Abitibi Metals probes new copper area at B26 in Quebec

Abitibi Metals (CSE: AMQ; US-OTC: AMQFF) says a new copper target west of its B26 polymetallic deposit in northern Quebec shows potential for expanding the project.

Assays from the Satellite West target outlined the new area 500 metres west of the main deposit that hasn’t been drilled since 1997, the company said on Monday.

Drill hole 274-24-336 cut 19.7 metres grading 1.07% copper, 0.4 gram gold per tonne and 4.5 grams silver from 216.2 metres depth, Abitibi said in a release. Drill hole 274-24-337 returned 26.9 metres at 0.06% copper, 0.01 gram gold and 48.5 grams silver from 44.5 metres down hole.

“These holes align with our objective of identifying new targets outside the main B26 deposit,” Abitibi CEO Jonathon Deluce said in the release. “We will add this target as a priority for further evaluation.”

Satellite West shows siliceous material reaching 100 metres in width that is related to volcanogenic massive sulphide activity and is a proximity indicator for a copper-gold mineralized system similar to B26, Abitibi said. It plans geophysics exploration to evaluate the area’s potential and see if the system extends farther west and northwest.

The company has drilled 13,500 metres this year and plans to drill 16,500 more metres, then 20,000 metres in 2025. It’s planning a preliminary economic assessment on B26 that could envision an open-pit mine.

Earn-in

Abitibi, which holds 9.9% of B26, is working to earn 80% of the project over seven years from Soquem, a subsidiary of Investment Quebec. The company has raised $18.5 million from investors such as Frank Giustra, who helped start Wheaton Precious Metals (TSX: WPM, NYSE: WPM; LSE: WPM) and Endeavour Mining (TSX: EDV; LSE: EDV).

B26 holds 7 million indicated tonnes grading 2.9% copper-equivalent (1.3% copper, 1.8% zinc, 0.6 gram gold per tonne and 43 grams silver); and 4.4 million inferred tonnes at 3% copper-equivalent (2% copper, 0.2% zinc, 1.1 grams gold and 9 grams silver), according to a 2018 resource estimate by Soquem.

The 33-sq.-km site is 7 km south of the former Selbaie mine, where BHP (NYSE: BHP; LSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) produced copper, zinc, gold and silver from 1958 until 1993. There’s still a nearby working power line that served the Selbaie mine. B26 is 90 km west of the town of Matagami, which has a skilled mining workforce for Glencore’s (LSE: GLEN) complex there.

Shares in Abitibi Metals, which was known until last year as Goldseek (CSE: GSK), were unchanged on Monday morning in Toronto at 50¢ apiece, valuing the company at $52.8 million. They’ve risen from 14¢ in November.