Strategic Metals Ltd Plans Geophysical Surveys at Three Highly Prospective Porphyry Copper Projects in Yukon
Strategic Metals Ltd Plans Geophysical Surveys at Three Highly
Prospective Porphyry Copper Projects in Yukon
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 2, 2022 / Strategic Metals Ltd. ("Strategic" or the
"Company") is pleased to announce details concerning exploration programs it will conduct
during summer 2022 at three of its wholly owned porphyry copper projects in southwestern
Yukon Territory. The programs will involve geophysical surveys designed to better understand
the three-dimensional geometry of the porphyry systems. Induced polarization (IP) surveys will
be done at the Mint and Alotta projects, and helicopter-borne magnetic and radiometric surveys
will be flown at the CD property.
"The geophysical surveys are designed to follow-up on encouraging results obtained from earlier
exploration programs at these highly prospective porphyry prospects" states Doug Eaton CEO of
Strategic. "The geometry of the systems is difficult to establish through surface work alone
because two of the prospects are in unglaciated areas of Yukon where deep weathering and metal
leaching are common, and the third is a young, high-level porphyry where erosion has exposed
only the very top of the system. The information from these surveys combined with current data,
will allow for three-dimensional modeling that can be tested by future drill programs."
The Mint, Alotta and CD are three of eleven porphyry projects Strategic owns within a prolific
porphyry belt that extends the length of British Columbia, through western Yukon and into
Alaska.
Mint Project
The Mint project is a 50 sq km property located 26 km south of the Alaska Highway. It is one of
the youngest porphyry systems in Canada and is hosted in within Oligocene-age granodiorite and
porphyry dykes with alteration and mineralization permeating into a nearly coeval, overlying
basalt unit.
Work programs conducted by the Company since 2010 have outlined interesting geochemical
and geophysical features that are centered on a zone of hydrothermal alteration, marked by a
prominent gossan. Soil geochemistry has returned strong copper, gold and molybdenum values
within an area about 2000 m in diameter. A prominent magnetic high that underlies the southern
part of the area is flanked to the north by a zone with elevated potassium radiometrics. The
northern part of the area of interest is mostly covered by talus while the southern part is
blanketed by glacial and eluvial material. An IP survey that covered the southern part of the area
of interest identified chargeability highs that partially coincide with the core of the magnetic
high. In 2012, six relatively short, diamond drill holes tested in and around the magnetic and
chargeability anomalies. Most of these holes intersected strongly fractured, phyllic altered rocks
that returned moderately to strongly enriched gold values but only weakly elevated copper and
molybdenum values. The best results were from the most northerly hole (M12-03), which
averaged 0.204 g/t gold over its entire 331 m length, including a 53 m interval grading 0.556 g/t
gold near the bottom of the hole. This hole lies just north of the magnetic high, in the southern
part of the potassium radiometric anomaly.
In 2021, detailed mapping and prospecting discovered a 300 m in diameter area containing well
mineralized, stockwork and sheeted quartz veining, about 800 m north of hole M12-03. This
northern target lies within the potassium radiometric high and shows moderate to weak magnetic
response. It was not covered by the historical IP survey. Rock samples collected in 2021 from the
northern target contained much more copper and molybdenum than those collected elsewhere in
the Mint porphyry system and returned strongly elevated results, including peak values of 2.3%
copper, 1.365 g/t gold, 32 g/t silver and 0.337 % molybdenum.
The planned 2022 IP survey will expand coverage to include the newly discovered zone of
mineralization. Once interpreted, the results should provide more information concerning lateral
and vertical zonation of mineralization and alteration within the porphyry system, which will
guide future drilling.
Alotta Project
The Alotta project is located 40 km south of Western Copper and Gold Corporation's Casino
porphyry deposit, which hosts 2.4 billion tonnes of M&I resources containing 7.6 billion pounds
of copper at 0.14% and 14.5 million ounces of gold at 0.19 g/t*.
The 15 sq km Alotta property covers a broad magnetic low that corresponds to a zone featuring
high-level dykes, brecciation and pervasive phyllic and potassic alteration. This zone is
developed within a large pluton that elsewhere consists of unaltered, magnetite-bearing
granodiorite. The magnetic low is the result of sulphide replacement of magnetite within the
altered zone.
Soil geochemical surveys conducted by the Company have outlined a very large, multi-element
anomaly that closely coincides with the magnetic low. The anomaly shows classic porphyry-
style metal zonation with a 4200 m long by up to 1500 m wide core of strong copper and
molybdenum values flanked by high lead, zinc and silver results. High gold-in-soil values, which
reach a maximum of 2680 ppb, occur throughout the entire area of grid sampling and likely
relate to both the porphyry mineralization and fringing vein systems.