Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 31, 2024) - Bell Copper Corporation (TSXV: BCU) (OTCQB: BCUFF) ("Bell Copper" or the "Company") reports that it has temporarily suspended diamond drilling operations on hole BS-4 at the Company's 100% owned Big Sandy porphyry copper project. Continuation of the hole is planned once additional funding is secured. The Company is currently discussing opportunities for strategic investments with a number of major copper producers in order to fund further drilling. The project involves the exploration of a large, truncated porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit located in northwestern Arizona, approximately 30 kilometers from the Company's Perseverance project.
The maximum depth achieved in hole BS-4 of 1372 meters did not fully penetrate post-mineral gravels due to setbacks occurring with stuck drill tooling. No bedrock has yet been encountered in BS-4, but encouraging mineralized gravel clasts including chalcocite, native copper, and native silver have been observed.
The Company's drilling of BS-4 follows up on the previous drill hole, BS-3 which had an intersection of 200 meters of chalcocite-bearing porphyry (see June 7, 2022 news release). Drillhole BS-3 cut 200 meters from 1302 meters to 1502 meters grading 0.42 percent copper (8.4 lbsCu/st) and 2.4 grams of silver per tonne as supergene chalcocite hosted in strongly pyritic, sericitized porphyry. The hole was terminated in strongly pyritic, sericitized porphyry at an inclined depth of 2026.33 meters when the mechanical limits of the drill were reached. Metallurgical testing of the 200-meter BS-3 intersection showed that the copper was amenable to recovery via either froth flotation or acid leaching (see July 21, 2022 news release). Molybdenum and rhenium were also concentrated from the interval via froth flotation.
Bell Copper had been drilling BS-4 since March 2023 from a new drill pad approximately 900 meters from the previous BS-3 drill site. A combination of mud motor drilling followed by core drilling was used to try to advance hole BS-4 through thick gravel and into expected porphyry bedrock, however the obstacles encountered and lack of adequate funding has led the Company to suspend the work until sufficient additional funding is secured. In the meantime, the Company is working to extend drill permits for eight additional holes through October 2025.
Drillhole BS-4 encountered the most encouraging gravel sequence yet seen at Big Sandy. Mineralized porphyry clasts carrying supergene chalcocite, native copper, and trace native silver were found scattered through the gravel column over more than 600 meters. Exotic neotocite (copper-manganese oxide), native copper, and native silver were observed in faults and in selectively mineralized sand strata. Cobble-sized clasts near the bottom of the hole included common pervasively sericitized leached capping stained with fertile, earthy red hematite and cut by quartz veinlets.
Big Sandy Science
The Arizona Geological Survey ("AGS") and the University of Arizona ("UA") are now studying Big Sandy drill cores to assess their role in addressing the US's supply of critical elements, notably copper, molybdenum, and rhenium. On September 22, 2024 at the Anaheim, California annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, the AGS in collaboration with UA and Bell Copper will present "Geochronologic and Mineralogic Constraints Connecting the Diamond Joe Porphyry Root to the Big Sandy Porphyry Copper Prospect, Northwestern Arizona, USA" in Technical Session T-5 "Linking Mineral Resources and Their Geologic Framework I: The USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) and Related Critical Minerals Research". Results of independent age dating of zircon from porphyry in Bell's BS-3 porphyry intersection and zircon from the Diamond Joe porphyry root will be discussed. The results have broader implications for copper exploration at the Company's Perseverance project 30 kilometers to the north.
"Bell Copper believes that we are delivering at Big Sandy and Perseverance the big, new copper discoveries in friendly jurisdictions required for the global transition to cleaner electrical energy. With conventional capital markets distracted away from critical minerals supply, Bell is turning to the most closely aligned investors to keep our Big Sandy drill turning - the major copper miners. When our financing flows at a scale commensurate with the copper opportunity at Big Sandy, we will once again deploy downhole mud motors to rapidly put challenging gravel deposits behind casing and deliver the bedrock cores required for resource estimation. In the meantime, we expect our partner at Perseverance to initiate a Typhoon IP survey late in Q3 to flesh out the eastern MT target identified in 2020." - Dr. Tim Marsh, Bell Copper President & CEO.
Qualified Person
The technical content of this release has been reviewed and approved by Timothy Marsh, PhD, PEng., the Company's CEO and President. No mineral resource has yet been identified on the Big Sandy Project. There is no certainty that the present exploration effort will result in the identification of a mineral resource or that any mineral resource that might be discovered will prove to be economically recoverable.
About Bell Copper
Bell Copper is a mineral exploration company focused on the identification, exploration and discovery of large copper deposits located in Arizona. Bell Copper is exploring its 100% owned Big Sandy Porphyry Copper Project and the Perseverance Porphyry Copper Project which is under a Joint Venture - Earn In.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Bell Copper Corporation
"Timothy Marsh"
Timothy Marsh, President, CEO & Director
For further information please contact the Company Tel: 1 800 418 8250 Email: [email protected]
Neither the 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.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release includes "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including, but not limited to, the ability of Bell to identify a mineral resource at the Perseverance or Big Sandy Projects. There is no certainty that the present exploration effort will result in the identification of a mineral resource or that any mineral resource that might be discovered will prove to be economically recoverable. All statements included in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "potential", "target", "budget" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof.
Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management based on the business and markets in which Bell Copper operates, are inherently subject to significant operational, economic, and competitive uncertainties, risks and contingencies. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results, and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include actual exploration results, interpretation of metallurgical characteristics of the mineralization, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, delays or inability to receive required approvals, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators, including those described in the Company's most recently filed MD&A. The Company does not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable law.
