Arras Minerals Corp. (TSX-V: ARK) (“Arras” or “the
Company”) is pleased to announce the results from the
re-analysis of samples from three historic diamond drill holes from
the Quartzite Gorka project (“Quartzite Gorka” or the “Project”)
located within the Company’s Elemes exploration licence (“Elemes”
or the “Licence”) in northeastern Kazakhstan. The Elemes licence is
not included in the Teck-Arras Strategic Exploration Alliance
announced on December 7, 2023.
Highlights from the Re-Assay
include:
-
Q11 - 127.0m of mineralization grading
0.66 % CuEq or 0.80 g/t AuEq (0.61 g/t
Au, 0.25 % Cu, 3.6 g/t Ag and 90.4 ppm Mo) starting at 41.0 m from
surface.
-
Including 62.0m grading 1.53 % CuEq or
1.87 g/t AuEq (1.04 g/t Au, 0.43 % Cu, 4.8 g/t Ag and
156.3 ppm Mo) from 41.0 m depth down-hole.
-
Q10 - 132.6m grading 0.80% Cu Eq or 0.96
g/t Au Eq (0.39% Cu, 0.52 g/t Au, 4.1 g/t Ag, 59.5 ppm Mo)
from 140.7m depth.
-
Including 57.1m grading 1.00 % CuEq or
1.20 g/t AuEq (0.85 g/t Au, 0.45 % Cu, 4.8 g/t Ag and 51.0
ppm Mo) from 188.7 m depth down-hole.
- Q4
- 68.2m of mineralization grading 0.48 %
CuEq or 0.58 g/t AuEq (0.41 g/t Au, 0.23 % Cu, 4.5
g/t Ag and 3.7 ppm Mo) starting at 19.8 m from surface.
-
Including 14.0m grading 0.69 % CuEq or 0.84 g/t
AuEq (0.84 g/t Au, 0.16 % Cu, 7.7 g/t Ag and 3.6 ppm Mo)
from 73.2 m depth down-hole.
The mineralization is interpreted as a
breccia-hosted intermediate sulfidation epithermal system that
forms part of a far larger porphyry-epithermal system within the
Elemes licence. The Elemes license also hosts the Berezki
copper-gold and Karagandy-Ozek gold prospects all of which were
part of the key focus for the 2023 summer field program with more
than 30,000 soil samples taken which are now being analyzed.
Once analysis of the full 2023 summer field
program has been completed, the Company plans to develop an
extensive exploration strategy. This strategy will encompass
additional geological mapping and KGK drilling to investigate the
geological features concealed beneath younger cover sequences. Any
identified targets will then be subject to the company's initial
drilling campaign.
Tim Barry, CEO, commented, “The results come
from the Elemes Licence and represent an entirely new mineralizing
system which sits approximately 80 kilometers to the west of our
Beskauga Project which presently has a NI43-101 compliant resource
of 111.2 million tonnes grading 0.39% copper, and 0.49g/t gold in
the indicated category, and 92.6 million tonnes grading 0.24%
copper, and 0.50g/t gold in the inferred category. These results
from the Quartzite Gorka project further reinforces our strategy of
building a belt scale portfolio of high-quality assets in the
highly prospective Bozshakol-Chingiz metallogenic belt.”
A summary of the results announced in this news
release is outlined in the table below.
