Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 22, 2022) - Bell Copper Corporation (TSXV: BCU) (OTCQB: BCUFF) ("Bell Copper" or the "Company") reports that it has initiated metallurgical testing of chalcocite-bearing porphyry core samples from its Big Sandy project. Big Sandy is a large, truncated porphyry copper-molybdenum target located in northwestern Arizona, approximately 30 kilometers south of the Company's Perseverance Project.
Highlights
- A composite sample of coarse assay rejects from the chalcocite-bearing (copper-bearing) interval 1302-1502 meters was shipped to SGS Lakefield lab in Ontario for a bank of scoping metallurgical studies
- Chalcocite is being tested for its amenability to recovery by both froth flotation and acid leaching
- Molybdenite is being tested for its amenability to concentration by froth flotation and for its rhenium content.
- High definition QEMSCAN technology is being used to characterize the mineralogical deportment of the target metals and their porphyry host rock.
Drilling and Metallurgical Testing
Vein-filling chalcocite cutting sericitized porphyry and replacing pyrite from 1365 meters.Disseminated chalcocite (bright white, reflective) in hematitic brecciated porphyry from 1303 metersDrillhole BS-3, which was oriented to test a 2400 meter by 2100 meter area of high electrical conductivity that was detected in an earlier magnetotelluric survey (refer to news release dated October 6, 2020), intersected pervasively hematitic leached capping in sericitized quartz porphyry at an inclined depth of 1192 meters. The drillhole then passed into a supergene chalcocite blanket extending between depths of 1302 and 1589 meters.
Mineralization shown is from selected intervals, and not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted at Big Sandy
Disseminated chalcocite (bright white, reflective) in hematitic brecciated porphyry from 1303 meters
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Mineralization shown is from selected intervals, and not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted at Big Sandy
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Coarse reject material that was generated during assaying of the core samples has been composited and shipped to SGS Lakefield metallurgical laboratory in Ontario to be subjected to a bank of metallurgical scoping studies. In one phase of the testing, chalcocite (copper sulfide) will be recovered via froth flotation employing standard reagents used in operating copper mills. The purpose of this testing is to 1) determine the percentage of copper that can be recovered using this common technique, 2) to determine the copper grade of the resulting concentrate, and 3) to assess the concentration of byproduct metals and deleterious elements in the concentrate. The resulting copper concentrates from the test work would then be available for discussions with copper smelting companies.
Chalcocite reject material will also be subjected to acid leach testing in order to determine if the Big Sandy chalcocite might be amenable to solution mining extraction. This testing will determine both the amount of copper that might be recoverable via acid leaching and the amount of acid that might be consumed through this process.
A separate testing regimen will focus on the utility of froth flotation for recovering molybdenite from the Big Sandy material. This lab work will assess the percentage of molybdenum that can be recovered from the rock, and the potential molybdenum grade of the concentrate that can be produced using froth flotation.
Additionally, the rhenium content of any molybdenite concentrate will be determined to assess the potential for a credit at Big Sandy from this strategic metal. Molybdenite from drillhole BS-1, located 1.2 kilometers east of BS-3, was geochronologically dated at the Colorado State University Airie Laboratory using the rhenium-osmium dating technique. That dating exercise revealed an unusually high content of rhenium in the Big Sandy BS-1 molybdenite of 8713 ± 17 ppm to 9319 ± 25 ppm. The metallurgical testing of any molybdenite concentrate from BS-3 will provide information on the variability of rhenium content over long distances in the Big Sandy porphyry system.
Finally, high definition QEMSCAN technology will be used to image the BS-3 material and determine the identity, size, and microscopic texture of the minerals hosting the target metals. This imagery will assist in optimizing grind size, reagent selection, upgrading of concentrate, and the deportment of any potential byproduct or deleterious elements.
Tim Marsh, Bell's President and CEO, and a Qualified Person as defined by NI43-101, said,
"Early testing of the metallurgical characteristics of the BS-3 chalcocite zone will allow multiple extraction scenarios to be considered. As we begin the work toward a maiden mineral resource at Big Sandy, we want to advance in parallel the long lead-time engineering studies like metallurgy that will inform our valuation of the property. We hope to demonstrate at an early stage that all of the chalcocite in BS-3 will be amenable to conventional extraction technologies, including either froth flotation or solution mining."
About Bell Copper
Bell Copper is a mineral exploration company focused on the identification, exploration and discovery of large copper deposits located in Arizona. Bell Copper is exploring its 100% owned Big Sandy Porphyry Copper Project and the Perseverance Porphyry Copper Project which is under a Joint Venture - Earn In.
Qualified Person
The technical content of this release has been reviewed and approved by Timothy Marsh, PhD, PEng., the Company's CEO and President. No mineral resource has yet been identified on the Big Sandy Project. There is no certainty that the present exploration effort will result in the identification of a mineral resource or that any mineral resource that might be discovered will prove to be economically recoverable.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of
Bell Copper Corporation
"Timothy Marsh"
Timothy Marsh, President, CEO & Director
For further information please contact the Company
Tel: 1 800 418 8250
Email: info@bellcopper.net
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "potential", "target", "budget" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof.
Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management based on the business and markets in which Bell Copper operates, are inherently subject to significant operational, economic, and competitive uncertainties, risks and contingencies. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results, and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include actual exploration results, interpretation of metallurgical characteristics of the mineralization, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, delays or inability to receive required approvals, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators, including those described in the Company's most recently filed MD&A. The Company does not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable law.
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