December 15, 2022, Vancouver, British Columbia – Surge Copper Corp. (TSXV: SURG) (OTCQX: SRGXF) (Frankfurt: G6D2) (“Surge” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce complete assay results for 1 hole from the first phase of the Company’s 2022 regional exploration program which was focused on target drilling within the 100% owned Ootsa Property in central British Columbia.
Highlights
- Hole BJ22-01 at the Blackjack Target tested a large ZTEM geophysical anomaly and has discovered a wide zone of silver-gold-zinc-lead mineralization in addition to 3 individual high-grade silver veins
- Results include 66 metres grading 71.3 g/t silver including 46 metres grading 99.4 g/t silver with higher grade intercepts returning:
-
- 1430 g/t silver over 2 metres
- 346 g/t silver over 2 metres
- 180 g/t silver over 2 metres
-
- The Blackjack Target represents a very large and highly altered intrusive centre that is highly prospective for precious metal mineralization and wide open for further expansion and discovery
- Results for 30 additional drill holes from the Ootsa and Berg 2022 regional exploration program are pending
Assay results have been received for BJ22-01 at the Blackjack Target located approximately 4 kilometres east of the Seel porphyry deposit on the Ootsa Property. Significant results are summarized in the table below. Select hole locations and orientations are shown on the drill hole map and are illustrated on the cross-section below.
Blackjack
Hole BJ22-01 was drilled into the Blackjack Target testing a large ZTEM geophysical conductor and has confirmed the ZTEM target is related to intense hydrothermal alteration, encountering highly altered porphyritic intrusion from 62.8 to 400 metres depth, with altered volcanic and sedimentary rocks encountered to the end of the hole at 753 metres depth. This highly altered intrusive centre could conceptually sit above a porphyry system, and provides a kilometre scale exploration target prospective for near surface epithermal gold-silver, silver-gold-lead-zinc veins and breccias, and copper-gold-moly porphyry mineralization at depth.
Figure 1. Ootsa Property 2022 Drill Hole Location Map showing the Blackjack Target
Hole BJ22-01 intersected a wide zone of brecciation, veins, and faulting containing silver-gold-zinc-lead mineralization associated with quartz, iron carbonates, and clay, along with strong pyrite, and variable sphalerite, galena, and chalcopyrite from 286 to 352 metres depth. The zone returned 66 metres grading 71.3 g/t silver, 0.11 g/t gold, 0.30% zinc, and 0.22% lead, including 46 metres grading 99.4 g/t silver, 0.14 g/t gold, 0.35% zinc, and 0.29% lead. Included in this interval are 3 zones of vein and fault hosted mineralization returning 1430 g/t silver over 2 metres, 346 g/t silver over 2 metres, and 180 g/t silver over 2 metres.
This new discovery of high grade silver mineralization is interpreted to be a steeply dipping breccia and vein zone and remains open in all directions.
Figure 2. Blackjack Target E-W cross-section showing results for hole BJ22-01. See Figure 1 for section location. Silver Equivalent (Ag Eq) assumes metal prices of $22/oz silver, $1,800/oz gold, $1.45/lb zinc, $1/lb lead, and $3/lb copper with no allowances made for recovery losses.
Figure 3 shows hole BJ22-01 on a vertical section showing the ZTEM resistivity model. The best silver and zinc grades occur above a large conductor (blue) at the transition between resistive and conductive rocks, and the Figure highlights the large scale of the Blackjack exploration target which remains largely untested.
Figure 3. Blackjack Target E-W cross-section showing ZTEM resistivity and hole BJ22-01. See Figure 1 for section location.
