Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 19, 2024) - Sun Summit Minerals Corp. (TSXV: SMN) (OTCQB: SMREF) is pleased to announce its 2024 exploration plans for the road accessible JD Project, which will include diamond drilling at multiple high-priority zones, a project-wide LiDAR survey, an Induced Polarization ("IP") geophysical survey, structural mapping, infill soil geochemical sampling and prospecting.
2024 Exploration Program Highlights:
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Sun Summit is planning to drill up to 4,000 metres in a phased work program, commencing with up to 2,000 metres of drilling at the near-surface, epithermal-related gold-silver Creek and Finn zones.
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A 20-line kilometre IP survey, designed to infill historical IP surveys and to cover new targets, will be completed. This survey will aid in the interpretation of both previous ground and airborne-defined anomalies and build on depth imaging for interpreted gold-hosted structural features.
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A soil geochemical survey with up to 2,000 soil samples on select targets to both infill historical soil data and further define gold targets lacking soil geochemical data.
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Detailed structural mapping in the Creek to Finn Corridor to identify significant structural features that will greatly aid in drill orientation, particularly at the Creek Zone where the interpreted orientation of gold-bearing vein-hosted structures is unknown.
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Property-wide LiDAR data and aerial photography with expected sub-metre accuracy and orthorectified color aerial photography. Products such as a bare earth model, digital elevation model (DEM) and digital surface model (DSM) will greatly aid in planning and definition of interpreted geological features, and will accurately locate historical exploration roads, trails, drill pads and trenches.
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The exploration program is expected to commence in late-June with drilling expected to commence mid-July.
Sharyn Alexander, Sun Summit's President, commented: "The team at Sun Summit is excited to finalize the 2024 exploration plans for the JD Project, after months of in-depth historical data compilation, intensive modeling, and discussion with the exploration team. We are very proud to announce our first drill program at JD consisting of high-priority targets near existing zones and new targets with discovery potential. The JD project represents a unique opportunity in a prospective region, and we are very thankful to the shareholders who have remained steadfast in their support of the Company and our plans for progression. We expect to have exciting results to disclose over the coming months as the program develops."
The JD Project is located in the prolific Toodoggone gold-copper district in north-central British Columbia (Figure 1). The 15,000-hectare JD Project contains numerous under-explored epithermal-related gold-silver targets as well as porphyry-related copper-gold targets.
APEX Geoscience of Edmonton, AB, have been engaged as Geological Consultants to the Company and will oversee all aspects of the field program. APEX Geoscience are well regarded in the exploration sector for professional geological services and have extensive and relevant experience managing large, complex exploration programs in the Toodoggone district.
The property-wide data digitization and compilation program of over 50 years of exploration history is ongoing and continues to highlight emerging mineralized targets for further development. The database currently holds exploration data that represents approximately 16,000 soil samples, 2,000 rock samples, 130 trenches, over 330 drill holes, and numerous ground- and airborne-based geophysical datasets.
Figure 1: JD Project 2024 Exploration Program
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Target Definition:
Creek Zone
The Creek Zone has significant, untested potential for sulphide-rich, structurally-controlled, high grade gold intercepts as evidenced by the limited historical drilling which returned intervals such as 22.0 metres* of 11.7 g/t Au including 4.0 metres of 61.2 g/t Au from discovery hole CZ97-0081 (see February 12, 2024, news release).
Historical core sampling was locally selective and left significant gaps in assay data, which limits the systematic evaluation of gold tenor, continuity of mineralization nor target scale potential. Two drill holes that were continuously sampled, however, demonstrate the presence of previously unrecognized bulk-tonnage style gold mineralization (e.g., 72.3 metres at 0.8 g/t Au including 4.3 metres at 6.7 g/t Au in CZ98-0092).
Drilling is planned to step-out from the 1997 high-grade discovery hole to evaluate the orientation and extent of the gold mineralization. Continuous sampling from top-of-hole will provide better insight into the bulk-tonnage potential as well as a full spectrum of multi-element geochemistry to define pathfinder element associations. Wider-spaced, step-out drill holes along trend will evaluate the scale of the bulk-tonnage system as well as targeting higher-grade veins.
The Creek Zone is underlain primarily by andesite flows and volcanic breccias of the Toodoggone formation. Near-surface high-grade gold mineralization is associated with replacement-style, pyrite, sphalerite, galena and chalcopyrite within a broad zone of quartz-carbonate stockwork. The Creek zone was first discovered in 1997 but only limited follow-up drilling over an interpreted strike-length of over 450 metres was conducted in 1998, after which no further drilling was completed.
Finn Zone
The Finn Zone demonstrates the high-grade gold and silver potential of a near-surface epithermal-related system with historical intercepts such as 35.7 metres* of 7.26 g/t Au including 1.0 metre of 215.4 g/t Au from drill hole JD95-0473 (see February 1, 2024, news release). Step-out drilling at the Finn Zone is designed to confirm structural controls, while deeper drilling will investigate the geometry and grade of the locally strongly mineralized footwall zone Drilling down-dip will investigate mineralization continuity and explore for additional higher-grade zones.
Mineralization at the Finn Zone is primarily hosted in the hanging wall of a gently north-dipping, northeast-striking, inferred reverse fault that separates two andesite-dominant lithological units of the Toodoggone Formation (Figure 1). Faulting and subsequent mineralization likely exploited a basal volcaniclastic unit where epithermal-related fluids were focused along permeable volcanic breccias. The core of the Finn Zone consists of strongly altered polymictic breccias, locally cemented with quartz and mineralized with pyrite with lesser sphalerite, galena, and chalcopyrite. The fault is traced for over 1.5 kilometres along strike to the west from the Finn Zone.
