CopperCorp Resources (TSXV:CPER) has provided an update on its ongoing diamond drilling campaign at the Razorback rare earth and copper property in western Tasmania, Australia.

The first diamond drill hole at the South Darwin prospect, SDD007, was completed, reaching a depth of 553 meters. Further drilling at South Darwin is currently on hold while the Company awaits assay results from SDD007 to refine targeting for subsequent drill holes. The drill rig remains on site and will undergo maintenance during this waiting period.

Logging and sampling of SDD007 are well underway. Samples from the initial 200 meters are already at the laboratory, and the remaining priority core sections are scheduled for sampling and dispatch within the coming week. Initial gold assay results are expected within 1 to 2 weeks, while prioritized rare earth element (REE) assay results are anticipated within 3 to 4 weeks. A comprehensive update on SDD007 and any future drilling will be provided once the assays are received and analyzed.

Early geological logging indicates that SDD007 successfully intersected zones of rock with characteristics similar to those containing REE and copper-gold mineralization found in historical hole SDD005. However, at this early exploration stage, visual inspection of the drill core cannot definitively determine the potential REE content. Assaying is necessary to confirm the extent and grade of any potential REE mineralized zones encountered.

Concurrent with the drilling program, the Company is continuing surface mapping and rock sampling programs across the Razorback property. Reprocessing and modeling of geophysical data over priority target zones (Darwin, Hydes, and Jukes Zones) are also ongoing. The company expects to provide updates on this work in March.

Drill hole planning, environmental surveys, and permitting are underway for proposed drilling programs at the Jukes and Jasper Hills copper-gold prospects. These programs will be discussed in more detail in upcoming news releases.

The South Darwin prospect is situated within the larger Darwin Zone target area, defined by a 7-kilometer-long north-south trending anomaly identified through magnetic and potassium-thorium radiometric surveys. Historical drilling into a portion of this anomaly at South Darwin intersected significant mineralization characteristic of iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits. This mineralization was associated with north-south trending hydrothermal breccias and hosted in intensely altered volcanic rocks. The historical drilling only covered less than 10% of the extensive anomaly, and the mineralization at South Darwin remains open at depth and along strike. Considering these factors, the Company believes the Darwin Zone holds significant potential for further discoveries of REE and copper-gold mineralization.

The IOCG-style mineralization encountered in historical drilling at South Darwin included veins, breccia zones, and semi-massive to massive magnetite-pyrite-chalcopyrite. The best intercept reported was 13.0 meters at 1.2% copper and 0.45 grams per tonne gold from 345 meters in hole SDD005. This same hole also intersected significant REE mineralization, including 30.0 meters at 2.26% total rare earth oxides (TREO) from 296 meters.

Highlights from the update are as follows:

Drill Hole SDD007

SDD007 was designed to test for depth extensions approximately 130 to 150m below high-grade REE and Cu-Au mineralization intercepted in historical hole SDD005²:

SDD005:

• 72.0m @ 1.13% total rare earth oxides (TREO) from 286m, including
  • 30.0m @ 2.26% TREO from 296m, including
    • 10.0m @ 3.0% TREO from 307m
• 13.0m @ 1.2% Cu and 0.45g/t Au from 345m

CopperCorp Resources (TSXV:CPER) (OTCQB:CPCPF) has announced that its wholly-owned division, Georgina Resource Pty Ltd, has acquired exploration license EL8/2023, known as the “Razorback Project.” The license was won through Tasmania’s Exploration Release Area (ERA) competitive bidding process and involves an area situated south of the notable Mt Lyell copper mine in the scenic expanse of western Tasmania, Australia.

Steve Swatton, President and CEO of CopperCorp commented in a press release: “The Razorback land package has been recognized and highly regarded by our team since inception of the Company. The project is located immediately south and along trend of the 3 million tonne (contained copper) historic Mt Lyell mine which has generated significant copper and gold since starting production in the late 1800’s and still has a reported 25-year mine life³. Previous exploration work completed at Razorback indicates the presence of significant copper, gold and rare earth mineralization including in surface sampling and drill intercepts. We look forward to initiating a work program to advance exploration at Razorback including following up on the significant copper-gold and rare earth surface showings and intercepts.”

Known for their diligent work and strategic approach, CopperCorp has identified promising prospects for unearthing primary rare earth elements (REE) and copper-gold deposits within the iron oxide of the Razorback Project locale. This optimism stems from earlier drilling results that produced substantial rare earth oxide (TREO) intercepts and Cu-Au intercepts. Additionally, areas revealing anomalous REE assays from surface rock chip sampling show potential for new REE exploration targets.

Adding to their exploration portfolio, the successful Razorback Project bid grants CopperCorp an additional 171 square kilometres of mineral license holdings, augmenting the firm’s current assets with the 100%-owned AMC and Skyline projects in western Tasmania. The total combined exploration license holdings now stand at 1,571 square kilometres.

The Razorback Project is ideally situated over the Middle Cambrian aged Mt Read Volcanics (MRV), immediately south of the Mt Lyell copper project. Its easy access via all-weather gravel roads and proximity to necessary infrastructure such as power transmission lines and regional mining centres make it an attractive prospect.

MRV, a curved belt of calc-alkaline volcanic sequences, hosts various world-class polymetallic base metal, Cu-Au, and Au-only deposits, all testament to the Tyennan Orogeny’s metallogenic prowess. CopperCorp holds strong potential for uncovering magmatic-hydrothermal related iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) deposits and hybrid porphyry-epithermal Cu-Au/Au-only deposits in the Razorback Project.

