Coast Copper Exercises Empire Mine Property Option Early
Coast Copper Exercises Empire Mine Property
Option Early
TSX.V: COCO
VANCOUVER, BC
,
May 28, 2024
/CNW/ -
Coast Copper Corp. ("Coast Copper" or the
"Company")
(TSXV: COCO) is pleased to announce that it has earned a 100% interest in certain
mineral claims ("
Greater Empire Claims
") which form part of the Empire Mine property ("
Empire
Mine
" or the "
Property
") by making the fifth and final payment, consisting of a cash payment of
$250,000
and the issuance of 1,000,000 common shares of Coast Copper to Mirva Properties Ltd.
("
Mirva
") pursuant to an option agreement that was signed on
September 22, 2020
("
Empire
Option Agreement
"). Empire Mine also consists of certain crown grants ("
Quatsino Crown
Grants
").
Adam Travis
, Coast Copper CEO comments: "
We are very encouraged by the increased attention
that high-grade, critical mineral projects in safe jurisdictions like
British Columbia
are starting to
attract.
Benson Lake Mine
ticks a number of these boxes having been a high-grade copper
producing project for Cominco until 1972. One historical record indicates that when Cominco shut
the mine down in
December 1972
,
Benson Lake Mine
underground had another 3.154 million
tonnes of remaining reserves¹ ².
Our review of the information also indicates that Cominco
believed the copper mineralization remained open along strike as evidenced by underground
development to facilitate future exploration.
With our new geological model, we believe that the Empire Mine Property has the potential to
become something much bigger and more important than previously recognized. We have
therefore decided to accelerate our acquisition of the Greater Empire Claims and we look forward
to demonstrating the scale of opportunity in due course.
"
The 17,104-hectare Empire Mine Property is located on resource friendly northern Vancouver Island
and has good road access to the towns of
Port Hardy
,
Port McNeill
and
Port Alice
. Due to its low
elevation and mild coastal climate, it can be worked on all year round. The geology of the Upper
Trend was historically mined for magnetite (Merry Widow Mine) and the Lower Trend was
historically mined for copper ("
Cu
") (
Benson Lake Mine
). In the 2000s, the potential for high-grade,
open-pit gold ("
Au
") deposits was identified within the Upper Trend and gold showings were
identified over multi-kilometer ("
km
") strike lengths. These include the Merry Widow ("
MW
") and
Raven Bluff areas where Coast Copper drilled both high-grade and broader, medium-grade
intercepts in 2022 (news releases
January 25
, and
February 01, 2022
). Highlights of these drill
programs included:
MW21-007 returned 18.00 grams per tonne ("g/t") Au and 1.55% Cu over 3.23 meters
("m") from
23 m
depth at MW;
MW21-015 returned 7.18 g/t Au and 3.17% Cu over
16.3 m
from
98 m
depth at Raven
Bluff;
MW21-008 returned 1.63 g/t Au and 0.46% Cu over
42.77 m
from
21 m
depth at MW.
Further fieldwork and studies completed in 2022 and 2023 resulted in Coast Copper's publication of
the first geological model for the Empire Mine identifying the Upper and Lower Trends as stacked,
thrust horizons over approximately 5 km of trend that represent good hosts for Au-Cu-Magnetite
mineralization. This new geological understanding directly contributed to Coast Copper's "B3"
discovery in
August 2023
(B3 rock sample results up to 51.60 g/t Au, 30.66 g/t tellurium, 0.25%
cobalt and 50.52 g/t silver). B3 is located between the Upper and Lower Trends approximately
700
m
from the MW pit.
In
May 2023
, Coast Copper published a high-grade, starter mineral resource estimate for MW which
Coast Copper believes can be expanded with further drilling.
Also in 2023, Coast Copper began recompilation of the historical archive for the Lower Trend, which
includes the former Cominco Ltd. ("
Cominco
") copper-producing
Benson Lake Mine
. Modern
geophysical studies were conducted including Controlled Source Audio-frequency Magnetotellurics
("
CSAMT
") with the results published on
January 23, 2024
.
Summary of Empire Option Agreement Terms
To earn its 100% interest in the Greater Empire Claims, Coast Copper made aggregate cash
payments of
$1,250,000
, issued 3,000,000 common shares of the Company to Mirva and completed
work commitments on the Property totaling
$2,000,000
over a four (4) year period. Mirva retains a
2% net smelter return ("
NSR
") royalty on the Property of which 1% may be purchased for
$1,000,000
at any time up to 120 days after commencement of commercial production. The Empire
Option Agreement was structured such that this NSR royalty plus all other NSR royalties which may
currently be payable on the Property may not exceed in aggregate 2.5% before buydowns.
