KUTCHO COPPER CORP. Kutcho Copper Corp. provided an overview of its explorations plans at its feasibility stage, high-grade copper-zinc Kutcho Project located in north-western British Columbia. The Kutcho Project encompasses ~90% of the prospective Kutcho Formation rocks east of Dease Lake, B.C. These prospective volcanic rocks are folded, repeating the favourable mineralized horizon that hosts the Main, Sumac and Esso VMS deposits three times within the Project boundary, including the areas hosting the known deposits.
The Main, Sumac and Esso deposits are all aligned and plunge at 15o to the west, with Main outcropping at surface and Esso occurring at approximately 400 m below the surface. The existing VTEM data does not penetrate deep enough to detect the Esso deposit but the proposed aerial gravity survey can investigate the highly prospective corridor west of and to depth, beyond the Esso deposit, where drilling in 1980 returned an intersection of 7.2m of 2.0% Cu, 5.2% Zn and 17g/t Ag in hole E094B3. Kutcho Copper has already identified target areas of interest from a review of available technical information, which targets will also be the focus of the planned geophysical program and include: Target 1 the IRJ Northwest target was first identified as a conductor in a 1990 ground-based survey and was tested with two drill holes.
The holes intersected intensely altered and weakly copper-mineralized intervals, as well as a thick sequence of altered lapilli tuff and ash. The size and strength of the alteration in both holes suggests a prospective target down dip that may be defined by gravity techniques. Target 2 the IRJ Northeast target has been intersected by three holes drilled in 1990 that returned massive to semi-massive sulphide layers up to 1m thick that are associated with argillaceous material.
Hole E017 returned ~3m of a stringer zone with an average of 20% pyrite that includes some massive bands, which assayed 7.3m of 0.27% Cu. The geochemical trends suggest that a hydrothermal vent area lies further east and exploration should focus on this area. Target 3 This target is a significant VMS-type showing located on the flank of a felsic dome.
A prospect pit was excavated and reached "mineralized bedrock" at a depth of 1.6 m, returning assays of 0.3% Cu, 0.1% Pb, 0.1% Zn and 7g/t Ag. Soil sampling defined a 400m x 500m cluster of strong Cu-Zn anomalies that are coincident with a strong, linear, chargeability anomaly. A Cu-Zn soil anomaly containing up to 0.15% Zn and 0.03% Cu occurs on the southwestern flank of the same rhyolite flow/dome complex that has not been drill tested either.
Target 4 B-C East is a 3.5km long conductor inferred to be overlain by 30m of silica exhalite. Host rocks comprise a narrow band of sericite schist with narrow lenses of massive pyrite and silica exhalite hosted in mafic rocks. Gravity surveys produced a broad and shallow response that suggests a diffuse zone of increased density that could indicate disseminated or stringer-style sulphide mineralization commonly associated with VMS deposits.
Target 5 The I-PC area is associated with cherts hosted in crystal lithic tuffs and is interpreted as a hydrothermal exhalative horizon. E024 and 90K16 are proximal drill holes which intersected alteration in lithic tuffs and massive to laminated pyrite with minor disseminated sphalerite and chalcopyrite, potentially indicating proximity to a productive VMS environment. This tuff unit occurs upstream from numerous rounded boulders of finely banded, sphalerite- and galena-bearing chert and exhalate, suggesting potential for a nearby sub-cropping VMS system.
Target 6 - Esso West: The Esso West expansion target is represented by a geophysical anomaly extending 1,500m westward from the Esso deposit, with approximately only 150m (10%) of the anomaly being drill tested. This drilling returned several mineralized intercepts including 7.2m of 2.0% Cu, 5.2% Zn and 17g/t Ag in hole E094B3 (estimated true thickness of 6.12m), which lies 300m west of the Esso deposit. The 300m of prospective Kutcho horizon between hole E094B3 and the Esso deposit is untested by drilling, as is the further 1,000 m of prospective Kutcho horizon to the west of hole E094B3.
