Bell Copper Starts Met Testing at Big Sandy
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March 22, 2022
News Release
Bell Copper Corporation
Bell Copper Starts Met Testing at Big Sandy
VANCOUVER, B.C. - Bell Copper Corporation (TSXV:BCU) (OTCQB:BCUFF)(“Bell Copper” or the
“Company”) reports that it has initiated metallurgical testing of chalcocite-bearing porphyry core samples
from its Big Sandy project. Big Sandy is a large, truncated porphyry copper -molybdenum target located
in northwestern Arizona, approximately 30 kilometers south of the Company’s Perseverance Project.
Highlights
• A composite sample of coarse assay rejects from the chalcocite-bearing (copper-bearing) interval
1302-1502 meters was shipped to SGS Lakefield lab in Ontario for a bank of scoping metallurgical
studies
• Chalcocite is being tested for its amenability to recovery by both froth flotation and acid leaching
• Molybdenite is being tested for its amenability to concentration by froth flotation and for its
rhenium content.
• High definition QEMSCAN technology is being used to characterize the mineralogical deportment
of the target metals and their porphyry host rock.
Drilling and Metallurgical Testing
Drillhole BS-3, which was oriented to test a 2400 meter by 2100 meter area of high electrical conductivity
that was detected in an earlier magnetotelluric s urvey (refer to news release dated October 6, 2020 ),
intersected pervasively hematitic leached capping in sericitized quartz porphyry at an inclined depth of
1192 meters. The drillhole then passed into a supergene chalcocite blanket extending between depths of
1302 and 1589 meters.
Mineralization shown is from selected intervals, and not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted at Big Sandy
Disseminated chalcocite (bright white,
reflective) in hematitic brecciated porphyry
from 1303 meters
Vein-filling chalcocite cutting sericitized porphyry and replacing pyrite
from 1365 meters.
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Coarse reject material that was generated during assaying of the core samples has been composited and
shipped to SGS Lakefield metallurgical laboratory in Ontario to be subjected to a bank of metallurgical
scoping studies. In one phase of the testing, c halcocite (copper sulfide) will be recovered via froth
flotation employing standard reagents used in operating copper mills. The purpose of this testing is to 1)
determine the percentage of copper that can be recovered using this common technique, 2) to determine
the copper grade of the resulting concentrate, and 3) to assess the concentration of byproduct metals and
deleterious elements in the concentrate. The resulting copper concentrates from the test work would
then be available for discussions with copper smelting companies.
Chalcocite reject material will also be subjected to acid leach testing in order to determine if the Big Sandy
chalcocite might be amenable to solution mining extraction. This testing will determine both the amount
of copper that might be recoverable via acid leaching and the amount of acid that might be consumed
through this process.
A separate testing regimen will focus on the utility of froth flotation for recovering molybdenite from the
Big Sandy material. This lab work will assess the percentage of molybdenum that can be recovered from
the rock, and the potential molybdenum grade of the concentrate that can be produced using froth
flotation.
Additionally, the rhenium content of any molybdenite concentrate will be determined to assess the
potential for a credit at Big Sandy from this strategic metal. Molybdenite from drillhole BS-1, located 1.2
kilometers east of BS -3, was geochronologically dated at the Colorado State University Airie Laboratory
using the rhenium-osmium dating technique. That dating exercise revealed an unusually high content of
rhenium in the Big Sandy BS-1 molybdenite of 8713 ± 17 ppm to 9319 ± 25 ppm. The metallurgical testing
of any molybdenite concentrate from BS-3 will provide information on the variability of rhenium content
over long distances in the Big Sandy porphyry system.
Finally, high definition QEMSCAN technology will be used to image the BS -3 material and determine the
identity, size, and microscopic texture of the minerals hosting the target metals. This imagery will assist
in optimizing grind size, reagent selection, upgrading of concentrate, and the deportment of any potential
byproduct or deleterious elements.
Tim Marsh, Bell’s President and CEO, and a Qualified Person as defined by NI43-101, said,
“Early testing of the metallurgical characteristics of the BS-3 chalcocite zone will allow multiple extraction
scenarios to be considered. As we begin the work toward a maiden mineral resource at Big Sandy, we
want to advance in parallel the long lead-time engineering studies like metallurgy that will inform our
valuation of the property. We hope to demonstrate at an early stage that all of the chalcocite in BS-3 will
be amenable to conventional extraction technologies, including either froth flotation or solution mining.”
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About Bell Copper
Bell Copper is a mineral exploration company focused on the identification, exploration and discovery of
large copper deposits located in Arizona. Bell Copper is exploring its 100% owned Big Sandy Porphyry
Copper Project and the Perseverance Porphyry Copper Project which is under a Joint Venture - Earn In.
Qualified Person
The technical content of this release has been reviewed and approved by Timothy Marsh, PhD, PEng., the
Company’s CEO and President. No mineral resource has yet been identified on the Big Sandy Project.
There is no certainty that t he present exploration effort will result in the identification of a mineral
resource or that any mineral resource that might be discovered will prove to be economically recoverable.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of
Bell Copper Corporation
"Timothy Marsh"
Timothy Marsh, President, CEO & Director
For further information please contact the Company
Tel: 1 800 418 8250
Email: [email protected]
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release includes “forward -looking statements” and “forward -looking information” within the meaning of Canadian
securities legislation. All statements included in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward -looking
statements. Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified
by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "potential", "target", "budget" and "intend" and
statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions
and includes the negatives thereof.
Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by
management based on the business and markets in which Bell Copper operates, are inherently subject to significant operational,
economic, and competitive uncertainties, risks and contingencies. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove t o
be accurate and actual results, and future ev ents could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include actual exploration resul ts,
interpretation of metallurgical characteristi cs of the mineralization, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be
refined, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business
conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, delays or inability to receive required approvals, and other exploration or other
risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators, including those
described in the Company’s most recently filed MD&A. The Company does not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking
statements, except in accordance with applicable law.