Ootsa Project

Highlights

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.

Located in British Columbia within an established mining district.
Three advanced stage Cu-Au-Mo-Ag porphyry deposits strategically located adjacent to the Huckleberry mine and mill complex which has limited reserves.
Ootsa is 100% owned by Surge Copper Corp, is road accessible, and close to infrastructure.
The large 72,710 hectare property contains multiple exploration targets.

Vrify Interactive Map of Ootsa

June 2022 Resource Estimate at Ootsa


		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:

Economic viability can only be assessed through the completion of engineering studies defining reserves including PFS and FS. Resource classification adheres to CIM Definition Standards; it cannot be assumed that all or any part of Inferred Mineral Resources will be upgraded to Indicated or Measured as a result of continued exploration.
A C$8.27 per tonne NSR cut-off value was used as the base case for reporting mineral resources that have reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. The NSR cut-off was derived from US$ metal prices of US$3.85/lb Cu, US$12.40/lb Mo, US$1,750/oz Au, and US$22.00/oz Ag, and a USDCAD exchange rate of 0.77. Process recoveries used were 90% Cu, 70% Au, 70% Mo, and 65% Ag with respective smelter payables of 96%, 90%, 98.5%, and 96%. Refining charges in US$ were US$0.05/lb Cu, US$5/oz Au, and US$0.50/oz Ag. A generated pit shell using Whittle (3DS Geovia) was used to report resources. The generation of the pit shell considered 45-degree slope angles, C$ operating costs of C$2.34/t for mining and C$8.11/t for processing, G&A, and ore mining premium with a 2% ore dilution rate.
Grades were estimated using ordinary kriging using capped assays composited to two-metre intervals, with estimation block sizes of 12x12x12 for both Seel and Ox.
Copper equivalent assumes metal prices of US$3.85/lb Cu, US$12.40/lb Mo, US$1,750/oz Au, and US$22.00/oz Ag and uses the formula CuEq (%) = Cu (%) + 3.2208 x Mo (%) + 0.6630 x Au (g/t) + 0.0083 x Ag (g/t).
The total waste tonnes within the Seel constraining pit are 1,443.4 Mt implying a strip ratio of 2.8 : 1, and the total waste tonnes within the Ox constraining pit are 65.6 Mt implying a strip ratio of 1.1 : 1.
Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
The Qualified Person for the Mineral Resource Estimate is James N. Gray, P.Geo, of Advantage Geoservices Ltd.
All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate.
The effective date of the mineral resource estimate is February 18, 2022.

Upcoming Plans at Ootsa

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.

Qualified Persons Statement

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.