Ivanhoe Electric Reports Best Copper-Gold-Silver Intersection To Date at Its Hog Heaven Project in Montana
- Significant copper intersection at Hog Heaven Project in Montana.
- Drill hole HHD-014 intersects high-grade mineralization with copper, gold, and silver.
- Mineralization remains open in multiple directions.
- Scale of drilling program demonstrates over 800 meters in strike length.
- Focus on identifying the underlying porphyry source.
- None.
Insights
The reported intersections by Ivanhoe Electric Inc. at the Hog Heaven Project indicate a substantial presence of copper, gold and silver, which is significant given the current demands for these metals. The high-sulfidation epithermal mineralization suggests that the project area has the potential to host a large-scale mineral system, which could be critical for the company's resource base expansion. The extended strike length of over 800 meters and the system remaining open in multiple directions are promising for the continuity of mineralization.
From a market perspective, the discovery of high-grade zones, such as the one with 5.78% copper, could lead to a re-evaluation of the project's economic viability. The use of Typhoon™ survey technology to guide exploration drilling activities may also be seen as a positive move towards efficient resource delineation. Investors should be aware that the project is still in the exploration phase and the transition to a production phase would require further capital and time. Nevertheless, the current findings could positively influence investor sentiment and potentially impact Ivanhoe Electric's stock value in the short to medium term.
The intersection of high-grade copper and precious metals within both the volcanic diatreme and surrounding sediments is indicative of a robust high-sulfidation system. The presence of enargite, a copper sulfosalt and pyrite in both disseminations and veins is characteristic of such systems, which are typically associated with large porphyry copper deposits. The company's strategy to drill deeper and test for porphyry mineralization at depth is a logical step in exploring the vertical extent of the system.
Understanding the geological context is essential for stakeholders, as the diatreme-volcanic pipe and its margins are traditionally prospective zones for mineralization. The high-grade vein zone, including the impressive assay of 21.7% copper over 1.1 meters, even after capping at 10%, is an indicator of the potential for economically extractable resources. The capping method used in reporting is a standard practice to prevent overestimation of grades, which reflects a responsible approach to resource reporting. The results from the Hog Heaven Project may not only extend the life of the mine but could also increase the overall resource estimate, which is a key driver for valuation in the mining sector.
The exploration results from Ivanhoe Electric Inc. have significant implications for the company's financial prospects. The discovery of high-grade copper and precious metals could lead to an increase in the company's asset value, which is a critical factor for investors. It is important to note that exploration and development costs can be substantial and the company's ability to finance these activities will be important for the project's advancement. The potential for a new porphyry system could also attract partnership opportunities or even acquisition interest from larger mining companies seeking to bolster their copper portfolios.
Investors should consider the long-term potential against the inherent risks of exploration, including geological, regulatory and market risks. The company's strategic use of advanced exploration technologies like Typhoon™ may reduce geological risk by improving targeting accuracy. The project's location on private land may streamline permitting processes, reducing regulatory risk. However, fluctuations in metal prices can affect the project's profitability and thus, the company's financial performance. Monitoring the progress of the exploration and subsequent feasibility studies will be key for evaluating the project's impact on Ivanhoe Electric's financial health.
Drill Hole HHD-014 Intersects 82 Meters Containing
High-Grade Vein Zone Includes 3.95 Meters Containing
Mineralization in Drill Hole HHD-014 Intersected over 500 Meters West of Flathead Mine, and Remains Open in Several Directions
Drilling To Date Demonstrated the High-Sulfidation Epithermal Mineralization has a Strike Length of at least 800 Meters Around the Northern Edge of the Flathead Diatreme
PHOENIX, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / April 2, 2024 / Ivanhoe Electric Inc. ("Ivanhoe Electric") (NYSE American:IE)(TSX:IE) Executive Chairman, Robert Friedland and President and Chief Executive Officer, Taylor Melvin are pleased to announce a significant intersection of copper in high-sulfidation epithermal mineralization at the Hog Heaven Project located on private land approximately 50 miles southwest of Kalispell, Montana.
