Metal Energy begins drilling at NIV Project, British Columbia

Metal Energy Corp. [TSXV: MERG; OTCQB: MEEEF] reported that drilling is under way at its NIV copper-gold project in the southern part of the Toodoggone district of north-central British Columbia. This first-ever drill program tests one of the most compelling untested copper-gold porphyry targets in British Columbia.

Highlights: Drilling at NIV is under way, with the first hole collared at the property’s high-priority northern target; 6,000-plus metres planned across 12 drill holes along the full length of the large-scale NIV porphyry system.

Drilling will target compelling geophysical features that coincide with strongly anomalous soil geochemistry and exposures of altered volcanic and intrusive rocks.

Metal Energy is well financed with approximately $9-million in cash. Centerra Gold and Teck Resources both 9.9-per-cent shareholders of Metal Energy.

“We are excited to finally drill-test NIV. It’s been over 10 years since Metal Energy’s technical adviser, Alex Walcott, and I first started exploring this ground, and everything we’ve learned since has only deepened our conviction that NIV is one of the most compelling untested porphyry copper-gold targets in British Columbia. We’re grateful that our shareholders, including our strategic partners, Centerra Gold and Teck, have recognized that potential and provided the capital to do this properly. This will be a thorough and methodical drill test of a five-km system that has waited more than a decade for the drilling it deserves,” said Charlie Greig, CEO of Metal Energy.

Drilling will target a five-km-long gold-copper-silver-molybdenum soil geochemical anomaly developed atop a belt of variably altered and variably mineralized stratified and intrusive rocks, all of which are underpinned by, and coincident with, geophysical elements consistent with the presence of a porphyry system.

A five-km long north-northwest-trending gold-copper-silver-molybdenum soil geochemical anomaly ranging up to several hundred metres across numerous high-tenor gold-, silver- and copper-bearing grab samples have been collected from throughout the soil anomaly.

Widespread alteration characterizes the volcanic, sedimentary and porphyritic intrusive rocks underlying the anomaly.

An enveloping northwest-trending airborne magnetic low, with magnetic highs spatially associated with mapped porphyritic intrusions, coincides with the altered rocks and the geochemical anomaly.

Induced polarization (IP) chargeability highs occur at depth throughout the length of the altered and geochemically anomalous trend, along with generally elevated resistivity, presenting well-defined drill targets at depth.

Drilling nearby has established the presence of copper-gold porphyry mineralization; in 2021, Northwest Copper Corp. drilled 81.6 metres of 0.41% Cu, 0.20 g/t Au and 0.9 g/t Ag from surface approximately two km east of the property.

The NIV property spans more than 12,500 hectares across two claim blocks, NIV (1,048 hectares) and West NIV (11,500 ha), located 32 km south of Centerra Gold’s Kemess mine complex. NIV is largely underlain by the same Triassic-Jurassic geology that to the north hosts both the nearby Kemess copper-gold porphyry deposits, as well as Amarc Resources’ newly discovered Aurora deposit, which extends onto TDG Gold’s adjacent Greater Shasta-Newberry property.

Still farther north, new porphyry targets appear to be emerging on properties held not only by Amarc and TDG, but also by Thesis Gold, Sun Summit Minerals, Evergold and others. To the south, similar geology hosts advanced exploration projects on the nearby Kliyul and RDP projects of Pacific Ridge.

Although exploration at NIV is documented as far back as the 1960s, little work was done prior to staking in 2010, and modern geochemical and geophysical techniques have only been applied sporadically since. Neither the NIV nor West NIV block have been drill-tested prior to this program.

The company also approved the grant of stock options to certain directors, officers and consultants of the company, allowing for the acquisition of up to, in the aggregate, 2,215,000 shares of the company. A total of 1.35 million stock options were granted to certain directors and officers of the company. The options are exercisable at a price of 76 cents per share for five years from the date of grant, vest one year from the date of grant and are subject to regulatory policies and approvals.

Metal Energy is a critical metals exploration company focused on base and precious metals assets in Canada. The company controls NIV, a fully permitted and drill-ready copper-gold-silver-molybdenum project located in British Columbia’s prolific Toodoggone district, a region known for both significant porphyry and epithermal deposits.

Metal Energy’s portfolio also includes two other high-potential projects: Highland Valley project (Cu-Mo-Ag-Au-Re (copper-molybdenum-silver-gold-rhenium), 100% owned), British Columbia; and the Manibridge project (Ni-Cu-Co-PGE (nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum group element), 85 per cent owned), Manitoba.