Hannan Identifies New 2 km Long Zone of High-Grade Copper Silver Mineralization at the San Martin Project Peru
Hannan Identifies New 2 km Long Zone
of High-Grade Copper Silver
Mineralization at the San Martin Project
Peru
VANCOUVER, BC, June 2, 2020 /CNW/ - Hannan Metals Limited
("Hannan" or the "Company") (TSXV: HAN) (OTCPK: HANNF)
provides an update on its exploration and social programs at the
100% owned copper-silver San Martin Project in Peru. San Martin is
a newly discovered, basin-scale high-grade copper-silver project that
extends for 120 kilometres along the foreland region of the eastern
Andes Mountains in Peru (Figure 1).
As reported 28 May 2020, Peru remains on a state of emergency until
the end of June to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. From December
2019 through to mid-March 2020, Hannan completed an active field
work program at its San Martin project in north eastern Peru.
Numerous new copper and silver discoveries were made over a 20-
kilometre trend within the 60 kilometre long Sacanche claim area
(Figure 1). The first set of geochemical assays from some of these
areas are reported here.
Highlights:
• A new 2-kilometre-long zone of high-grade copper-silver
mineralization has been defined by mapping at the Nueva
Esperanza prospect within the Sacanche claim:
o Mineralization was located within three E-W creeks during
follow up of previously reported outcrop and boulder
samples that assayed 0.6m @ 8.7% Cu and 59 g/t Ag and
30% Cu and 595 g/t Ag respectively (fig 2 and 4);
• Best new results from boulders in adjacent creeks include 10.0%
Cu and 70 g/t Ag and 1.5% Cu and 31 g/t Ag (Figure 2). A total
of 25 boulders have been sampled at Nueva Esperanza, which
average 1.9% Cu and 31 g/t Ag, and range from 0.0% Cu to
30.1% Cu and 0.04 g/t Ag to 595 g/t Ag. A total of 19 outcrop
samples have been taken at Nueva Esperanza, which average
0.54% Cu and 4 g/t Ag, and range from 0.0% Cu to 8.7% Cu and
0.04 g/t Ag to 59 g/t Ag.
• The Nueva Esperanza zone remains open to the north, south
and down dip and regional results suggest an inferred strike of
the mineralized position is greater than 10 kilometres (Figure 3
and 5)
• Nueva Esperanza lies within a regional trend of previously
reported outcrop samples from the Sacanche claim. Outcrop
sampling 5 kilometres north of Nueva Esperanza returned high
grade results including 2 metres @ 5.9% Cu and 66 g/t Ag and
sampling 16 kilometres south of Nueva Esperanza returned 3
metres @ 2.5% Cu and 22 g/t Ag (Figure 1).
Michael Hudson, Hannan's CEO, states, "While our exploration
program delivers excellent discovery successes with copper and silver
mineralization at all scales, the critical path for Hannan at San Martin
has always been social permitting. We have a quarter of a century of
operating experience in Peru, our directors have deep in-country
experience, and we appreciate the great diversity of topography,
climate, social groups and operating requirements across the country.
Through professional and respectful social programs, the Company
has gained field access during our first full exploration season at San
Martin, and we are thankful for the support and working relationships
that we have developed with all stakeholders. We look forward to
releasing further results from this year's field programs and having our
field teams return to the project area when it is safe and permitted to
do so."
Dr. Quinton Hennigh, an internationally-renowned economic geologist,
with over 25 years of exploration experience and expertise with major
gold mining companies such as Homestake Mining Company,
Newcrest Mining Limited, and Newmont Mining Corporation is a
geological adviser to Hannan and visited the project in late February
2020.
Dr. Hennigh states, "In late February prior to COVID-19 travel
restrictions, I visited Hannan's San Martin Project. At the time,
exploration crews were pushing their way into new areas where, day
after day, they would return back from the field with new samples from
new outcrops and boulders collected from along the prospective trend
along which the redox boundary within the Sarayaquillo Formation
outcrops. Assays from these samples demonstrate compelling
evidence Hannan is likely dealing with a stratigraphically-controlled
high-grade Cu-Ag system that is quite extensive. Combining this
evidence with that from other explorers in this region who are seeing
similar style mineralization extending northward across the border into
Ecuador, it is starting to appear as though we are dealing with a basin
wide mineralizing event."
