Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 11, 2024) - Bell Copper Corporation (TSXV: BCU) (OTCQB: BCUFF) ("Bell Copper" or the "Company reports an update on the three year research program being performed by the Arizona Geological Survey ("AZGS"), in collaboration with the University of Arizona Department of Geosciences ("UA"). These entities, funded by the United States Geological Survey and the State of Arizona, are assessing the potential resources of critical minerals in Arizona, including the Company's 100% owned Big Sandy porphyry copper project, a large, concealed porphyry copper-molybdenum project located in northwestern Arizona, approximately 30 kilometers from the Company's Perseverance Project.
Big Sandy Research
Ongoing research of Bell Copper's Big Sandy BS-3 drill core led by Dr. Carson Richardson of AZGS and by Dr. Hervé Rezeau of UA, is ultimately directed toward evaluating Big Sandy's role (alongside porphyry copper occurrences across Arizona) in addressing the US's supply of critical elements, notably copper, molybdenum, rhenium, and antimony. Exports of antimony by China, the world's largest supplier, were halted in an outright ban last week, highlighting the need to identify secure domestic supplies of this element, used primarily in munitions and specialty adhesives.
Results of AZGS's and UA's independent age dating of zircon from porphyry in Bell Copper's BS-3 porphyry intersection and zircon from the Diamond Joe porphyry root were presented in September at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (Chappell et al., 2024). This research concluded that "the geochronology of the igneous phases in the two locales overlaps within error" which "supports the hypothesis that Big Sandy is the offset upper portion of the Diamond Joe porphyry system."
AZGS's and UA's analysis of the BS-3 drill core by reflected light microscopy (photos below) shows that primary copper mineralization "mainly consists of quartz-sulfide-sulfosalt veinlets associated with pervasive sericitization of the porphyry host rock. Petrographic analysis shows that subsequent chalcopyrite and bornite as well as galena, sphalerite, and tennantite-tetrahedrite (fahlore) (Figs. B, C) postdate the deposition of pyrite hosting chalcopyrite and bornite inclusions (Fig. A). More localized Cu-rich sulfides include digenite, bornite, and covellite, which crosscut, brecciate, and fill fractures within the earlier mineral assemblages (Figs. D, E). Quartz-pyrite-molybdenite-chalcopyrite and quartz-pyrite-molybdenite veinlets along with some of these veinlets crosscut the Cu-rich sulfide-pyrite mineralization, indicating multiple episodes of pyrite and molybdenite precipitation."
Beneath the upper 200-meter interval of traditional weathering-related supergene copper enrichment in BS-3, the textures in these photographs demonstrate the operation at Big Sandy of primary, or "hypogene copper enrichment", during magmatic-hydrothermal activity. This primary enrichment, which produced elevated copper grades at porphyry deposits such as Resolution, Arizona and Butte, Montana, is believed to represent deep copper remobilization driven by heated, surface-derived fluids circulating through the system, likely powered by coeval underlying magmatic activity (Brimhall, 1979, 1980).
Mineral abbreviations: bn, bornite; cc, chalcocite; cp, chalcopyrite; dg, digenite; fh, fahlore (tennantite-tetrahedrite); gn, galena; py, pyrite; sp, sphalerite. Black bar in each panel is 100 microns (0.1 mm).
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Furthermore, in the BS-3 drill cores, AZGS and UA conclude that "the tennantite-tetrahedrite (fahlore) compositions exhibit a compositional continuum compared to those hosted in the Diamond Joe pluton. Considering the ore mineral zonation and tennantite-tetrahedrite composition, the Big Sandy prospect presents characteristics compatible with an outer mineralized shell of a porphyry Cu-Mo deposit, where the central copper-rich part is yet to be discovered." Tetrahedrite (copper antimony sulfide) is a potential source of the critical element antimony.
"Bell Copper is pleased to see the close alignment with AZGS and UA regarding the nature of the Big Sandy porphyry copper system as disclosed so far in drillhole BS-3. The Company continues to engage with major copper miners to secure strategic financing to get our drill turning again at Big Sandy, while a rejuvenation of previously dysfunctional mining capital markets, spurred by the U.S presidential election and emphasized by recent disruptions in global critical mineral supply chains, is providing new avenues to obtain the needed funds. In the drilling lull since August, the Company has extended its permit with the Arizona State Land Department to drill eight additional holes from the BS-4 site through October 2025. We remain committed to delivering thorough follow-up drilling of the significant copper discovery at Big Sandy."
- Dr. Tim Marsh, Bell Copper President & CEO.
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.
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.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of
Bell Copper Corporation
"Timothy Marsh"
Timothy Marsh, President, CEO & Director
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 in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the ability of Bell to identify a mineral resource at the Perseverance or Big Sandy Projects. 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. 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: that the Company may not complete a strategic financing on terms favourable to the Company or at all; 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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