Mr. James Gilbertson reports
SOUTH GREENLAND COPPER EXPLORATION UPDATE
Amaroq Minerals Ltd. has provided updated results from its continuing copper exploration activities in South Greenland.
James Gilbertson, vice-president of exploration for Amaroq, commented:
"Building on the successful 2023 drilling program at Target West, Amaroq has rigorously interpreted these results, alongside recently received geophysical data. With the assistance of leading independent copper industry experts, we continue to define the emerging South Greenland copper belt. This work has now confirmed the region's first copper porphyry system, as well as helped to identify 24 further high-potential targets across this belt. Amaroq, through its Gardaq joint venture, believes that these results warrant further exploration efforts across a broader area of the belt to identify further targets.
"Our 2024 field program will leverage the knowledge developed so far on Target West and direct exploration efforts on these new high-potential targets."
Overview:
- The South Greenland copper belt is defined by numerous copper showings and historical small-scale operations running approximately 150 kilometres, from the Josva mine in the west, to multiple porphyry targets in the Johan Dahl land zone in the east;
- Expert review of the 2022 and 2023 results from Target West have confirmed the project as a copper-molybdenum porphyry/intrusion-related body, significantly strengthening the copper potential of this underexplored mineral belt;
- Interpretation suggests greater preservation potential in the east, with up to 17 significant new targets defined within the Johan Dahl land area;
- A data review of the 2023 Kobberminebugt geophysics has highlighted potential for further high-grade copper mineralization at depth and across two newly defined targets;
- Target generation studies, coupled with the potential highlighted by Amaroq's discovery at Stendalen, highlights a further five copper-nickel sulphide targets within the same mineral belt;
- The company is now finalizing the detailed plans for its 2024 exploration program, which will concentrate on the discovery and development of copper resources;
- Amaroq's operational readiness ensures availability of logistical and consumable requirements, should follow-up assessments be required later this year.
South Greenland copper belt
The combination of the company's mineral system modelling, and the review of registered and undocumented copper occurrences has defined an emerging South Greenland copper belt, stretching from the past-producing Josva copper mine in the west approximately 150 km to numerous potential porphyry systems in the Johan Dahl land area in the east.
This ground had previously been mapped and recorded as unprospective granites, however Amaroq's research has indicated this to be a misinterpretation and highlighted the geodynamic association of the belt to the Ketilidian-aged subduction beneath the nearby Archean craton margin, as well as the structural association with the rare earth element hosting Gardaq province along the regionally important Gardar-Voisey's Bay fault zone.
In commencing this research, Amaroq has made a number of new copper, molybdenum and gold discoveries along the belt, including the Target West copper-molybdenum porphyry system, which underwent successful scout drilling in 2022 and 2023. Copper occurrences range from high-grade vein-hosted mesothermal- or skarn-style bodies such as that historically mined at Josva in the Kobberminebugt area, through large lower-grade copper (plus/minus molybdenum and gold) porphyry systems as identified at Target West with indication of further bodies in the Johan Dahl land area. In addition, potential epithermal copper/gold sites have been identified, such as Target North.
Research from the 2023 exploration results suggests that the level of erosion decreases toward the east and therefore increasing ore deposit preservation potential.
Review of the Target West porphyry system
As reported in the press release of Jan. 24, 2024, Amaroq completed a further 2,200 metres of scout drilling into Target West located within the Sava licence. This exploration intersected up to 345 m of low-grade porphyry-style mineralization within a body termed Unit 1.
This Unit 1 has subsequently been interpreted as an early-stage fine-grained monzonite intrusion that is potassic (K-feldspar+biotite) altered and cut by sinuous, relatively high temperature quartz veins that contain minor amounts of pyrite, chalcopyrite and molybdenite (less commonly bornite). Magnetite does occur with the quartz-sulphide veins locally but, over all, the body of fine-grained monzonite coincides with a reduced-to-the-pole magnetic low.
Further review of these data alongside of leading independent copper industry expert Steve Garwin, an internationally renowned copper expert, has suggested that Target West exists as an ancient porphyry or intrusion-related system. The relict potassic-altered core suggests that erosion level are high and thus, while depth potential remains, much of the original mineralizing system has been eroded away. However, Amaroq's discovery of Target West illustrates the potential to find further porphyry deposits across the belt.
Kobberminebugt geophysical results
The Kobberminebugt licence covers a coastal area in southwestern Greenland, 25 km southwest of Arsuk. The terrain is flat, undulating and affords excellent exposure of interbedded metavolcanics, metasedimentary and pyroclastic rocks of the Ilordleq group exposed along the extent of the Kobberminebugt shear zone, a regionally significant feature. These rocks have been mineralized during the intrusion of a large granite system (the Julianehab complex) that are late Paleoproterozoic (Ketilidian) in age, and therefore temporally related to the mineralization observed and reported on within the company's Sava licence over 120 km to the east. As such, Amaroq considers that the Kobberminebugt licence forms the western extent of an emerging copper belt located along the Gardar-Voisey's Bay fault zone that straddles Eastern Canada and southern Greenland.
