VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 11, 2020 / CopperBank Resources Corp. ("CopperBank" or the "Company") (CSE:CBK) is pleased to report ongoing progress in generating future exploration targets at its 100% owned Copper Creek Project, located in the Bunker Hill mining district in Pinal County, Arizona. The Copper Creek Project is an advanced stage Cu-Mo-Ag exploration project and encompass a contiguous sixteen square miles (41 square kilometers) of private property, Bureau of Land Management and Arizona State Mining Claim holdings.
Highlights of Copper Creek
- Located in Arizona's "Copper Corridor" where over 30 million tonnes of copper metal has been produced and tens of thousands of mining related work force resides;
- Advanced stage project with over 670,000 feet (220,000 meters) of diamond core drilling complete and endowed with a large historical resource and extensive technical data base; and,
- Decades of land assembly completed to establish the contiguous 100% owned 10,240 acre project boundaries that are now in a low annual holding cost status in perpetuity.
The Copper Creek project hosts historical mineral resources, including estimated Measured & Indicated resources of:
- 4.4 billion pounds of copper (501.2 million tons at 0.44% copper, consisting of Measured resources of 45.5 million tons at 0.72% copper, and Indicated resources of 456.7 million tons at 0.42% copper);
- 3.3 billion pounds of copper (481.3 million tons at 0.34% copper, consisting of Inferred resources).
The foregoing historical mineral resource estimate (the "Historical Estimate") was published in a technical report titled "Copper Creek 2012 Mineral Resource Update, Pinal County, Arizona, USA, Technical Report" prepared for Redhawk Copper by Independent Mining Consultants Inc., dated and filed by Redhawk Copper on SEDAR on June 25, 2012. The Historical Estimate was calculated using a 0.20% copper equivalent ("CuEq") cut-off grade. The Historical Estimate is based on metal prices of US$3.00/lb CuEq and contained within an open pit geometry using industry comparable estimates for direct mining, milling, and G&A costs. The ratios for calculating CuEq are based upon US$2.75/lb Cu, US$12.00/lb Mo, and US$20.00/oz Ag and recoveries of 90% for Cu, 80% for Mo, and 90% for Ag. For additional information on the foregoing historical mineral resource estimate, including cautions for the reader, see note below.
The Copper Creek property lies at the intersection of the north-east trending Silver Bell-San Manuel-Morenci copper mine trend and stratigraphy which hosts the giant Resolution and Ray copper porphyry deposits situated 50 miles to the north-west. The Copper Creek mineralizing system consists numerous high-grade copper-molybdenum-rich breccia pipe emanating from a buried and defined porphyry copper deposit. Further exploration work would be targeted to define limits to these mineralized bodies and the potential for discovery of new breccia pipes is considered high. Only 10% of the known breccia bodies have been drill tested to date and no drilling has been undertaken at the historical resource area of Copper Creek since 2013.
Next steps and options for advancing the Copper Creek Project include generation of an updated Leapfrog model, and detailed modelling of the 15 known targets in the district. Known targets in the 41 square kilometer land position encompass untested Cu-Mo-Ag-Au-Zn mineralization in greenfields and brownfields targets, direct resource infill and expansion, and new target concepts in Proterozoic diabase and Paleozoic carbonate rocks, which are known base metal host rock units in this portion of Arizona. CopperBank will be demonstrating the viability of the project to interested parties in 2021.
CopperBank CEO Gianni Kovacevic comments: "The Copper Creek Project is one of the largest, established, copper projects in the junior mining sector. The most important requirements for any large copper mining operation are readily available in this optimal location, including infrastructure and workforce. Our team continues to generate exciting exploration targets that could unlock significant shareholder value as we move them towards execution."
CopperBank consulting geologist Mark I. Pfau comments: "Copper Creek shows the ability to be a long-lived open pit and underground mining operation that will complement the portfolio of any major or mid-size copper producer".
Qualified Person
Mark I. Pfau of Tellurian Exploration, Inc., is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and has approved the technical portions of this press release. Mr. Pfau is an exploration and resource targeting specialist in the porphyry and related geologic environments.
