Projects
Cam Copper Mine
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The Historic High-Grade Cam Copper Mine Critical Minerals Exploration Opportunity
On July 5, 2023, Northstar announced the results of a surface sampling program at the historic Cam Copper Mine site on the Company’s 100%-owned, flagship Miller Property, situated 18 km southeast of the town of Kirkland Lake, Ontario. The Cam Copper Mine is a road-accessible satellite high-grade copper system situated 2.4 km southwest of the Allied Gold Zone, the advanced, near-surface bulk-tonnage alkalic gold-telluride exploration target being actively explored by Northstar.
Cam Copper Mine is the southernmost of 3 road accessible, historic shaft mines and small-scale past producers of high-grade ‘direct shipping’ copper ore centred on the historic, 4 km long Boston Creek Copper Trend. Limited production from the Cam, Amity and Patterson Mines occurred between 1926 – 1955.
Recent exploration by Northstar confirms Cam Copper is centred on a newly recognized high-grade “Besshi-type” volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) copper system situated at the northwest end of a 0.9 km long southeast trending belt of VMS horizons. Besshi-type VMS deposits are an important global source of base metals, simplistically characterized as vented, broad sheet-like layers of magnetite, iron-copper-lead-zinc-arsenic sulphides, cobalt, sulphosalts, silver and possibly gold deposited on an ancient sea floor, hosted in volcano-sedimentary rock packages.
High Grade Copper Sampled at Cam Copper Mine
On July 5, 2023, Northstar reported high-grade copper assays ranging between 0.99% and 31.8% copper were returned from 19 select surface grab samples containing massive to semi-massive sulphides (including massive chalcopyrite and bornite) and collectively weighing 43.39 kg, recently collected near the historic Cam Copper Mine site on the Miller Property in Pacaud Township. The weighted average grade of the 19 select samples collected from the historic muck pile and bedrock exposure near the historic shaft was 14.0% copper.
In addition to high-grade copper, one select sample that assayed 31.8% copper also returned 452 g/t silver, suggesting silver can also be a significant mineralization component.
Northstar Drilling Confirms High-Grade Copper, VMS Nature at Cam Copper Mine
Northstar completed 720 metres of drilling in 4 diamond drill holes (CC01-23 to CC04-23) at Cam Copper Mine between October 20th and October 30th, 2023 – See News Release dated November 16, 2024 and November 23, 2024. The Company reports all 4 drill holes intersected lenses of Cu-rich volcanogenic massive sulphides, including massive and stringer chalcopyrite in drill hole CC03-23 grading 14.8% Cu over 2.45m from 116.55m to 119m in Zone 2 (See Photos Below). This intercept represents a significant Zone 2 thickness increase and is highly suggestive of southeast down-plunge expansion. Zones 1, 3 and 4 also remain open along strike and at depth.
The Company reports the following assay highlights from the Cam Copper Phase I drilling program:
Zone 1
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- 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 CC01-23
Zone 2
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- 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 CC03-23
- 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 CC02-23
- 12.71% Cu, 0.62% Zn, 0.44% Pb, 16.47 g/t Ag over 0.75m from 107m to 107.75m in CC01-23
- 4.72% Cu over 1.95m from 106.8m to 108.75m including 14.75% Cu over 0.4m from 106.8m to 107.2m in CC04-23
Zone 3
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- 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 CC01-23
- 2.77% Cu over 0.5m from 224.2m to 224.7m in CC02-23
Semi-massive sulphides with milled cherty fragments in Zone 2 (Photo 4), averaging 8.17% Cu over 1.5 metres from 178.0m to 179.5m in drill hole CC02-23, 80 metres below the 200’ level of the historic mine workings, suggests close proximity to a nearby seafloor hydrothermal vent, in an area never before drill tested. Evidence of massive and stringer chalcopyrite over 2.45m in adjacent drill hole CC03-23 strongly implies the possibility of significant Zone 2 vertical and down plunge expansion potential to the southeast.
Southeast Extension – Geophysical Targets
Volcanic massive sulphide and exhalite mineralization consisting of massive or semi-massive pyrite (+/- chalcopyrite) is known to extend for hundreds of metres along strike southeast of the Cam Copper Mine site, having been previously explored by historic pitting and trenching. The copper trend includes multiple historic ground EM and IP bedrock targets along with strong airborne EM and magnetic anomalies which could highlight conductive bedrock targets such as Cu-rich massive sulphides for up to 900 metres along strike to the southeast.
