C3 Metals Inc (TSX-V:CCCM, OTC:CARCF) said an initial Mineral Resource estimate for the Montana de Cobre Zone (MCZ) on its 100%-owned Jasperoide Project in southern Peru has shown measured & indicated mineral resources of 51.9 million tonnes (Mt) at 0.50% total copper and 0.20 grams per ton (g/t) gold for 569.1 million pounds of copper and 326,800 ounces of gold.
In the Measured Mineral Resources category, there was 28.6Mt at 0.60% total copper, 0.24 g/t gold for 380.0 million pounds of copper and 218,200 ounces of gold, while in the Indicated Mineral Resources category, the figures were 23.3Mt at 0.37% total copper, 0.15 g/t gold for 189.1 million pounds of copper and 108,600 ounces of gold, the junior minerals exploration company said.
Inferred Mineral Resources, meanwhile, were 4.0Mt at 0.32% total copper, 0.11 g/t gold for 28.3 million pounds of copper and 14,600 ounces of gold.
"We are very pleased to announce this significant milestone of our company. The maiden mineral resource estimate at the MCZ demonstrates a near-surface, high-grade, copper-gold oxide deposit that we expect will benefit from a very low strip ratio,” Dan Symons, president & CEO, said in a statement.
"There is also potential to extend the MCZ to the north, south and west. Importantly, the MCZ is the only prospect to be systematically drilled out of 13 prospects on the 28 km long Jasperoide Belt. As demonstrated by the MCZ, we see a tremendous opportunity to delineate more of these near-surface targets along the belt," he added.
The company said a second, parallel belt of copper-gold mineralization, the Khaleesi Belt, is located approximately 10 kilometres (km) west of the Jasperoide Belt, adding that it is currently working through the Declaration de Impacto Ambiental (DIA) permitting process to enable exploration drilling at Khaleesi.
"It is important to emphasize the strategic location of C3 Metals' 300 sq. km concession package within the mineral district and to recognize the undrilled potential of the company's untested Khaleesi skarn and porphyry belt on the western side of our property. We have confirmed outcropping porphyry, skarn and epithermal mineralization along the parallel Khaleesi Belt and intend to drill test these targets once drill permits are in hand. It is clear that we have assembled a very large, strategic land package in Peru - the second largest copper-producing jurisdiction in the world," Symons noted.
The company said that it believes the MCZ maiden Mineral Resource estimate represents only a small portion of the broader discovery potential on the property, adding that metallurgical test work on the MCZ deposit has started and results from initial mineralized materials leach characteristics are expected in the second half of 2023.
C3 Metals holds the 26,800-hectare Jasperoide project in the prolific high-grade Andahuaylas-Yauri Porphyry-Skarn belt of Southern Peru. C3 Metals also holds a 100% interest in five licenses covering 20,700 hectares of highly prospective copper-gold terrain of Jamaica.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com