Hole_lD |
Azi |
Dip |
Hole depth (m) |
Intersection |
Interval |
Au |
Cu |
Ag |
Mo |
Cu Eq |
Au Eq |
From (m) |
To(m) |
(m) |
(g/t) |
(%) |
(g/t) |
(ppm) |
(%) |
(g/t) |
Q4 |
090 |
-70 |
250.0 |
19.8 |
250.0 |
230.2 |
0.18 |
0.09 |
1.9 |
2.8 |
0.20 |
0.24 |
Including |
19.8 |
88.0 |
68.2 |
0.41 |
0.23 |
4.5 |
3.7 |
0.48 |
0.58 |
Including |
73.2 |
87.2 |
14.0 |
0.84 |
0.16 |
7.7 |
3.6 |
0.69 |
0.84 |
Q10 |
050 |
-70 |
279.5 |
0.0 |
279.5 |
279.5 |
0.31 |
0.20 |
2.3 |
30.0 |
0.40 |
0.48 |
Including |
140.7 |
273.3 |
132.6 |
0.62 |
0.39 |
4.1 |
59.5 |
0.80 |
0.96 |
Including |
188.7 |
245.8 |
57.1 |
0.85 |
0.45 |
4.8 |
51.0 |
1.00 |
1.20 |
And including |
261.0 |
266.0 |
5.0 |
0.62 |
1.49 |
5.0 |
232.2 |
1.82 |
2.19 |
Q11 |
050 |
-70 |
291 |
0.0 |
291.0 |
291.0 |
0.29 |
0.13 |
2.0 |
40.5 |
0.32 |
0.39 |
Including |
41.0 |
168.0 |
127.0 |
0.61 |
0.25 |
3.6 |
90.4 |
0.66 |
0.80 |
Including |
41.0 |
103.0 |
62.0 |
1.04 |
0.43 |
4.8 |
156.3 |
1.53 |
1.87 |
Table 1. Summary table for historical
drill holes Q04, Q10 and Q11 from the Quartzite Gorka Project,
Elemes LicenceNotes: Copper Equivalent (“CuEq”) grades
reported for the drill holes at Quartzite Gorka were calculated
using the following formula: CuEq % = Copper (%) + (Gold (g/t) x
0.8264) + (Silver (g/t) x 0.0107) + (Molybdenum (ppm) x 6.0000).
Gold Equivalent (“AuEq”) grades reported for the drill holes at
Quartzite Gorka were calculated using the following formula: AuEq
g/t = Gold (g/t) + (Copper (%) x 1.2100) + (Silver (g/t) x 0.0129)
+ (Molybdenum (ppm) x 4.0334). Assumptions used for the copper and
gold equivalent calculations were metal prices of US$3.00/lb.
Copper, US$1,700/oz Gold, US$22/oz Silver, US$18/lb. Molybdenum,
and metallurgical recoveries were assumed to be 90% for Cu and Au
and 50% for Ag and Mo. Intervals are core-length weighted and
original core recovery is estimated to be > 90 %.
The Quartzite Gorka project: is
located within the 425 square kilometre Elemes mineral exploration
licence. Elemes benefits from excellent modern infrastructure and
ease of accessibility, being located only 20 kilometres (“km”) from
Arras’ operational base in the city of Ekibastuz, northeastern
Kazakhstan. A paved highway runs through the licence, and within 3
km of the Quartzite Gorka project. 1100 KVA power lines, heavy
rail, and the Irtysh–Karaganda irrigation canal all lie within a 15
km radius of the project.
Figure 1. Arras Minerals License Package
(Pavlodar, Kazakhstan)
Quartzite Gorka was drilled between 2007 and
2010 by the previous operators. 30 shallow drillholes for a total
of 7,550 metres have been historically drilled at the project, to a
maximum depth of 301 metres with an average depth of 252 metres per
hole. 14 historical drill core (Figure 2) and all available coarse
rejects have been acquired by Arras and are stored at the Company’s
core storage facility in Ekibastuz. All available drillcores have
been re-logged in detail by Arras employees for lithology,
structure, alteration, mineralization and petrophysical
properties.
The mineralization seen at Quartzite Gorka is
interpreted as a breccia-hosted intermediate sulfidation epithermal
system that forms part of a much larger porphyry-epithermal system
within the Elemes licence that includes the Berezki Central,
Berezki East and Karagandy-Ozek prospects. The Elemes licence is
located within the Bozshakol-Chingiz metallogenic belt that also
hosts the Company’s flagship Beskauga copper-gold-silver Project
approximately 80 km to the east, and KAZ Minerals’ Bozshakol
porphyry copper-gold mine (one of the largest copper resources in
Kazakhstan) approximately 60 km to the northwest.
