Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 26, 2024) - Sun Summit Minerals Corp. (TSXV: SMN) (OTCQB: SMREF) is pleased to provide an overview of its upcoming 2025 project-wide exploration program at the JD Project, located in the Toodoggone Mining District, north-central British Columbia.
The Company plans to fully evaluate the significant high-grade and bulk-tonnage gold potential at the Creek and Finn Zones through targeted and infill drilling. Project-wide exploration activities are also planned to advance multiple new and existing high-priority targets.
Highlights:
Finn Zone Targeted Drilling: Drilling at the Finn Zone will include confirmation, infill, and step-out holes designed to potentially contribute to a future mineral resource estimate. Holes will evaluate the near-surface high-grade gold potential of target. Historical intercepts highlights include:
35.7 m of 7.26 g/t Au including 1 m of 215.4 g/t Au (JD95-0472)
22.0 m of 12.5 g/t Au including 0.8 m of 171.5 g/t Au (JD95-0642)
25.9 m of 6.42 g/t Au including 6.1 m of 12.8 g/t Au (JD94-0151)
22.0 m of 6.32 g/t Au including 12.6 m of 10.8 g/t Au (JD12-0033)
27.8 m of 6.64 g/t Au including 11.0 m of 15.1 g/t Au (JD95-0972)
Creek Zone Step-Out and Infill Drilling: Drilling at the Creek Zone will include step-out and infill drilling designed to investigate the extent and continuity of high-grade and bulk-tonnage gold mineralization. Results may be used for a future mineral resource estimate. Historical and recent highlight intercepts include:
122.53 m of 2.11 g/t Au including 1.5 of 121.0 g/t Au (CZ-24-0047)
54.95 m of 2.69 g/t Au including 19.50 m of 7.31 g/t Au (CZ-24-0058)
22.0 m of 11.7 g/t Au including 4.0 m of 61.2 g/t Au (CZ97-0085)
21.5 m of 3.1 g/t Au including 3.0 m of 18.7 g/t Au (CZ98-0126)
Testing Additional Priority Targets: Project-wide exploration will also focus on:
Newly identified porphyry and epithermal targets including, Creek North, Belle North, and Fericrete targets.
Established high-priority epithermal targets across the Finn to Creek Corridor including MVT, JD West, Ag Carbonate, Wolf and Schmitt.
Geophysical and Geochemical Surveys: Additional Induced Polarization (IP) geophysical and soil geochemical surveys will be completed across multiple underexplored target areas including the eastern claim block with strong porphyry copper potential.
Sharyn Alexander, President of Sun Summit Minerals, commented "The results from our 2024 exploration program have provided us with a strong foundation to launch an aggressive follow-up campaign in 2025. Our upcoming exploration efforts will focus on systematically stepping out from known mineralized areas while continuing to test priority targets that could lead to additional high-grade discoveries. For shareholders and potential investors, this represents an opportunity to be part of a highly prospective exploration story in a world-class mining district."
Finn Zone
The Finn Zone will be a major focus of the 2025 exploration program where drilling will be designed to confirm the presence of high-grade gold-silver mineralization intersected in historical drilling (Figure 1). Drilling in the 1990s at the Finn zone primarily focused on a high-grade core covering an area of roughly 300 by 100 metres, with drill holes typically spaced at 25-metre intervals (see February 1, 2024, news release). Downhole sampling was inconsistent, leaving significant gaps in data, and several holes ended in strong gold-silver mineralization. Later drilling in 2012-2013 expanded the mineralized zone, extending it down-dip by 350 metres and along strike for 500 metres.
Infill and step-out holes will be designed to investigate the continuity and extent of structurally-controlled base-metal-rich epithermal-related mineralization.
Infill drilling near the center of the high-grade core to verify historical grades (35.7 metres of 7.26 g/t Au including 1.0 metre of 215.4 g/t Au in hole JD95-0472), confirm structural controls, and explore at depth to assess the geometry and grade of the mineralized footwall zone (e.g., JD12-0093) (Figure 1).