Finn to Creek Corridor
Strong discovery potential exists at multiple epithermal-related gold and silver mineralized targets along the 4.5 kilometre Finn to Creek trend. These targets include Wolf, Schmitt, and Ag Carbonate, where previous rock-chip sampling** yielded encouraging high-grade results such as 35.4 g/t Au and 44.8 g/t Ag (sample 17102554, Wolf target), 27.30 g/t Au and 43 g/t Ag (sample 17105554, Wolf target), 14.8 g/t Au and 910 g/t Ag (sample 17105294, Ag Carbonate target) and 18.9 g/t Au and 300 g/t Ag (sample 17102564, Schmitt target) (see May 2, 2024, news release).
* Note intervals are downhole core lengths. True widths are unknown
**Assay results are historical and have been compiled from sources believed to be accurate. Grab samples are selective in nature and the resulting assays may not be representative of all mineralization across the project
National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure
This news release has been reviewed and approved by Sun Summit's Vice President Exploration, Ken MacDonald, P. Geo., a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators. He has not been able to verify the historical exploration data disclosed, including sampling, analytical and test data, underlying the technical information in this news release since such data is historical and the original drill core is not readily available. Technical information contained in this release is historical in nature and has been compiled from public sources believed to be accurate. The technical information has not been verified by Sun Summit and may in some instances be unverifiable dependent on the existence of historical drill core and grab samples.
Community Engagement
Sun Summit is engaging with First Nations on whose territory our projects are located and is discussing their interests and identifying contract and work opportunities, as well as opportunities to support community initiatives. The Company looks forward to continuing to work with local and regional First Nations with ongoing exploration.
About the JD Project
The JD Project is located in the Toodoggone mining district in north-central British Columbia, a highly prospective deposit-rich mineral trend. The project covers an area of over 15,000 hectares and is in close proximity to active exploration and development projects, such as Thesis Gold's Lawyers and Ranch projects, TDG Gold's Baker-Shasta projects, Centerra's Gold's Kemess East and Underground projects, as well as the past-producing Kemess open pit copper-gold mine.
The project is 450 kilometres northwest of the city of Prince George, and 25 kilometres north of the Sturdee airstrip. It is proximal to existing infrastructure in place to support the past-producing Kemess mine, including roads and a hydroelectric power line.
The JD Project is in a favourable geological environment characterized by both high-grade epithermal gold and silver mineralization, as well as porphyry-related copper and gold mineralization. Some historical exploration, including drilling, geochemistry and geophysics, has been carried out on the property, however the project area is largely underexplored.
About Sun Summit
Sun Summit Minerals (TSXV: SMN) (OTCQB: SMREF) is a mineral exploration company focused on expansion and discovery of district scale gold and copper assets in British Columbia. The Company's diverse portfolio includes the JD Project in the Toodoggone region of north-central B.C., and the Buck Project in central B.C.
Further details are available at www.sunsummitminerals.com.
References
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CZ97-008 data: Hawkins, P.A. (1998), Exploration report on the Creek Zone, Toodoggone River Area, BC., for Antares Mining and Exploration Corporation and AGC Americas Gold Corp, (private report); reported in Assessment Report Indexing System, Report 25757, https://apps.nrs.gov.bc.ca/pub/aris
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CZ98-009: Davis, J.W., and Jamieson, M.D. (1998), Drilling and Geophysical Report on the M.H. Mineral Clain Group, Toodoggone District, Assessment Report Indexing System, Report 25757, https://apps.nrs.gov.bc.ca/pub/aris
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JD95-047: Krause, R.G. (1996), 1995 Geological Report on the JD Gold Silver Property, Toodoggone River Area, Omineca Mining Division, British Columbia, Assessment Report Indexing System, Report 24284, https://apps.nrs.gov.bc.ca/pub/aris
Link to Figures
Figure 1: https://wp-sunsummitminerals-2024.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/media/2024/06/Fig-1-JD-2024-Exploration-NR.jpg
On behalf of the board of directors
Brian Lock
For further information, contact:
Sharyn Alexander
President
info@sunsummitminerals.com
Matthew Benedetto
Simone Capital
mbenedetto@simonecapital.ca
Tel. 416-817-1226
Forward Looking Information
Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements, which involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition, the forward-looking statements require management to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There is significant risk that the forward-looking statements will not prove to be accurate, that the management's assumptions may not be correct and that actual results may differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Generally forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terminology such as "anticipate", "will", "expect", "may", "continue", "could", "estimate", "forecast", "plan", "potential" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release may include, but are not limited to, potential mineralization, exploration plans, and engagement with First Nations communities. These forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect which, without limiting the generality of the following, include: risks inherent in exploration activities; the impact of exploration competition; unexpected geological or hydrological conditions; changes in government regulations and policies, including trade laws and policies; failure to obtain necessary permits and approvals from government authorities; volatility and sensitivity to market prices; volatility and sensitivity to capital market fluctuations; the ability to raise funds through private or public equity financings; environmental and safety risks including increased regulatory burdens; weather and other natural phenomena; and other exploration, development, operating, financial market and regulatory risks. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof or the dates specifically referenced in this press release, where applicable. Except as required by applicable securities laws and regulation, Sun Summit disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
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.
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