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Enter Symbol
or Name
USA
CA



US Copper Corp
Symbol USCU
Shares Issued 115,154,627
Close 2023-09-11 C$ 0.055
Market Cap C$ 6,333,504
Recent Sedar Documents

U.S. Copper drills 395 feet of 0.85% Cu at Moonlight

2023-09-12 10:33 ET - News Release

Mr. Stephen Dunn reports

US COPPER CORP ANNOUNCES RESULTS FROM ENGELS DRILLING

U.S. Copper Corp. has released results from the 15-hole shallow drill program on its Engels deposit at the Moonlight-Superior copper project in northeast California.

Highlights:

  1. Mineralized drill hole intercepts were submitted for sequential copper assays and acid-soluble copper was identified in 10 of 15 holes, including one intercept of 200 feet (ft) of 1.06 per cent recoverable copper;
  2. Results confirmed historical drilling completed by previous operators in 2005 through 2009;
  3. Soluble copper averaged 85 per cent of total copper;
  4. Acid-soluble copper greater than 0.2 per cent occurs over an area of 750 ft by 250 ft, to an average depth of greater than 200 ft.

These results are now being reviewed by an independent engineering firm to determine:

  1. Parameters for further metallurgical testing;
  2. A new resource calculation for the oxide mineralization at Engels;
  3. The viability of an oxide mining operation beginning at Engels before moving to Moonlight.

Management commentary

"Results from our exploration drill program confirm high-grade copper oxide mineralization and furthers our geological model of the Engels project, whereby a near-surface copper oxide cap sits above a potentially larger copper sulphide deposit. These types of copper oxide deposits are found in the major copper mining districts of the world, and can typically be economically extracted, usually through low-impact surface mining, and processed at lower cost than copper sulphide ores. Furthermore, acid leaching of oxide copper produces high-grade copper cathodes, with grade A cathode typically selling for a premium," commented Stephen Dunn, president and chief executive officer of U.S. Copper.

"With the recent addition of copper to the U.S. critical minerals list, we look forward to conducting a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) to evaluate the viability of a copper oxide mining operation at the past-producing Engels deposit, towards advancing a secure and responsible domestic supply of U.S. mined copper," concluded Mr. Dunn.

The Engels oxide deposit sits on top of a large vein and disseminated good-grade copper sulphide deposit, which is controlled by a northeast-trending, high-angle structural zone cutting an early Jurassic gabbroic intrusive. The oxide cap at Engels is developed to depths greater than 200 feet over an area of at least 750 ft by 250 ft. Sample intercepts from prior drill programs were confirmed, as was the outer edges of the oxide cap. A new resource estimate will now be calculated to update the company's 2013 resource estimate of 2.5 million tons at 1.05 per cent, as contained in the company's National Instrument 43-101 technical report and resource estimate for the Superior project, Plumas county, California, by Wm. Tanaka, with a refiled date of Nov. 7, 2014, which can be viewed on the U.S. Copper's website and on SEDAR+.

Background

The Moonlight-Superior project has a sulphide mineral resource estimate of 1.3 billion pounds of copper indicated and one billion pounds of copper inferred across two deposits -- Moonlight and Superior. The resource estimate is contained in the NI 43-101 technical report and preliminary economic assessment for the Moonlight deposit, Plumas county, California, by Tetra Tech, dated April 12, 2018, available on U.S. Copper's website and on SEDAR+. Both deposits are open, and there are other deposits and exploration targets requiring testing and delineation which could add significantly to the total property resource.

The Engels deposit is one of three significant copper deposits on U.S. Copper's Moonlight-Superior property. It is located 6,000 ft east of its 300 million ton 0.30 per cent copper Moonlight deposit and 11,000 ft north of the 60 million ton 0.43 per cent copper Superior deposit. Initial efforts to mine-process the oxide (carbonate) ore in the early 1900s failed due to technological shortcomings. In 1914 to 1915, sulphide ore was discovered at Engels, and shortly thereafter Engels and the nearby Superior properties were consolidated under the Engels Mining Company, and production and processing of the sulphide ore began. Consolidated production from Engels-Superior in the 1915-to-1930 period yielded approximately 4.2 million tons of ore at a grade of 2.2 per cent copper. The majority of the production came from Engels. Mine workings at Engels are extensive and include many tens of thousands of feet of drifts, crosscuts and stopes on 10 levels accessed by adits, and six levels accessed from a winze sunk from the No. 10 level.

In the 1960s to 1970s, Placer Amex did extensive work in the district which resulted in the discovery of the Moonlight deposit, partial delineation of the Superior deposit and an evaluation of the Engels deposit that included an internal company open-pit estimate of 19 million tons of sulphide material with a grade of 0.63 per cent copper.

U.S. Copper had a PEA prepared on its Moonlight deposit in 2018 that showed positive economics at $3.15 per pound copper. It was determined that providing higher-grade ore from the Superior and/or Engels deposits into the Moonlight mine plan would substantially enhance the project's economics by potentially increasing cash flows in the initial years of production. The recently completed drill program at Superior was designed specifically for that purpose, and this Engels phase 1 program will outline the potential for a second starter pit for the Moonlight plant. Ultimately, the updated Engels and Superior resources will be incorporated into a revised Moonlight PEA.

Technical information and quality assurance/quality control

U.S. Copper personnel regularly observe procedures, including the boxing of core at the drill site. Core is then securely delivered to the core logging and storage facility in Crescent Mills, Calif. (approximately 10 miles from the drill sites). The core is logged, magnetically scanned and photographed. Periodic samples are collected for specific gravity testing and petrographic analysis. The core is then sawn in half. One-half is bagged with appropriate documentation and securely transported to the ALS lab in Reno, Nev. To ensure that proper QA/QC accompanies the analyses, appropriate QA/QC elements are included in each batch of samples. The QA/QC elements consist of certified standards, duplicate analyses and certified coarse blanks, or blank material that has been documented to be barren for gold and base metals.

Qualified person

The scientific and technical content of this press release has been reviewed and approved by George Cole, MSc, director of U.S. Copper, who is a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Cole is a registered professional geologist through AIPG (CPG -- 11687).

About U.S. Copper Corp.

U.S. Copper controls approximately 13 square miles of federal mining claims in the Light's Creek copper district in Plumas county, northeast California, essentially the entire district. The district contains substantial copper (silver) sulphide and copper oxide resources in three deposits: Moonlight, Superior and Engels, as well as several partially tested and untested exploration targets.

The Superior and Engels mines operated from about 1915 to 1930 producing over 161 million pounds of copper from over four million tons of rock containing 2.2 per cent copper with silver and gold credits.

The Moonlight deposit was discovered and drilled by Placer Amex during the 1960s. Details of the resources on U.S. Copper's property and the parameters used to calculate them can be found in the "Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Moonlight Deposit, Moonlight-Superior Copper Project, California, U.S.," dated April 12, 2018, on both the company's website and on SEDAR under the U.S. Copper profile.

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