ArcWest Exploration Inc. Expands Yellow Bowl Porphyry Copper-Gold Target, Todd Creek Project

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2019) - ArcWest Exploration Inc. (TSXV: AWX) ("ArcWest") is pleased to announce the results of 2019 mapping and sampling of the Yellow Bowl porphyry copper-gold (Cu-Au) target on its 34,700 hectare Todd Creek Project located 30 km northeast of Stewart and 45 km southeast of the supergiant KSM-Iron Cap porphyry copper-gold deposits (Seabridge Gold) in B.C.'s Golden Triangle. The Yellow Bowl Zone cores a 4 kilometer long zone of large gossans, copper-gold mineralized intrusions and magmatic-hydrothermal and hydrothermal breccias which have never been drill tested (Figures 1 and 2). ArcWest's initial 50 rock chip and grab samples at Yellow Bowl in 2018 averaged 0.68% Cu (see news release December 12, 2018) and a phase one induced polarization survey outlined a significant chargeability anomaly underlying the mineralized zone (see news release November 2, 2018; Figure 2). The 2019 program at Yellow Bowl focused on mapping and sampling within the Yellow Bowl zone and along a 2.9 km long gap between Yellow Bowl and historical drill hole NTC88-047, which intersected 0.643% Cu and 2.02 g/t Au over 18 meters (31.7-49.7m) in the Ice Creek Zone. Highlights of the 2019 exploration program include:

• Mapping and rock sampling of the Yellow Bowl Zone continued to identify widespread hydrothermal breccias and intensely quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP) altered intrusions, returning values up to 1.52% Cu, 0.57 grams per tonne (g/t) Au and 65.3 g/t silver (Ag). Cu-Au mineralization has been delineated over a 0.7 by 1.2 km area and is open in all directions. The zone has yet to undergo drill testing.

• Limited traverses 1.5 km north of the Yellow Bowl zone discovered strong quartz-carbonate-hematite-magnetite alteration, veining and associated breccias at the Ridge Zone, with grab samples returning up to 0.36% Cu and 0.76 g/t Au.

• About 2.0 km northeast of Yellow Bowl and 800 m south of historical drilling in the Ice Creek Zone (Figure 2), a strongly gossanous zone of intensely silica-sulfide altered breccias returned the highest grade assay of the program, 3.43% Cu, 2.77 g/t Au and 23.8 g/t Ag. About 600 meters north of this zone and 150 meters southwest of NTC88-047, samples of intensely QSP altered breccia returned assay values up to 0.49% Cu and 1.97 g/t Au.

• Relogging of historical drill core from the Ice Creek Zone indicates mineralization is related to multiple phases of previously unrecognized porphyry-style veining (Figure 3). Historical drilling of this zone by Noranda and others returned numerous shallow Cu and Au intervals, including 0.643% Cu and 2.02 g/t Au over 18 meters in NTC-88-047 (31.7-49.7m) and 1.36 g/t Au over 15.35 meters in NTC90-055 (49.8-65.15).

• Additional relogging of historic drill core from Orange Mountain, drill hole AM-07-01, the northernmost drill hole on the property, indicates that previously unrecognized porphyry style veining and alteration, including local Red Chris/GT Gold Saddle North-like banded quartz-magnetite-chalcopyrite stockwork (Figure 4), extends for approximately 6 kilometers strike-length from Yellow Bowl to Orange Mountain.

Grab samples are selective by nature and may not be representative of actual grades or styles of mineralization across the property.

ArcWest President Tyler Ruks comments: "Our work to date at Todd Creek indicates that the project is host to one of the largest untested porphyry copper-gold systems in British Columbia, all within the same geological setting as Seabridge Gold's supergiant KSM-Iron Cap porphyry copper-gold deposit, located only 45 km to the northwest. We have been successful at Todd Creek this field season not only in greatly enhancing its prospectivity for hosting significant porphyry copper-gold mineralization, but also in introducing it to some of the world's largest mining companies. Discussions with multiple potential joint venture partners are ongoing and we are looking forward to conducting a partner funded first phase drill test of the project in 2020."

ArcWest's Vice President of Exploration, Jeff Kyba, comments: "Our 2019 mapping and sampling program at Todd Creek continued to expand mineralization at Yellow Bowl and VMS Zones which makes this 34,700 ha property the most prospective, underexplored corridor in the Golden Triangle. The extensive retreat of glacial ice and permanent snow cover has revealed at least two, extensive, strong copper-gold endowed mineral systems which have only recently become observable. Porphyry deposits were not considered a high priority nor fully appreciated during previous exploration programs. The Mitchell Deposit of KSM was only discovered in 2006 and the deep holes at Red Chris were drilled in 2007. With the recognition this year of porphyry-style veining in drill holes FC-06-01A and AM-07-01, we can confirm that a largely unexplored porphyry copper-gold system of significant size exists at Todd Creek. Our team is pleased with the 2019 results and will continue to refine drill targets over the winter."

