As the copper price continues its rally, priced at roughly US$3.84 per pound as of the time of this writing, Northstar Gold Corp. (CSE:NSG) is taking advantage of the base metal’s rally thanks to some recent drilling results at its 100-per-cent-owned Miller Copper-Gold property near Kirkland Lake, Ontario.
Case in point, the company announced the first assay results from its Phase I drill program at the Cam Copper Mine on Nov. 16, quickly followed by reporting remaining results on Nov. 23. The Cam Copper Mine is a former small-scale, high-grade copper producer ideally located on a newly defined, high-grade volcanic massive sulphide (VMS) copper system, and results are nothing less than stellar.
Key highlights
- 3.12% Cu over 3.6m from 25.0m to 28.6m including 19.45% Cu and 14.85 g/t Ag over 0.5m from 28.1m to 28.6m in Zone 1
- 14.78% Cu over 2.45m from 116.55m to 119.0m including 21.7% Cu, 0.27% Pb, 17.68 g/t Ag over 1.35m from 117.65m to 119.0m in Zone 2
- 8.17% Cu over 1.5m from 178.0m to 179.5m including 16.05% Cu over 0.6m from 178.0m to 178.6m in Zone 2
- 12.71% Cu, 0.62% Zn, 0.44% Pb, 16.47 g/t Ag over 0.75m from 107m to 107.75m in Zone 2
- 5.91% Cu over 1.5m from 135.0m to 136.5m including 9.92% Cu over 0.5m from 135.5m to 136m in Zone 3
All four drill holes across 720 metres intersected lenses of copper-rich volcanic massive sulphides, including massive and stringer chalcopyrite in drill hole CC03-23 where the grading of 14.8 per cent Cu over 2.45 m from 116.55 m to 119 m in Zone 2 was confirmed. This strongly implies the possibility of significant Zone 2 vertical and down plunge expansion potential to the southeast.
“Northstar’s 2023 Cam Copper sampling and Phase I drill results confirm reported historic widths and high copper grades, demonstrating copper mineralization is related to a robust, multi-horizon copper VMS system with excellent expansion potential,” Brian P. Fowler, Northstar Gold’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “Northstar is fully permitted and positioning to explore the strike and down plunge extensions of the Cam Copper massive sulphide zones through Phase II drilling.”
Additionally, semi-massive sulphides with milled cherty fragments in Zone 2 averaging 8.17 per cent Cu over 1.5 metres in drill hole CC02-23, 80 metres below the 200′ level of the historic mine workings, suggest close proximity to a nearby seafloor hydrothermal vent, in an area never before drill tested.
Moving forward, the company anticipates conducting a Phase II Cam Copper drill program to test the down plunge extension of mineralized zones and prioritizing expansion of the Zone 2 massive sulphide.
A program of surface and borehole geographics is also being planned to survey the mine site area and Boston Creek copper trend towards the southeast.
The Cam Copper mine
The Cam Copper Mine is host to at least three separate lenses – Zone 1, Zone 2, and Zone 3 – of massive copper sulphides roughly 30-50 metres apart, striking and plunging southeast along the contact with the Round Lake Branite Batholith.
In the summer of 2023, the company announced the results of a surface sampling program at the property, which included high-grade copper assays ranging between 0.99 per cent and 31.8 per cent copper that were returned from 19 select surface grab samples containing massive to semi-massive sulphides.
The weighted average grade of the 19 select samples collected from the historic muck pile and bedrock exposure near the historic shaft was 14 per cent copper. While one select sample that assayed 31.8 per cent copper also returned 4.52 g/t.
“Cam Copper Mine represents a unique and compelling high-grade copper exploration opportunity that dovetails with Ontario’s Critical Minerals exploration focus,” Fowler said at the time. “While gold exploration at the Miller Property continues to have significant upside and remains a focus of the company, Northstar sees significant expansion upside at Cam Copper that can be more easily fast-tracked. Phase I drilling is aimed to substantiate this.”
The investment corner
The copper market is hot right now, especially thanks to its use cases in the electric vehicle battery market. With copper prices surging over the year, companies such as Northstar Gold are benefiting from the rally as it moves to execute its goals at the Cam Copper mine.
As it currently stands, shares of Northstar Gold are priced at C$0.045 with a market capitalization of $3.8 million. Despite its low stock price, Northstar Gold has plenty of room to soar, particularly as it makes headway at its Cam Copper mine with a Phase II drill program.
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