01:52:00 EDT Tue 08 Oct 2024
Enter Symbol
or Name
USA
CA



Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc
Symbol ASCU
Shares Issued 109,228,795
Close 2024-04-26 C$ 1.45
Market Cap C$ 158,381,753
Recent Sedar Documents

Arizona Sonoran drills 368 m of 0.56% CuT at MainSpring

2024-04-29 10:25 ET - News Release

Mr. George Ogilvie reports

ARIZONA SONORAN DRILLS 1,206 FT (368 M) OF 0.56% CUT AT MAINSPRING AND COMPLETES INITIAL MAINSPRING INFERRED DRILL PROGRAM

Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc. has completed its inferred drilling program on MainSpring, within the 100-per-cent-owned Cactus project, Arizona. The inferred drilling program confirms a continuation of the thick enrichment blanket extending south and up dip from the Parks/Salyer deposit onto MainSpring, as well as the presence of enriched mineralization in MainSpring. With the final receipt of assays, a MainSpring mineral resource model is now being generated for its inclusion to the integrated Nuton and Cactus preliminary economic assessment (PEA) expected in the third quarter of 2024.

The completed program, at 500-foot (152-metre) centres between drill holes, extended mineralization over 2,500 feet by 3,000 feet (762 metres by 914 metres) within an interpreted horst block. The final 10 holes (17,916 feet/5,460 m) from the now-completed inferred program are reported herein. Two drills are now infill drilling at Cactus West within the primary sulphide zones, and one rig is focused on reducing drill spacings at MainSpring from inferred to indicated for use in an updated prefeasibility study, which is scheduled to initiate later this year.

Highlights:

  • In support of a single mineral resource model, the drill program successfully connected the high-grade, thick, enriched Parks/Salyer mineralization and the shallow, lower-grade MainSpring mineralization.
  • ECM-218 -- 1,206 feet (368 m) at 0.56 per cent total copper of continuous mineralization:
    • Including 290 feet (88 m) at 0.95 per cent CuT, 0.56 per cent Cu TSol (total soluble copper) and 0.088 per cent molybdenum (enriched) (2.2 feet (0.67 m) of missing core);
    • And 676 feet (206 m) at 0.46 per cent CuT and 0.012 per cent Mo (primary).
  • ECM-215 -- 1,430 feet (436 m) at 0.32 per cent CuT of continuous mineralization:
    • Including 388 feet (118 m) at 0.50 per cent CuT, 0.34 per cent Cu TSol and 0.012 per cent Mo (enriched);
    • And 662 feet (202 m) at 0.26 per cent CuT and 0.003 per cent Mo (primary).
  • ECM-222 -- 965 feet (294 m) at 0.42 per cent CuT of continuous mineralization:
    • Including 127 feet (39 m) at 1.12 per cent CuT, 0.88 per cent Cu TSol and 0.025 per cent Mo (enriched);
    • And 837 feet (255 m) at 0.31 per cent CuT an 0.005 per cent Mo (primary).
  • ECM-213 -- 25 feet (eight m) at 1.18 per cent CuT, 1.13 per cent Cu TSol and 0.003 per cent Mo (oxide) from 137 feet (42 m).

True widths are not known.

George Ogilvie, Arizona Sonoran president and chief executive officer, commented: "Drilling has performed extremely well for the Company, outlining a new zone of copper mineralization and extending the enrichment blanket by another 3,000 feet (914 m) to the south of our already-significant Parks/Salyer project. Most importantly, the MainSpring mineralization is near surface in the south, gradually plunging with advancement to the north until it connects into the Parks/Salyer ore deposit. Our team will explore the potential of introducing a new open pit within the property bounds around MainSpring within the PEA, expected in Q3 2024; at this point, ASCU is well under way in generating the MainSpring mineral resource estimate for its inclusion. The new PEA will build upon the February, 2024, PFS, integrating MainSpring as well as the primary sulphides which utilize the Nuton technologies within the heap-leach and SX/EW flow sheet.

"We believe the MainSpring results will continue to demonstrate the scalability of Cactus, reinforcing the project as a highly compelling, emerging copper developer within a Tier 1 location."

Drilling and geology recap

The inferred drill program at MainSpring, on 500-foot (152-metre) drill hole spacings, was designed to follow up on the evaluation of legacy drill data. The program tested for both near-surface copper mineralization in the southern MainSpring area and for the shallowing continuation of the high-grade Parks/Salyer deposit in the northern gap between Parks/Salyer and MainSpring. All holes were drilled completely through the copper mineralization hosted by Laramide intrusive monzonite porphyry and Precambrian oracle granite, to the basement fault zone and into the underlying barren basement rocks dominantly composed of Pinal schist, with lesser meta-granite, meta-volcanic, gneiss and quartzite. This was done to test both supergene enrichment mineralization and primary mineralization below it.

The program confirmed several things, including:

  • The presence of shallow, supergene-enriched mineralization with primary copper mineralization beneath the enrichment zones in the MainSpring area;
  • The continuation of thick, high-grade, enriched mineralization with primary copper mineralization beneath it trending southward from the Parks/Salyer deposit through the gap zone and into the southern MainSpring area;
  • Supergene-enriched and primary mineralization trends are open to the west of the completed inferred drilling pattern.

The indicated drilling program, which commenced immediately following the inferred drilling program, will first infill the shallowest mineralization zones to 250-foot (76 m) drill hole spacings. The drilling will move northward to infill the gap between MainSpring and Parks/Salyer to the indicated level.

Quality assurance/quality control

Drilling completed on the project between 2020 and 2024 was supervised by on-site Arizona Sonoran personnel who prepared core samples for assay and implemented a full quality assurance/quality control program using blanks, standards and duplicates to monitor analytical accuracy and precision. The samples were sealed on site and shipped to Skyline Laboratories in Tucson, Ariz., for analysis. Skyline's sample preparation, analytical methodologies and quality control system comply with global certifications for ISO 9001:2008.

Technical aspects of this news release have been reviewed and verified by Allan Schappert, CPG No. 11758, who is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc.

Arizona Sonoran's objectives are to become a mid-tier copper producer with low operating costs and to develop the Cactus and Parks/Salyer projects, which could generate robust returns for investors and provide a long-term sustainable and responsible operation for the community and all stakeholders. The company's principal asset is a 100-per-cent interest in the Cactus project, which is situated on private land in an infrastructure-rich area of Arizona. Contiguous to the Cactus project is the company's 100-per-cent-owned Parks/Salyer deposit, which could allow for a phased expansion of the Cactus mine once it becomes a producing asset. The company is led by an executive management team and board which have a long-standing record of successful project delivery in North America complemented by global capital markets expertise.

We seek Safe Harbor.

© 2024 Canjex Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.