This exploration program was funded by a
Five targets were drilled with the most compelling results produced at the Bear deposit, a large and partially-defined zone of porphyry copper mineralization, located almost entirely on private lands and concealed beneath a thick fault slice of younger Tertiary ignimbrites and alluvial cover. The Bear deposit was previously jointly held by
Bear Deposit 2023 Drilling Highlights : Diamond core drill hole B-053A encountered 926 ft of 0.31% TCu, including 233 ft of 0.47% TCu, collared 925 ft northwest of legacy Anaconda drill hole B-014
Diamond core drill hole B-054 encountered 1,048 ft of 0.26% TCu, including 131 ft of 0.50% TCu, collared 925 ft northwest from B-053A
These deep angle drill holes were located along a northwest projection of elevated copper grades defined by legacy Anaconda drilling and a coincident magnetic low and strong Induced Polarization (IP) anomaly, both of which are recognized trends in the
Background of the Bear Deposit: The Bear deposit is a large porphyry copper exploration target situated on private lands and located approximately three miles north of Anaconda's former
The footprint of the deposit covers more than three-square miles and extends 2.5 miles (4 km) in length in a northwest-southeast direction and 1.7 miles (2.7 km) in length in the northeast-southwest direction. Lion CG, through its wholly owned subsidiary
In a program funded by
Given the very large footprint of the known mineralization, the deposit remains highly attractive for further exploration with core holes currently spaced at 500-to-1,000-foot intervals.
Historical estimates of grade and tonnage or of contained metal were obtained from available historical records produced by Anaconda and
Bear Deposit 2023 Drilling Results: Two angled diamond core drill holes, B-053A and B-054 were collared and drilled to depths of 3,503 ft and 3,458 ft, respectively, northwest along the mineralization trend previously identified by Anaconda legacy drill holes B-013 and B-014. Legacy drill holes B-013 and B-014 intersected large zones of sulfide mineralization, including intervals with grades greater than 1.0% TCu. Higher copper grades intersected in legacy drill holes occur within a felsic endoskarn host rock, a magnetite-chalcopyrite rich rock associated with occurrences of massive chlorite and actinolite which are related to the contact of the older host rocks of granodiorite and younger quartz monzonite. The extension of the endoskarn zone and mineral assemblage was intercepted in B-053A and B-054 along a northwesterly projection. Though the total copper grades are less than those reported in legacy holes, it is not unexpected to have strongly variable copper grades within the endoskarn zones due to the irregular distribution of copper typically found in this type of geologic environment.
The intercepts in B-053A and B-054 have expanded the Bear deposit 1,850 ft in the northwesterly direction as represented by a +200 ft grade times thickness zone. This same zone is seen in drill hole B-015, located 1,900 ft west-northwest, containing 125 ft of 0.44% TCu, including 44 ft of 0.76% TCu. Deeper step-out drilling west-northwest of these legacy drill holes are expected to further expand the deposit footprint.
B-053A and B-054 are the only angled drill holes ever drilled in the deposit and have therefore now better defined the structural orientation of the mineralized zones. The quartz monzonite porphyry dikes and associated mineralization strike roughly east-west to northwest-southeast with a 45-degree northerly dip as shown in the cross-section. Mineralization at the Bear deposit appears to include a first pulse that occurred with the intrusion of quartz monzonite into the granodiorite and is characterized as a skarn along the contact. A second pulse of mineralization appears to have occurred, where quartz monzonite porphyry dikes intrude into the quartz monzonite and mineralized veinlets are strongly seen in and along the margins of the porphyry dikes.
In general, porphyry copper deposits have a high pyrite shell, with lesser chalcopyrite mineralization surrounding a zone with higher copper grades. Drill holes B-053A and B-054 contain sulphide mineralization percentages consistently average greater than 3%, and in some cases up to 35%. These are some of the highest percentages of sulphide mineralization ever observed in any of the drilling completed at Bear. The high sulphide mineralization percentages in B-053A and B-054 may be indicative of a high pyrite shell and proximity of a higher-grade copper mineralized zone.
Future exploration work is recommended to focus on the mineralized quartz porphyry dikes which remain open down-dip to the north and up-dip to the south, as well as along strike to the east and west. Higher grade zones might be found to occur in well-developed felsic skarns or within closely spaced quartz porphyry dikes with overlapping zones of altered mineralization. The source of the mineralized quartz porphyry dikes remains an untested target below the current depth of exploration.
Additional 2023 Exploration Results: Exploration objectives outside the Bear deposit included evaluation of the following drill targets: MacArthur expansion to the northeast and southeast (
Mason Pass Prospect
Reno Prospect
Singatse Target
A total of 9,945 feet of reverse circulation drilling were completed to evaluate these four targets. Additionally, a surface geochemical sampling and testing grid across the
Results Include the Following Highlights: The one reverse circulation drill hole at MacArthur Wedge identified 5 to 10 ft zones of oxide and sulphide mineralization with grades up to 0.25% TCu
Reverse circulation drill holes at MacArthur East identified 10 to 20 ft zones of chalcocite enrichment with grades up to 0.25% TCu (5 ft intervals up to 0.38% TCu)
MacArthur Expansion: Three reverse circulation drill holes were drilled on the northeastern edge of the current resource pit shell to test IP geophysical anomalies (
Mason Pass Prospect, Reno Prospect, and Singatse Target Exploration: Additional drilling took place at the Mason Pass Prospect, Reno Prospect, and Singatse Target locations. Four reverse circulation drill holes were completed at the Mason Pass Prospect with depths ranging from 500 to 600 ft. These drill holes tested for mineralization below and adjacent to trenches excavated in 2022 that discovered oxide copper grades up to 0.70% over 20 ft.
Four reverse circulation drill holes were completed at the Reno Prospect with depths ranging from 500 to 1,300 ft. These drill holes tested for a potential eastward extension of plus 0.2% TCu oxide and sulphide intercepts seen in 1960's and 1970's legacy Anaconda drilling and to test for expansion of mineralization intersected in the 2022 drilling program. Two of the drill holes were cased for future core drilling to test at-depth IP geophysical anomalies. One of these cased drill holes intersected an interval of 5 ft of 1.01% TCu.
A single drill hole at the Singatse Target was intended to test for a faulted northwest extension of the mineralization from the
Quality Assurance & Control: All samples were collected via reverse circulation or diamond core drilling by
About Lion CG
About Nuton
Nuton is an innovative venture that aims to help grow Rio Tinto's copper business. At the core of Nuton is a portfolio of proprietary copper leach related technologies and capability - a product of almost 30 years of research and development. Nuton offers the potential to economically unlock copper from primary sulfide resources through leaching, achieving market-leading recovery rates, contributing to an increase in copper production from copper bearing waste and tailings, and getting higher copper recoveries on oxide and transitional material. One of the key differentiators of Nuton is the potential to produce the world's lowest impact copper while having at least one Net Positive impact at each of our deployment sites, across our five pillars: water, energy, land, materials and society.
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The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by
Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-Looking statements are often identified by terms such as 'may', 'expect', or the negative of these terms and similar expressions. Forward-Looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the future exploration activities and anticipated results. Forward-Looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with exploration activity; general economic conditions; adverse industry events; marketing costs; loss of markets; future legislative and regulatory developments; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favorable terms; the ability of Lion CG to implement its business strategies; competition; currency and interest rate fluctuations and other risks.
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