Imperial returns to Giant Copper project

Predevelopment work has resumed at the Giant Copper project, 40 km southeast of Hope, B.C.

Property owner Imperial Metals (TSE) recently completed 4,559 ft. of drilling in eight holes as part of a 2-phase program to bring the project to the mine feasibility stage.

All but two of the holes intersected significant intervals of copper, gold, silver and molybdenum. Highlights include an 86.7-ft. interval grading 0.92% copper and 0.019% molybdenum sulphides, plus 0.002 oz. gold and 0.44 oz. silver per ton, in hole 2, as well as a 28.8-ft. interval grading 1% copper, along with 0.017 oz. gold and 1.01 oz. silver, in hole 3.

Little or no work has been done on the Giant Copper property since 1990, owing to uncertainty over mine development in the area. This uncertainty is resolved now that the British Columbia government has established that the boundaries of the new Skagit Valley Park exist outside the Giant Copper property. The government has also guaranteed access to the project, clearing the way for further development.

At last report, the property’s AM Breccia zone was estimated to contain a potentially open-pit resource of 23 million tons grading 0.75% copper plus 0.015 oz. gold and 0.35 oz. silver per ton.

Also, recent drilling delineated a new zone of mineralized breccia south of the high-grade North Nose zone and confirmed the potential of a second new zone, to the east.

The reserve model for the AM Breccia is being updated, and a second phase of drilling is planned for the spring. The new zones will be tested at depth, and several largely untested breccia zones will be drilled.