The mineralization found at Nueva Esperanza is hosted by the
Sarayaquillo Formation where copper and silver are associated with
widespread reduced facies at the top of a red bed sequence, where
petrographic studies show copper sulphides replace both pyrite and
organic material. Anomalous values of lead and cobalt discovered
have been found in calcareous sandstone outcrop of the Cushabatay
Formation with best results are 0.17% lead and 316 ppm cobalt
(Figure 2 and 4). Channel samples are considered representative of
the in-situ mineralization samples and sample widths quoted
approximate the true width of mineralization, while grab (boulder)
samples are selective by nature and are unlikely to represent average
grades on the property.
Geological Discussion
The San Martin project is an early stage exploration project. Previous
mineral exploration in the area is limited. Mobil first identified lead-zinc
mineralization in the southern area in the early 1990s. RTZ conducted
reconnaissance sampling in the southern and northern areas for one
year in the late 1990's and drilled 3 diamond drillholes near the Mobil
discovery in the transitional lead-zinc parts of the system in the south.
A private Canadian company completed soil sampling and some
geophysics during a one year period during 2009 in the southern
project area. These data are not available to Hannan.
Hannan's in-depth regional geological understanding has been
derived from the substantial data gathered during petroleum
exploration activities undertaken in the Huallaga Basin since 1989.
This data, which recently has been made publicly available, includes
>2,000 kilometres of 2D seismic, 618 kilometres of geological
traverses, 1,600 gravity stations, 13,000 kilometres of aeromagnetic
surveys and >2,000 rock samples for geochemical and petrological
studies. This information has provided Hannan a tremendous amount
of data to guide exploration and support geological models.
According to the USGS the sediment-hosted copper mineralization
style is subdivided into three sub-classes with different geologic
features: 1. The reduced-facies class that includes deposits found in
widespread reduced sedimentary rocks; 2. The red bed class that
includes deposits in local areas of reduced rocks within red bed
sequences; and 3. The Revett class based on deposits restricted to
the Proterozoic Revett Formation in Montana and Idaho in the USA.
The San Martin project shares many characteristics with the reduced
facies class that includes the Zechstein basin of Poland which hosts
the vast Kupferschiefer copper-silver deposits. Both the
Kupferschiefer and San Martin areas coincide with major crustal re-
arrangement related to the break-up of Pangea and were located at
favorable paleolatitudes for the formation of thick evaporitic strata. The
San Martin Project lacks age dating of mineralization, but the
geological record suggests a mineralization age that is late Jurassic to
late Cretaceous.
On a basin scale, the San Martin Project exhibits district wide
mineralization hosted in reduced sedimentary rocks covering at least
120 kilometres of strike and 50 kilometres of width. Mineralization is
hosted by several different reduced lithologies close to a major basial
redox boundary that coincides with the transition from the Jurassic to
the Cretaceous period. The redox boundary is marked by an
unconformity between Jurassic red beds and overlying grey to white
reduced Cretaceous sandstones. The upper part of the red beds
contain a regionally extensive sequence of finely laminated grey
sandstones with bituminous material and pyrite, that ranges in
thickness between 0.5 to 5 metres. The contact between the red beds
and grey sandstone is also reduced and contains abundant
disseminated to finely laminated pyrite (2-30%) over significant
distances (kilometers) and widths (tens of meters).
At San Martin, mineralization is observed in reduced grey laminated
rocks of the Sarayaquillo Formation and grey bituminous and pyritic
sandstones, limestones and shales of Grupo Oriente (Cushabatay and
Esperanza Formations). Several of these hosts are only known from
boulders found over broad areas and therefore the geological data is
preliminary in nature. However, it suggests that mineralization, like in
the Kupferschiefer, is both stratabound and transgressive and different
lithologies proximal to the major redox boundary are mineralized.
