Nicola Mining Prepares FOR 2023 Drilling Exploration at New Craigmont Copper Project
TSX.V: NIM
FSE: HLI
OTCBB: HUSIF
NICOLA MINING PREPARES FOR 2023 DRILLING EXPLORATION AT NEW CRAIGMONT
COPPER PROJECT
VANCOUVER, B.C., May 2 – Nicola Mining Inc. (the “ Company” or “Nicola”) is pleased to announce
that it has finalized its 2023 diamond drilling exploration pla nning (the “ 2023 Program”) at its wholly-
owned New Craigmont Copper Project (“ New Craigmont”), located near Merritt, BC, and 33 km south
of Teck Resources Ltd.’s Highland Valley Copper, Canada’s largest open pit copper mine.
Drilling is expected to commence mid-May and the Company has en gaged Western Exploration
Diamond Drilling ( Western), for the 2023 program. Western, who is a local drilling compa ny, has
successfully completed all diamond drilling at New Craigmont since 2016.
Nicola has hired William Whitty, P.Geo as VP of Exploration who has a strong background in production
and exploration geology from Nevada Gold Mines and Freeport McM oran. Will holds over 15 years of
international experience specializing in porphyry and skarn dep osits and will be an asset for the
company’s growth strategy.
Nicola is currently working with the University of British Colu mbia as part of a province wide porphyry
vectoring study. Continuing sampling and analytical work are expected to provide additional exploration
targets on the New Craigmont property.
The 2023 Program is expected to be pivotal in the Company’s cop per exploration initiatives. Nicola
received a MYAB Permit to conduct exploration activities through to 2027 including diamond drilling and
Induce Polarity (IP) geophysical survey. Although New Craigmont is one of the highest grade copper
mines in North American history, with an average grade of 1.3% Copper, it remains largely unexplored
beyond the boundaries of the historic pit. The lack of exploration can be attributed to low copper prices
in the 1980s and a previous ownership group, comprised of several holders, that focused on magnetite
production. It was not until November 19, 2015, that Nicola was able to consolidate ownership of New
Craigmont into one contiguous claim group.
The 2023 Program will focus on never-before-drilled copper targets.
Target 1
Note that Targets 1 and 2 are listed in terms of timing and not priority.
The first four to five drill holes will focus on the untested extensions of the near vertical Craigmont skarn
body hosted within Nicola Volcanic and Sedimentary rocks. The t arget was identified through the
integration of historical drill data digitization and 3D modeli ng paired with interpretations from the 2022
ZTEM Geophysical Survey (See Figure 1.) Target 1 is located east of the historic pit and is the 1st step
out program testing the mineralization extension towards the Eric Zone. Eric Zone copper mineralization
is hosted within the Diorite border phase of the Guichon Bathol ith situated along a linear East-West
ZTEM anomaly (see Figure 1). This linear trend represents the m ajor contact between Nicola Volcanic
Sedimentary rocks and the Guichon Batholith, (See Figure 2) making this an excellent target for copper
mineralization.
The first four holes have been staked with drilling expected to commence in mid-May.
Figure 1: 2023 Key Exploration Targets from ZTEM Results
Target 2
Nicola will conduct additional diamond drilling on Marb 72 and WP Zone’s, which are located
proximal to the Lornex Fault. The Lornex Fault trends north-south towards Highland Valley Copper
and is an important structural control for mineralization at the Lornex and Bethlehem deposits.
The Marb 72 and WP Zones appear to be copper porphyry targets. Historical trenching and soil
sampling results from the February 22, 2023 news release identified porphyry style mineralization
5km west of the Craigmont open pit. These coincident multi elem ent geochemical and ZTEM
geophysical anomaly have never been drill tested.
Exploration activities may als o include additional soil samplin g, mapping and IP survey. The
Company has signed an NDA with a global miner that will work wi th the Company during 2023
exploration program.
Figure 2: Geological formation of the New Craigmont Project
Further to the Company’s News Release of March 30, 2023, the Co mpany also announces that it has
granted an aggregate of 200,000 stock options to a consultant f or the purchase of up to 200,000
common shares of the Company pursuant to its Stock Option Plan. Each option is exercisable for a
period of 5 years at a price of $0.15 per common share.
Qualified Person
Kevin Wells, P.Geo, a consulting geologist to the Company, is the independent qualified person as
defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects for the technical
disclosure contained in this news release.
About Nicola Mining
Nicola Mining Inc. is a junior mining company listed on the TSX Venture and Frankfurt Exchanges that
maintains a 100% owned mill and tailings facility, located near Merritt, British Columbia. It has signed
Mining and Milling Profit Share Agreements with high grade gold projects. Nicola’s fully-permitted mill
can process both gold and silver mill feed via gravity and flotation processes.
The Company owns 100% of the New Craigmont Project, a high-grad e copper property, which covers
an area of 10,913 hectares along the southern end of the Guicho n Batholith and is adjacent to Teck
Resources Ltd.’s Highland Valley Copper, Canada’s largest coppe r mine. The Company also owns
100% of the Treasure Mountain Property, which is comprised of 5 1 mineral tenures, 21 legacy claims:
100 cell units, and five crown grants for a total of approximately 2,850 hectares.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
“Peter Espig”
Peter Espig
CEO & Director
For additional information
Contact: Peter Espig
Phone: (778) 385-1213
Email: [email protected]
URL: www.nicolamining.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Pr ovider (as that term is defined
in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy
of this release.