US Copper Corp. Announces Drill Program at Moonlight-Superior Copper Project
US Copper Corp. Announces Drill Program at Moonlight-Superior Copper
Project
TORONTO, CANADA, March 1, 2023 – US Copper Corp. (“ US Copper” or the “ Company”)
(TSX Venture: USCU) (OTCQB: USCUF) (Frankfurt: C730) is pleased to announce it has signed
a contract for a drill program at the Engels deposit, part of t he Company’s wholly-owned
Moonlight-Superior Copper Project, located in Plumas County, California. The drill program will
include 15 reverse circulation drill holes into the oxide cap t hat sits on top of the Engels’ sulfide
deposit. The drill program is scheduled to commence in the sec ond quarter 2023, when access
permits.
Objectives of the drill program include:
1. Upgrading and potentially expanding the current oxide resource estimate;
2. Providing samples for preliminary metallurgical evaluation; and
3. Providing initial data for inclusion in a preliminary economic assessment (“PEA”) on the
Engels oxide deposit.
The oxide cap at Engels is developed to depths greater than 230 feet (“ft”) over an area of at least
1,000 ft by 500 ft. Sample inter cepts from prior drill programs reveal a high-grade copper oxide
cap as the table below illustrates. These results were included in the 2013 resource estimate of 2.5
million tons (“ MT”) at 1.05% as contained in the Company’s NI 43-101Technical Re port and
Resource Estimate for the Superior Project, Plumas County, Cali f o r n i a , w i t h a r e f i l e d d a t e o f
November 7, 2014, which can be viewed on the US Copper’s website and on www.sedar.com.
Table 1: Sample of Historic drill results within the Oxide Zone showing minimum 30’
intervals carrying greater than 1.0% Cu.
DH# from to Interval (ft) Cu %
07-E-02 6.56 72.18 65.62 1.781
07-E-12 0 39.37 39.37 1.213
07-E-15 19.69 78.74 59.06 1.275
07-E-16 19.69 52.49 32.81 2.652
07-E-21 6.56 39.37 32.81 1.259
07-E-25 13.12 164.04 150.92 1.086
07-E-30 45.93 177.17 131.23 2.435
08-E-35 0 52.49 52.49 1.073
08-E-36 0 32.81 32.81 1.429
ME09-02 14.5 134 74 5.358
ME10-04 16 85 69 2.054
ME10-05 39 94 55 7.985
Management Commentary
“In 2022, the Company elected to conserve capita l and review our large historic database for
additional opportunities.” commented Stephen D unn, US Copper’s President and CEO. “Prior
operators had identified oxide caps at both Moonli ght and Engels. That led us to reevaluate the
potential to develop a starter oxide open pit mi ne at Engels through a first phase drill program
aimed at establishing greater oxide mineralization at Engels than what was included in the 2014
resource estimate.”
“This oxide mineralization is not closed off in any direction and has the potential to be a stand-
alone, open pit copper mine. Once we have further delineated and de fined the oxide resource at
Engels, a preliminary economic assessment can be undertaken to explore a starter pit production
scenario while we further develop mining scenario s for the larger sulfide deposits at Moonlight.
In conjunction with the Moonlight deposit and the Superior de posit, which was enhanced by last
year’s drill program, the combined 3-pit resource has the potentia l to be a long-lived profitable
mining operation.”
Background
The Engels deposit is one of 3 si gnificant copper deposits on U S Copper’s Moonlight-Superior
property. It is located 6,000 ft east of our 300 MT 0.30% copper Moonlight deposit and 11,000 ft
north of the 60 MT 0.43% copper Superior deposit (see "Technica l Report and Preliminary
Economic Assessment for the Moonlight Deposit, Moonlight-Superior Copper Project, California,
USA" dated April 12, 2018). Initial efforts to mine-process the oxide (carbonate) ore in the early
1900’s failed due to technological shortcomings. In 1914-15 sulfide ore was discovered at Engels
during development of the 5 th level, and shortly thereafter Engels and the nearby Superior
properties were consolidated under the Engels Mining Company and production and processing of
the sulfide ore began. Consolid ated production from Engels-Supe rior in the 1915-1930 period
yielded approximately 4.2 MT of o re at a grade of 2.2% copper. The majority of the production
came from Engels. Mine workings at Engels are extensive and include many tens of thousands of
feet of drifts, crosscuts, and stopes on ten levels accessed by adits and six levels accessed from a
winze sunk from the No. 10 level.
In the 1960s-70s Placer AMEX did extensive work in the district which resulted in the discovery
of the Moonlight deposit, partial delineation of the Superior deposit and an evaluation of the Engels
deposit that included an internal company open pit estimate of 19 million tons of sulfide material
with a grade of 0.63% Copper.
US Copper had a PEA prepared on its Moonlight deposit in 2018 that showed positive economics
at $3.15 per pound copper. It was determined that providing hi gher grade ore from our Superior
and/or Engels deposits into the Moonlight mine plan would subst antially enhance the Project’s
economics by potentially increasin g cash flows in the initial y ears of production. The recently
completed drill program at Superior was designed specifically f or that purpose, and this Engels
Phase I Program will outline the potential for a second starter pit for the Moonlight plant.
Ultimately, the updated Engels and Superior resources will be i ncorporated into a revised
Moonlight PEA.
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical content of this press release has been reviewed and approved by
George Cole, M.Sc., Director of US Copper who is a "Qualified P erson" as defined in National
Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. George Cole is a Registered
Professional Geologist through AIPG (CPG-11687).
About US Copper Corp
US Copper controls approximately 13 square miles of patented an d unpatented federal mining
claims in the Light’s Creek Copper District in Plumas County, NE California; essentially, the entire
District. The District contains substantial copper (silver) su lfide and copper oxide resources in
three deposits – Moonlight, Superior and Engels, as well as sev eral partially tested and untested
exploration targets.
The Superior and Engels Mines operated from about 1915-1930 pro ducing over 161 million
pounds of copper from over 4 million tons of rock containing 2. 2% copper with silver and gold
credits.
The Moonlight Deposit was discovered and drilled by Placer Amex during the 1960’s. Details of
the resources on US Copper’s property and the parameters used to calculate them can be found in
the "Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment for t he Moonlight Deposit,
Moonlight-Superior Copper Project, California, USA" dated April 12, 2018, on both the
company’s website at www.uscoppercorp.com or on www.sedar.com under the US Copper Corp
profile.
For Further Information Contact:
Mr. Stephen Dunn, President, CEO and Director, US Copper Corp ( 416) 361-2827 or email
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TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities
laws and regulations, including statements regarding th e future activities of the Company. Forward-looking
statements reflect the current beliefs and expectations of management and are identified by the use of words including
“will”, “hopes”, “anticipates”, “expected to”, “plans”, “p lanned”, “intends” and other similar words. Actual
results may differ significantly. The achievement of the resu lts expressed in forward-looking statements is subject to
a number of risks, including those described in the Company’s management discussion and analysis as filed with the
Canadian securities regulatory authorities which are availabl e at www.sedar.com. Investors are cautioned not to
place undue reliance upon forward-looking statements.