Mineralization also appears to be more favorably developed proximal
to salt domes which are commonly intruded parallel to the axis of
Jurassic-aged extensional basin faults. The salt domes have produced
steep reverse faults, anticlines and stratigraphic pinch-out of
mineralized units which in turn has been overprinted by Miocene age
Andean orogenic deformation.
Sedimentary-hosted stratiform copper-silver deposits are among the
two most important copper sources in the world, the other being
copper porphyries. They are also a major producer of silver.
According to the World Silver Survey 2020 KGHM Polska Miedz's
("KGHM") three copper-silver sediment-hosted mines in Poland are
the leading silver producer in the world with 40.2Moz produced in
2019. This is almost twice the production of the second largest
producing mine. The Polish mines are also the sixth largest global
copper miner and in 2018, KGHM produced 30.3 Mt of ore at a grade
of 1.49% Cu and 48.6 g/t Ag from a mineralized zone that averages
0.4 to 5.5 metres thickness.
Social Licensing
Hannan have been conducting a professional and
respectful social program after its first petitorios mineros (claims) were
granted in late 2019. Together with social teams, four geologists and
support staff were working from January through to mid-
March 2020 through the area when the COVID-19 lockdown took
place. The Company has the support of various local stakeholders
and overall, the Company has been well received by multiple levels of
society in which we are working. Social work continues with local
representatives working to educate and discuss the
Company's ongoing plans with local stakeholders.
The project consists of a total of 87 mining
concessions (mineros petitorios), 40 concessions which have been
granted. None of the granted areas are located next to or inside
protected nature reserve zones. Only three application areas (out of
87 concessions in total) are partially overlapped by protection areas,
which will likely be excised or observed on granting. Within all
Hannan's areas only a small percentage (4.7%) fall within indigenous
areas, which are all located in the south of the Tabalosos area (Figure
6). Most of the prospective rock sequences in the Huallaga Basin
have now been staked by Hannan and third-party companies (Figure
6).
About Hannan Metals Limited (TSX.V:HAN) (OTCPK:
HANNF)
Hannan Metals Limited is a natural resources and exploration
company developing sustainable and ethical resources of metal
needed to meet the transition to a low carbon economy. Over the last
decade, the team behind Hannan has forged a long and successful
record of discovering, financing and advancing mineral projects in
Europe and Peru.
Mr. Michael Hudson FAusIMM, Hannan's Chairman and CEO, a
Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has
reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news
release.
On behalf of the Board,
"Michael Hudson"
Michael Hudson, Chairman & CEO
Forward Looking Statements
Certain information set forth in this news release contains "forward-
looking statements", and "forward- looking information" under
applicable securities laws. Except for statements of historical fact,
certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking
statements, which include the Company's expectations regarding
future performance based on current results, expected cash costs
based on the Company's current internal expectations, estimates,
projections, assumptions and beliefs, which may prove to be incorrect.
These statements are not guarantees of future performance and
undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such forward-looking
statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and
uncertainties, which may cause the Company's actual performance
and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any
projects of future performance or results expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statement. These risks and uncertainties include, but
are not limited to: The Company's expectations regarding timing to
complete field work and outcome of results, the granting of the claim
applications in Peru, the potential impact of epidemics, pandemics or
other public health crises, including the current outbreak of the novel
coronavirus known as COVID-19 on the Company's business,
community relations, liabilities inherent in mine development and
production, geological risks, the financial markets generally, and the
ability of the Company to raise additional capital to fund future
operations. There can be no assurance that forward-looking
statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future
events could differ materially from those anticipated in such
statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update
forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's
estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable
securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance
on forward-looking statements.
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
news.
Figure 1: Overview of the San Martin sediment-hosted Cu-Ag project,
Peru. (CNW Group/Hannan Metals Ltd.)
Figure 2: Results from detailed mapping at Nueva Esperanza, north
Sacanche claim, Saposoa district. (CNW Group/Hannan Metals Ltd.)