Universal Copper (TSX Venture: UNV) has announced drilling has commenced on their 62,000 hectare Poplar Copper Property, southwest of Houston in British Columbia.
The purpose of the drilling was to expand the previously known copper deposit to depth by drilling a 511m vertical hole. Results have shown disseminated chalcopyrite from a depth of 160m to the end of the hole, with several sections showing stronger mineralization. Molybdenite was concentrated in the quartz veins and quartz stockworks.
Clive Massey, Universal Copper’s CEO, commented on the preliminary findings: “We are very pleased to see excellent copper mineralization throughout the drill hole and eagerly await the assay results. We continue to push toward an expansion of the historic resource and a new current mineral resource.”
Additional holes on the property are already in the planning stages.
Implementing a quality assurance/quality control program
Universal Copper has implemented a QA/QC program using best industry practices at the Poplar Copper Property. Drill core samples are was sawn in half for the entire length of the hole and sampled in intervals of 3 metres, unless lithology, alteration or mineralization dictated shorter sample intervals. Prior to transport, individual samples are securely labelled, placed in plastic sample bags, sealed and stored.
Analysis of this initial drill hole (19-PC-129) will be released once Universal Copper has received and reviewed the assay results to compare the historic IP conclusion of mineralization continuing to depth is valid.
About the Poplar Copper Property
The Poplar copper deposit hosts an historical indicated mineral resource of 131 million tonnes grading 0.31 per cent copper, 0.009 per cent molybdenum, 0.09 gram per tonne gold and 2.39 grams per tonne silver, and a historical inferred mineral resource of 132 million tonnes grading 0.27 per cent Cu, 0.005 per cent Mo, 0.07 g/t Au and 3.75 g/t Ag has been identified through the drilling of 147 historical holes.
These historical indicated and inferred resources were disclosed by Lions Gate Metals Inc. in its technical report dated March 30, 2012, prepared by Gary Giroux, PEng.
To determine the historical resource, a 3-D solid was constructed to constrain the mineralized area, using a 0.1-per-cent-copper-grade shell as a guide. Large internal waste zones were modelled as were some larger-postmineral dikes. Of the total database, 129 drill holes totalling 37,205 metres were within the mineralized zone and were used to estimate the resource. Drill holes were compared with the mineralized solid, and assays were tagged if inside. Copper, molybdenum, gold and silver assays within the mineralized solid were capped at 1.4 per cent Cu, 0.14 per cent Mo, 0.34 g/t Au and 41 g/t Ag, respectively. Five-metre composites were formed and used for variography.
For this estimate and to aid with some preliminary planning, the blocks were reduced to five by five by 10 metres in dimension and were estimated for Cu, Mo, Au and Ag by ordinary kriging. The historical resource is classified as indicated and inferred based on each block’s proximity to data and the grade continuity. The historical indicated and historical inferred resource uses the categories set out in Section 1.2 of National Instrument 43-101.
Universal will need to review and verify the historical drilling database and twin a number of the existing drill holes to bring the historical resources current. Investors are cautioned a qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves and therefore Universal is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves.
