NOC:CC - Norseman Signs Exclusive Option to Acquire the Caballos Copper Project in Chile
(TheNewswire)
Vancouver, British Columbia - TheNewswire - November 30, 2023 - Norseman SilverInc. (TSXV:NOC) (OTC:NOCSF) (“ Norseman ” or the“ Company ”) is pleased toannounce it has secured an exclusive option to acquire 100% of theCaballos Copper Project, located in the Valparaiso Region of Chile,from Asesorias y Inversiones J.V&A. Ltda and Inversiones yAsesorias Doce S.A (“the Vendors ”). The project comprises 18,000 Ha of concessions,at an average altitude of 2,200 m. The project is located 210 km byroad to Santiago, 56 km south of Los Pelambres, 97 km north of LosBronces, and 80 km from the coast. The option agreement was signedon November 23, 2023.
Highlights:
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Anomalous copper in several zones along a 10 km structural corridor
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Coincident soil and geophysical anomalies form a large target at“Cerro Las Mulas”
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Cerro Las Mulas is drill-ready and hosts mineralization at surface
Campbell Smyth, Norseman's Chairman, commented:
“Caballos offers a unique opportunity to explore a significantcopper target that was advanced to its current drill-ready status byVale. The project is located on the flanks of a geological belt thatstretches from Antofagasta plc’s Los Pelambres mine to AngloAmerican’s Los Bronces copper mine. Los Pelambres and Los Bronceshave endowments of 36 million and 44 million tonnes of containedcopper respectively. Both operations produce over 300,000 tonnes ofcopper annually.
Norseman is exploring in the land of giants and there is an ongoingshortage of large copper assets with good grade, clean metallurgy andsimple geometry. Caballos is a strategic land holding with abundantcopper, gold and molybdenum mineralization, in the world’s premiercopper jurisdiction. We plan to drill Caballos in the second half of2024 and are currently building up our local exploration team.”
Merlin Marr-Johnson, Technical Advisor to Norseman, added:
“The geology at the Cerro Las Mulas target is indicative of being inthe core of a porphyry system. Well defined soil and geophysicalanomalies match the outline of a felsic intrusive hosting secondaryK-feldspar and biotite stockworks. The intrusion shows disseminatedchalcopyrite and copper oxides at surface. The intrusion is highlyanomalous and extends 1000 m x 200 m at surface, supporting anexploration target of one million tonnes of contained copper. It canbe tested by a series of drill fences along the 1 km of strike. Thetarget is ready to be drilled in 2024.”
Terms of the Transaction
The terms of the Option require that a work program is completed,consisting of:
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At least US$1 million of project work, including 3,000 m of drillingin Year One.
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At least US$4 million of project work, with no consecutive 12 monthperiod seeing less than US$ 500,000 of project work, in YearsTwo-Four.
Subject to the requisite investment having been met, Norseman canexercise the option by making a US$2 million payment to the Vendors inYear Five. A further bullet payment to the Vendors is due at the pointof a construction decision being made, comprising US$2 per tonne ofcontained copper within compliant NI 43-101 defined resources. Inaddition, the Vendors are granted a 3% NSR, of which 1.5% can bepurchased by Norseman for US$7.5 M at any point prior to aconstruction decision being made.
Location
The project comprises 18,000 Ha of concessions, at an average altitudeof 2,200 m. Caballos is 210 km from Santiago, via the R5N Highway. Theproject will be supported from the nearby towns of Cabildo or Petorcatowns via internal roads. Unpaved road access reaches within 9 km ofthe main target area.
Project History
In 1994 BRGM (French Geological Survey) performed a stream sedimentsurvey over the Cordilleran belt between Regions IV and V, Chile. One of the main anomalies (Cu-Zn-Pb-Au) of the survey corresponds towhat is now the southern part of Caballos, with up to 409 ppm Cu, 70ppb Au, 305 ppm Zn and 145 ppm Pb.
In 1998 Blue Desert Mining, a junior company, claimed the property andcarried out a geophysical survey in what is the northern part ofCaballos. IP Gradient, Pole-Dipole and Mag surveys were executed in alimited sector around Cerro Las Mulas.
In 2004 the present owners staked the first 7,000 Ha in the southernpart and, in the subsequent years expanded control to 18,000 Ha ofexploration tenements. In 2006 the property was optioned to VALE whogenerated a geological map, collected approximately 200 rock and soilsamples and performed an IP dipole-dipole over the same Cerro LasMulas area. In 2008 Vale dropped the option.
