QC Copper Updates on the Opemiska Copper- Gold Deposit's New Mineral Resource Estimate
QC Copper Updates on the Opemiska Copper-
Gold Deposit's New Mineral Resource
Estimate
TORONTO
,
Sept. 12, 2022
/CNW/ - QC Copper and Gold Inc. ("
QC Copper
" or the "
Company
")
(TSXV:
QCCU
) (OTCQB: QCCUF)
is pleased to provide a detailed update on its progress towards
publishing the Company's updated Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") on the Opemiska Copper
Project ("Opemiska"), as well as other corporate matters.
"Our team's primary goal over the past year has been to deliver an optimized depiction of all known
mineralization within a newly interpreted open pit and surrounding areas. During this time, we've
engaged a group of top-tier specialized consultants whose conclusions will be incorporated into
Opemiska's forthcoming updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) and used in future engineering
and economic studies. Below, we are pleased to provide an update on Opemiska's developments
which, we believe, has the potential to be the most compelling high-grade open pit copper-gold
deposit in
Canada
," said Stephen Stewart, QC Copper's CEO.
Timeframe for MRE
The Company is highly motivated to publish Opemiska's updated MRE as soon as possible.
However, management has elected not to rush its technical team or the process to ensure the best
product can be delivered to shareholders. The Company has experienced operational delays due to
turnaround times from the assay laboratory, whose slow pace of assay results has led to
bottlenecks in planning and permitting follow-up drill holes. As a result, the MRE's publication is
expected in early 2023. Original guidance had been for the end of 2022.
Reinterpreting the Geological Model
As the Company has noted previously, it has reinterpreted Opemiska's geological model, which
includes how the geology is domained and defined. The Company has moved away from the vein
and halo characterization of the mineralization and towards a singular mineralized envelope domain.
The Company views mineralized envelopes as a more accurate depiction of the mineral deposition
and will allow lower-grade mineralization, which occurs distally from the interiors of the zones, to be
correctly domained and captured in the updated MRE.
Commentary on the success of 2022's Drill Campaign to 'Drill Waste into Resource'
The 'halos' surrounding the vein envelopes defined for the 2021 MRE were interpolated
conservatively with only a 20-meter search radius. As a result, substantial material above the cut-off
grade was not included in 2021's MRE. Drilling conducted post-2021 MRE confirms the presence of
extensive mineralization within the original halos, which is expected to be incorporated into
Opemiska's updated MRE. Additionally, new economic mineralized zones were encountered in the
Saddle Zone, between the Springer and Perry mines, and the Gap Zone between veins 1 and 3 at
Springer. The Saddle and the Gap Zones were not mined historically as the veins were too narrow
for underground mining. These Zones are expected to expand the in-pit mineral resources.
Geotechnical Drilling to Determine Pit Slope Angles
The Company has engaged Golder Associates to complete a detailed geotechnical drilling analysis
to optimize the pit wall angles for the Opemiska open pit design. In Opemiska's 2021 MRE,
conservative pit slope angles were used. However, the intrusive host rocks at the Opemiska pit are
very competent, and the Company believes improvements in the pit slope can be achieved with this
geotechnical drilling and study. A steepening of Opemiska's pit wall could have material impacts on
both the strip ratio and depth of recoverable resources. These results will be essential in
Opemiska's forthcoming MRE and future engineering and economic studies.
Structural Geology Study
The Company has engaged SRK Consulting to complete a comprehensive structural study to better
understand the relationships between the different veins and mineralized faults of this structurally-
hosted deposit. Its purpose is to integrate all the available observations, including surface stripping,
drill core, underground geology level plans and sections, 3D shapes of the existing stopes, and
constrained inversions of the airborne magnetic data, into a comprehensive structural model for the
deposit. This model is expected to increase the confidence of the interpolation algorithms used to
estimate grades.
Constrained Inversion Modelling of High-Resolution Airborne Magnetic Data
The Company completed a high resolution, 75-metre line spacing airborne magnetic survey, that has
been
micro-levelled
to provide the maximum resolution and interpretability of the data. Previous
susceptibility measurements on drill core are being used to constrain the 3D inversions of the data.
This study is expected to define distinct geological domains for improved resource modelling.
Validation of all historic drill holes, including underground drilling below the open pit
A complete re-interpretation of the geology of the Opemiska Deposit is in progress, with
contributions from four full-time staff, to capture and validate all of the historical geology from mine
drill holes to define the Mineralized Envelopes that will replace the Veins and Halos interpretation
used in the 2021-MRE. This work is nearing completion and covers the entirety of known drill hole
data, including mineralization which could be evaluated for an underground mining component that
could be defined in future studies. With the underground drill hole data, the Company plans to re-
evaluate and define 2014's Underground Perry Exploration Target outlined by RPA of between 3 and
11 million tonnes of material between 1.5 and 2.5% copper(*) (
Full RPA report available here
).
It is also worth noting that the RPA Exploration Target was only defined down to the 10th level but
that the Perry Mine extends down to the 20th level. The Company is currently integrating the
underground mining and drill data down to the 20
th
level to evaluate the possible definition of an
underground mineral resource at the Perry Mine.
*: Exploration Targets are not Mineral Resources and to this date QC Copper & Gold has not done sufficient work to define any underground mineral resources on the Opemiska
Property. The Company does not consider the RPA exploration targets as mineral resources but only as an indication of the presence of mineralization at depth on the Perry Mine
beneath the current conceptual pit.