|
Summary of Assay Results for BJ22-01 |
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|
Drill Hole |
From (m) |
To (m) |
Width (m)1 |
Ag g/t |
Au g/t |
Cu % |
Zn % |
Pb % |
|
BJ22-01 |
286 |
352 |
66 |
71.3 |
0.1 |
0.08 |
0.30 |
0.22 |
|
including |
300 |
346 |
46 |
99.4 |
0.1 |
0.09 |
0.35 |
0.29 |
|
including |
304 |
306 |
2 |
1430.0 |
0.4 |
1.31 |
0.18 |
0.06 |
|
including |
334 |
336 |
2 |
346.0 |
0.5 |
0.09 |
1.18 |
0.70 |
|
including |
344 |
346 |
2 |
180.0 |
0.2 |
0.49 |
1.67 |
1.96 |
|
BJ22-01 |
472 |
474 |
2 |
53.1 |
0.0 |
0.00 |
0.31 |
0.88 |
|
BJ22-01 |
554 |
556 |
2 |
37.0 |
0.0 |
0.00 |
0.47 |
0.55 |
|
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The Blackjack discovery has similarities to past underground silver producers in the region that are spatially associated with porphyry systems, including the Emerald Glacier and Silver Queen Mines. These both contain veins and vein zones, typically 1 to 3 metres wide, that show potential to host mineralized zones ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of tonnes in size.
Quality Control
All drill core is logged, photographed, and cut in half with a diamond saw. Half of the core is bagged and sent to Actlabs in Kamloops, British Columbia for analysis (which is ISO/IEC 17025 accredited), while the other half is archived and stored on site for verification and reference purposes. Gold is assayed using a 30g fire assay method and 33 additional elements are analyzed by Induced Coupled Plasma (ICP) utilizing a 4-acid digestion. Duplicate samples, blanks, and certified standards are included with every sample batch and then checked to ensure proper quality assurance and quality control.
Qualified Person
Dr. Shane Ebert P.Geo., is the Qualified Person for the Ootsa and Berg projects as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release.
Cancellation of Stock Options
The Company has cancelled an aggregate of 5,765,000 stock options (the “Options”) issued pursuant to its stock option plan on January 4, 2021. The Options were granted to certain officers, directors, employees, and consultants of the Company, and had an exercise price of $0.69 and expiry date of January 4, 2026. The Options were voluntarily surrendered by the holders. After the cancellation the Company will have a total of 5,500,000 options outstanding.
About Surge Copper Corp.
Surge Copper Corp. is a Canadian company that is advancing an emerging critical metals district in a well-developed region of British Columbia, Canada. The Company controls a large, contiguous mineral claim package that hosts multiple advanced porphyry deposits with pit-constrained NI 43-101 compliant resources of copper, molybdenum, gold, and silver – metals which are critical inputs to the low-carbon energy transition and associated electrification technologies.
The Company owns a 100% interest in the Ootsa Property, an advanced-stage exploration project containing the Seel and Ox porphyry deposits located adjacent to the open pit Huckleberry Copper Mine, owned by Imperial Metals. The Ootsa Property contains pit-constrained NI 43-101 compliant resources of copper, gold, molybdenum, and silver in the Measured, Indicated, and Inferred categories.
The Company is also earning a 70% interest in the Berg Property from Centerra Gold. Berg is a large, advanced-stage exploration project located 28 km northwest of the Ootsa deposits. Berg contains pit-constrained 43-101 compliant resources of copper, molybdenum, and silver in the Measured, Indicated, and Inferred categories. Combined, the adjacent Ootsa and Berg properties give Surge a dominant land position in the Ootsa-Huckleberry-Berg district and control over three advanced porphyry deposits and multiple copper, gold, and silver exploration targets.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
“Leif Nilsson”
Chief Executive Officer
For further information, please contact:
Riley Trimble, Corporate Communications & Development
Telephone: +1 604 416 2978
Email: info@surgecopper.com
Twitter: @SurgeCopper
LinkedIn: Surge Copper Corp
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This News Release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "will", "may", "should", "expects", "plans", or "anticipates" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the Company’s plans regarding the Berg Property and the Ootsa Property. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Such uncertainties and risks may include, among others, actual results of the Company's exploration activities being different than those expected by management, delays in obtaining or failure to obtain required government or other regulatory approvals, the ability to obtain adequate financing to conduct its planned exploration programs, inability to procure labour, equipment, and supplies in sufficient quantities and on a timely basis, equipment breakdown, impacts of the current coronavirus pandemic, and bad weather. While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect the Company's current judgment regarding the direction of its business, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions, or other future performance suggestions herein. Except as required by applicable law, the Company does not intend to update any forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results.