Mr. Friedland commented: "Since our earliest drill holes at Hog Heaven, we have been struck by the widespread sulfide mineralization containing a wide variety of both base and precious metals seen throughout the system. This is the smoke to a potentially special porphyry system. Today's results are a great endorsement of our faith in this special part of the earth's crust. We will continue to drill deep, and around the clock at our Hog Heaven and Tintic projects."
Mr. Melvin commented: "We are pleased to report the positive results seen in recent assays from the ongoing drilling at our Hog Heaven Project on private land in Montana. The high-grade, increasingly copper-rich intercepts at drill hole HHD-014 are the latest evidence of the potential for a significant discovery at Hog Heaven. Mineralization continues to be open in several directions, and we are actively drilling to identify the underlying porphyry source of the high-sulfidation system. We are using the results of our recent TyphoonTM survey at Hog Heaven to guide our exploration drilling activities."
Drill hole HHD-014 intersected several zones of copper, gold and silver-rich mineralization hosted in both the volcanic diatreme and surrounding sediments. Mineralization manifests as both enargite and pyrite in disseminations and diffuse veins within the volcanic rocks. Significant thicknesses of this disseminated and vein-hosted mineralization have been intersected:
- 82 meters at
0.63% copper, 0.32 g/t gold and 37.8 g/t silver from 568 meters; - This interval includes some exceptional grades, best represented by a series of enargite-pyrite veins at
5.78% copper, 2.2 g/t gold and 264.7 g/t silver over 3.95 meters from 631 meters; - The highest single assay in this vein zone returned
21.7% copper, 3.94 g/t gold and 510 g/t silver over 1.1 meters from 632 meters.
The single
Our drilling at Hog Heaven demonstrates the system has significant scale, and these recent results show an increase in copper-dominated mineralization. The intersection featured in HHD-014 reflects a 500 meter step out to the west of the areas mined at the historical Flathead Mine. Taken together with Ivanhoe Electric drilling beneath the Flathead Mine, the mineralized system now has a strike length of over 800 meters and is open in multiple directions.
The copper-rich intersection in HHD-014 is focused near the margin of the diatreme volcanic pipe with the host sediments, which remains untested along much of its extent, as is evidenced in Figure 1.
Shallower in HHD-014, a significant intersection in the sedimentary rocks outside of the diatreme ran 28 meters at
Drill hole HHD-014 targeted the area where a corridor of conductive rocks, identified by TyphoonTM, intersects the diatreme margin at the junction of an interpreted north-south structure, which is known to focus mineralization at the nearby Flathead Mine.
Photo 1: HHD-014 at 632.07 meters, massive enargite-pyrite infill and replacement. Enargite (black) is a copper sulfosalt normally containing
Photo 2: HHD-014 544.35 meters, a pyrite-enargite cemented breccia with fragments of sedimentary rock in a matrix of massive sulfide. The specimen shows replacement textures of the sedimentary rock fragments.
Figure 1: Hog Heaven plan map showing Ivanhoe Electric drill hole locations, historical mine workings, historical drilling, and the interpreted margin of the diatreme complex.
Figure 2: East-west cross section from the Flathead Mine to HHD-014 to the west. The intersection in HHD-014 extends mineralization over 500 meters west of the Flathead Mine, demonstrating a system that is currently greater than 800 meters in strike length and open in multiple directions.
Drill program update
Drilling at Hog Heaven continues with one diamond drill rig on HHD-016 to test for porphyry mineralization at depth between drill holes HHD-014 and HHD-010, which both intersected evidence for proximity to a porphyry system. The next phase of drilling, which includes a minimum of three holes over 3,000 meters, is intended to step out widely to test for the transition to a porphyry copper system below and/or adjacent to the high-sulfidation epithermal mineralization.
Table 1: Recent drill hole intercepts for the Hog Heaven Project (refer to Hog Heaven Drill Results on Ivanhoe Electric's website for complete details of all reported drill holes).
