The Ootsa Property is an advanced stage exploration project containing the East Seel, West 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 and Indicated categories. This mineral resource estimate (MRE) is based on a drill hole database comprising approximately 152,000 metres of diamond drilling, including approximately 50,000 metres drilled since 2018. The MRE combines multiple mineralized zones at the Seel deposit area into a single pit constrained volume and demonstrates both the overall size of the mineral endowment at Ootsa, as well as the presence of near-surface, higher-grade subsets of the resource which could be evaluated in future studies as potential starter pits.
Grade | Gross Contained Metal | |||||||||||||
C$8.27/t NSR Cut-off | Tonnage | Cu | Mo | Au | Ag | CuEq | Cu | Mo | Au | Ag | CuEq | |||
(Mt) | (%) | (%) | (g/t) | (g/t) | (%) | (Mlbs) | (Mlbs) | (Moz) | (Moz) | (Mlbs) | ||||
Seel | ||||||||||||||
Measured | 103.7 | 0.19 | 0.014 | 0.15 | 2.6 | 0.36 | 440 | 32 | 0.5 | 8.7 | 823 | |||
Indicated | 276.1 | 0.16 | 0.017 | 0.12 | 2.0 | 0.31 | 974 | 105 | 1.1 | 18.2 | 1,898 | |||
Total M+I | 379.8 | 0.17 | 0.016 | 0.13 | 2.2 | 0.32 | 1,414 | 137 | 1.6 | 26.9 | 2,721 | |||
Inferred | 135.4 | 0.15 | 0.015 | 0.10 | 2.0 | 0.28 | 455 | 45 | 0.4 | 8.8 | 847 | |||
Ox | ||||||||||||||
Measured | 30.1 | 0.24 | 0.026 | 0.04 | 1.4 | 0.36 | 157 | 17 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 237 | |||
Indicated | 28.7 | 0.19 | 0.020 | 0.03 | 1.3 | 0.29 | 122 | 12 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 181 | |||
Total M+I | 58.8 | 0.22 | 0.023 | 0.03 | 1.4 | 0.32 | 280 | 29 | 0.1 | 2.6 | 419 | |||
Inferred | 2.4 | 0.13 | 0.011 | 0.03 | 1.1 | 0.20 | 7 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 10 | |||
Total | ||||||||||||||
Measured | 133.8 | 0.20 | 0.017 | 0.13 | 2.4 | 0.36 | 597 | 49 | 0.5 | 10.1 | 1,060 | |||
Indicated | 304.8 | 0.16 | 0.018 | 0.11 | 2.0 | 0.31 | 1,097 | 118 | 1.1 | 19.4 | 2,079 | |||
Total M+I | 438.6 | 0.18 | 0.017 | 0.12 | 2.1 | 0.32 | 1,694 | 167 | 1.6 | 29.5 | 3,139 | |||
Inferred | 137.7 | 0.15 | 0.015 | 0.10 | 2.0 | 0.28 | 462 | 46 | 0.4 | 8.9 | 857 | |||
Notes:
Next steps at Ootsa involve ongoing advanced metallurgical testwork, long lead-time environmental baseline monitoring programs, internal engineering trade-off studies focused on district-wide infrastructure options, and ongoing exploration. One drill is actively turning at the West Ox target on the Ootsa Property, and one additional drill is expected to arrive in late June, before remobilizing to test targets in the northern portion of the district (see Press Release dated June 1, 2022).
The first phase being based out of the Ootsa exploration camp. During this phase, two high priority targets called West Ox and Midway, which are located adjacent to the Seel and Ox deposits, will be drill tested. Simultaneously, multiple field teams will be screening and prospecting several other porphyry-style targets in both the Ootsa and Berg areas to prepare for drilling later in the season. High grade breccia-style targets up to 500 metres east of the Seel Breccia zone are also being evaluated for possible drill testing.
The Qualified Persons for the MRE are James N. Gray, P.Geo, of Advantage Geoservices Ltd. and Jacques R. Stacey, MSc., P.Geo, of Northern Mountain Geosciences, both independent of the Company and Qualified Persons as defined under National Instrument 43-101. James Gray is responsible for the mineral resource estimate and Jacques Stacey has worked extensively on the project, has visited the site, and has reviewed the drill hole database, assay certificates, and quality control procedures. Both Qualified Persons have reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release. The Qualified Persons are not aware of any known environmental, permitting, legal, title-related, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues that could materially affect the mineral resource estimate.
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. The survey data and data quality have been prepared, processed, and validated by experienced professionals at Geotech Ltd.