Announcement • Jul 14
Northmin Corporation Reports High Grade Copper Drilling Results from Tynagh Project
Northmin Corporation announced assay results from the first two drill holes drilled on the Tynagh mine site as part of its hard rock Ag-Cu-Zn-Pb exploration program at the 100%-owned Tynagh Project, Republic of Ireland. Two holes intersected numerous mineralized intercepts including high-grade copper in drill hole 3615-26-07: 6.4m grading 4.92% Cu, 0.98% Sb & 62.04 g/t Ag from 149.0m including 1.95m grading 10.08% Cu, 2.36% Sb & 136.46 g/t Ag from 153.45m. 3615-26-07 intersected a broad zone of Waulsortian reef-hosted polymetallic mineralization peripheral to the mine workings and structurally-controlled high-grade copper mineralization in the footwall below the historic mine confirming the presence of an unmined footwall copper-silver-antimony target. In the Waulsortian Reef Limestone, 27.45m grading 0.26% Cu, 4.57% Zn+Pb, 0.06% Sb and 20.78 g/t Ag from 90.55m in Waulsortian Reef Limestone, including 2.75m grading 0.83% Cu, 0.99% Zn+Pb, 0.18% Sb and 29.03 g/t Ag from 97.0m, and 6.8m grading 13.31% Zn+Pb and 48.79 g/t Ag from 110.2m. In the previously unmined sub-reef Lower Muddy Limestone, 15.3m grading 2.16% Cu, 0.77% Zn+Pb, 0.42% Sb and 32.01 g/t Ag from 141.0m, including 6.4m grading 4.92% Cu, 0.67% Zn+Pb, 0.98% Sb and 62.04 g/t Ag from 149.0m, which includes 1.95m grading 10.08% Cu, 1.2% Zn+Pb, 2.36% Sb, and 136.46 g/t Ag from 153.45m. 3615-26-06, collared 85m northwest of 3615-26-07, also intersected Waulsortian reef-hosted lead-zinc-silver mineralization and footwall copper mineralization below the historic mine. In the Waulsortian Reef Limestone, 3.6m at 0.38% Cu, 2.19% Zn+Pb, 0.04% Sb and 9.62 g/t Ag from 127.0m. 3.5m at 1.03% Cu, 0.17% Zn+Pb, 0.25% Sb and 15.86 g/t Ag from 150.5m. 6.1m grading 0.99% Cu, 2.85% Zn+Pb, 0.18% Sb and 22.25 g/t Ag from 168.9m, including 2.8m grading 0.91% Cu, 6.11% Zn+Pb, 0.17% Sb and 32.11 g/t Ag, and including 0.4m grading 4.95% Cu, Pb, 0.52% Zn+Pb, 1.28% Sb and 93.2 g/t Ag. In the previously unmined sub-reef Lower Muddy Limestone, 9.15m grading 0.95% Cu, 2.18% Zn+Pb, 0.14% Sb and 15.58 g/t Ag from 184.25m, including 6.2m grading 1.22% Cu, 1.42% Zn+Pb, 0.19% Sb, 19.4 g/t Ag. The thickness, grade, and comparable geochemical signature of the lower copper-silver-antimony zone intersections, located 75m apart, is encouraging and this zone warrants systematic drill testing over 1,500m of strike beneath the historically mined Zn-Pb-Ag deposit. The two angled drill holes, 3615-26-06 and 3615-26-07, are the first holes drilled by the Company in Zone 2 (Open Pit Area) to target both the polymetallic in-situ reef-hosted mineralization and the copper mineralization hosted in the reef and in the Lower Muddy Limestone adjacent to the Tynagh Fault. The Tynagh Fault is a major basin-bounding structure located along the south side of the North Tynagh Basin and it acted as the main conduit for hydrothermal fluids that formed the c.9Mt Tynagh Deposit (Zn-Pb-Ag-Cu-Baryte) which was exploited between 1965 and 1982. Base metal mineralization has been intersected in several drill holes over 8km of strike along the Tynagh structure. The new results listed above and included in the table above, including a high-grade copper intersection of 6.4m grading 4.92% Cu, are highly encouraging for the discovery of a Cu-Ag-Sb zone in sub-reef lithologies along the Tynagh fault. The new results give the Company confidence that a valid copper exploration target remains to be explored at Tynagh in addition to the zones of shallow bulk zinc-lead mineralization which remain in-situ in the micrite reef banks peripheral to the high-grade historic workings. Hole 3615-26-07 demonstrates this with 27.45m grading 0.26% Cu, 4.57% Zn+Pb, 0.06% Sb and 20.8 g/t Ag from 90.55m in Waulsortian Reef Limestone. This zone also includes higher-grade sections such as 6.8m at 13.31% Zn+Pb and 48.79 g/t Ag. No mine workings were encountered in either of the two drill holes. Historic intersections of copper mineralization and the potential for copper have been recorded in historic mine reports, documents and letters in the mine archives for Tynagh but none of the historic core has survived to be able to verify these reports with confidence. The new results reported here add confidence to the copper exploration target that lies below the reef-hosted polymetallic mineralization at Tynagh. Following the close of the Qualifying Transaction and recent TSXV listing, the Company is well-financed and fully permitted to continue drilling the remaining 8 holes of the initial 10-hole c.2,000m program at the Tynagh mine site this summer. To verify the historical data and validate the mineralization, the Company intends to implement a comprehensive exploration program, which will include systematic drilling along the Tynagh Fault while executing modern QA/QC procedures. All core drilled at Tynagh and reported in this announcement was HQ (63.5mm) and was cut using a rock saw. Sample intervals vary between 0.4m to 2.05m with an average (over 168 samples) of 1.03m. The half-core samples are bagged, labelled and sealed at the Company's core shed facility on the Tynagh Mine Site, 15km from Loughrea in County Galway, Ireland. The core sampling was carried out by the QP. Transport of samples in sealed nylon sacks was by the QP to ALS Laboratories in nearby Loughrea town. ALS Minerals is a large, independent and ISO certified analytical service company, originally based in Loughrea to serve the Tynagh mine. Sample preparation at the ALS facility was by method Prep-31, comprising fine crushing 70% < 2mm, riffle splitter, pulverise up to 250g 85% < 75um. Analytical procedures are 48 element four acid ICP-MS (codes ME-MS61). Over-limit analyses for Ag, Cu, Zn and Pb was by method ME-OG62. One sample exceeding 20% lead (Pb), 4 samples exceeding 1% Antimony (Sb) and three samples exceeding 1% arsenic (As) content were analysed by XRF by method ME-XRF15c. Barium values are not reported above as they are semi-quantitative but typically range from <500ppm to 5,000ppm Ba. The Company will conduct further analyses and investigate the best method and protocol for assaying baryte in future drill holes, if results indicate that it is warranted. Northmin inserts certified reference materials ("CRMs" or "Standards") as well as blank material and quarter core duplicates, to its sample stream as part of its industry-standard QA/QC program. The QC results have been reviewed by the QP, who is satisfied that all the results are within acceptable parameters. The QP has validated the sampling and chain of custody protocols used by Northmin.