DRILL | FROM | TO | INTERVAL | CuEq* | AuEq* | Au | Ag | Cu | Pb | Zn |
HOLE | (M) | (M) | LENGTH | (%) | (g/t) | (g/t) | (g/t) | (%) | (%) | (%) |
(M) | ||||||||||
HHD-010 | 219.20 | 296.00 | 76.80 | 0.66 | 1.05 | 0.22 | 18.63 | 0.03 | 0.53 | 0.61 |
Including | 260.70 | 278.00 | 17.30 | 1.12 | 1.71 | 0.37 | 41.38 | 0.13 | 0.74 | 0.67 |
And | 396.00 | 416.00 | 20.00 | 0.69 | 1.06 | 0.38 | 37.02 | 0.03 | 0.10 | 0.21 |
And | 513.80 | 589.39 | 75.59 | 0.68 | 1.03 | 0.52 | 22.50 | 0.10 | 0.06 | 0.08 |
And | 647.00 | 770.00 | 123.00 | 0.35 | 0.53 | 0.16 | 7.22 | 0.13 | 0.07 | 0.10 |
HHD-011 | 241.00 | 451.00 | 210.00 | 0.59 | 0.90 | 0.49 | 17.37 | 0.05 | 0.12 | 0.14 |
Including | 407.00 | 435.00 | 28.00 | 1.05 | 1.60 | 0.97 | 32.95 | 0.08 | 0.12 | 0.06 |
HHD-012 | 282.12 | 439.00 | 156.88 | 0.61 | 0.93 | 0.34 | 18.77 | 0.09 | 0.24 | 0.22 |
Including | 282.12 | 330.04 | 49.92 | 0.85 | 1.30 | 0.40 | 29.52 | 0.11 | 0.40 | 0.42 |
HHD-013 | Assays Pending | |||||||||
HHD-014 | 528.00 | 556.00 | 28.00 | 1.34 | 2.05 | 0.59 | 69.70 | 0.30 | 0.06 | 0.14 |
Including | 544.00 | 549.25 | 5.25 | 3.48 | 5.31 | 1.84 | 184.31 | 0.58 | 0.19 | 0.19 |
And | 568.00 | 650.00 | 82.00 | 1.22 | 1.87 | 0.32 | 37.76 | 0.63 | 0.06 | 0.15 |
Uncapped | 568.00 | 650.00 | 82.00 | - | - | 0.32 | 37.76 | 0.79 | 0.06 | 0.15 |
Including | 630.55 | 646.30 | 15.75 | 3.40 | 5.18 | 0.72 | 97.06 | 1.97 | 0.10 | 0.28 |
Including | 630.55 | 634.50 | 3.95 | 9.65 | 14.73 | 5.78 | 264.73 | 2.20 | 0.13 | 0.36 |
Uncapped | 630.55 | 634.50 | 3.95 | - | - | 5.78 | 264.73 | 9.13 | 0.13 | 0.36 |
Including | 631.55 | 632.68 | 1.13 | 17.24 | 26.31 | 3.94 | 519.00 | 21.70 | 0.24 | 0.67 |
*The following long term metal prices were used: 3.80$/lb Cu, 1,707$/oz Au, 22.42$/oz Ag, 0.93$/lb Pb, and 1.19$/lb Zn.
*The specific formula used to report CuEq (%) is Cu% + ((0.655098368532259) * Au(g/t)) + ((0.00860416501017281) * Ag(g/t)) + (0.244736842105263) * Pb (%)) + ((0.313157894736842) * Zn (%))
**The specific formula used to report AuEq (g/t) is Au(g/t) + ((1.52648830776436) * Cu (%)) + ((0.013134157286104) * Ag(g/t)) + ((0.373417847087258) * Pb (%)) + ((0.478031065946989) * Zn (%))
*Flat recoveries of
*Intervals were derived on a AuEq basis with a cutoff of 0.25g/t AuEq
*Maximum internal dilution of 5 meters was applied
*Copper assays were capped to
*These are not true widths
Photo 3: Geologist, Renata Smoke, collecting hyperspectral readings of drill core at the Hog Heaven Project, Montana.
Photo 4: Exploration team inspecting core samples at the Hog Heaven Project, Montana.
Qualified Persons
Disclosures of a scientific or technical nature included in this news release, including the sampling, analytical and technical data underlying the information, have been reviewed, verified and approved by Shawn Vandekerkhove, P.Geo, who is a Qualified Person as defined by Regulation S-K, Subpart 1300 promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and by Canadian National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Vandekerkhove is an employee of Ivanhoe Electric.
