Azimut poised to drill Quebec nickel-copper project
Azimut Exploration In. [AZM-TSXV] and Australia Stock Exchange-listed partner Mont Royal Resources Ltd. [MRZ-ASX] said Tuesday they have identified highly-conductive zones potentially related to intrusion-hosted nickel-copper mineralization on the Wapatik property in Quebec’s James Bay region.
The announcement follows the completion of a ground geophysics survey on the Wapatik property. The companies said these attractive targets will be tested by 1,000 metres of core drilling early this summer.
The Wapatik gold-copper project consists of 220 claims covering 115 square kilometres of continuous tenure and is located in the James Bay-Eeyou Istchee region.
The project is situated 93 kilometres east of Eastmain airport and 58 kilometres southwest from the Newmont Corp.’s [NGT-TSX, NEM-NYSE] Eleonore Gold Mine.
It is worth noting that Wapatik lies approximately 12 kilometres from the Patwon gold discovery on Azimut’s 100%-owned Elmer property, where Azimut recently reported the discovery of substantial gold mineralization in multiple drill hole intersections, including frequent high-grade intervals in all seven holes of its maiden diamond drilling program.
Highlights from previous drilling include 3.15 g/t gold over 102.0 metres, including 10.1 g/t gold over 20.5 metres at the Patwon Prospect on the Elmer property.
Under an agreement announced on September, 2020, Mont Royal said it had secured an option to earn up to a 70% interest in the Wapatik project. Mont Royal said the transaction would allow it to leverage off Azimut’s strong technical exploration team as it works to unlock the full potential of the Wapatik project.
Azimut is currently the project operator. On Tuesday, the companies said a very responsive electromagnetic ground survey has been completed over an area of 1.0 kilometre by 14 kilometres on a mineralized ultramafic intrusion recently identified by Azimut. The 15-kilometre survey consisted of 1.0 kilometre lines, spaced 100 metres apart within a large fixed loop.
The companies said five high conductivity features have been identified by the survey, and a “plate model” has been generated to define their dimensions.
Two moderate-sized conductors in the eastern part of the grid coincide with the magnetic ultramafic intrusion and are situated at modelled vertical depths of 80 metres and 100 metres.
The eastern-most conductor is also closely associated with the previously reported best result of 1.03% copper, 0.384% nickel, 316 ppm cobalt and 5.42 g/t silver in a pyroxenite grab sample.
The companies said the best conductors in this highly favourable geological context will be tested by diamond drilling.
On Tuesday, Azimut shares were unchanged at $1.31 and currently trade in a 52-week range of $2.49 and 90 cents.