Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc. (TSX:ASCU | OTCQX:ASCUF) (“ASCU” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that initial Parks/Salyer infill drilling results are confirming the continuity of mineralization at tighter drill spacings, and additionally, have extended the high grade core at the Parks/Salyer copper deposit, onto the MainSpring property at the Cactus Project, in Arizona (see FIGURES 1-10). Results from the program are in line with expectations, with a few positive outliers notably from ECM-289, ECM-299 and ECM-244. Three drill rigs are focused on mineral resource infill drilling, while a fourth rig is focused on both mineral resource infill drilling at Cactus West and providing downhole data for the geotechnical and hydrological programs necessary for the planned Pre-Feasibility Study (“2025 PFS”) expected in the second half of 2025.
Additionally, Doug Bowden will be stepping down as Vice President Exploration, effective April 1, 2025. Christopher White will be stepping into his place as Manager, Geology to lead the infill drilling programs at Cactus, as ASCU moves through technical studies. Chris joined in 2023 as Chief Mine Geologist and has worked closely alongside Doug since then, overseeing the geology and exploration programs.
Drilling Highlights:
- ECM-299: 1,283* ft (391 m) @ 0.74% CuT of continuous mineralization
- 795* ft (242 m) @ 0.98% CuT, 0.75% Cu TSol, 0.041% Mo (enriched)
- Incl. 50 ft (15 m) @ 1.91% CuT, 1.87% Cu TSol, 0.009% Mo (enriched)
- 488 ft (149 m) @ 0.48% CuT, 0.009% Mo (primary)
- ECM-289: 1,527 ft (465 m) @ 0.74% CuT of continuous mineralization
- 669 ft (204 m) @ 1.01% CuT, 0.79% Cu TSol, 0.017% Mo (enriched)
- Incl. 122 ft (37 m) @ 1.72% CuT, 1.64% Cu TSol, 0.034% Mo (enriched)
- 505 ft (154 m) @ 0.55% CuT, 0.008% Mo (primary)
- ECM-287: 1,574 ft (480 m) @ 0.47% CuT of near continuous mineralization
- 117 ft (36 m) @ 1.04% CuT, 1.03% Cu TSol, 0.011% Mo (enriched)
- 146 ft (45 m) @ 1.20% CuT, 0.96% Cu TSol, 0.034% Mo (enriched)
- 637 ft (194 m) @ 0.43% CuT, 0.018% Mo (primary)
- ECM-244: 688 ft (210 m) @ 0.50% CuT of continuous mineralization
- 437 ft (133 m) @ 0.59% CuT, 0.57% Cu TSol, 0.001% Mo (enriched)
- ECM-285: 940 ft (287 m) @ 0.36% CuT of continuous mineralization
- 428 ft (131 m) @ 0.41% CuT, 0.36% Cu TSol, 0.008% Mo (enriched)
- 512 ft (156 m) @ 0.33% CuT, 0.006% Mo (primary)
- ECM-302: 1,295* ft (395 m) @ 0.41% CuT of near continuous mineralization
- 627 ft (191 m) @ 0.45% CuT, 0.36% Cu TSol, 0.006% Mo (enriched)
- 669* ft (204 m) @ 0.38% CuT, 0.008% Mo (primary)
NOTE: True widths are not known, *includes 1.9ft core loss in ECM-299 and 3.7ft core loss in ECM-302
George Ogilvie, Arizona Sonoran President and CEO commented, “The integration of the MainSpring property into the Parks/Salyer deposit is moving along extremely well through both engineering and geology. Since 2021, and under the guidance of our geology team, conversion rates from inferred to the indicated and measured classifications at the Cactus project have been quite high and we anticipate another strong conversion in the planned 2025 updated mineral resource estimate. Additionally, I am impressed with the growing high-grade core at Parks/Salyer. The geology team continues to define strong grade thicknesses trending to the southwest, while our engineering team is exploring the potential to move the pit centroid further north in the 2025 PFS. The impact of pit centroid and the high-grade core moving closer together could translate to higher-grade material accessed earlier in the mine life with a positive effect to the economics.
He continued, “On behalf of the Company, I would like to thank Doug Bowden for his stewardship of the asset from acquisition of a site with limited historic mineral resources, into a significant copper porphyry project within the USA. Doug has done a magnificent job in growing the mineral resource to a size and scale that manifests itself in strong project economics that would not have been possible without his leadership. We wish him well in his next life adventure, and as he likes to say, “There is no thrill like the thrill of discovery” (CB Glascock). We look forward to Chris taking on more responsibility within the team. He has been a large part of the journey, and his valuable large-scale mine geology experience will be critical to advancing Cactus to an eventual construction decision anticipated next year.
Drilling and Geology Recap
The planned 2025 infill-to-indicated drill program at Parks/Salyer is comprised of a minimum of 90,000 ft (27,400 m), within a broader 130,000 ft (39,600 m) drilling program at the Cactus Project (see PR dated FEB 4 2025). All drilling is expected to be completed by the end of May 2025, and is now ~50% drilled, with assays pending. Three drills are focused on Parks/Salyer targeting the conversion of inferred mineral resources identified in the 2024 Preliminary Economic Assessment (“2024 PEA”), to the measured and indicated classification. An updated Mineral Resource Estimate is expected ahead of the 2025 PFS, in H2 2025.
Three drill rigs resumed drilling in late 2024. The fourth drill rig is concurrently working at Cactus West in support of the 2025 PFS. Numerous mineral resource holes coincide with Geotechnical and Hydrological hole requirements allowing a number of the holes to serve multiple purposes.
Infill drilling at the Parks/Salyer deposit, and south, along the former Parks/Salyer / MainSpring land border (see link to FIGURES 1-10) continues to refine and expand the high-grade enriched mineralized trend seen in the north of the deposit as it continues to the southwest. This drilling is expected to define a larger high-grade zone in the north in addition to local higher-grade zones within the shallow, lower grade mineralization previously encountered by drilling in the south of Parks/Salyer. Assay results have been consistent with expectations from the inferred resource estimate, with several holes performing better than predicted in the 2024 PEA model, most notably ECM-299, ECM-244 and ECM-289 as highlighted above.
Continue at Arizona Sonoran Copper