Large 350m, 200 Siemens Near-Surface EM Conductor Defines Possible Southeast Strike Extension of Cam Copper Zone 2
On May 16, 2024, Northstar announced the completion and results of Pulse-EM surface electromagnetic (EM) and borehole electromagnetic (BHEM) surveys over a 900 metre southeast strike extension of the Cam Copper Mine volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) trend.
Crone Geophysics and Exploration Ltd. completed a Cam 3-dimensional surface EM survey that defined a strong near surface conductor with a conductance of 200 Siemens (S), indicating possible massive sulphide mineralization along strike and similar in composition to Cam Copper Mine Zone 2 but with potentially greater thickness. This potential “Zone 2 Extension Conductor” has a minimum 350 metre strike length and 150 metre depth extent and strikes 319° Az and dips -82 degrees to the northeast. The Zone 2 Extension Conductor is coincidental with several magnetic anomalies located approximately 600 to 900 meters along strike to the southeast of the Cam Copper mine site and could represent the southeast expansion of previously drilled Cam Copper VMS Zone 2 (14.8% copper over 2.5 metres in DDH CC03-23.
Northstar Consolidates Boston Creek Copper Trend
In anticipation of drill testing the new Zone 2 Extension Conductor and to further consolidate Northstar’s ground position over the Boston Creek Copper Trend, the Company recently signed Letters of Intent with owners of the neighboring Boston Creek Mines and Philip Property. The Boston Creek Mines Property contains 2 historic high-grade copper shaft mines (Amity and Patterson) along the northwestern half of the South Boston Creek Copper Trend, immediately adjacent to the Miller Copper-Gold Property. Three recently defined near-surface EM survey conductors on the Miller Copper-Gold Property, believed to represent near-surface volcanogenic massive sulphides (VMS) horizons, extend southeast onto the Philip Property, with the central conductor extending as much as 350 metres across the property line. Northstar’s LOI agreements effectively consolidate the South Boston Creek Copper Trend, providing the Company an exploration buffer zone and a 6-month exclusivity period to conduct due diligence studies and negotiate possible acquisition terms.
Positioned For Drilling Success
With Northstar’s newly defined, 350m long near-surface Zone 2 Extension Conductor and strike extensions locked up for 6 months, the Company is now poised to drill test what could potentially be a large, copper-rich VMS deposit. Northstar is now positioning to raise the capital required to drill test this target in Q3, 2024.
Additional Historic Cam Copper Mine Details
- The Cam Copper Mine hosts two separate lenses (Zones 1 and 2) of massive copper sulphides about 40 metres apart striking and plunging southeast along the contact with the Round Lake Granite Batholith. Underground development took place between 1929 and 1953 which includes sinking of a 220’ (66.7m) vertical shaft with 213’ (64.5m) of cross cutting and 267’ (80.9m) of drifting. The recent surface sampling results verify historic reporting of a 1955 shipment of 346 tons of hoisted underground ore which produced 43,411 lbs. of Cu at a Noranda smelter for a recovered grade of 6.3% Cu. The ore was shipped directly from the mine site to the smelter without requiring further concentration in a mill. A previous 1948 shipment of 22 tons of ore to Noranda reportedly graded 12.72% Cu, 0.84 oz/t Ag and 0.03 oz/t Au, presumably from Zone 1.
- Historic surface drilling intercepts include 12.4% Cu over 7.8’ in Zone 1 and 11.8% Cu over 9.2’ including 23.1% Cu over 4.6’ in Zone 2. Underground drilling intercepts include 9.6% Cu over 8.5’ including 16.6% Cu over 3.0’ in Zone 2 along strike to the southeast. Underground sampling over true widths was limited to massive sulphide bands and produced numerous high-grade intervals such as 14.79% Cu across 33” in Zone 1 within the hanging wall of the quartz breccia and 19.95% Cu across 24” in Zone 2 along the footwall breccia contact on the 200’ level. Both zones remain open down plunge below the 200’ level.
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Site Photos
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Maps
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