Copper Mountain Announces New Ingerbelle Mineral Resource
VANCOUVER, Sept. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Copper Mountain Mining Corporation (TSX: CMMC | ASX:C6C) (the "Company" or "Copper Mountain") is pleased to announce that following the completion of its Phase 2 drilling program, the Company has updated the Mineral Resource for its New Ingerbelle property. Results of resource estimation based on the Phase 2 drilling program have exceeded the Company's goal set for Phase 3. The drilling program has successfully expanded the resource area and converted a significant part of the previously Inferred Mineral Resource to the Indicated and Measured categories. The New Ingerbelle deposit is located approximately one kilometre from the Company's flagship operation, the Copper Mountain Mine (See Appendix A for New Ingerbelle location map).
Highlights from New Ingerbelle Mineral Resource are:
- More than one billion pounds of copper and one million ounces of gold in Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource at a 0.12% copper cut-off grade
- Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource of 151 million tonnes grading 0.29% copper and 0.18 g/t gold (0.41% CuEq) at a 0.16% copper cut-off grade
- Inferred Mineral Resource of 69 million tonnes grading 0.27% copper and 0.16 g/t gold (0.38% CuEq) for contained metal of 405 million pounds of copper and 0.36 million ounces of gold at a 0.16% cut-off copper grade.
Gil Clausen, Copper Mountain's President and CEO stated, "Given the size and quality of the Mineral Resource, we believe New Ingerbelle has the potential to be a significant contributor of value to the Company. With New Ingerbelle's Mineral Resource exceeding our target, our next step now will be to move New Ingerbelle into the evaluation phase. The evaluation phase will include a mine plan and economic analysis to move the Mineral Resource to the Mineral Reserve category. Given New Ingerbelle's favourable grade and proximity to our Copper Mountain operation, it has the real potential for growth and flexibility for our near-term production plans. Further, it is just one of several high-quality growth projects we have in our portfolio."
A summary of New Ingerbelle's Mineral Resource estimate is provided below. The new resource estimate is based on approximately 38,000 metres of historical drill data which is below current topography and 15,000 metres of new drilling, which includes drill and assay information up to September 17, 2018.
Cu% cut-off grade | Tonnes ('000s) | Copper (%) | Silver (g/t) | Gold (g/t) | CuEq (%) | Copper (M lbs) | Gold (M oz) |
Measured Resource | |||||||
0.20% | 33,987 | 0.34 | 0.68 | 0.21 | 0.48 | 256.6 | 0.234 |
0.16% | 43,251 | 0.31 | 0.61 | 0.19 | 0.44 | 293.2 | 0.268 |
0.12% | 54,396 | 0.27 | 0.55 | 0.17 | 0.39 | 327.6 | 0.300 |
|
Indicated Resource | |||||||
0.20% | 79,928 | 0.31 | 0.61 | 0.19 | 0.44 | 551.0 | 0.501 |
0.16% | 108,027 | 0.28 | 0.55 | 0.18 | 0.40 | 662.2 | 0.604 |
0.12% | 141,251 | 0.25 | 0.48 | 0.15 | 0.35 | 764.3 | 0.699 |
Total Measured and Indicated Resource | |||||||
0.20% | 113,912 | 0.32 | 0.63 | 0.20 | 0.46 | 807.6 | 0.735 |
0.16% | 151,278 | 0.29 | 0.57 | 0.18 | 0.41 | 955.4 | 0.872 |
0.12% | 195,648 | 0.25 | 0.50 | 0.16 | 0.36 | 1,092.0 | 1.001 |
Inferred Resource | |||||||
0.20% | 47,608 | 0.30 | 0.55 | 0.19 | 0.43 | 319.8 | 0.283 |
0.16% | 69,035 | 0.27 | 0.49 | 0.16 | 0.38 | 404.5 | 0.361 |
0.12% | 93,459 | 0.23 | 0.43 | 0.14 | 0.33 | 480.1 | 0.428 |
CuEq% is based on metal content only, as historical recoveries have not yet been verified. Metal prices assumed in the calculation are US$2.75/lb Cu, US$1,250/oz Au, and US$16/oz Ag. The mineral resource has been contained within a US$3.50 per pound whittle pit shell. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability. Numbers may not add due to rounding, contained metal calculated at 3 significant figures. |
The Mineral Resource includes drilling from the Phase 1 and Phase 2 drilling programs Copper Mountain started in 2017 and completed in September 2018. The Company's original goal for its 3-Phase program was to define sufficient resources in order to complete an initial mine plan and economic analysis. However, as it has already exceeded this goal in its Phase 2 program, Copper Mountain now plans to move New Ingerbelle into the evaluation phase, where the Company will complete an initial mine plan and economic analysis to upgrade the Mineral Resource to the Mineral Reserve category. Following the evaluation phase, the Company will assess the potential to further expand the Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource in a follow-up Phase 3 program.
Mineral Resource Estimation Methodology
The Mineral Resource estimate was completed by company employees under the guidance and supervision of Peter Holbek, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. The resource estimate was prepared in conformity with CIM Best Practices guidelines. The estimate was prepared using Gemcom software, a three-dimensional block model (15m cubic blocks) where grades were interpolated into blocks from 7.5m drill hole composite grades by ordinary kriging. Classification of resources is based on the size of the interpolation search ellipse and number of composites and drill holes informing the interpolated blocks. Mineral resources are constrained by a Whittle pit shell generated at a US$3.50 copper price with current mine-site operating costs and metal recoveries.
Competent Persons Statement
The information in this report that relates to Exploration Targets, Exploration Results, Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves is based on information compiled by Peter Holbek, B.SC (Hons), M.Sc. P. Geo. Mr. Holbek is a full time employee of the Company and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Mr. Holbek does consent to the inclusion in this news release of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears.
Peter Holbek is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this release.
About Copper Mountain Mining Corporation
Copper Mountain's flagship asset is the 75% owned Copper Mountain mine located in southern British Columbia near the town of Princeton. The Copper Mountain mine produces about 90 million pounds of copper equivalent per year with a large resource that remains open laterally and at depth. Copper Mountain also has the permitted, development stage Eva Copper Project in Queensland, Australia and an extensive 379,000 hectare highly prospective land package in the Mount Isa area. Copper Mountain trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "CMMC" and Australian Stock Exchange under the symbol "C6C".
Additional information is available on the Company's web page at www.CuMtn.com.
On behalf of the Board of
COPPER MOUNTAIN MINING CORPORATION
"Gil Clausen"
Gil Clausen, P.Eng.
Chief Executive Officer
Note: This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future events or results. Readers are referred to the documents, filed by the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, specifically the most recent reports which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to review or confirm analysts' expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statement.
SOURCE Copper Mountain Mining Corporation
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