To earn a 100% interest in the Quatsino Crown Grants, Coast Copper must pay Mirva the equivalent
of
$500,000
with either a cash payment or equivalent value in common shares of the Company, at
the Company's election, on or before
September 22, 2025
. The Company has the option to extend
the Quatsino Crown Grants payment by one year for a payment of
$535,000
, two years for a
payment of
$590,000
and three years for a payment of
$665,000
.
Corporate Update
On
January 26, 2023
, at Coast Copper's Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders, the
Company's shareholders approved the replacement of the Company's existing 10% rolling long-term
incentive plan ("
Legacy Plan
") with a new 20% fixed long-term incentive plan ("
LTIP
") that included
the same categories of awards as the Legacy Plan, being stock options, deferred share units,
performance share units, restricted share units and stock appreciation rights. Awards under the
LTIP are available to directors, key employees and consultants of Coast Copper, as determined by
the Board of Directors. The aggregate number of listed common shares issuable increased from
5,529,669 under the Legacy Plan to 12,800,338 under the LTIP. For more information on the details
of the LTIP, please refer to the Company's Management Information Circular, dated
December 12,
2022
and filed on
SEDAR+
.
Qualified Persons
The technical information contained in this news release has been prepared, reviewed, and
approved by
Wade Barnes
, P.Geo. (BC), Coast Copper's geological consultant and a Qualified
Person ("
QP
") within the context of the Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument
("
NI
") 43-101; Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
About Coast Copper Corp.
Coast Copper's exploration focus is the Empire Mine property, located on northern Vancouver
Island, BC, which covers three historical open pit mines and two past-producing underground mines
that yielded iron, copper, gold, and silver. Coast Copper's other properties include its 100% owned
Sully property located in southeastern BC, Knob Hill NW property located on northern Vancouver
Island, its Home Brew property in central BC, and its
Scottie West
property located in the "Golden
Triangle" of northern BC. Coast Copper's management team continues to review precious and base
metals opportunities in western
North America
.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors:
"Adam Travis"
Adam Travis
, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Cautionary Notes
1. Historical information, maps or figures contained in this release regarding Coast Copper's Empire
Mine Property or adjacent properties cannot be relied upon as the Company's QP, as defined under
NI-43-101 has not prepared nor verified the historical information.
2. Cominco Resources, Drill Section Maps "Plan of Cominco's Benson Lake Operations on Empire
Claims Showing Ore Reserves & Proposed Exploration Program", 1970, Private Files. While Coast
Copper notes that Cominco's historical results are not NI 43-101 compliant and have not been
verified by the Company's QP, these combined historical resources total nearly 3.154 million tonnes
and will help guide Coast Copper's exploration programs.
Benson Lake Mine
historical reserves
recorded by Cominco Resources (1972) report a non NI 43-101 resource of 454,000 tonnes grading
0.59 g/t Au and 1.3% Cu and an Inferred resource of 2.7 million tonnes of 1.7% Cu with no Au grade
calculated.
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.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Certain information contained or incorporated by reference in this press release, including any
information
regarding the proposed Transaction, private placement, board and management
changes,
as to
our strategy, projects, plans or future financial or operating performance, constitutes
"forward-looking statements." All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are to be
considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a
number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Coast Copper, are
inherently subject to significant business, economic, geological and competitive uncertainties and
contingencies. Although Coast Copper believes the expectations expressed in such forward-
looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not a guarantee of
future performance. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially
from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include but are not limited to:
fluctuations in market prices, exploration and exploitation successes, continued availability of
capital and financing, changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls,
regulations, expropriation or nationalization of property and general political, economic, market or
business conditions. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect our actual results
and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-
looking statements made by, or on behalf of, us. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on
their own evaluation of such uncertainties. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press
release, or incorporated by reference, are qualified by these cautionary statements. We do not
assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
SOURCE
Coast Copper Corp.
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http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2024/28/c5942.html
%SEDAR: 00032945E
For further information:
Adam Travis, CEO, Coast Copper Corp., 409 Granville Street, Suite 904,
Vancouver, B.C. V6C 1T2, Canada, P: 877-578-9563, E: [email protected], NR24-05
CO: Coast Copper Corp.
CNW 13:30e 28-MAY-24