In 2011 BHP worked in the Caballos South area. BHP carried outrock-chip sampling in the northern portion, and new stream sedimentsampling in the southern part of the property, in the same area whereBRGM found the strong multi-elements stream sediment anomaly. Soonafter, a private investor independently carried out stream sedimentsampling in the area which returned a robust stream sediment anomaly,with values up to 1420 ppm Cu, 164 ppm Mo and 0.1 g/t Au. The anomalyis related to an elongated hydrothermal breccia (1,300 m long),associated with the regionally important Pocuro Fault Zone(“PFZ”). The breccia contains patches of tourmaline and Cu-oxidesspots and signs of argillic alteration. A halo of limonite andsericite surrounds the breccia.
Project Geology and HistoricResults
Historic information shown below are taken from reports variouslyprepared by the Companies that previously worked the area and sharedresults with the Vendors. Norseman Silver has not carried outquantitative re-sampling of the area, nor completed check assays ofthe sample data.
The Caballos area straddles geology of the Miocene FarellonesFormation and the Oligocene Abanico Formation. Age-dating at Caballosis not conclusive, with a K-Ar radiometric date of 25.5 Ma +/- 0.7 Ma.Caballos is located over an important regional fault system, thePocuro Fault Zone. The PFZ is a clearly visible regional-scalemorphological feature that has been mapped in a N-S trend for morethan 200 km (see Fig.2). The PFZ is a high-angle reverse fault (withvergence to W) and was active at least until the Early Miocene. Thefault zone has been described as a 'megafault' that stands out as oneof the largest geological features in the region.
Figure 1. Project Location
Figure 2. The Pocuro Fault Zone relative to the Caballos projectlocation
At Cerro Las Mulas, a soil and rock geochemistry indicates a copperanomaly, partially mirrored in molybdenum and gold chemistry along1,200 m of strike. The anomaly is open in several directions (seeFigure 3). The main anomaly coincides with the presence of a felsicintrusive with K-feldspar and biotite stockworks, with disseminatedchalcopyrite and copper oxides at surface. The intrusion at Cerro LasMulas is located in a wide and gently sloping valley and the intrusionitself is largely covered by a colluvium apron.
Figure 3. Caballos North, geochemical grid in Cerro Las Mulas
Also at Cerro Las Mulas, two different induced polarization (“IP”)surveys shows chargeability coincident with the geochemical copperanomalies. The first IP survey was a Gradient survey carried out byQuantec in 1998. The second IP survey was a dipole-dipole surveycarried out by Zonge in 2006. Screen-grab images of the anomalies areshown in Figure 4, below.
Figure 4. IP Gradient Survey by Quantec showing apparent chargeabilityfrom pseudo-sections (left) and IP dipole-dipole Zonge 2006 D-D IP,100m slice 2D inversion (right)
The Vendors note that the IP pole-dipole raw data from 1998 wasreprocessed in 2023. The geophysicist that carried out thereprocessing work was the same geophysicist that carried out theoriginal Quantec 1998 survey. He reported that “The chargeabilityanomalies are low in amplitude; however, they display excellentline-to-line correlation and form anomalies of potentially economicsize.” The commentary continued by saying, “the chargeable sourceis attributed to sulphide mineralization” and “the chargeabilitysource appears to continue to depth, possibly widening”.
Outside of the immediate Cerro Las Mulas target area, anomalous andabundant copper is found in several zones located along over 10 km ofthe Pocuro Fault Zone which traverses the western portion of theproperty. The elevated geochemical values are mainly associated withstocks and hydrothermal breccias around the PFZ (see Figure 5, below).The central and southern part of the PFZ host several hydrothermalbreccias with copper, zinc, and locally molybdenum. The average coppergrade of all samples taken to date across the property is 850 ppm Cu.
Figure 5. Map of sample locations, main anomalies, and the PocuroFault Zone
Exploration Target and NextSteps
The exploration target at Cerro Las Mulas is a conceptual target basedon the following metrics: length 1000 x width 200 x depth 400 xdensity 2.7 x grade 0.5 % Cu.
In the first half of 2024 Norseman will prepare the exploration teamand the logistics to support a drill program. The Company has aconceptual plan to drill twelve holes averaging 250 m each forapproximately 3,000 m in a number of fences along 1 km of strikelength. Drilling is planned for the second half of the year.
Qualified Person
The technical information in this news release was reviewed byGilberto Schubert, P. Geo., a qualified person as defined underNational Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101).
About Norseman Silver
Norseman’s shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under thesymbol NOC and on the OTCQB under the symbol NOCSF. Learn more aboutNorseman at www.norsemansilver.com.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or asolicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the UnitedStates. The securities have not been and will not be registered underthe United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any statesecurities laws and may not be offered or sold within the UnitedStates or to or for the account or benefit of a U.S. person (asdefined in Regulation S under the United States Securities Act) unlessregistered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable statesecurities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
On behalf of Norseman Silver Inc.
Sean Hurd
President and CEO
For further information, please contact:
Sean Hurd President and CEO
Info@norsemansilver.com
+1 604-505-4554
For more information on Norseman Silver, please visit the Company'swebsite.
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