Narrow vein-hosted high-grade copper mineralization was exploited at the Josva mine area, which was operated by Gronlands Minedrift Aktieselskab between 1853 and 1855, and 1905 and 1914. It is estimated that approximately 91 metric tonnes of copper, as well as small amounts of gold (16 ounces) and silver (1,600 oz) were extracted from 2,200 tonnes of ore that was smelted on the site.
During 2023, a helicopter-borne MobileMT electromagnetic and magnetic survey was conducted across the entire licence area aimed at delineating the known mineralization at Josva and other historically mined areas, and assessing the strike and dip extensions of these. In parallel, the signature from these bodies could be used to define further targets within the immediate licence area. The subsequent data has also undergone inversion to allow for three dimensional interpretation.
From these data, and specifically the magnetic inversions, Amaroq has interpreted a small strike but greater dip extension to the high-grade hosting shear zone at the Josva mine. This provides additional copper hosting potential at depth, and particularly in areas where the host shear zone appears to bend and widen.
In addition to this, the association between mineralization and magnetite seen at Josva has allowed the company to define a further two prospective targets at the Sanerut island area and particularly at Kiinalik, where granitoid rock near a skarn horizon of the Ilordleq group may host hydrothermal skarn-type mineralization, and displays anomalous gold and lesser copper stream sediment anomalies.
Nunarsuit geophysical results
The 2023 helicopter-borne geophysics (magnetics, radiometric and gravity) flown over the western areas, and specifically the Gardar-age rock of the Nunarsuit licence, have been received. Initial review and interpretation from these data have provided significant insights into the structure and composition of the Gardar intrusions that hold potential to host critical metal and rare earth metals. Of particular interest is the identification of new, previously unrecognized, intrusions and dikes, as well as the southern extension of the Isortoq dike, which, 15 km to the north, hosts VTi Resources' Isortoq vanadium-titanium deposit (70.3 million tonnes containing 10.9 per cent TiO2 (titanium oxide), 0.15 per cent V2O5 (vanadium oxide) and 43.4 per cent FeO (iron oxide)).
The identification and mapping of the structure of these Gardar intrusions are a critical step toward understanding their and defining their metal-hosting potential.
Target generation across the mineral belt
Following the assessment of the Target West data in conjunction with Mr. Garwin, and the confirmation that the belt hosts copper porphyry/intrusion-related bodies, all available data from across the belt has undergone further review in order to update and refine Amaroq's key copper exploration targets ahead of the 2024 field season. This process involved a review of the regional remote sensing, geophysical and geochemical data sets in conjunction with the company's mineral system models, and the insights gathered from the Target West drilling data and regional exploration conducted in 2023. Due to the interpretation of the higher preservation potential toward the east of the belt, this project generation program focused on the Johan Dahl Land area.
The results of this program are that, in addition to the two modelled mesothermal/shear-hosted targets defined in the Kobberminebugt target, a further 17 copper exploration targets have been defined across the North Sava and Johan Dahl land area. This is in addition to the previously reported targets across the wider belt.
Further, and leaning on insights taken from the Stendalen copper-nickel discovery reported Feb. 29, 2024, a number of appinite (hydrous plutonic rocks) bodies have been assessed as further magmatic sulphide target located upon the same copper belt. In all, five further sulphide targets have been defined.
Two thousand twenty-four exploration aims and objectives
Amaroq is now finalizing its 2024 field plans and objectives for the licence within the South Greenland copper belt. These programs will involve a dedicated copper exploration team assessing all targets identified from the approximately 10,000 line km geophysical data collected in 2023 with particular attention paid to the porphyry targets identified within the eastern reaches of the belt where preservation potential is high.
Amaroq has further ensured availability for logistical and consumable requirements needed for any scout drilling this summer should any of these targets assessed warrant immediate follow-up assessment.
About Amaroq Minerals
Amaroq Minerals' principal business objectives are the identification, acquisition, exploration and development of gold and strategic metal properties in southern Greenland. The company's principal asset is a 100-per-cent interest in the past-producing Nalunaq gold mine which is due to go into production toward the end of 2024. The corporation has a portfolio of gold and strategic metal assets in southern Greenland covering the two known gold belts in the region, as well as advanced exploration projects at Stendalen and the Sava copper belt exploring for strategic metals such as copper, nickel, rare earths and other minerals. Amaroq Minerals is incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act and wholly owns Nalunaq A/S, incorporated under the Greenland Public Companies Act.
Qualified person statement
The technical information presented in this press release has been approved by James Gilbertson, CGeol, vice-president of exploration for Amaroq Minerals and a chartered geologist with the Geological Society of London, and, as such, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
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