VANCOUVER,
June 12, 2017
/PRNewswire/ - Trilogy Metals Inc. (TSX,
NYSE-MKT: TMQ) ("Trilogy Metals" or "the Company") is
pleased to announce the start of the exploration field season for
the Bornite project. Trilogy Metals' 80-person camp, located
at the Company's Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in northwest
Alaska, has opened for the summer
field season. The Company has engaged Tuuq Drilling, a NANA
company, in partnership with Major Drilling International Inc., to
execute the 12,000-meter exploration drilling program at the
Bornite project. Tuuq Drilling has been providing core
drilling services to the Red Dog Mine in the NANA region. Tuuq
Drilling/Major Drilling are
utilizing 3 diamond core rigs capable of drilling to depths of
1,400 metres. Major Drilling will
also bring their directional drilling capabilities and experience
with multiple planned daughter holes drilled from a single parent
hole. This is expected to achieve drill as well as cost
efficiencies. Major Drilling
has been drilling deep directional holes for the last 10 years
with an excellent safety record. This is a highly specialized
job and the combination of Major's drilling experience and success
together with their safety practices earned them "Contractor of the
Year" by Rio Tinto at their Resolution project in Arizona. We
are very pleased to welcome Tuuq and Major to our team.
Trilogy Metals is executing this US$10 million program at Bornite, which has been
funded by South32 Limited per the agreement announced on
April 10, 2017
(https://Trilogy PR April 19 2017).
This year's exploration at Bornite was approved by a joint
Trilogy-South32 Technical Committee and is focused on drilling the
extensions of mineralization last drilled by the Company in
2013.
Bornite Exploration Hole RC13-224: 236 Meters of 1.9%
Copper
During the 2013 exploration program at the Bornite
project, the Company completed 8,142 meters of drilling with 4,684
meters drilled at the Ruby Creek zone (a potential open pit
resource) and 3,458 meters drilled at the South Reef zone (a
potential underground resource). A series of press releases
highlighted results of the drilling at Bornite starting with the
Company's press release dated October 7,
2013 (https://Trilogy PR October 7
2013) where we highlighted drill hole RC13-224 which
intersected two mineralized intervals, starting at 513.3 meters and
ending at 754.6 meters (241.3 meter interval), for a combined 236.0
meter composite interval with a weighted average grade of 1.90%
copper, and comprised of 229.4 meters at a grade of 1.73% copper
and 6.6 meters at a grade of 7.70% copper.
Project Drilling History
This year's exploration program at Bornite is one of the
larger programs in the history of drilling at the Upper Kobuk
Mineral Projects. The original owner of the claims -
Kennecott Copper Company - drilled the property in the 1960s, 70s
and a little in the 80s and 90s. Exploration drilling ceased
by the mid-80s when land ownership and access were put into
question as a result of the passage of the Alaska National Interest
Lands Conservation Act ("ANILCA"). The land ownership and
access issues were resolved by the late 90s and we started work in
the region in 2004, and have continued to fund exploration at
Arctic and Bornite since then - see Figure 1 below.
Bornite Resource
Based on the Company's three field seasons of exploration
drilling and re-assaying of previously drilled core from Kennecott,
the Company announced an updated resource estimate for the Bornite
project of 5.5 Billion pounds of copper inferred resource and 913
Million pounds of copper indicated resource and filed a National
Instrument 43-101 technical report in 2016. See the Company's
press releases dated April 19, 2016
(http://Trilogy PR April 19 2016) and the
Company's press release on the filing of the updated NI43-101
Technical Report for Bornite on May 16,
2016 (https://Trilogy PR May 16
2016).
"This is an exciting year for Trilogy Metals," says
Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, President and
Chief Executive Officer. "We have waited three long years to
be able to come back and drill at Bornite. With the support
of South32, we will be drilling 12,000 meters at Bornite this field
season to test the extent of our impressive drill holes from our
2013 drill campaign. The Bornite resource is already 6
billion pounds of copper and the deposit remains open with 100
metre to +200 metre thick zones of 1% to 2% copper mineralization
drilled along a 1 Km wide front. We look forward to releasing
drill results as they are made available and updating the resource
once we have completed the drill program."
Qualified Persons
Andrew W. West, P.Geo.,
Exploration Manager for Trilogy Metals Inc., is a Qualified Person
as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. West has reviewed the
technical information in this news release and approves the
disclosure contained herein.
