North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

CAVU Mining Corp. April 25 provided an update on its 5,000-meter drill program on the Hopper copper-gold-silver-molybdenum project located in the traditional territory of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations in the Yukon.

The road-accessible 7,400-hectare (18,286 acres) Hopper project within the southern Dawson Range copper-gold belt in southwestern Yukon is presently owned by Strategic Metals Ltd.

Most of the previous exploration at Hopper has focused on a skarn system that is a peripheral effect of a large porphyry intrusion.

CAVU says significant porphyry copper mineralization has been identified at Hopper over a 2,300- by 650-meter area that has only been tested by two diamond drill holes as well as several other strong indicators of robust mineralization along the system.

This includes significant elevated gold, molybdenum, and silver values that accompany the copper, skarn, and porphyry related mineralization at Mitsu West, where 2014 trenching yielded 0.43% copper, 0.06 grams per metric ton gold, and 1.83 g/t silver across an approximate true width of 51.3 meters.

A 3,600- by 2,600-meter soil anomaly with greater than or equal to 100 parts per million copper, along with elevated gold, silver and molybdenum values, has been outlined at Hopper. A 1,000- by 1,000-meter donut low, possibly related to thicker overburden, lies near the center of this large geochemical anomaly.

Furthermore, copper skarn mineralization has intermittently been exposed over an 800- by 1,500-meter area and over 400 meters in elevation in the Copper Castle zone – with zones of precious metal enrichment associated with second-stage retrograde alteration – and additional skarn mineralization on the north of the Hopper pluton.

Exploration carried out prior to Strategic's acquisition of Hopper in 2006 included prospecting; mapping; minor hand and cat trenching; widely spaced soil and rock geochemistry; airborne electromagnetic and induced polarization geophysics; 2,163 meters of diamond drilling in 20 holes; and 2,490 meters of percussion drilling in 46 holes.

Work by Strategic between 2006 and 2016 included geological mapping and prospecting with concurrent geochemical sampling; petrography; grid and contour soil sampling; rock chip and channel sampling; hand and excavator trenching; a helicopter-borne versatile time-domain electromagnetic (VTEM) and magnetic survey; access and heritage studies; core re-logging; and 5,833 meters of diamond drilling in 16 holes.

Ultimately, this exploration has outlined a copper-gold porphyry and skarn system at Hopper with similarities to both the Casino deposit and skarn deposits within the Whitehorse Copper belt.

Based on the results of its 2021 drill program, CAVU has applied for a 10-year exploration permit to continue drilling with up to three drills.

The Hopper North porphyry target is the immediate focus to vector toward higher-grade portions of the porphyry system. Continued infill and step-out drilling is planned on Copper Castle to build toward a maiden resource and an understanding of the full extent of the high-grade skarn mineralization.

As for the work to be done, four targets will be tested, including the Copper Castle skarn and porphyry zone. Drill results at Copper Castle have previously yielded:

• 22.82 meters averaging 1.405% copper, 0.53 g/t gold, and 11.7 g/t silver from a depth of 55.44 meters in hole HOP21-DDH01.

• 13.7 meters averaging 0.41% copper, 0.25 g/t gold, and 3.84 g/t silver from a depth of 2.95 meters in hole HOP11-01.

• 16.93 meters averaging 0.22% copper, 1.76 g/t gold, and 1.75 g/t silver from a depth of 125.67 meters in hole HOP11-01.

• 8.5 meters averaging 1.62% copper, 0.54 g/t gold, and 9.3 g/t silver from a depth of 58.28 meters in hole HOP11-03.

• Additionally, the pophryry zone drilled in 2021 had one hole which yielded 114.38 meters averaging 0.216% copper, 0.025 g/t gold, and 1.3 g/t silver from surface in hole HOP21-DDH06.

"Crews are now onsite to prepare for the drill program," said CAVU CEO Jacob Verbaas. "The initial 5,000 meters of drilling will start the delineation of the high-grade zone in Copper Castle, further the porphyry zone we discovered last year, and drill 2 targets that have never been drilled."

During the analysis of historical data and the drill core from 2021, a secondary porphyry target was identified proximal to the Copper Castle skarn zone. This porphyry target is located in a separate phase of the Hopper intrusive complex and is immediately adjacent to the skarns. Two 400-meter holes are planned for this target.

This target has never been drilled and is considered high priority for the following reasons:

CAVU Mining Corp.

Click image to enlarge map.

• Molybdenum in skarn and molybdenum enrichment in granodiorites occur immediately adjacent to each other in drill core HOP15-004 and HOP21-DDH05.

• Molybdenum commonly only occurs in skarns very close to a causative intrusion.

• The target is located over a large radiometric anomaly, likely associated with potassic alteration of the host intrusion.

• A large gold, molybdenum, and copper in soil anomaly overlaps with the radiometric anamoly.

Additional targets, most notably the Mitsu West and the northern skarn are drill-ready and may be tested later in 2022, but are not part of the first phase of drilling.

"We expect to be drilling by the second half of May," the CAVU CEO finished.