Imperial Metals expands Northeast zone (October 16, 2003)

Vancouver The latest drill results have expanded the newly discovered Northeast zone on the past producing Mount Polley copper-gold property some 56 km northeast of Williams Lake, British Columbia.

So far, Imperial Metals (III-T) has put 16 holes into the find, which lies only 1.5 km northeast of the Bell pit. The results are in for the first 6 holes and the values have been very promising.

Hole 1 returned 57 metres grading 2.54% copper, 1.15 grams gold, and 17.4 grams silver from 3 metres downhole. The hot hole was drilled vertically to a depth of 184.7 metres.

The mineralization in the hole is cut by a late stage structure that appears to be a strike slip fault, which may have displaced the mineralization to the north.

The second hole was collared from the same site and drilled at a 60 degree angle in the southwesterly direction. This hole returned 76.5 metres grading 0.74% copper, 0.34 gram gold and 5 grams silver.

Moving 25 metres north northwest, hole 3 was also drilled in the southwesterly direction and angled at 60 degrees, returning 193.5 metres grading 1.33% copper, 0.44 gram gold and 10.6 grams silver.

Collared just off section from hole 3 some 25 metres southwest, hole 4 averaged 0.34% copper and 0.21 gram gold over 158.4 metres from 0.6 metre downhole.

Drilled on section with hole 1 and collared 25 metres tot he southwest, hole 5 returned 33.8 metres grading 0.49% copper and 0.3 gram gold from 3.7 metres downhole.

Moving about 75 metres southeast of the original hole, hole 6 cut 212.9 metres grading 0.98% copper and 0.32 gram gold from 7.1 metre downhole. Included in this section was a higher grade portion running 1.94% copper and 0.57 gram gold over 102.9 metres.

The new zone is hosted in the same type of hyrdothermal breccia as the other three deposits (Cariboo, Bell and Springer) on the property but magnetite is lacking, actinolite is sporadic and secondary biotite appears to be the dominant alteration mineral associated with the higher-grade values. The mineralization is dominately sulphide comprising bornite and chalcopyrite with oxides dissappearing after only a few metres depth.

As with many copper-bearing porphyries, numerous lates staged plagioclase porphyry dykes disrupt the continuity of the mineralization in the zone.

The mineralization is exceptionally uniform is some holes, notably those with fewer dykes. The holes drilled to the southeast appear to have hit less dykes indicating that this area may be closer to the core of the system.

Unlike the other deposits on the property, where the silver grade is less than the gold values, the new find holds apprecable silver.

The first bout of drilling tested the new zone over a 275 metre length.

In order to get caught up with the results from the first bout of drilling, Imperial has moved the rig from the Northeast zone over to what was originally thought to be the most promising targets, expanding the resources below the Springer and Bell zones.

The junior plans on punching 4 holes below the Bell pit, which holds probable reserves of 3.4 million tonnes grading 0.36% copper and 0.36 gram gold.

The new holes will be fanned down to the west and drilled until barren diorite is hit, expected at some 170 metres downhole.

Moving over to the essentially unmined Springer zone, which holds 15.3 million tonnes of probable reserves grading 0.4% copper and 0.39 gram gold, Imperial has laid out four holes for the current program.

Two of the planned holes will be drilled in a westerly direction, one scissor hole will be drilled in the easterly direction and the last is slated to be drilled vertically right in the middle.

Since the closure of Mount Polley, mineralization at Springer has been considered key to restarting the operation. However, with 24.8% of the reserve tied up in hard to recovery copper oxide material (only 11% recovery using the existing floatation plant), the economics looked bleak.

Last year, Imperial began to research leaching techniques that could economically recover copper oxide mineralization in alkalic host rocks. Initial testing of highly oxidized material from the Springer pit indicated that up to 78% of the acid soluble copper can be recovered in about 110 days of leaching when it is crushed to half an inch. The initial results prompted Imperial to reevaluate the oxide copper resources at Mount Polley, and also reassess some of the outside exploration targets that had been abandoned earlier due to a high oxide copper content.

Moving to the northern part of British Columbia, Imperial recently completed a 1,511-metre drill program on the company’s Joss’alun massive sulphide property near Atlin.

The best results came from the Joss’alun showing, where hole 5 returned 0.94% copper over 17.8 metres. The next highest values came in hole 7, which returned 53.5 metres grading 0.34% copper.Mineralization is hosted within a mafic volcanic unit of pillows and lesser agglomerate.

Imperial can earn a 100% interest on the property by issuing 100,000 shares over one year plus an additional 100,000 shares after $2.5 million has been spent on the property. Copper Ridge Exploration (PEX-V) will retain a 2% net operating profits royalty which can be purchased by Imperial for $3 million. The agreement includes an adjoining property acquired by Copper Ridge from Tenajon Resources (TJS-V) in late January.