Step-out drilling down-dip towards hole JD12-015 to evaluate mineralization continuity and identify potential high-grade zones (Figure 1).
Step-out drilling along strike towards hole JD13-024 to systematically test for additional high-grade gold-silver mineralization (Figure 1).
Creek Zone
Follow-up drilling at the Creek Zone will be designed to investigate the extent of high-grade and bulk-tonnage mineralization (Figure 2). The Creek Zone was first drilled in 1997 and 1998 where drilling tested an interpreted strike-length of over 450 metres (see February 12, 2024, news release). The discovery hole, CZ97-0085, intersected numerous zones of high-grade gold mineralization, highlighted by an interval of 4.0 metres of 61.2 g/t Au. This interval was later re-analysed via metallic screens and returned 4.0 metres of 103.3 g/t Au5. Subsequent drill holes also intersected numerous zones of strong gold mineralization, (e.g., 21.5 metres of 3.1 g/t Au including 3.0 metres of 18.7 g/t Au, CZ98-0126).
Recent drilling by Sun Summit identified the presence of previously undocumented bulk-tonnage mineralization and confirmed the presence of high-grade mineralization (e.g., 122.53 metres of 2.11 g/t Au, including 20.0 metres of 10.01 g/t Au, and including 1.52 metres of 121.0 g/t Au, CZ-24-004, see October 2, 2024, news release). High-grade gold is locally associated with strong silver and base metal mineralization. Hole CZ-24-005 contained a vein-hosted interval with 362 g/t gold, 121 g/t silver, 2.23% copper, and 18.15% zinc, which further supports the high-prospectivity for high-grade polymetallic mineralization at the Creek zone (see October 16, 2024, news release).
Step-out and infill drilling in 2025 will aim to extend the footprint of high-grade and bulk-tonnage mineralization. The Creek Zone remains open in multiple directions and at depth, providing numerous opportunities for expansion.
Sun Summit will also investigate the potential of several newly identified epithermal gold-silver and porphyry copper-gold targets including:
The Creek North target is defined by a strong Cu-Au-Zn soil anomaly coincident with a high-chargeability and magnetic-high geophysical anomaly. The anomaly spans at least 1.2 by 1.2 kilometres and represents a new target with no previous exploration (see November 18, 2024, news release).
The Belle Zone, located south of the Finn Zone, contains historical epithermal-related gold mineralization, and recent soil sampling defined two strong and broad multi-element geochemical anomalies (see November 18, 2024, news release). The Belle North anomaly is strongly anomalous in gold-copper-zinc-arsenic and is associated with a defined magnetic lineament. The Belle South anomaly comprises copper-zinc-silver-gold and is associated with local high-grade Au veins discovered in historic trenching programs1. Both targets represent newly defined priority targets, which are untested by drilling and lack IP coverage.
The Fericrete target, located north of the Creek Zone, returned promising results from preliminary exploration drilling in 2024, intersecting broad zones of alteration and mineralization indicative of a porphyry-related system at depth (see November 18, 2024, news release).
These newly identified targets complement a series of high-priority epithermal gold-silver targets across the Finn to Creek Corridor including, JD West, Ag Carbonate, Wolf, Schmitt and MVT (see May 2, 2024, news release). All JD-wide targets will be ranked and prioritised prior to the 2025 exploration program.
This news release has been reviewed and approved by Sun Summit's Vice President Exploration, Ken MacDonald, P. Geo., a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators. He has not been able to verify the historical exploration data disclosed, including sampling, analytical and test data, underlying the technical information in this news release since such data is historical and the original drill core is not readily available. Some technical information contained in this release is historical in nature and has been compiled from public sources believed to be accurate. The historical technical information has not been verified by Sun Summit and may in some instances be unverifiable dependent on the existence of historical drill core and grab samples.