The Yellow Bowl Zone is central to a six-kilometer long corridor of strongly gossanous, altered and Cu-Au mineralized intermediate volcanic rocks, porphyritic intrusions and associated breccias (Figures 1 and 2). Yellow Bowl is located approximately midway between the Cu-Au enriched veins and breccias of the South Zone (historical estimate of 207,000 tonnes grading 5.48 g/t Au, Hemlo Gold Mines Inc., 1988 Annual Report), and multiple parallel zones of high-grade Cu-Au breccias and veins at the Fall Creek Zone. The Yellow Bowl Zone is underlain by a significant chargeability anomaly and is located within a four kilometer gap in drilling between historical drill holes in the Fall Creek, Ice Creek and South Zones.

The 2018 and 2019 sampling programs at Yellow Bowl, in conjunction with historical rock chip sampling, confirm that Yellow Bowl represents a copper enriched core, flanked by gold enriched mineralization at South Zone and Fall Creek. This core zone is interpreted as a high level exposure of a large, nearly unexplored porphyry Cu-Au system. A total of 53 rock samples from Yellow Bowl collected in 2019 assayed 4 to 17450 (1.745%) parts per million (ppm) Cu, <1 to 570 (0.57 g/t) parts per billion (ppb) Au, and <0.2 to 65.3 g/t Ag. A 600 by 400 m zone of higher grade mineralization has been delineated below 1625 meters elevation; a total of 50 samples collected in 2018-2019 from this zone average 0.60% Cu, 0.10 g/t Au, and 7.3 g/t Ag. This is interpreted as a trend of increasing grade with depth, a feature observed in other large porphyry copper-gold deposits in the district, including Red Chris (Newcrest Mining Limited -Imperial Metals Corporation) and the super-giant KSM-Iron Cap system (Seabridge Gold Inc.).

One of the main objectives of the 2019 exploration program was to explore the margins of known surface mineralization around Yellow Bowl. This work has identified two adjoining areas, the Ridge Zone and Ice Creek, which contain significant copper-gold values.

The Ridge Zone is the high elevation saddle (1670 m - 1900 m above sea level) topographically separating Yellow Bowl from Ice Creek. Limited traverses at the Ridge and Ice Creek Zones confirm the area is underlain by QSP altered intermediate volcanic rocks with common visible copper mineralization similar to Yellow Bowl. Significant Cu-Au values are hosted primarily in QSP altered breccia and hematite/magnetite-quartz-chalcopyrite matrix breccia. These observations suggest the Yellow Bowl Cu-Au system is contiguous with the Ridge and Ice Creek Zones.

The Ice Creek Zone (Figures 1 and 2) is the north-facing drainage located approximately 2 km north-northeast of the center of the Yellow Bowl gossan. This 800 meter wide shallow bowl drains north into Fall Creek and has seen dramatic reduction in glacial ice and permanent snow pack since previous exploration programs. New exposure within the Ice Creek bowl has revealed Cu-Au bearing, QSP altered volcanic rocks, and siliceous, hydrothermal through hydrothermal-magmatic breccia with local chalcopyrite mineralized porphyritic intrusive clasts and quartz-barite-chalcopyrite veins. Historical exploration in the area included 1900 meters of shallow inclined core drilling in sixteen drill holes ranging between 75 and 153 meters depth. The best intercept was returned from NTC 88-47, including 0.643% Cu and 2.02 g/t Au over 18 meters between 31.7 and 49.7 meters depth. Previous drilling targeted high-grade multiphase Au-Cu bearing breccias similar to mineralization at the South Zone and Fall Creek.

A review of historic drill core from the Ice Creek Zone in 2019 identified previously unrecognized multi-stage porphyry style veins (Figures 2 and 3), indicating that the zone is related to an underexplored porphyry Cu-Au system. Drill hole FC-06-01A intercepted porphyry-style veining within a copper-gold mineralized zone including 19.59 meters of 0.58 g/t Au and 0.12% Cu (42.06-61.65 m). Vein assemblages include fine grained, sugary quartz with interstitial pyrite, chalcopyrite and trace bornite in addition to millimeter-scale, fine grained pyrite-chalcopyrite with 5 mm wide feldspar (?) selvages. Host rocks comprise chlorite-sericite-pyrite altered volcaniclastic rocks and hornblende (?)-feldspar porphyritic intrusive rocks with associated hydrothermal through hydrothermal-magmatic breccias. Similar lithologies, mineralization and alteration assemblages indicate porphyry mineralization at Ice Creek is contiguous with the porphyry system interpreted to underlie the Yellow Bowl zone.

