of results from the 2022 Kwanika drilling program which demonstrate potential to both upgrade and expand the South Zone resource.
The results from the Kwanika South Zone, which is located one kilometre south of the Central Zone and makes up part of the company’s flagship Kwanika-Stardust project, show six holes encountered several long intervals of copper and gold mineralization that have higher grades than the average of the current South Zone mineral resource estimate.
Drilling also intersected mineralization outside of the pits proposed in the recently released Kwanika-Stardust PEA, and showed that the system remains open at depth and to the south.
“Kwanika South Zone remains a compelling target for NorthWest”, said the company's president and CEO Peter Bell in a statement. “It is close to Kwanika Central Zone but has seen much less drilling. We believe there are opportunities not just to expand it but also to improve the grade. Its proximity to the proposed infrastructure at Kwanika-Stardust makes any mineralization found at South Zone beneficial to the project.”
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Highlights from assays include:
- K-22-251: 316.90 metres of 0.30% copper equivalent (CuEq) from 307.10 metres including 20.10 metres at 0.68% CuEq from 486.30 metres and 45.75 metres at 0.53% CuEq from 530.40 metres
- K-22-252: 249.95 metres at 0.36% CuEq from 162.00 metres including 29.50 metres at 0.69% CuEq from 277.50 metres
The company has now released all results from the 11,876 metres of drilling in 30 drill holes that were completed at Kwanika in 2022. The drillholes were drilled over a 950 metre long north to south trend. All holes were drilled from west to east at angles of -65, -55, or -50 degrees. The drill holes encountered overburden from 21.70 to 42.00 metres down hole.
The South and Central Zones are separated by a fault and mineralization in the South Zone is further distinguished from the Central Zone by the presence of significant molybdenum mineralization that accompanies copper, gold and silver.
Mineralization in the South Zone is hosted by equigranular quartz monzonite and is associated with both an older, pervasive potassium feldspar alteration and a younger alteration that includes actinolite, epidote, chlorite, sericite and carbonate. Highest-grade mineralization typically occurs in zones of brecciation and strong fracturing and is dominated by hypogene chalcopyrite that occurs as disseminations and in quartz-sulfide veins.
The South Zone locally crops out at surface below glacial overburden and is approximately 2,200 metres long, 450 metres wide, and is currently defined up to 630 metres depth. It is bounded to the west by the West Fault and to the east by the East Fault. It remains open at depth and to the south.
Drillholes K-22-250, 251, 252, 253, and 254 all hit significant mineralization. The drillholes targeted high-grade corridors recognized by geological modelling of the South Zone during the most recent Mineral Resource Estimate. The results from these holes demonstrate continuity of grade and, very importantly, potential for more high-grade zones within and outside the current Mineral Resource Estimate.
This new information further constrains the structural and geology model for the South Zone and will help guide future exploration drilling, the company said.
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.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com