VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NorthWest Copper (“NorthWest” or “the Company”) (TSX-V: NWST) (OTCQX: NWCCF) is pleased to announce positive results from a three-hole drill program completed at our 100% owned Stardust project in late 2021. Highlighting this small program were two holes that encountered intervals of greater than 1% Copper Equivalent (“CuEq”) including one interval of greater than 5% CuEq. NorthWest plans a more thorough follow-up drilling program of up to 28 holes at Stardust in 2022.
The drilling is shown schematically in Figure 1. The program tested two targets; two holes tested a sparsely drilled, steeply plunging target parallel to and north of the high-grade 421 Zone and another hole tested a target area directly south of the 421 Zone. Results from the three holes are highly encouraging, especially the high-grade potential for the 421 Parallel Zone.
The steeply plunging high-grade mineralization at Stardust is controlled by the intersection of steep-dipping, high-angle fault zones and the prospective upper unit of a folded limestone package. Spectacular high-grade including hole DD18-SD-421 (100m of 5.16% CuEq1,2) occurs in this structural setting, surrounded by strong skarn alteration. The mineralization is thicker and has higher grade at depth. Our team of experienced geologists have recognized a zone parallel to 421 that had only been tested by shallow drilling. Drill holes DDH21-SD-472 and DDH21-SD-473 tested this zone below the previous drilling but well above the depth of the main 421 Zone mineralization. Both drill holes intersected significant skarn alteration and DDH21-SD-473 encountered three different mineralized zones of 1.9m3 at 1.23% CuEq³, 3.65m at 1.00% CuEq and 1.15m at 0.87% CuEq. Having confirmed that strong alteration and good grade extend to depth, we are optimistic about finding additional mineralized zones with greater thickness.
DDH21-SD-474 targeted the exploration potential of a less defined resource4 domain south of the main 421 Zone area. It intersected significant skarn alteration and three different zones of mineralization with 3.25m at 0.85% CuEq, 0.95m at 1.29% CuEq, and 0.55m at 5.29% CuEq. The intersections support the current geological model and help extend the resource domains to the south into an area of lower drill density.
“Stardust is one of the highest-grade undeveloped copper deposits globally” said President and CEO Peter Bell. “We believe that there is an opportunity to materially expand the size of the deposit. We have a much bigger program planned for 2022 with multiple targets, including testing potential for parallel high-grade zones. The 421 Zone is best developed at depth and we have only drilled to shallow depths over most of the known deposit area.”
Table 1: Drill Results From This News Release
| Hole | Target | From(m) | To(m) | Interval (m)³ | Cu (%) | Au (g/t) | Ag (g/t) | CuEq (%)4 |
| DDH21-SD-472 | Parallel Trend | NSV |
| DDH21-SD-473 | Parallel Trend | 347.9 | 349.8 | 1.9 | 0.15 | 0.03 | 117.8 | 1.23 |
| DDH21-SD-473 | Parallel Trend | 388.85 | 392.5 | 3.65 | 0.69 | 0.31 | 9.2 | 1.00 |
| DDH21-SD-473 | Parallel Trend | 540.05 | 541.2 | 1.15 | 0.54 | 0.35 | 8.7 | 0.87 |
| DDH21-SD-474 | South S2 Trend | 368.55 | 371.8 | 3.25 | 0.58 | 0.32 | 5.5 | 0.85 |
| DDH21-SD-474 | South S2 Trend | 410.95 | 411.9 | 0.95 | 0.74 | 0.56 | 15.4 | 1.29 |
| DDH21-SD-474 | South S2 Trend | 449.5 | 450.05 | 0.55 | 2.47 | 2.98 | 75.8 | 5.29 |
Quality Assurance / Quality Control
Drilling completed at Stardust in 2021 was supervised by on-site NorthWest personnel who collected and tracked samples and implemented a full QA/QC program using blanks, standards and duplicates to monitor analytical accuracy and precision. The samples were sealed on site and shipped to Bureau Veritas (BV) in Vancouver BC for analysis. BV’s quality control system complies with global certifications for Quality ISO9001:2008. Core samples were analyzed using a combination of BV’s MA200 process for low level concentrations (ICP-MS/4 Acid digestion) and the MA370 process for higher level concentrations (ICP-ES/4 acid digestion). Gold assaying was completed with FA430, a 30-gram fire assay with AAS finish. Base metal overlimits were finalized with titration where required, with gold overlimits completed with a gravimetric finish. A silica wash was used between high-grade samples to ensure no sample carry over.
Technical aspects of this news release have been reviewed, verified and approved by Ian Neill, P.Geo., Vice President Exploration of NorthWest, who is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Minerals Projects.
About NorthWest Copper
NorthWest Copper is a new copper-gold explorer and developer with an exciting pipeline of projects in British Columbia. With a robust portfolio in a tier one jurisdiction, NorthWest Copper is well positioned to participate fully in a strengthening global copper market. We are committed to working collaboratively with First Nations to advance our work in a culturally and environmentally respectful manner. Additional information can be found on the Company’s website at www.northwestcopper.ca.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors of NorthWest Copper Corp.
“Peter Bell”
Director, President and CEO