Community Engagement
Sun Summit is engaging with First Nations on whose territory our projects are located and is discussing their interests and identifying contract and work opportunities, as well as opportunities to support community initiatives. The Company looks forward to continuing to work with local and regional First Nations with ongoing exploration.
About the JD Project
The JD Project is located in the Toodoggone mining district in north-central British Columbia, a highly prospective deposit-rich mineral trend. The project covers an area of over 15,000 hectares and is in close proximity to active exploration and development projects, such as Thesis Gold's Lawyers and Ranch projects, TDG Gold's Baker-Shasta projects, Centerra's Gold's Kemess East and Underground projects, as well as the past-producing Kemess open pit copper-gold mine.
The project is 450 kilometres northwest of the city of Prince George, and 25 kilometres north of the Sturdee airstrip. It is proximal to existing infrastructure in place to support the past-producing Kemess mine, including roads and a hydroelectric power line.
The JD Project is in a favourable geological environment characterized by both high-grade epithermal gold and silver mineralization, as well as porphyry-related copper and gold mineralization. Some historical exploration, including drilling, geochemistry and geophysics, has been carried out on the property, however the project area is largely underexplored.
About Sun Summit
Sun Summit Minerals (TSXV: SMN) (OTCQB: SMREF) is a mineral exploration company focused on expansion and discovery of district scale gold and copper assets in British Columbia. The Company's diverse portfolio includes the JD Project in the Toodoggone region of north-central B.C., and the Buck Project in central B.C.
Krause, R.G. (1995), 1994 Geological and Geochemical Report on the JD Gold Silver Property, Toodoggone River Area, Omineca Mining Division, British Columbia, Assessment Report Indexing System, Report 23663, https://apps.nrs.gov.bc.ca/pub/aris.
Krause, R.G. (1996), 1995 Geological Report on the JD Gold Silver Property, Toodoggone River Area, Omineca Mining Division, British Columbia, Assessment Report Indexing System, Report 24284, https://apps.nrs.gov.bc.ca/pub/aris.
McBride, S. (2013), 2012 Geological, geochemical and diamond drilling report on the JD Property, Assessment Report Indexing System, Report 33556, https://apps.nrs.gov.bc.ca/pub/aris.
McBride, S. and Leslie, C. (2014), 2013 Geological, geophysical and diamond drilling report on the JD Property, Assessment Report Indexing System, Report 34762, https://apps.nrs.gov.bc.ca/pub/aris.
Hawkins, P.A. (1998), 1997 Exploration Report on the Creek Zone for Antares Mining and Exploration Corporation and AGC Americas Gold Corporation, JD Property, Toodoggone River Area, Omineca Mining Division, Internal Report #98-065-1.
Davis, J.W., and Jamieson, M.D. (1998), Drilling and Geophysical Report on the M.H. Mineral Clain Group, Toodoggone District, Assessment Report Indexing System, Report 25757, https://apps.nrs.gov.bc.ca/pub/aris.
Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements, which involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition, the forward-looking statements require management to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There is significant risk that the forward-looking statements will not prove to be accurate, that the management's assumptions may not be correct and that actual results may differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Generally forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terminology such as "anticipate", "will", "expect", "may", "continue", "could", "estimate", "forecast", "plan", "potential" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release may include, but are not limited to, potential mineralization, exploration plans, and engagement with First Nations communities. These forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect which, without limiting the generality of the following, include: risks inherent in exploration activities; the impact of exploration competition; unexpected geological or hydrological conditions; changes in government regulations and policies, including trade laws and policies; failure to obtain necessary permits and approvals from government authorities; volatility and sensitivity to market prices; volatility and sensitivity to capital market fluctuations; the ability to raise funds through private or public equity financings; environmental and safety risks including increased regulatory burdens; weather and other natural phenomena; and other exploration, development, operating, financial market and regulatory risks. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof or the dates specifically referenced in this press release, where applicable. Except as required by applicable securities laws and regulation, Sun Summit disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
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