Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 9, 2024) - Prismo Metals Inc. (CSE: PRIZ) (OTCQB: PMOMF) ("Prismo" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the heliborne ZTEM geophysical survey undertaken at its Hot Breccia copper project in Arizona has identified a priority drill target. Hot Breccia is located in the heart of the prolific Arizona Copper Belt between Tucson and Phoenix (Fig. 1).
The ZTEM survey identified a large conductive body at depth below the surface exposure of a large dike swarm that hosts the namesake breccias. Anomalous copper and gold assays are locally present at the surface in this area (see press release of July 11, 2023), and high-grade copper and zinc assays are present above this anomaly in historic drill holes completed by major copper producers in the 1970's and early 1980's (see press release of January 29, 2023).
While all of the historic drill holes intersected hydrothermal alteration within the volcanic rocks that overlie the typically better mineralized Paleozoic carbonate rocks with increasing alteration intensity downwards, no historic drilling targeted this newly identified conductive zone identified in Prismo's ZTEM survey. The carbonate host units above the anomaly have several copper intercepts reported to exceed 1% copper and elevated zinc levels.
Dr. Craig Gibson, President and CEO commented: "The ZTEM survey conducted in 2023 has identified a priority conductive anomaly at depth that appears to be related to a dike swarm with associated polymictic breccia. We are looking forward to drilling this target which has characteristics that are similar to the mineralized copper and base metal deposits at the adjacent Christmas mine, an important historic producer and location of an unmined porphyry copper deposit owned by Freeport. The project is also located along the trend of several very large porphyry copper deposits, including Resolution, 40 km to the north, and San Manuel / Kalamazoo 35 km to the south."
Preparation of a permit to allow drilling at Hot Breccia began in 2023 with a required cultural survey. It is anticipated that the permit will be in-hand in Q1 2024. Sampling at the project has shown the presence of copper and gold mineralization associated with polymictic breccia that has brought fragments of sedimentary rocks and mineralization to the surface from depths believed to be 400-800 meters below the surface, so drilling of deep holes, possibly including a twin of an historic hole, is planned.
Gold mineralization ranging from anomalous values of 0.1-0.3 g/t to 28 g/t with local copper has also been encountered at the surface associated with dikes (see News Release of July 11, 2023). Drilling with shallow angled holes is also envisioned.
Figure 1. Location of the Hot Breccia copper project
Figure 2. View of the subsurface looking northeasterly showing the conductive body from the ZTEM survey and cross sections of the Christmas deposit and the Hot Breccia area. Historic drill holes are shown with copper assays as disks within the red ellipse; the magenta color indicates > 1% Copper.
Figure 3. Plan view of the surface geology showing the hot breccia land boundary in black and the cross sections from Fig. 2. The surface projection of the conductive body shown in Fig. 2 is roughly outlined in red.
Assay results from historic drill holes are unverified as the core has been destroyed, but information has been gathered from memos, photos and drill logs that contain some, but not all, of the assay results and descriptions.
Qualified Person
Dr. Craig Gibson, PhD., CPG., a Qualified Person as defined by NI-43-01 regulations and president, CEO and a director of the Company, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosures in this news release.
About Hot Breccia
The Hot Breccia property consists of 1,420 hectares 227 contiguous mining claims located in the world class Arizona Copper Belt. The project lies about four kilometers from the historic Christmas mine which recorded production of about 481.6 million pounds of copper from 20.2 million tons at a grade of 1.2% Copper plus significant gold and silver (Sources: Arizona Geological Society Spring Field Trip Guide in 2014). Prismo has not been able to verify the Christmas production information and it is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization on the Hot Breccia property.
Prismo holds the option to earn up to a 75% interest in the project from Infinitum Copper Corp. (TSXV: INFI) (OTCQB: INUMF) ("Infinitum"), subject to a 2% NSR royalty to a private company, Walnut Mines LLC.
About Prismo
Prismo (CSE: PRIZ) is mining exploration company focused on two precious metal projects in Mexico (Palos Verdes and Los Pavitos) and a copper project in Arizona (Hot Breccia).
This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement and exploration program results, the ability to complete future financings, required permitting, exploration programs and drilling, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.
The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Company's equity securities, the state of the commodity markets generally, variations in the nature, the analytical results from surface trenching and sampling program, including diamond drilling programs, the results of IP surveying, the results of soil and till sampling program. the quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required, including CSE acceptance, for its planned activities, the inability of the Company to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, the potential impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus) on the Company's exploration program and on the Company's general business, operations and financial condition, and other risks and uncertainties. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.