Ground Penetrating Radar: For crown pillar thickness
The Company has engaged
Global GPR
to complete a ground penetrating radar geophysical survey
designed to more accurately assess the thickness of the crown pillars at various points throughout
the property. This data will be used to refine the mine plans for any potential starter pits.
Metallurgy
The Company has nearly 40 years of mine-level metallurgical data from when
Falconbridge
(Glencore) operated Opemiska. The Company has engaged G-Mining Services and SGS-
Laboratories to complement this data to conduct preliminary, PEA-level metallurgical studies. This
study will provide copper and gold recoveries data for the lower head grades expected compared to
the historical underground mine. These recoveries will inform the upcoming MRE, and make
recommendations for additional work that will be needed as the project goes through its
development steps.
Additionally, environmental studies are planned to test the waste material for its acid-consuming
properties, a critical factor in waste pile management and potentially deleterious elements.
Acceleration of 100% Owner of Springer and Perry
The Company has given notice to the optionor of the Opemiska Property that it will seek to
immediately accelerate the 100% ownership of the Springer and Perry mines of the Opemiska. The
Springer and Perry portions of the Opemiska are where all the resources defined in the current MRE
reside.
The Company's only remaining obligations to the optionor are a cash payment of
$1M
and the
issuance of 3 million shares and 3 million options exercisable at
$0.35
, which are valid for three
years from issue.
Update on QC Copper's Outstanding Warrants
The Company would like to provide an update on the outstanding warrants, which as of today, is
23,511,889.
Additionally, the Company notes that 10,433,557 warrants, with exercise prices between
$.20
and
$.22
, will expire on
November 26, 2022
, if not exercised. Effectively, in
December 2022
, the
outstanding warrants are expected to be 13,078,332. This figure is exclusive of the warrants that will
be issued concerning the acceleration of the ownership of Spring and Perry noted above.
Update on Current Drill Program
The current drill program is designed to expand the in-pit 2021 MRE's NI 43-101 compliant
81.7M
tonnes @ 0.88% CuEq of Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources and
21.4M
tonnes @ 0.73%
CuEq of Inferred Mineral Resources.
32,773 metres of drilling in 139 holes have been completed on
the Opemiska since the publication of the 2021 MRE. A total of 28,253 samples have been collected
and results have been received for 24,867 samples.
Update on Roger Project
In parallel with the metallurgical work being completed on Opemiska, the Company also engaged the
same contractors to complete preliminary stage metallurgical work on the Roger deposit with the
objective of better understanding potential copper recoveries on the resource. The Company
believes there is potential for more significant copper recoveries on the Roger Deposit than may
have been previously understood and evaluated.
Change in Assay Reporting Format
As noted in its news release of
August 24, 2022
, QC Copper has switched its assay reporting
format from copper equivalent grades to the total metal weight of the individual metals. The
Company believes this format reflects the metal content more accurately, avoiding variable and
subjective inputs like metal price and foreign exchange calculations.
QP Statement
The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by
Charles
Beaudry
,
P
.
Geo
and
géo
., Director and Vice President Exploration for
QC
Copper & Gold,
a Qualified Person, as defined in "National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral
Projects." For the exploration undertaken by
QC
Copper & Gold, all assay batches are accompanied
by rigorous Quality Assurance procedures, including the insertion of standards and blanks and
verification assays in a secondary laboratory. All the core received from the drill is split in half,
bagged and sent to
ALS-Global
facilities in
Quevillon
,
Quebec
for sample preparation and then the
pulps are shipped to
AlS-Global's
Vancouver
laboratory or some other location in the world for
analysis using
ALS-Global's
standardized ISO-compliant methods, all of which are listed in the
laboratory certificates provided with the assay results. The remaining half core along with the rejects
and the pulps returned from the laboratory, are securely stored at
QC
Copper's facilities in
Chapais
,
Quebec
. Quality Control results, including the laboratory's control samples, are evaluated
immediately on reception of batch results and corrections are implemented immediately if necessary.
All drill collars are surveyed and positioned in
UTM
coordinates. Collars are oriented using a
gyroscopic north-finding system and
downhole
deviations surveys are done with a single-shot
gyroscopic instrument at 30 to
50m
intervals. For veins oriented approximately east-west and
dipping towards the north, and drill holes oriented due south and plunging between 50 and 65 dips,
the true width of mineralized intersections are equal or greater than 80% of the quoted core length
composite intervals. This observation also holds for veins oriented northwest-southeast and dipping
towards the northeast with holes drilled towards the southwest at 225 degrees with dips between 50
and 65 degrees. However, for other drill hole orientations relative to these veins or other less
common vein orientations, the true widths of mineralized intersections are less.
For information and updates on QC Copper and Gold, please visit:
www.qccopper.com
And please follow us on Twitter
@qccoppergold
Neither 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
release. Certain information in this press release may contain forward-looking statements. This
information is based on current expectations that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties
that are difficult to predict. Actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any
forward-looking statements. QC Copper and Gold Inc. assumes no obligation to update the
forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those
reflected in the forward looking-statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable
to QC Copper and Gold Inc. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained
in filings by QC Copper and Gold Inc. with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are
available under QC Copper and Gold Inc. profile at
www.sedar.com
.
SOURCE
QC Copper & Gold Inc.
View original content:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2022/12/c1588.html
%SEDAR: 00045293E
For further information:
To speak to the Company directly, please contact: Stephen Stewart,
Chief Executive Officer, Phone: 416.644.1571, Email:
CO: QC Copper & Gold Inc.
CNW 06:00e 12-SEP-22