Pacific Empire Minerals Corp announced that diamond drilling has commenced at its flagship Jean Marie copper project in British Columbia.
The company has delineated two high-priority drill targets for the 2022 season, identified by a comprehensive exploration program conducted during 2021.
The Jean Marie property is a 12,000-hectare copper-molybdenum-silver-gold porphyry prospect located 50 kilometers (km) south of Northwest Copper's Kwanika Copper-Gold deposit and 50 km west of Centerra Gold's Mt. Milligan Copper-Gold Mine in central BC.
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"The Jean Marie project has drill-proven potential to host a significant copper discovery,” CEO Brad Peters said in a statement. “Our initial objective is to test below shallow historic drilling at Target 1 where new geophysics suggests this zone extends at depth, dipping to the east. Our interpretation is that there is a copper porphyry centre at depth and that intervals encountered in shallow drilling bodes well for high grades at depth.”
Target 1 is located in the area of the historical A and B zones, previous shallow drilling at which has encountered widespread copper mineralization. Of note in this area is the presence of a mineralized hydrothermal breccia that was encountered in drill hole J97-11 and within an interval that graded 1.19% copper, and 5.74 grams per tonne of silver over 27 meters.
Drilled to only 276 meters, J97-11 is one of the deepest holes on the property and the presence of a mineralized brecciated intrusion suggests that there is the potential for a mineralized hydrothermal system at depth in this area, the company said.
Meanwhile, Target 2 is located immediately to the northwest of a copper/molybdenum soil anomaly on the property that contains a large number of samples greater than 1,000 parts per million (ppm) copper and 100 ppm molybdenum in till over 3 km length.
“One of the most intriguing targets is Target 2 which is the location of the most significant geochemical anomaly on the property,” Peters said. “Our work during 2021 suggests this anomaly is till transported therefore, rather than focusing on the centre, our priority target is the northern margin of the geochemical anomaly. It will be exciting to drill-test this sizeable anomaly and we look forward to cost-effectively advancing Jean Marie and appreciate the project's location, ease of access and nearby infrastructure."
Based in Vancouver, Pacific Empire Minerals is a copper exploration company with a strong portfolio of gold-enriched copper projects in British Columbia.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
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