About Trilogy Metals
Trilogy Metals Inc. is a metals exploration company
focused on exploring and developing the Ambler mining district
located in northwestern Alaska. It
is one of the richest and most-prospective known copper-dominant
districts located in one of the safest geopolitical jurisdictions
in the world. It hosts world-class polymetallic VMS deposits that
contain copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver, and carbonate
replacement deposits which have been found to host high grade
copper mineralization. Exploration efforts have been focused on two
deposits in the Ambler mining district - the Arctic VMS deposit and
the Bornite carbonate replacement deposit. Both deposits are
located within the Company's land package that spans approximately
143,000 hectares. The Company has an agreement with NANA Regional
Corporation, Inc., a Regional Alaska Native Corporation that
provides a framework for the exploration and potential development
of the Ambler mining district in cooperation with local
communities. Our vision is to develop the Ambler mining district
into a premier North American copper producer.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release includes certain "forward-looking
information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively
"forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable
Canadian and United States
securities legislation including the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other
than statements of historical fact, included herein, including,
without limitation, the future operating or financial performance
of the Company, planned expenditures
and the anticipated activity at the UKMP Projects, are
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are
frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects",
"anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential",
"possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events,
conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or
be achieved. These forward-looking statements may include
statements regarding perceived merit of properties; exploration
plans and budgets; mineral reserves and resource estimates; work
programs; capital expenditures; timelines; strategic plans; market
prices for precious and base metals; or other statements that are
not statements of fact. Forward-looking statements involve various
risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such
statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future
events could differ materially from those anticipated in such
statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from the Company's expectations include the
uncertainties involving the need for additional financing to
explore and develop properties and availability of financing in the
debt and capital markets; uncertainties involved in the
interpretation of drilling results and geological tests and the
estimation of reserves and resources; the need for cooperation of
government agencies and native groups in the development and
operation of properties as well as the construction of the access
road; the need to obtain permits and governmental approvals; risks
of construction and mining projects such as accidents, equipment
breakdowns, bad weather, non-compliance with environmental and
permit requirements, unanticipated variation in geological
structures, metal grades or recovery rates; unexpected cost
increases, which could include significant increases in estimated
capital and operating costs; fluctuations in metal prices and
currency exchange rates; and other risks and uncertainties
disclosed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended November 30, 2016 filed with
Canadian securities regulatory authorities and with the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission and in other Company
reports and documents filed with applicable securities regulatory
authorities from time to time. The Company's forward-looking
statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the
date the statements are made. The Company assumes no obligation to
update the forward-looking statements or beliefs, opinions,
projections, or other factors, should they change, except as
required by law.
Cautionary Note to United States
Investors
The Bornite Technical Report have been prepared in
accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect
in Canada, which differ from the
requirements of U.S. securities laws. Unless otherwise indicated,
all resource and reserve estimates included in this press release
have been prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101
Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and the
Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum Definition
Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. NI 43-101 is a
rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators which
establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of
scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects.
Canadian standards, including NI 43-101, differ significantly from
the requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission ("SEC"), and resource and reserve information contained
therein may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by
U.S. companies. In particular, and without limiting the generality
of the foregoing, the term "resource" does not equate to the term
"reserves". Under U.S. standards, mineralization may not be
classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made
that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced
or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. The
SEC's disclosure standards normally do not permit the inclusion of
information concerning "measured mineral resources", "indicated
mineral resources" or "inferred mineral resources" or other
descriptions of the amount of mineralization in mineral deposits
that do not constitute "reserves" by U.S. standards in documents
filed with the SEC. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any
part or all of mineral deposits in these categories will ever be
converted into reserves. U.S. investors should also understand that
"inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as
to their existence and great uncertainty as to their economic and
legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an
"inferred mineral resource" will ever be upgraded to a higher
category. Under Canadian rules, estimated "inferred mineral
resources" may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility
studies except in rare cases. Investors are cautioned not to assume
that all or any part of an "inferred mineral resource" exists or is
economically or legally mineable. Disclosure of "contained ounces"
in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations;
however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report
mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC standards
as in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures.
The requirements of NI 43-101 for identification of "reserves" are
also not the same as those of the SEC, and reserves reported by the
Company in compliance with NI 43-101 may not qualify as "reserves"
under SEC standards. Accordingly, information concerning mineral
deposits set forth in this press release or the Bornite Technical
Report may not be comparable with information made public by
companies that report in accordance with U.S.
standards.
SOURCE Trilogy Metals Inc.