Northwest Copper Reports Long Intervals Above Resource Grade IN Step-Out Drilling IN Kwanika South Zone
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News Release
NORTHWEST COPPER REPORTS LONG INTERVALS ABOVE RESOURCE GRADE IN
STEP-OUT DRILLING IN KWANIKA SOUTH ZONE
Vancouver, BC – March 29th, 2023 – NorthWest Copper (“NorthWest” or “the Company”) (TSX-
V: NWST) (OTCQX: NWCCF) is pleased to announce the eighth and final set of results from the
2022 Kwanika drilling program. These results are from the Kwanika South Zone, which is located
one kilometre south of the Central Zone and makes up part of the Company’s flagship Kwanika-
Stardust proj ect. The six holes encountered several long intervals of copper and gold
mineralization that have higher grades than the average of the current South Zone mineral
resource estimate1. Drilling also intersected mineralization outside of the pits proposed in the
recently released Kwanika-Stardust PEA2, and the showed that the system remains open at depth
and to the south . These results demonstrate potential to both upgrade and expand the South
Zone resource. Highlights from assays include:
• K-22-251: 316.90 metres3 of 0.30% CuEq4 from 307.10 metres
o Including 20.10 metres at 0.68% CuEq from 486.30 metres
o Also including 45.75 metres at 0.53% CuEq from 530.40 metres
• K-22-252: 249.95 metres at 0.36% CuEq from 162.00 metres
o Including 29.50 metres at 0.69% CuEq from 277.50 metres
“Kwanika South Zone remains a compelling target for NorthWest”, said President and CEO Peter
Bell. “It is close to Kwanika Central Zone but has seen much less drilling. We believe there are
opportunities not just to expand it but also to improve the grade. Its proximity to the proposed
infrastructure at Kwanika -Stardust makes any mineralization found at South Zone beneficial to
the project.”
We have now released all results from the 11,876 metres of drilling in 30 drill holes that were
completed at Kwanika in 2022.
1 See NI 43-101 technical report titled “Kwanika-Stardust Project NI 43-101 Technical Report on Preliminary Economic Assessment” dated
January 4, 2023, filed under the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com .
2 See NI 43-101 technical report titled “Kwanika-Stardust Project NI 43-101 Technical Report on Preliminary Economic Assessment” dated
January 4, 2023, filed under the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com .
3 True widths of the reported mineralized intervals have not been determined.
4 Assumptions used in USD for the copper equivalent calculation (CuEq) were metal prices of $3.50/lb. copper, $1,650/oz gold, $ 21.50/oz silver
and $15.00/lb for molybdenum, and recovery is assumed to be 86.0% for copper, 63.5% for gold, 61.6% for silver and 50.0% for molybdenum.
The following equation was used to calculate copper equivalence: CuEq = Copper (%) + (gold (g/t) x 0.5078) + (silver (g/t) x 0.006417) +
(molybdenum (ppm) x 0.0002492).
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Drill Results Discussion
The six drill holes in this release were drill ed in Kwanika South Zone, which is a discrete deposit
located less than one kilometr e south of the Kwanika Central Zone (Figure 1). The South and
Central Zones are separated by a fault and mineralization in the South Zone is further
distinguished from the Central Zone by the presence of significant molybdenum mineralization
that accompanies copper, gold and silver.
Mineralization in the South Zone is hosted by equigranular quartz monzonite and is associated
with both an older, pervasive potassium feldspar alteration and a younger alteration that
includes actinolite, epidote, chlorite, sericite and carbonate. Highest grade mineralization
typically occurs in zones of brecciation and strong f racturing and is dominated by hypogene
chalcopyrite that occurs as disseminations and in quartz-sulfide veins.
The South Zone locally crops out at surface below glacial overburden and is approximately 2,200
metres long, 450 metres wide, and is currently defined up to 630 metres depth. It is bounded to
the west by the West Fault and to the east by the East Fault. It remains open at depth and to the
south.
Drillholes K -22-250, 251, 252, 253, and 254 all hit significant mineralization. The drillholes
targeted high grade corridors recognized by geological modelling of the South Zone during the
most recent Mineral Resource Estimate5. The results from t hese holes demonstrate continuity
of grade and, very importantly, potential for more high -grade zones within and outside the
current Mineral Resource Estimate. This new information further constrains our structural and
geology model for the South Zone and will help guide future exploration drilling.
The drillholes in this release were drilled over a 950 metre long north to south trend (Figure 1).
All holes were drilled from west to east at angles of -65, -55, or -50 degrees. The drill holes
encountered overburden from 21.70 to 42.00 metres down hole. Individual holes are described
below.
K-22-250 was drilled on section 6155150mN (A-A’) within the conceptual PEA pit boundaries and
returned an intersection of 95.30 metres at 0.24% CuEq from 49.00 metres . The intersection
ends at a fault at 142.70 metres (Figure 1 &Figure 2 Figure 2).
Drill hole K-22-252 was drilled approximately 150 metres south of K-22-250 (B-B’). It is south of
and below the current conceptual PEA pit (Figure 1 &Figure 3Figure 3). It intersected 249.95
metres grading 0.36% CuEq from 162.00 metres. It also includes a high-grade interval of 29.50
5 See NI 43-101 technical report titled “Kwanika-Stardust Project NI 43-101 Technical Report on Preliminary Economic Assessment”
dated January 4, 2023, filed under the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com .
