VANCOUVER, BC, June 20,
2023 /CNW/ - Vizsla Copper Corp. (TSXV: VCU)
(OTCQB: VCUFF) (FRANKFURT: 97E0)
("Vizsla Copper" or the "Company") is pleased to
announce the acquisition of a 100% interest in the 37,466 hectare
Copperview project (the "Copperview Project") in the Aspen
Grove area of south-central BC (the "Copperview
Acquisition"). The Project is prospective for copper-gold
porphyry-related mineralization.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Potential: The Copperview Project is located less
than 4 kilometres north (and along trend) of Kodiak Copper's Gate
Zone discovery (best drill intersection to date is 535.1m @ 0.49% Cu, 0.29 g/t Au from 201.9m in drill hole MPD-20-04) on the MPD
property ("MPD").
- Prospective Geology: Mapping by the British
Columbia Geological Survey indicates that prospective Nicola Gp.
volcanic rocks extend northward from the MPD project to the
Copperview Project claims where they are largely covered by a thin
veneer of glacial till.
- Producing Mines: The Copperview Project is located
within a prolific copper, gold and molybdenum mining region of the
southern Quesnel Terrane; 50 kilometres north of the Copper
Mountain mine, 65 kilometres southeast of the Highland Valley mine,
and 90 kilometres south of the New Afton mine.
"This is an excellent and timely acquisition for Vizsla
Copper and is a great example of our strategy of putting our foot
on as much prospective copper ground as we can,"
commented Craig Parry, Executive Chairman. "Global
electrification and a dwindling copper supply story will result in
an exciting copper market going forward."
"I'm very pleased to add the Copperview Project to the Vizsla
Copper fold," commented Steve
Blower, Vice President of Exploration. "The geology
at Kodiak Copper's MPD project is interpreted to extend to the
north onto the Copperview Project claims. In addition to
Woodjam, where our inaugural drilling campaign is set to begin
shortly, this is now also a high priority project for us and
exploration will begin this year."
The Copperview Project
The Copperview Project consists of 37,466 hectares in 40 claims
and is being acquired from Donald
Rippon of Mineworks Ventures Inc. (the "Vendor")
pursuant to a purchase agreement dated June
19, 2023 (the "Copperview Purchase Agreement").
A block of seven claims comprising 9,043 contiguous hectares
(Figure 1) is considered the highest priority and will likely see
significant exploration effort in the near term. This block
is considered highly prospective for copper/gold porphyry-related
mineralization due to its proximity to the Gate zone at MPD, which
is on trend with and less than 4 kilometres to the south of the
Copperview Project. Discovered by Kodiak Copper in 2019,
drilling at the Gate zone has outlined a large 350m x 1km x 900m
zone of copper/gold porphyry-related mineralization. The best
drill intersection to date is 535.1m
@ 0.49% Cu, 0.29 g/t Au from 201.9m
in drill hole MPD-20-041. The Copperview Project claim
block is interpreted to be underlain by eastern facies Upper
Triassic Nicola volcanics with local coeval intrusions – similar to
MPD, and the Copper Mountain and New Afton mines.
Terms of the Deal
Pursuant to the terms of the Copperview Purchase Agreement, the
Company will issue 600,000 common shares of Vizsla Copper to the
Vendor (the "Consideration Shares"), grant him a 2% net
smelter return royalty ("NSR") and pay $5,000 cash in exchange for a 100% interest in
the Copperview Project. One half of the NSR may be bought back from
the Vendor for $3 million. The
Consideration Shares will be subject to a voluntary one-year
release schedule such that one-third of the Consideration Shares
will be released every four months after the closing date of the
Copperview Acquisition. The Copperview Acquisition is subject to
standard closing conditions, including the approval of the TSX
Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"). Subject to receiving the
approval of the TSXV, and the satisfaction of the remaining closing
conditions, the Copperview Acquisition is expected to close in the
coming weeks.
Figure 1 – Copperview Project Location and Geology
RG Copper Acquisition
Update
Vizsla Copper is also pleased to provide an update on its
previously announced acquisition of RG Copper Corp. ("RG
Copper") pursuant to a share exchange agreement dated
May 10, 2023 (the "RG Copper
Acquisition").
As disclosed by the Company on May 12,
2023, RG Copper has the right to acquire up to a 70%
interest in the Redgold Copper-Gold Project (the "Redgold
Project") pursuant to an option agreement entered into with the
owners of the Redgold Project (the "Underlying Option
Agreement").
In connection with the RG Copper Acquisition, the Company, RG
Copper and the owners of the Redgold Project (the "Underlying
Owners") have amended the terms of the Underlying Option
Agreement. Pursuant to the amended terms, RG Copper may acquire up
to a 70% interest in the Redgold Project by meeting the following
requirements:
- RG Copper must pay $500,000
($50,000 paid), incur eligible
expenditures of $2,000,000 and issue
400,000 common shares and an additional $400,000 in common shares prior to October 1, 2026 to earn a 51% interest.
- RG Copper has the option to increase its interest in the
Redgold Project from 51% to 70% by paying an additional
$500,000, incurring an additional
$2,000,000 of eligible expenditures
and issuing an additional $500,000 in
common shares prior to October 1,
2028.