The re-analysis demonstrated the high-grade
nature of the mineralization. Individual assays returned up to 11.2
g/t Au, 4.92 % Cu, 0.48 % Pb, 2.61 % Zn, 0.16 % Sb, 29.1 g/t Ag,
and 1,232 ppm Mo, respectively. Mineralization comprises of
quartz-pyrite-chalcopyrite ± tourmaline, anhydrite, carbonate,
k-feldspar, hematite, sphalerite, galena, tetrahedrite, bornite,
molybdenite as a cement within the hydrothermal breccia and as
quartz veins (Figure 2). Occasionally the cement lacks quartz and
comprises of massive sulfide only. Alteration of the clasts within
the breccia is variable and comprises of strongly silicified,
phyllic (quartz-pyrite ± sericite, chlorite), argillic
(kaolinite-dickite-illite) and potassic
(k-feldspar-magnetite-secondary biotite) altered host diorite. Some
clasts are rimmed by massive pyrite. The clasts contain rare
porphyry-style quartz-chalcopyrite veins. The host diorite
intrusion is fine-grained, equigranular and typically highly
magnetic. The breccia bodies are enveloped by potassic
(k-feldspar-magnetite-secondary biotite) alteration before
transitioning to propylitic (chlorite-hematite-carbonate ± epidote)
alteration. Rare quartz-chalcopyrite veins ± k-feldspar halos and
disseminated chalcopyrite-pyrite occur in the host diorite.
Figure 2. Location of the three holes
re-assayed by Arras at the Quartzite Gorka project, Elemes licence.
Collars for all historical drilling are shown and approximate
outline of the sub-cropping breccia bodies.
Figure 3. Photos of the re-logging of
diamond drill core from Quartzite Gorka, including re-assayed holes
Q4, Q10 and Q11 showing the typical styles of veining,
mineralization and alteration observed at this prospect.
Intercepts exceeding 1 % CuEq highlighted in red. Abbreviations
used in the descriptions: HyBX – hydrothermal breccia, Di –
diorite, hem – hematite, qtz – quartz, tour – tourmaline, cpy –
chalcopyrite, py – pyrite, ttr – tetrahedrite, bn – bornite, sph –
sphalerite, gal – galena, epi - epidote. Note historical intercepts
for non-re-assayed holes are non-NI 43-101 compliant and were only
analyzed for Cu, Au and Ag.
Re-logging, Assay, QAQC
Procedures: All available drillcores have been re-logged
in detail by Arras employees for lithology, structure, alteration
and mineralization. In addition, Arras also measured several
petrophysical properties on the drillcore including density,
magnetic susceptibility, conductivity, resistivity and induced
polarization. High resolution photographs of all drillcore were
captured using Seequent’s Imago cloud-based image management
software. The core was also analyzed for alteration minerals using
TerraSpec SWIR/NIR spectroscopy, with interpretation pending.
The re-assayed coarse rejects from Quartzite
Gorka were prepared in Arras in-house sample preparation laboratory
in Ekibastuz by Arras employees. As the coarse rejects had been in
dry storage since 2007/08, they were first re-homogenized by
passing through a roller crusher (<2 mm), before being split
using a riffle splitter. An approximately one-kilogram split was
then pulverized using cup vibration mills to below 75-microns. The
pulp was then split again, with 250 g shipped to Stewart Assay and
Environmental Laboratories LLC (“SAEL”), located in Kara-Balta in
Kyrgyzstan, for geochemical analysis. Prior to analysis, SAEL
undertook Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) on selected
pulps, ensuring ≥85 % passing below -75-microns. A 30 g aliquot was
then analyzed for gold content by fire assay with an Atomic
Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) finish (SAEL method: Au-AA25™). A
second pulp split was analyzed for 46 elements by a combination of
Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and
Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES)
after four-acid digestion on a 1.0 g aliquot (SAEL method: MA/UT™).
All samples exceeding 1% copper and/or zinc were re-analyzed using
4-acid digest ICP-MS ore grade methods. SAEL laboratory is
accredited to ISO 17025:2005 UKAS ref 4028 and have internal QA/QC
programs for monitoring accuracy and precision. Internal QA/QC
samples were inserted by the analytical laboratory and reviewed by
the Company prior to release. No material QA/QC issues have been
identified. SAEL is entirely independent of the Company.
