Northern Shield Uncovers Additional Copper Mineralization at Creston Target, Newfoundland
Northern Shield Resources Inc. (TSXV: NRN) reported that trenching has uncovered more copper mineralization in a porphyry dike at the Creston Target on the Company’s flagship Root & Cellar Property on the Burin Peninsula of eastern Newfoundland. The Property is being explored for porphyry copper ± molybdenum, gold and tellurium, and for epithermal gold-silver-tellurium.
The trenching follows the discovery of a copper-bearing, monzodiorite porphyry dike , found while ground-truthing induced polarization geophysical target IP-1. Fine disseminated chalcocite with occasional bornite was found in variable concentrations approximately 2 metres below the initial discovery and across the 6-metre width of the first trench, with two of six composite samples, each collected over 1m intervals, also hosting patches of fine chalcocite stringers. Thirty metres away, fine-grained disseminated chalcopyrite was found in the same monzodiorite porphyry in the last 1.5 metres of a second trench and coincident with the stronger portion of the IP-1 geophysical anomaly. The chalcopyrite transitioned to minor disseminated chalcocite over the next 6 metres of the trench in the direction of the first trench. Two grab samples were collected from chalcopyrite zone and four more from the rest of the second trench. A further 25 metres downslope, a magnetite-bearing rhyolite porphyry containing minor pyrite and trace chalcopyrite with associated with potassic alteration was exposed in a small test pit.
The composite and grab samples collected from the trenches have been submitted for assay, with results pending. The trenches will be washed and expanded to follow the mineralized porphyry and determine its extent, after which additional and more detailed sampling will be undertaken.
Ian Bliss, President and CEO of Northern Shield said : “This trenching did exactly what we hoped, extending the copper mineralization at surface and correlating it to the centre of the IP-1 anomaly we were testing. That suggests the geophysics is indeed seeing the system, and it gives us confidence as we move toward drilling the various IP anomalies. The porphyry-hosted mineralization can be deceptively inconspicuous, but we are getting our eyes tuned in, and together with a better understanding of the soil anomalies, we believe we can uncover more porphyry copper mineralization. Without any drilling, we now have multiple porphyry-hosted copper occurrences at surface over an IP target that strengthens at depth. Each step – the original Creston copper discovery, a second copper-bearing dike 700 metres away, and now this trench – reinforces our view that Root & Cellar, and the wider Burin, may host a new and overlooked porphyry copper and epithermal gold district. Grade and scale will be determined by drilling.”
The Company is continuing a phased program to advance the porphyry copper mineralization at the Creston Discovery, including additional mechanical trenching at IP-1 and other nearby targets. The surface work is intended to refine and prioritize targets for a planned maiden drilling program at Creston designed to test the IP-1 target and the interpreted larger body at depth, plus several copper occurrences exposed in the quarry.
Northern Shield Resources Inc. is a Canadian-based company, a leader in generating high-quality exploration targets, which views greenfield exploration as an opportunity to find a mineable, near surface deposit at relatively low cost.