White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN) reveals sediment-hosted copper discovery in Nunavut, Canada

White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN) latest drilling at its Rae Copper Project in Nunavut, Canada, has confirmed a sediment-hosted copper system, an outcome that positions the company within a geological province capable of yielding large-scale copper deposits.

The discovery, from the first diamond drill hole at the Stark prospect, strengthens the company’s view that Rae is a highly fertile and expansive copper system.

Highlights

• Maiden diamond hole STK25001 intersected 7m at 0.41% Cu from 177m and 3.5m at 7.2% Cu within 12m at 2.45% Cu from 287m.

• The hole encountered sediment-hosted and structurally controlled copper mineralisation, including chalcopyrite and bornite veining.

• Geological interpretation suggests proximity to a bornite and chalcocite-rich core, typical of higher-grade copper zones.

• The results expand the known mineralised area southward and confirm that the mineralised sediments extend into the sub-basin.

• Upcoming airborne electromagnetic survey data will guide further drilling toward higher-grade targets.

The Rae Copper Project sits within a 3,000-square-kilometre tenement package that has already demonstrated high copper fertility.

Drillhole STK25001 targeted the Stark fault zone and intersected both sedimentary and structurally controlled mineralisation, indicating the co-existence of multiple copper-bearing systems.

The 7-metre intercept of sediment-hosted copper mineralisation within the Rae Group sediments is particularly important, as it represents the first confirmation of a sediment-hosted system at the project.

The mineral assemblage of chalcopyrite ± bornite and the structural relationship between the sediments and the underlying fault suggest the hole intersected the outer pyrite-replacement zone of a zoned copper system.

Grades are expected to increase toward the more central chalcocite-rich zones, typical of large-scale, basin-hosted copper systems found in similar geological settings worldwide.

“Intersecting both sediment hosted copper mineralisation and high-grade copper veining with the first assays back from the lab, in a maiden drill program within an area of around 3,000 square kilometres is an exceptional outcome and highlights the fertility and potential scale of the Rae Copper Project,” said Managing Director Troy Whittaker.

Whittaker noted that the discovery of mineralised sediments further south than previously mapped materially increases the project’s prospective area.

The presence of high-grade sulphide veining immediately below the sedimentary contact also points to a vigorous, metal-rich hydrothermal system capable of generating multiple deposit styles within the broader district.

Beyond the drill results, the company has completed an advanced airborne electromagnetic survey through XCalibur Smart Mapping, targeting conductive structures associated with the Rae Group sediments.

The results, due shortly, are expected to refine drill targeting by highlighting conductive zones aligned with copper-rich fault corridors.

White Cliff’s previous exploration at Rae recorded some of Canada’s highest historical copper grades, including rock chip samples up to 64% Cu and 152 g/t Ag.

Combined with the new sediment-hosted intercepts, these results provide compelling evidence that Rae may host both structurally controlled and basin-hosted copper systems, an uncommon but highly valuable combination in exploration geology.

White Cliff Minerals now plans to follow up with targeted drilling aimed at locating the higher-grade chalcocite-rich core of the system, guided by geophysical and geochemical vectors identified from STK25001.

The next phase will likely focus on testing beneath and along strike of the Stark fault zone, where the conductive anomaly remains untested.

With a confirmed vector to higher-grade zones, a substantial regional footprint, and growing geological evidence of a large mineralised system, the Rae Copper Project is emerging as one of the more promising new copper discoveries in northern Canada.

For a junior explorer, confirming sediment-hosted copper mineralisation in its maiden diamond hole is no small feat, and sets the stage for a potentially transformative exploration season ahead.

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