COAST COPPER CORP. Coast Copper Corp. announced the discovery of a new mineral showing (B3) which is located approximately 700 meters (m) to the south of the Merry Widow pit on the optioned Empire Mine property on northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The B3 showing was discovered during Coast Copper's summer 2023 exploration field program which included prospecting, soil and rock sampling across areas of interest, taking samples from one of the historical magnetite waste dumps and hosting several site visits with individuals from the BC Geological Survey (BCGS) and the University of Victoria.
A total of 67 soil samples were taken around the B3 showing with 2 rock and 4 chip samples taken from the B3 outcrop itself. Soil sampling around the B3 showing has outlined an area roughly 100 m by 150 m with gold-in-soil values of >80 parts per billion (ppb). Additional highlights of soil sampling taken around the B3 area include 3,931 ppb Au and 1,410 ppb tellurium (Te) in sample MWS2023-018 and 2,518 ppb gold (Au) and 740 ppb Te in sample MWS2023-094.
Highlights of soil samples taken between the Bluebird 2 showing and the new B3 discovery include 2,194 ppb Au and 1,340 ppb Te in sample MWS2023-042. These samples warrant further follow-up. Rock sampling at the B3 outcrop has returned results up to 51.60 grams per tonne (g/t) Au, 30.66 g/t Te, 0.25 % cobalt (Co) and 50.52 g/t silver (Ag).
The B3 showing confirms that despite the history of iron ore exploration and mining along the Merry Widow trend, limited exploration has been given to areas outside of obvious massive iron and copper sulphides, which Coast Copper's work is now showing can return very significant gold and rare earth element values peripheral to these iron and copper skarns. In addition to the sampling completed around the B3 showing, a total of 42 soil and 10 rock samples were taken while prospecting areas of interest from the Whiskey Jack showing to the Battle Mountain showing (approximately 2.75 kilometers distance). Some notable results from across the Property include a rock sample collected from outcrop on the southeastern margin of the South Pit which returned values of 2.9 g/t Au and 4.5% Cu.
This result further reinforces the continuation of high-grade gold and copper mineralization along the thrust trend to the south of the current resource. A follow-up sample from a mineralized dike near the Bluebird 1 occurrence returned values of 7.1 g/t Au and 6.5% Cu, confirming presence of high-grade mineralized intrusive structures in the vicinity of known mineral occurrences. Ground conditions on site can be very challenging, where places of thick underbrush and dense organic layers appear to have inhibited the collection of good soil samples by previous operators.
As evidenced by more diligent soil sampling of proper soil horizons, are seeing significantly higher metal values in many places. Further work will include following up on a 350 m by 550 m long gold-in-soil anomaly along the northerly trending contact of the Merry Widow pluton with Battle Mountain, that has only seen limited exploration. Several waste dumps have previously been identified across the Merry Widow mine area with a total material volume estimated at 2.8 million tonnes.
One of the historical dumps (containing an estimated 550 kiloton of material) was initially sampled during the program by collecting talus fines from 8 locations on the dump. Assay results for these samples returned grades ranging from 0.05 to 0.71 g/t Au, 0.04 to 0.28 % Cu and 15.2 to 35.8 % iron ("Fe"). The average grade for the 8 dump samples was 0.23 g/t Au, 0.14% Cu and 22.3% Fe.
Although preliminary, these results are encouraging given the high iron (magnetite), gold and copper results for material designated as waste during the 1957 to 1967 mining operations. To properly characterize the material in these dumps and to help determine the potential economic significance, additional and more substantial sampling programs will need to be carried out. Preliminary waste dump sampling was initiated to begin characterization of the waste dump material, composition and grade for future consideration as a potential processable resource.
Soil samples were taken at 25 m spacings when possible and by up to 50 m spacings in areas of interest. All samples were taken from the B horizon soil profile. Sampling completed on the project in 2023 was supervised by onsite Coast Copper personnel and sub-contractors who collected and tracked samples and implemented a full QA/QC program using blanks, standards and duplicates to monitor analytical accuracy and precision.
The samples were sealed on site and shipped to MSA Labs in Langley BC for analysis. MSA Labs' quality control system complies with global certifications for Quality ISO9001:2008. Soil samples were dried and screened to 80 mesh and then analyzed in 20g samples with multi-element ICP-MS Aqua Regia digestion (IMS-111).
Rock samples were dried and crushed to 70% passing 2mm mesh and split to 250g samples which were pulverized to 85% passing 75m. The samples were then analyzed by a 4 acid digestion multi-element ICP-MS (IMS-131). Gold assaying was completed with FAS-415, a 30 gram fusion fire assay with AAS finish with greater than 10 g/t Au assays completed with FAS-418, a 30-gram fusion fire assay with gravimetric finish.
Silver assays greater than 100 g/t were completed with ICF-6Ag, 4 acid, ICP-AES ore grade analysis. Copper assays greater than 10,000 parts per million (ppm) were completed with ICF-6Cu, 4acid, ICP-AES ore grade analysis. Zinc assays greater than 10,000ppm were completed with ICF-6 Zn, 4 acid, ICP-AES ore grade analysis.