Additional review of drill core was completed from hole AM-07-01, the northernmost drill hole on the property located on the 1.5 by 2 km Orange Mountain gossan (Figure 2), approximately 5 kilometers north of Yellow Bowl and 2 kilometers north of Ice Creek. Metal values up to 0.46% Cu and 0.59 g/t Au were reported from 1.3 to 1.5 meter intervals hosted within broader intervals of QSP/clay-pyrite altered intrusive rocks containing previously unrecognized porphyry-style quartz-pyrite-chalcopyrite veins and local, Red Chris/GT Gold Saddle North-like banded quartz-magnetite-chalcopyrite stockwork veins (Figure 4). Previous explorers completed 644 meters of drilling in two holes from the same pad at 1400 meters elevation, targeting anomalous multi-element soil geochemistry (Au, Ag, As, Zn, Cd, Cu, Mo, Pb) and strong pyrite-jarosite-alunite altered bedrock.

Highlights from 2019 rock sampling of the Yellow Bowl, Ridge and Ice Creek Zones, Todd Creek Project

Zone	Sample	Easting	Northing	Au g/t	Ag g/t	Cu %
Yellow Bowl	S848529	450654.41	6232864.26	0.018	2.1	0.521
Yellow Bowl	S848532	450668.48	6232996.94	0.113	5.0	0.229
Yellow Bowl	S848533	450673.63	6232994.58	0.570	39.8	0.175
Yellow Bowl	S848578	450735.31	6233013.64	0.183	5.4	1.745
Yellow Bowl	S848646	450416.52	6232913.71	0.079	65.3	0.650
Yellow Bowl	S850926	450816.70	6232854.34	0.270	0.5	0.399
Yellow Bowl	S850928	450817.72	6232926.57	0.173	1.6	0.188
Yellow Bowl	S850929	450849.35	6233035.96	0.029	0.4	1.520
Yellow Bowl	S850933	450862.09	6233146.90	0.278	0.4	0.523
Yellow Bowl	S850934	450851.33	6233143.13	0.154	4.3	0.992
Yellow Bowl	S850936	450836.90	6233192.83	0.084	4.7	0.459
Ice Creek	S848583	451491.75	6235233.32	2.770	23.8	3.430
Ice Creek	S850938	451747.19	6235773.24	1.970	1.0	0.488
Ice Creek	S850966	451733.89	6235770.44	0.206	1.1	0.123
Ice Creek	S850967	451803.74	6235793.54	0.455	0.3	0.082
Ridge	S848494	450851.86	6234568.14	0.047	0.4	0.360
Ridge	S848495	450845.79	6234573.11	0.096	0.8	0.114
Ridge	S848568	450851.53	6234562.15	0.761	<0.2	0.016
Ridge	S848571	450745.14	6234229.67	0.085	0.9	0.338

 

Figures

Figure 1. Todd Creek Project satellite imagery, gossans, geochemistry and copper-gold mineralized zones (https://arcwestexploration.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Fig-1-Todd-Creek-Corridor.pdf);

Figure 2. The porphyry copper-gold exploration potential of ArcWest's Todd Creek Project: A north-south longitudinal section (Pyrophyllite through Orange Mountain zones) (https://arcwestexploration.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Fig-2-Todd-Creek-Long-Section.pdf);

Figure 3. Previously unrecognized porphyry copper-gold style veining and alteration in drill core, Ice Creek Zone, Todd Creek Project (https://arcwestexploration.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Fig-3-Ice-Creek-Core.pdf);

Figure 4. Previously unrecognized porphyry copper-gold style veining and alteration in drill core, Orange Mountain Zone, Todd Creek Project (https://arcwestexploration.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Fig-4-Orange-Mtn-Core.pdf).

Methods

Rock samples are of a reconnaissance nature, including chip, grab and select samples and may not be representative of a larger volume of rock. The samples were analyzed by ALS Geochemistry of North Vancouver, British Columbia. They were prepared for analysis according to ALS method Prep-31A: each sample was crushed to 70% passing -2mm and a 250g split was pulverized to better than 85% passing 75 micron mesh. Gold was tested by fire assay with ICP-AES finish on a 30g nominal sample (Method Au-ICP21). An additional 35 elements were tested by ICP-AES using aqua regia digestion (Method ME-ICP41). Quality assurance and control (QAQC) is maintained at the lab and within ArcWest through rigorous use of internal standards, blanks and duplicates.

Qualified Person

ArcWest's disclosure of a technical or scientific nature in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Jeff Kyba, PGeo, VP Exploration, who serves as a Qualified Person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101.

For further information please contact: Tyler Ruks, President and CEO at +1 (604) 638 3695.

Investors are cautioned that ArcWest Exploration Inc. has not verified the data from the KSM, Mitchell, Iron Cap, Red Chris and Saddle North deposits. Further, the presence and style of mineralization on these properties is not necessarily indicative of similar mineralization on the ArcWest Exploration Inc. property. This news release contains statements about ArcWest's expectations and are forward-looking in nature. As a result, they are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Although ArcWest believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof, and ArcWest undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, except as required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/50144