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metres at 0.69% CuEq from 277.50 metres, which indicates potential for a high-grade corridor to
extend to depth to the west outside of the current mineral resource estimate (Figure 3).
K-22-251 was drilled approximately 150 metres to the south of K-22-252 (C-C’) and intersected a
long, mineralized interval of 316.90 metres at 0.30% CuEq from 307.10 metres . The long
intersection includes higher-grade intervals of 20.10 metres of 0.68% CuEq from 486.30 metres
and 45.75 metres of 0.53% CuEq from 530.40 metres . These results demonstrate the presence
of higher-grade domains in an area of low drilling density (Figure 1 & Figure 4).
K-22-254 was drilled approximately another 120 metres to the south on section (D-D’) and
returned two discrete intersections . The first returned 83.00 metres of 0.44% CuEq from 58.00
metres, just below the base of overburden within the conceptual PEA pit. This was followed by
another 51.00 metres of 0.38% CuEq from 275.00 metres (Figure 1 & Figure 5).
K-22-253 was drilled furthest to the south on section 6154580mN (E-E’) and intersected two
zones of mineralization. The first intersection returned 109.75 metres at 0.23% CuEq from 74.15
metres, within the conceptual PEA pit. The second intersection returned 173.50 metres of 0.35%
CuEq from 275.50 metres and includes the highest -grade intersection in this release which
returned 12.00 meters of 1.39% CuEq from 437.00 metres (Figure 6). This intersection again
proves the presence of high-grade mineralized corridors within the broader mineralized resource
in the South Zone.
Drill hole K-22-249 was drilled north of the current Mineral Resource Estimate and did not yield
any significant result (Figure 1). Importantly, however, t his hole does provide important
structural constraints to our interpretation of the South Zone, which will be useful to future drill
targeting.
Table 1: Drill Results From This News Release
Hole From
(m) To (m) Interval 6
(m) Cu (PCT) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Mo (ppm) CuEq7 (PCT)
K-22-249 No Significant Result
K-22-250 49.00 144.30 95.30 0.21 0.03 1.5 13 0.24
K-22-251 307.10 624.00 316.90 0.26 0.03 1.5 65 0.30
incl 486.30 506.40 20.10 0.62 0.06 3.2 51 0.68
also incl. 530.40 576.15 45.75 0.50 0.02 2.5 44 0.53
6 True widths of the reported mineralized intervals have not been determined.
7 Assumptions used in USD for the copper equivalent calculation (CuEq) were metal prices of $3.50/lb. copper, $1,650/oz gold,
$21.50/oz silver and $15/lb for molybdenum, and recovery is assumed to be 86.0% for copper, 63.5% for gold, 61.6% for silver and
50.0% for molybdenum. The following equation was used to calculate copper equivalence: CuEq = Copper (%) + (gold (g/t) x 0.5078)
+ (silver (g/t) x 0.006417) + (molybdenum (ppm) x 0.0002492).
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Hole From
(m) To (m) Interval 6
(m) Cu (PCT) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Mo (ppm) CuEq7 (PCT)
K-22-252 162.00 411.95 249.95 0.26 0.04 1.7 287 0.36
also 277.50 307.00 29.50 0.56 0.04 2.9 367 0.69
K-22-253 74.15 183.90 109.75 0.17 0.06 1.3 96 0.23
also. 275.50 449.00 173.5 0.26 0.10 2.0 85 0.35
also Incl. 437.00 449.00 12.00 1.25 0.08 8.1 164 1.39
K-22-254 58.00 141.00 83.00 0.31 0.11 1.8 245 0.44
also 275.00 326.00 51.00 0.25 0.17 1.9 127 0.38
Quality Assurance / Quality Control
Drilling completed at Kwanika in 2022 was supervised by on -site NorthWest personnel who
collected and tracked samples and implemented a full QA/QC program using blanks, standards
and duplicates to monitor analytical accuracy and precision. The samples were sealed on site and
shipped to Bureau Veritas (BV) in Vancouver BC and to AGAT Laboratories (AGAT) in Calgary AB.
BV’s quality control system complies with global certifications for Quality ISO9001:2008. Core
samples were analyzed using a combination of BV’s MA200 process for low level concentrations
(ICP-MS/4 Acid digestion) and the MA370 process for higher level concentrations (ICP -ES/4 acid
digestion). Gold assaying was completed with FA430, a 30 -gram fire assay with AAS fini sh. Base
metal overlimits were finalized with titration where required, with gold overlimits completed
with a gravimetric finish. AGAT’s quality control system complies with global certifications for
Quality ISO 9001:2015. Core samples were analyzed using a combination of AGAT’s 201 -071
process for low level concentrations (ICP-MS/4 Acid digestion) and the 201-079 process for higher
level concentrations (Sodium Peroxide Fusion/ICP-OES). Gold assaying was completed with 202-
055, a 30 -gram fire assay with IC P finish. Base metal overlimits were finalized with Fusion/ICP -
OES method.
Technical aspects of this news release have been reviewed, verified, and approved by Tyler
Caswell, P.Geo., Vice President Exploration of NorthWest, who is a qualified person as defined by
National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Minerals Projects.
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Figure 1. Plan view showing South Zone drilling relative to Mineral Resource Estimates at
Kwanika Central Zone, Kwanika South Zone and Stardust.
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Figure 2: A-A’ Cross Section K-22-250
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Figure 3: B-B’ Cross Section K-22-252
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Figure 4: C-C’ Cross Section K-22-251