American Eagle drills 0.74% CuEq over 606 metres at NAK, British Columbia
American Eagle Gold Corp.’s [TSX-AE; OTCQB-AMEGF] hole NAK23-17 has intersected 302 metres of 1.09% copper equivalent within 606 metres of 0.74% copper equivalent (CuEq) beginning at 98 metres down hole, west of the South zone at its NAK copper-gold porphyry project in British Columbia, Canada.
Hole NAK23-17 was collared more than 250 metres distant from any previous drill hole on the property, the nearest being hole NAK23-11, which intersected 473 metres of 0.62% CuEq from surface. The high-grade intercept in NAK23-17 has served to confirm and improve upon the scale and tenor of high-grade mineralization discovered west of the historically defined South Zone, by showing continuity between the higher-grade mineralization in hole NAK23-11 and that in holes NAK23-08 and NAK22-01. For the 2024 drill program, the company intends to test and expand this area of higher-grade mineralization, identify where it reaches the surface, and to determine how much farther it extends to the south, west, and north, including possible connections to deeper, higher-grade mineralization at the North Zone, such as that intersected in drill holes NAK22-04 and NAK23-12.
“The more we drill, the better NAK gets, as shown by the bold, westerly step out with NAK23-17. This risk paid off, revealing what may be a high-grade mineralized belt that remains open to the north and the south, and proving that the high-grade mineralization encountered previously in NAK23-11 is extensive in both the vertical and east-west dimensions. 2022’s drill program demonstrated that NAK is a copper and gold porphyry system with a very large near-surface footprint that extends to depth. Since then, we have identified increasingly high-grade zones throughout 2023. Intersecting 302 metres of 1.09% CuEq grade in our final 2023 drill hole suggests that our evolving understanding of NAK’s geology has been efficient and successful. We look forward to our 2024 drill campaign, and to continue making discoveries that deliver value to American Eagle shareholders and our partners in exploration in the Babine Lake region,” stated CEO Anthony Moreau.
Drill hole NAK23-17 returned 301.1 metres of 0.53 g/t gold, 0.40% copper, 1.27 g/t gold and 441.4 ppm molybdenum within 450.7 metres of 0.44 g/t gold, 0.33% copper, 1.15 g/t silver and 326.3 ppm moly within 606 2 metres of 0.35 g/t gold, 0.30% copper, 1.14 g/t silver and 255.70 ppm moly within 771 metres of 0.28 g/t gold, 0.25% copper, 0.96 g/t silver and 207 ppm moly.
Holes NAK23-13 to -16 intersected zones of copper and gold mineralization hundreds of metres across, and most of the holes also intersected higher-grade intervals as well. The holes help to expand the footprints of the higher-grade parts of both the North and the South zones, and holes NAK23-13 (south side of North Zone) and -16 (north end of South Zone) in particular give the Company further confidence that the area between the two zones will yield additional significant intercepts in both length and grade.
NAK23-13 returned 103 metres of 0.05 g/t gold, 0.40% copper, 1.53 g/t gold and 130.0 ppm moly within 196.42 metres of 0.05% gold, 0.28% copper, 1.09 g/t silver and 84.9 ppm moly within 606 mettres of 0.04 g/t gold, 0.16% copper, 0.72 g/t silver and 44.20 ppm moly, including 120 metres of 0.07 g/t gold, 0.22% copper, 0.93 g/t silver and 38.1 ppm moly.
NAK23-14 returned 131.6 metres of 0.10 g/t gold, 0.42% copper, 2.95 g/t silver and 109.9 ppm moly within 212.3 metres of 0.09 g/t gold, 0.35% copper, 2.14 g/t silver and 99.0 ppm moly within 540 metres of 0.07 g/t gold, 0.25% copper, 1.38 g/t silver and 66.0 ppm moly within 729 metres of 0.06 g/t gold, 0.21% copper, 1.12 g/t silver and 53.3 ppm moly.
NAK23-15 returned 542.4 metres of 0.05 g/t gold, 0.11% copper, 0.49 g/t silver and 163 ppm moly.
NAK23-16 returned 390.9 metres of 0.07 g/t gold,- 0.23% copper, 0.95 g/t silver and 78.7 ppm moly within 687.7 metres of 0.08 g/t gold, 0.17% copper, 0.75 g/t silbver and 69.9 ppm moly including 74 metres of 0.11 g/t gold, 0.37% copper, 1.04 g/t silver and 155.2 ppn moly, and including 77.9 metres of 0.09 g/t gold, 0.39% copper, 2.21 g/t silver and 107.3 ppm moly and including 13 meytres of 0.36 g/t gold, 0.82% copper, 4.91 g/t silver and 100.8 ppm moly.
Data from a late-season three-line, deeper-looking IP survey are currently being integrated with historical geophysical data. Preliminary results indicate a strong correlation between Cu-bearing sulfide mineralization and coincident moderate resistivity and chargeability responses along a northerly trend near the western side of the main area of focus for the company’s 2022-23 drilling. Work is also underway to integrate this season’s geochemical and hyperspectral results with a detailed re-examination of the drill core to more conclusively identify and constrain intrusive lithologies, which appear to play an important role in controlling the distribution of copper mineralization.
Following this season’s encouraging results, planning is underway for an early and aggressive follow-up drill program in 2024. Early work will include expanding and better defining the high-grade mineralized zone intersected in drill holes NAK23-08, -11 and -17. A specific emphasis will be to determine where the best grade mineralization comes to surface. Following that, possible connections to deeper, higher-grade mineralization at the North Zone, such as that intersected in drill holes NAK22-04 and NAK23-12, will be evaluated.
Later in the season, attention may focus on linking known mineralization to the newly identified, near surface mineralization encountered to the east in drill hole NAK23-09. Before drilling, additional IP surveying is planned for the spring of 2024 to complement the survey completed in 2023-the aim is to provide more confidence at depth in the IP inversion model.
The NAK Project lies within the Babine copper-gold porphyry district of central B.C. It has excellent infrastructure, being accessed by a network of active all-season logging roads, and being supported by proximity not only by nearby logging camps, but also by the town of Smithers B.C., through which a cross-Canada rail line and a major Provincial Highway (Hwy. 16) pass.
In May, the company announced a strategic investment by Teck Resources Limited [TSX-TECK.A, TECK.B; NYSE-TECK] which now owns a 19.9% equity stake in the company after subsequent investments in August and November 2023.