Qualified Person: The
scientific and technical disclosure for the Quartzite Gorka Project
included in this news release has been prepared under supervision
of and approved Tim Barry, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of
Arras Minerals Corp., who is also a Member and Chartered
Professional Geologist (MAusIMM CP(Geo)) of the Australasian
Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr. Barry has sufficient
experience, relevant to the styles of mineralization and type of
deposits under consideration and to the activity that he is
undertaking, to qualify as a Qualified Person (“QP”) for the
purposes of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure of
Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”).
On behalf of the Board of Directors "Tim Barry"
Tim Barry, MAusIMM CP(Geo)Chief Executive
Officer and Director
INVESTOR RELATIONS: +1 604 687 5800
info@arrasminerals.com Further information can be found on the
Company’s website https://www.arrasminerals.com or follow us on
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arrasminerals or on
Twitter: https://twitter.com/arrasminerals
About Arras Minerals Corp.
Arras is a Canadian exploration and development
company advancing a portfolio of copper and gold assets in
northeastern Kazakhstan, including the Option Agreement on the
Beskauga copper and gold project. The Company has established the
third-largest license package in the country prospective for copper
and gold (behind Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group). Arras and
Teck Resources entered into a Strategic Exploration Alliance
covering a portion of the Company’s regional license package in
December 2023 in which Teck will sole fund an initial US$5 million
generative exploration phase. The Company’s shares are listed on
the TSX-V under the trading symbol “ARK”.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors concerning
estimates of Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resources: This
press release uses the terms “measured resources”, “indicated
resources”, and “inferred resources” which are defined in, and
required to be disclosed by, NI 43-101. The Company advises U.S.
investors that these terms are not recognized by the SEC. The
estimation of measured, indicated and inferred resources involves
greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic feasibility
than the estimation of proven and probable reserves. U.S. investors
are cautioned not to assume that measured and indicated mineral
resources will be converted into reserves. The estimation of
inferred resources involves far greater uncertainty as to their
existence and economic viability than the estimation of other
categories of resources. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume
that estimates of inferred mineral resources exist, are
economically minable, or will be upgraded into measured or
indicated mineral resources. Under Canadian securities laws,
estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of
feasibility or other economic studies.
Disclosure of “contained ounces” in a resource
is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations, however the SEC
normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does
not constitute “reserves” by SEC standards as in place tonnage and
grade without reference to unit measures. Accordingly, the
information contained in this press release may not be comparable
to similar information made public by U.S. companies that are not
subject NI 43-101.
Cautionary note regarding forward-looking
statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements
regarding future events and Arras’ future results that are subject
to the safe harbors created under the U.S. Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and the Exchange Act, and applicable Canadian securities
laws. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements
regarding plans and expectations of the exploration program Arras
is in the process of undertaking, including the expansion of the
Mineral Resource, and other aspects of the Mineral Resource
estimates for the Beskauga project. These statements are based on
current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about
Arras’ exploration projects, the industry in which Arras operates
and the beliefs and assumptions of Arras’ management. Words such as
“expects,” “anticipates,” “targets,” “goals,” “projects,”
“intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “continues,”
“may,” variations of such words, and similar expressions and
references to future periods, are intended to identify such
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject
to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which
are beyond management’s control, including undertaking further
exploration activities, the results of such exploration activities
and that such results support continued exploration activities,
unexpected variations in ore grade, types and metallurgy,
volatility and level of commodity prices, the availability of
sufficient future financing, and other matters discussed under the
caption “Risk Factors” in the Management Discussion and Analysis
filed on the Company’s profile on SEDAR on March 30, 2023 and in
the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended
October 31, 2022 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission filed on February 24, 2023 available on www.sec.gov.
Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and that actual results or
developments may differ materially from those expressed or implied
in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement
made by the Company in this release is based only on information
currently available and speaks only as of the date on which it is
made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any
forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be
made from time to time, whether as a result of new information,
future developments, or otherwise.
Figures accompanying this announcement are available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/db04312b-028c-42b2-a493-ef3d0b3c332b
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bef83fd1-b20b-4d92-83e0-3844abc79d1d
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/15abbd00-87f8-4973-8b48-5755a2a10289
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