The project’s background also reveals excellent potential for rare earth element (REE) mineralization. Historical exploration drilling results disclose REE intercepts and anomalous REEs in surface rock chip sampling, indicating the presence of valuable REE minerals, a prospect CopperCorp is eager to explore further.

The Razorback Project, with a history of intermittent exploration since the mid-1950s, has seen geological mapping, gridding, sediment, soil geochemistry, and adit sampling, amongst other exploration activities. CopperCorp is ready to compile and digitize these historical exploration data, charting their way forward in targeting more REE and Cu-Au exploration targets.

With the formal granting of the exploration license, CopperCorp is already charting out an exploration strategy for EL8/2023, eager to share updates as the project unfolds. This marks yet another milestone in CopperCorp’s quest for discovery and innovation in mineral exploration.

Table 1. Summary of CopperCorp’s new licence application in western Tasmania, Australia.

Table 2. Rare earth oxide values from significant drill hole intercept in SDD005 30.0M @ 2.1% TREO (1.0% TREO cut-off). Values have been rounded.

CopperCorp Resources (TSXV:CPER) has announced new assay results from the Alpine prospect, a part of the AMC Copper Project location in Tasmania, Australia. The results are free seven diamond drill holes at the prospect, with the 1,066km2 AMC project. The first round of drilling at the Alpine Stellar zone is complete, and the company has drilled 16 diamond holes with a total of 5,490m. The drill program included infill and step-out holes to test the extent and continuity of the mineralizing system at the project. It also aimed to find new vectors to be able to target high-grade portions of the system.

The company has now moved the drill rig 500m to the Alpine West zone and has already begun drilling at hole AP037 to target a combined magnetic-gravity anomaly and coincident copper in soils anomalous zone. The company has interpreted this to be a possible strike extension to the Alpine Stellar zone mineralizations. 

Assay results for drill holes AP028, AP029, AP030, AP031B, AP032, AP033 and AP034 have also been received, with most of the seven holes successful in intersecting zones of significant copper mineralization.

Highlights from the results are as follows:

• Significant mineralized intercepts from the recently received drill core assays include:

1Note that true widths are uncertain. Initial interpretation by the Company is that the copper mineralization is hosted in steeply dipping zones of mineralization implying true widths in the range of 70% to 95% of reported intervals. See full intercepts in Table 2.

• High-grade intercepts, including 10.0m @ 1.2% Cu and 4.9m of 1.5% Cu in AP030, and 5.0m of 2.06% Cu in AP034, indicate the potential for accumulations of higher-grade copper within the larger Alpine Stellar target area, including to depth.
• These results continue to define multiple broad, sub-parallel dipping zones of mineralization at the Alpine Stellar zone with average copper grades in the 0.3% to 0.7% range.
• Recently completed deep drill holes AP035 and AP036 (assays pending) both successfully intersected intervals of significant visual copper sulphide1 mineralization up to 200m below previous drill holes.
• Copper mineralization at the Alpine Stellar zone has now been defined over a strike length of 600m and to a depth of 400m from surface. The mineralization remains open at depth and along strike.
• A geological review of the Alpine Stellar zone has commenced ahead of finalizing 3D models that will be used to plan future extension drilling at the Stellar zone.
• The drill rig has been relocated to the Alpine West target, located approximately 500m along strike to the west from the Alpine Stellar zone. Drilling of AP037 has commenced on this previously untested target as the first hole of an initial scout drilling program comprising 4 diamond holes at Alpine West.

Sean Westbrook, CopperCorp’s Vice President of Exploration, commented in a press release:

“The recent drill results from Alpine Stellar zone have delivered strong copper intercepts over significant widths, and importantly, we are starting to see more high-grade intervals from drilling as our knowledge base develops and we vector towards the stronger parts of the Stellar system.

Encouragingly, recent drill holes AP035 and AP036, targeting depth extensions beneath previously drilled mineralization, have both intersected significant intervals of what we think is visible copper sulphide mineralization. The team eagerly awaits the assay results from these holes, which will be reported once received and reviewed.

The Company is pleased to have commenced drilling at the Alpine West prospect which will represent the first ever drilling at this location, which is approximately 500m west along strike from the Stellar zone. Alpine West is an exciting target with the potential to significantly expand the mineralization footprint at Alpine.

In conjunction with the Alpine West drilling, the exploration team has commenced a geological review of the Stellar zone ahead of finalizing 3D geological models that will form the basis for the next round of drill planning at Stellar. As demonstrated by the recent drill results, the Stellar zone holds excellent exploration upside potential and future work programs will be designed to vigorously pursue this growth upside. In terms of a growth story, it is still early days for Alpine and as can be seen in the drill section figures, increased drill hole density has a marked positive impact on defining higher-grade mineralization zones at Stellar.

On a district scale, it is pertinent to note that the currently drilled Alpine prospect area covers less than 1% of the IOCG prospective Arthur Metamorphic Complex (AMC), which has a strike length of 100km and over which CopperCorp holds a dominant tenement position with 1066km2 in granted tenements (see Figure 15). The Company has identified a pipeline of multiple regional copper and gold exploration target zones along and adjacent to the AMC trend and we look forward to reporting on these in the coming months. Field reconnaissance sampling was recently commenced over high priority regional targets with first assay results expected within 4 to 6 weeks.”