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Home > News > Northstar Drills 14.8%...

Northstar Drills 14.8% copper over 2.45m at Cam Copper Mine

Nov 27, 2023


Northstar Gold Corp. has announced assay results from the remaining 3 Phase I diamond drill holes recently completed at the historic Cam Copper Mine on the Company's 100%-owned Miller Copper-Gold Property, 18 kilometres southeast of Kirkland Lake. Cam Copper is a road accessible shaft mine and small-scale, past producer of high-grade 'direct shipping' copper ore centred on the historic Boston Creek Copper Trend. 

Cam Copper Mine is centred on a newly recognized high-grade "Besshi-type" volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) copper system situated at the northwest end of a 0.9 km long southeast trending belt of VMS horizons. Besshi-type VMS deposits are an important global source of base metals, simplistically characterized as vented, broad sheet-like layers of magnetite, iron-copper-lead-zinc-arsenic sulphides, cobalt, sulphosalts, silver and possibly gold deposited on an ancient sea floor, hosted in volcano-sedimentary rock packages. 

Northstar completed 720 metres of drilling in 4 diamond drill holes (CC01-23 to CC04-23) at Cam Copper Mine between October 20th and October 30th, 2023. The Company reports all 4 drill holes intersected lenses of Cu-rich volcanogenic massive sulphides, including massive and stringer chalcopyrite in drill hole CC03-23 grading 14.8% Cu over 2.45m from 116.55m to 119m in Zone 2 (Photos 1 & 2). This intercept represents a significant Zone 2 thickness increase and is highly suggestive of southeast down-plunge expansion. Zones 1, 3 and 4 also remain open along strike and at depth. 

A 3D Cam Copper Mine image illustrating Phase I drill results and massive sulphide intercepts is provided in Figure 2. 

The Company reports the following assay highlights from the Cam Copper Phase I drilling program:

Zone 1

  • 3.12% Cu over 3.6m from 25.0m to 28.6m including 19.45% Cu and 14.85 g/t Ag over 0.5m from 28.1m to 28.6m in CC01-23 (Previously reported; Photo 3)

Zone 2

  • 14.78% Cu over 2.45m from 116.55m to 119.0m including 21.7% Cu, 0.27% Pb, 17.68 g/t Ag over 1.35m from 117.65m to 119.0m in CC03-23 (Photos 1 & 2)
  • 8.17% Cu over 1.5m from 178.0m to 179.5m including 16.05% Cu over 0.6m from 178.0m to 178.6m in CC02-23(Photo 4)

  • 12.71% Cu, 0.62% Zn, 0.44% Pb, 16.47 g/t Ag over 0.75m from 107m to 107.75m in CC01-23

  • 4.72% Cu over 1.95m from 106.8m to 108.75m including 14.75% Cu over 0.4m from 106.8m to 107.2m in CC04-23

Zone 3

  • 5.91% Cu over 1.5m from 135.0m to 136.5m including 9.92% Cu over 0.5m from 135.5m to 136m in CC01-23 (Photo 5)
  • 2.77% Cu over 0.5m from 224.2m to 224.7m in CC02-23

Management Commentary

"Northstar's 2023 Cam Copper sampling and Phase I drill results confirm reported historic widths and high copper grades, demonstrating copper mineralization is related to a robust, multi-horizon copper VMS system with excellent expansion potential," states Brian P. Fowler, P.Geo., Northstar's President, CEO and Director. "Northstar is fully permitted and positioning to explore the strike and down plunge extensions of the Cam Copper massive sulphide zones through Phase II drilling." 

Possible Hydrothermal Vent

Semi-massive sulphides with milled cherty fragments in Zone 2 (Photo 4), averaging 8.17% Cu over 1.5 metres from 178.0m to 179.5m in drill hole CC02-23, 80 metres below the 200' level of the historic mine workings, suggests close proximity to a nearby seafloor hydrothermal vent, in an area never before drill tested. Evidence of massive and stringer chalcopyrite over 2.45m in adjacent drill hole CC03-23 strongly implies the possibility of significant Zone 2 vertical and down plunge expansion potential to the southeast. 

Historic Validation

The Phase I drilling and prior surface sampling results substantiate historic reported copper grades of a 1955 shipment of 346 tons of hoisted underground ore which produced 43,411 lbs. of Cu1 at a Noranda smelter for a recovered grade of 6.3% Cu. The high-grade "direct shipping" ore was shipped directly from the mine site to the smelter without requiring further concentration in a mill. A previous 1948 shipment of 22 tons of ore to Noranda reportedly graded 12.72% Cu, 0.84 oz/t Ag and 0.03 oz/t Au2, presumably from Zone 1. 

Image removed.

Figure 1. West Half Miller Property Geology Highlighting Former Producing Mines along the Boston Creek Copper Trend

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6839/188492_8646f4c7e444d87f_002full.jpg

Image removed.

Photo 1. Massive chalcopyrite from Zone 2 grading 21.7% Cu over 1.35m in DDH CC03-23

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https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6839/188492_8646f4c7e444d87f_003full.jpg

Image removed.

Photo 2. Zone 2 massive and stringer chalcopyrite grading 14.8% Cu over 2.45m between 116.55m and 119m in DDH CC03-23

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6839/188492_8646f4c7e444d87f_004full.jpg

Image removed.

Photo 3. Zone 1 massive chalcopyrite from DDH CC01-23 grading 19.45% Cu over 0.5m

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https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6839/188492_8646f4c7e444d87f_005full.jpg

Image removed.

Photo 4. Zone 2 semi-massive chalcopyrite from DDH CC02-23 grading 16.05% Cu over 0.6m

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6839/188492_8646f4c7e444d87f_006full.jpg

Image removed.

Photo 5. Zone 3 semi-massive chalcopyrite from DDH CC01-23 grading 5.91% Cu over 1.5m



Tags: Northern Ontario / Exploration / Copper / All Articles