Other Technical Information
Ivanhoe Electric employs industry standard QA/QC and data verification protocols. The diamond drill holes were completed using PQ and HQ diameters. The drill core was cut lengthwise into halves using a diamond-bladed saw, with one-half used for the assay sample and the other half retained in core boxes and archived at site. Pulps and rejects are also stored on site for archival purposes. Mineralized zones were generally sampled at 2 meter intervals. Each core sample was placed into a bag with a unique numbered sample identification tag. Quality control samples were inserted between core samples using the same numbering sequence. Then samples were grouped into batches for shipping and laboratory submissions. Chain of custody records are maintained for sample shipments and the custody is transferred from Ivanhoe Electric expeditor to the laboratory upon delivery.
Samples were shipped to ALS Laboratories in Twin Falls, Idaho, for sample preparation and analysis. Samples were analyzed using customary four acid digestion and ICP-MS finish. A standard gold fire assay package was used to analyze gold. Silver content was assessed using either HCl leach and ICP-AES finish or fire assay with gravimetric finish depending on silver concentrations. ALS Minerals Twin Falls is an independent laboratory certified under ISO 9001:2008 and accredited under ISO/IEC 17025:2005 by the Standards Council of Canada.
About Ivanhoe Electric
We are a U.S. company that combines advanced mineral exploration technologies with electric metals exploration projects predominantly located in the United States. We use our accurate and powerful TyphoonTM geophysical surveying system, together with advanced data analytics provided by our subsidiary, Computational Geosciences Inc., to accelerate and de-risk the mineral exploration process as we seek to discover new deposits of critical metals that may otherwise be undetectable by traditional exploration technologies. We believe the United States is significantly underexplored and has the potential to yield major new discoveries of critical metals. Our mineral exploration efforts focus on copper as well as other metals including nickel, vanadium, cobalt, platinum group elements, gold and silver. Through the advancement of our portfolio of electric metals exploration projects, headlined by the Santa Cruz Copper Project in Arizona and the Tintic Copper-Gold Project in Utah, as well as other exploration projects in the United States, we intend to support United States supply chain independence by finding and delivering the critical metals necessary for the electrification of the economy. We also operate a 50/50 joint venture with Saudi Arabian Mining Company Ma'aden to explore for minerals on ~48,500 km2 of underexplored Arabian Shield in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Website: www.ivanhoeelectric.com.
Contact Information
Lucy Chitilian, CFA, Director, Investor Relations:
Email: Lucy.Chitilian@IvanhoeElectric.com
Phone: 1-520-602-7536
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Ivanhoe Electric's Executive Chairman Robert Friedland: @robert_ivanhoe
Ivanhoe Electric: @ivanhoeelectric
Ivanhoe Electric's investor relations website located at www.ivanhoeelectric.com should be considered Ivanhoe Electric's recognized distribution channel for purposes of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation FD.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable US and Canadian securities laws. Such statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Ivanhoe Electric, its projects, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "estimate", "scheduled", "forecast", "predict" and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. These statements reflect Ivanhoe Electric's current expectations regarding future events, performance and results and speak only as of the date of this news release.
Such statements in this news release include, without limitation, timing and results of drilling activities, the receipt of assay results, the potential existence of a porphyry deposit at the Hog Heaven Project, the potential to find additional mineralization, the number of drill rigs operating at the project, and other planned or potential developments in the businesses of Ivanhoe Electric.
Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. Such statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to various factors, including changes in the prices of copper or other metals Ivanhoe Electric is exploring for; the results of exploration and drilling activities and/or the failure of exploration programs or studies to deliver anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued exploration, studies, development or operations; the final assessment of exploration results and information that is preliminary; the significant risk and hazards associated with any future mining operations; extensive regulation by federal, state and local governments; changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of parties contracting with Ivanhoe Electric to perform as agreed; and the impact of political, economic and other uncertainties associated with operating in foreign countries. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements and risk factors described in Ivanhoe Electric's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
No assurance can be given that such future results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release. Ivanhoe Electric cautions you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Subject to applicable securities laws, Ivanhoe Electric does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this news release, and Ivanhoe Electric expressly disclaims any requirement to do so.
SOURCE: Ivanhoe Electric Inc.
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