Cautionary Note
A qualified person (as defined in National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101")), has not done sufficient work to classify the historical resource estimate as current mineral resources or reserves, and CopperBank is not treating the estimate as current mineral resources or reserves.
Because the Historical Estimate was completed relatively recently in 2012 and in compliance with the definitions for mineral resource categorization set out by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, and disclosed in a technical report conforming to the requirements of NI 43-101, CopperBank is of the view that the Historical Estimate is generally reliable and relevant to an evaluation of the property, however CopperBank has not completed any independent verification of the Historical Estimate. In order to verify the Historical Estimate as current, a qualified person (as defined in NI 43-101) would have to conduct a site visit on behalf of CopperBank and complete standard data verification procedures.
CopperBank intends to complete additional resource expansion drilling on Copper Creek for purposes of increasing and upgrading the mineral resource prior to completion of a new mineral resource estimate. Subsequent to the Historical Estimate, Redhawk published a technical report titled "Redhawk Copper, Inc., Copper Creek Project, Preliminary Economic Assessment, 25,000 TPD Mill with an Underground Mine for Development of the Copper Creek Resource", prepared by Mr. Joseph M. Keane, P.E.; Mr. Herb Welhener, MMSA-QPM; Mr. Steve Milne, P.E.; Mr. Gene Muller, P.E; Mr. David Nicholas and SGS Metcon/KD Engineering dated July 25, 2013, amended October 28, 2013 (the "PEA Technical Report"). The PEA Technical Report contained a mineral resource estimate that related solely to the portion of the Copper Creek deposit amenable to underground mining pursuant to the mine plan set out in the PEA Technical Report, using a 0.55% CuEq cut-off, which consisted of Indicated resources totalling approximately 2.1 billion lbs CuEq (132.0 million tons @ 0.79% CuEq) plus an Inferred resource of approximately 1.1 billion lbs CuEq (74.1 million tons @ 0.74% CuEq) based on metal prices of US$3.00/lb CuEq The ratios for calculating CuEq are based upon US$2.75/lb Cu, US$12.00/lb Mo, and US$20.00/oz Ag and recoveries of 90% for Cu, 80% for Mo, and 90% for Ag.
About CopperBank
CopperBank is a Canadian exploration mining company focused on energy related metal exploration in The United States of America. The Company trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange - CSE- under the symbol "CBK".
On behalf of CopperBank Resources Corp.
"Gianni Kovacevic"
Gianni Kovacevic
Address: Suite 1500, 409 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 1T2
Tel: 604-889-0852
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.copperbankcorp.com
Advisory Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information in this release constitutes forward looking statements or information ("forward-looking statements") under applicable securities laws and necessarily involves risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements included herein are made as of the date of this news release and, except as required by applicable law, CopperBank does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect management of CopperBank's expectations or beliefs regarding future events. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. Examples of forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the Company's ongoing review of its existing portfolio, the involvement of CopperBank in any potential divestiture, spin-out, partnership or other transactions involving the Company's portfolio assets, and the ability of the Company to complete any such transactions, the ability of CopperBank to enter into transactions that will ultimately enhance shareholder value, and potential future work or activities in respect of the Pyramid project or the Contact project. Although CopperBank believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements have been based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Those factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information available to CopperBank. Forward-looking statements are based, in part, on assumptions and factors that may change or prove to be incorrect, thus causing actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by forward-looking information. Such factors and assumptions include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to identify and complete one or more transactions involving the Company's portfolio assets that enhance shareholder value as part of management's ongoing review of strategic alternatives in the current market conditions. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the risk that the Company will not be able to identify and complete one or more transactions involving the Company's portfolio assets that enhance shareholder value as part of management's ongoing review of strategic alternatives in the current market conditions. Although CopperBank has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. For more information on CopperBank and the risks and challenges of its businesses, investors should review the continuous disclosure filings that are available under CopperBank's profile at www.sedar.com.
SOURCE: CopperBank Resources Corp