- RG Copper will grant the Underlying Owners a 2.5% net smelter
royalty (subject to a buy down to 1.0% for $2,000,000), which will come into effect if and
when the Underlying Owners' collective participating interest in
the Redgold Project is diluted to less than or equal to 15%.
Any shares issued to the Underlying Owners pursuant to the
Underlying Option Agreement will be subject to a floor price of
$0.17625 per share (the "Floor
Price"), resulting in a maximum of 5,106,384 common shares of
the Company being issued. The Company has also agreed to make
maximum cash payments of $644,681 to
the Underlying Vendors if the value of the Company's common shares
is below the Floor Price on the relevant issuance date.
The RG Copper Acquisition remains subject to standard closing
conditions, including the approval of the TSXV. Subject to
receiving the approval of the TSXV, and the satisfaction of the
remaining closing conditions, the RG Copper Acquisition is expected
to close in the coming weeks.
Additional details regarding the RG Copper Acquisition and the
Redgold Project are set out in the Company's news release dated
May 12, 2023.
Technical Information
- See Kodiak Copper's news release dated September 3, 2020, which is available at
www.sedar.ca
About Vizsla Copper
Vizsla Copper is a Cu-Au-Mo focused mineral exploration and
development company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. The Company is primarily
focused on its flagship Woodjam project, located within the
prolific Quesnel Terrane, 55 kilometers east of the community of
Williams Lake, British Columbia.
It now has four additional copper exploration properties;
Copperview, Redgold, Blueberry and Carruthers Pass, all well situated amongst
significant infrastructure in British
Columbia. The Company's growth strategy is focused on the
exploration and development of its copper properties within its
portfolio in addition to value accretive acquisitions. Vizsla
Copper's vision is to be a responsible copper explorer and
developer in the stable mining jurisdiction of British Columbia, Canada and is committed to
socially responsible exploration and development, working safely,
ethically and with integrity.
Vizsla Copper is a spin-out of Vizsla Silver (TSX.V: VZLA)
(NYSE: VZLA) and is backed by Inventa Capital Corp., a premier
investment group founded in 2017 with the goal of discovering and
funding opportunities in the resource sector. Additional
information about the Company is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com)
and the Company's website (www.vizslacopper.com).
Qualified Person
The Company's disclosure of technical or scientific information
in this press release has been reviewed and approved by
Ian Borg, P.Geo., Senior Geologist
for Vizsla Copper. Mr. Borg is a Qualified Person as defined under
the terms of National Instrument 43-101. Mineralization
hosted on adjacent and/or nearby properties is not necessarily
indicative of mineralization hosted on the Copperview Project.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
FORWARD LOOKING
STATEMENTS
The information contained herein contains "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking
information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities
legislation. "Forward-looking information" includes, but is not
limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or
developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may
occur in the future, including, without limitation, planned
exploration activities. Generally, but not always, forward-looking
information and statements can be identified by the use of words
such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled",
"estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes"
or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and
phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may",
"could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be
achieved" or the negative connotation thereof. Forward-looking
statements in this news release include, among others, statements
relating to: obtaining required regulator approvals for the
Copperview Acquisition and the RG Copper Acquisition; satisfying
the requirements of the Underlying Option Agreement; the
exploration and development of the Woodjam Project, Redgold Project
and Copperview Project; and the Company's growth and business
strategies.
Such forward-looking information and statements are based on
numerous assumptions, including among others, that the results of
planned exploration activities are as anticipated, the anticipated
cost of planned exploration activities, that general business and
economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner,
that financing will be available if and when needed and on
reasonable terms, that third party contractors, equipment and
supplies and governmental and other approvals required to conduct
the Company's planned exploration activities will be available on
reasonable terms and in a timely manner. Although the assumptions
made by the Company in providing forward-looking information or
making forward-looking statements are considered reasonable by
management at the time, there can be no assurance that such
assumptions will prove to be accurate.
Forward-looking information and statements also involve known
and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, which may
cause actual events or results in future periods to differ
materially from any projections of future events or results
expressed or implied by such forward-looking information or
statements, including, among others: negative operating cash flow
and dependence on third party financing, uncertainty of additional
financing, no known mineral reserves or resources, the limited
operating history of the Company, the influence of a large
shareholder, aboriginal title and consultation issues, reliance on
key management and other personnel, actual results of exploration
activities being different than anticipated, changes in exploration
programs based upon results, availability of third party
contractors, availability of equipment and supplies, failure of
equipment to operate as anticipated; accidents, effects of weather
and other natural phenomena and other risks associated with the
mineral exploration industry, environmental risks, changes in laws
and regulations, community relations and delays in obtaining
governmental or other approvals.
Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
contained in the forward-looking information or implied by
forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause
results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can
be no assurance that forward-looking information and statements
will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events
could differ materially from those anticipated, estimated or
intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements or information. The Company undertakes
no obligation to update or reissue forward-looking information as a
result of new information or events except as required by
applicable securities laws.
SOURCE Vizsla Copper Corp.