Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 10, 2022) - US Copper Corp (TSXV: USCU) (OTCQB: USCUF) (FSE: C73) ("US Copper" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has signed a drilling contract with Timberline Drilling Inc. to drill a minimum of 10,000 feet ("ft") at the Engels deposit, part of US Copper's Moonlight-Superior Copper Project in Plumas County, California.
This drill program will target an 800 ft by 400 ft by 700 ft envelope of open-pit grade copper mineralization surrounding the historic underground Engels Mine. This mineralization was initially recognized in underground drill holes during the 1915-1930 mining operation but was considered too low-grade for exploitation in an underground mine. More recent historical surface drilling, which was primarily focused on defining shallow copper oxide mineralization, encountered substantial thicknesses of good open pit grade copper sulfide mineralization:
| DH# | From (ft) | To (ft) | Interval (ft) | Cu % | Comments |
| 07E07 | 0 | 65 | 65 | 0.67 | 2007, Sheffield, oxide |
| and | 269 | 374 | 105 | 0.45 | sulfide |
| and | 564 | 728 | 164 | 0.87 | sulfide |
| 07E18 | 125 | 257 | 132 | 1.20 | 2007, Sheffield, sulfide |
| 08E37 | 282 | 394 | 112 | 0.59 | 2008, Sheffield, sulfide |
"This mineralization is not closed off in any direction and has the potential to be a stand-alone, open pit copper mine on its own," commented Stephen Dunn, US Copper's President and CEO. "In conjunction with the Moonlight deposit and the Superior deposit, which was enhanced by last year's drill program, the combined 3-pit resource has the potential to be a long-lived profitable mining operation. Drilling is scheduled to start in the spring based on drill rig availability."
The Engels copper deposit is located about 6,000 ft (1,830 metres ("m")) east of our Moonlight deposit and 11,000 ft (335 m) north of the Superior deposit. Engels was mined in the 1915-1930 period, yielding approximately 2.7 million tons at a grade of 2.2 % copper. Mine workings are extensive and include many tens of thousands of feet of drifts, crosscuts, and stopes on ten levels accessed by adits and six levels accessed from a winze sunk from the No. 10 level.
Geologically, the Engels deposit lies outside the eastern margin of the Lights Creek quartz monzonite stock in an area of gabbroic intrusives and metavolcanic roof pendants. Engels is structurally-controlled in a shear zone striking northeast and dipping steeply. Mined and processed ore occurs in an 800 ft by 60 ft (240 m by 20 m) pipe like zone and is associated with breccias that exhibit features characteristic of both intrusion and hydrothermal breccia. Narrow high-grade ore shoots were mined to depths of up to 2,000 ft (600 m), and historical drilling indicates that good grade mineralization extends at least another 300 ft (91 m) down ~2,300 ft (670 m) below surface (16th level). The principal sulfide ore minerals are bornite and chalcopyrite, and copper grades exceeding 15% Cu have been encountered in several 6.5 ft (2 m) core intercepts. Remaining known significant copper mineralization from historical workings and drill holes varies from 0.2% Cu to well over 1.0%.
Copper mineralization at Engels is strongly oxidized to depths >230 ft (70 m) over an area of at least~1,000 ft by >300 ft. Assay analysis for sulfuric acid soluble copper in a portion of samples from the post-2004 drilling indicate copper oxides represent 90% of total copper within these depths. Copper oxide minerals consist primarily as malachite with lesser chryscolla and azurite.
US Copper had a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") prepared on its Moonlight deposit in 2018 that showed positive economics at $3.15 copper. It was determined that providing higher grade ore from our Superior and/or Engels deposits into the Moonlight mine plan would substantially enhance the Project's economics by increasing cash flows in the initial years of production. The recently completed drill program at Superior was designed specifically for that purpose, and this Engels drill program will outline a second starter pit for the Moonlight plant. Ultimately, the updated Engels and Superior resources will be incorporated into a revised Moonlight PEA.
The Company also announces that incentive stock options to purchase up to 400,000 common shares have been granted to various consultants of the Company pursuant to the Company's stock option plan and are subject to any regulatory approval. Each stock option vests immediately and is exercisable at $0.10 for a period of three years from the grant date.
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical content of this press release has been reviewed and approved by George Cole, M.Sc., Director of US Copper who is a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. George Cole is a Registered Professional Geologist through AIPG (CPG-11687).
About US Copper Corp
US Copper controls approximately 13 square miles of patented and unpatented federal mining claims in the Light's Creek Copper District in Plumas County, NE California; essentially, the entire District. The District contains substantial copper (silver) sulfide and copper oxide resources in three deposits - Moonlight, Superior and Engels, as well as several partially tested and untested exploration targets.
The Superior and Engels Mines operated from about 1915-1930 producing over 161 million pounds of copper from over 4 million tons of rock containing 2.2% copper with silver and gold credits.
The Moonlight Deposit was discovered and drilled by Placer Amex during the 1960's. Details of the resources on US Copper's property and the parameters used to calculate them can be found in the "Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Moonlight Deposit, Moonlight-Superior Copper Project, California, USA" dated April 12, 2018, on both the company's website at www.uscoppercorp.com or on www.sedar.com under the US Copper Corp profile.
For Further Information Contact:
Mr. Stephen Dunn, President, CEO and Director, US Copper Corp (416) 361-2827 or email info@uscoppercorp.com.
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 press release.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws and regulations, including statements regarding the future activities of the Company. Forward-looking statements reflect the current beliefs and expectations of management and are identified by the use of words including "will", "hopes", "anticipates", "expected to", "plans", "planned", "intends" and other similar words. Actual results may differ significantly. The achievement of the results expressed in forward-looking statements is subject to a number of risks, including those described in the Company's management discussion and analysis as filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities which are available at www.sedar.com. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon forward-looking statements.
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