Aterian Plc announced the results, including 7.02 % copper ("Cu"), from additional fieldwork conducted on the Company's Tata Project. The Project, covering 154.4 km2, is located within the western Anti-Atlas Mountains of the Kingdom of Morocco and lies 30 km south of the Company's Azrar copper-silver project. The Tata Project is one of 17 copper, silver and base metal projects owned by Aterian, covering 897 km2 in Morocco within established current and historic mining districts. Highlights: Project located in central Morocco within the western Anti-Atlas, a region considered highly prospective for sedimentary-hosted copper mineralisation; Latest sampling reports up to 7.02 % Cu.; Copper mineralisation is identified within two stratigraphic horizons and is visible on surface; Combined strike length with visible copper mineralisation extends over 18 km; A data review indicates that a strike length c.26 km within the prospective Adoudou Formation remains untested, with at least a further 9 km within the lower Cambrian Tata Group sediments; The project lies 50 km southeast of the Tizert Copper-Silver development project, with a similar geological setting; 30 km south of the Company's Azrar copper project; Project located close to good infrastructure. Project Summary: The Tata Project covers 154.4 km and comprises ten license blocks, with access to the Project via asphalt roads and a network of smaller tracks. The Company holds a 100 % interest in the Project, located in the western Anti-Atlas Mountains, a region considered highly prospective for sedimentary-hosted copper mineralisation. Tata lies 30 km south of the Company's Azrar copper-silver project, approximately 465 km south of the capital Rabat, 165 km southeast of the port city of Agadir, and 50 km southeast of the Tizert copper-silver project (estimated resources of 57 Mt grading 1.03 % Cu and 23 g/t Ag), currently under development by Managem Group. Late Ediacaran to early Cambrian-aged Adoudounian sediments occur within the Project along the margins of the Paleoproterozoic Tagragra de Tata Inlier. These sedimentary units are known to host copper mineralisation and represent the primary copper target on the Project. arlier prospecting by the Company along the northern part of the Tata Project identified visible copper mineralisation hosted within late Ediacaran to early Cambrian age Adoudounian sediments and also higher in the stratigraphy within the lower limestone and dolomitic units of the younger Tata Group. The sediments occur along the flanks of the Paleoproterozoic Tagragra de Tata Inlier, with the previous work traversing along a strike length of c. 8 km, where copper mineralisation was observed in outcrop. Previously reported highlights from the earlier phase of work are: 2.05 % Cu was reported from a dolomite float sample adjacent to the contact between Adoudounian sediments and the Proterozoic inlier; Results include 0.95 % Cu from a 4 m thick dolomitic sequence and 0.87% Cu from an 8 m thick sequence of dolomite and marl. Aterian Exploration Results: The more recent fieldwork, with results reported today, concentrated on evaluating the sedimentary-hosted copper potential along a further 8.5 km of strike within the sedimentary package occurring on the northern margin of the Tagragra de Tata Inlier and an additional 2.0 km along the southern margin of the same inlier. A total of 34 outcrop rock chip samples* were collected during this reported sampling campaign. Of these samples, 14 (41 % of this batch) were > 0.3 % Cu, with three samples returning values greater than 1 % Cu.
The maximum sample grade reported was 7.02 % Cu from bedding parallel, disseminated mineralisation occurring in siltstones within the lower Adoudou Formation (Block A). 250 m along strike to the east of this sample, an outcrop of fractured dolomite with mm-scale quartz-carbonate veinlets hosting disseminated copper oxides reported 1.62 % Cu. The area prospected in Block A covers a strike length of 1.5 km; in Block B, the distance covered is c. 7.0 km, with Block B targeting copper mineralisation hosted with the lower Cambrian Tata Group sediments. Copper values returned from Block B range from 0.08 % Cu to 1.09 % Cu, with an average grade from 17 outcrop samples of 0.37 % Cu. The sediments north of the inlier dip 25o - 45o NNE to NE. Blocks C and D cover a combined distance of 2.0 km and targeted Tata Group sediments, with the highest grade of 0.45 % Cu reported from 7 samples collected. Locally, these units appear more folded than to the north of the inlier, with the overall dip direction to the south. Based on the field observations, with copper mineralisation occurring in two separate horizons within the overall sedimentary package, there remain c.26 km of strike length within the Adoudou Formation to be prospected, with at least 9.5 km of lower Cambrian Tata Group to be explored further (green dashed line on the map above). The work completed to date has identified copper occurring along 16 km of strike, hosted in both the Adoudou Formation and Tata Group to the north of the inlier and 2.5 km of strike within the Tata Group to the south of the inlier.