First assays for American Pacific's Palmer

American Pacific Mining Corp. Oct. 18 announced the initial results from its finished 2023 field program at its Palmer copper-zinc project in Southeast Alaska.

Located in the Porcupine Mining District near the town of Haines, Alaska, Palmer is an advanced-stage, high-grade volcanogenic massive sulfide-sulfate deposit operated under Constantine North Inc., a subsidiary of American Pacific, and funded as part of a joint venture with Dowa Metals & Mining Co., Ltd.

"The 2023 resource definition and geotechnical drilling programs at our Palmer project have been successfully completed," said American Pacific CEO Warwick Smith. "We are pleased that significant semi-massive and massive sulphide mineralization has been observed within the upper (Zone 1) and lower (Zone 2-3) VMS lenses of the Southwall Zone at the Palmer deposit."

Since drills began turning in June, American Pacific completed 10,622 meters of drilling, representing 87% of the planned infill program and 93% of the planned geotechnical program.

With additional season-end exploration at regional targets (Christmas, Red Creek), 91% of the overall program was accomplished.

Overall, the 2023 program was aimed at targeting high-priority areas in two unique mineralized lenses of the Southwall Zone – with two rigs dedicated to the infill program and a third focused on hydro-geotechnical drilling around the immediate deposit area.

With much of the drilling tailored at defining known targets, the company received assays from seven of the 23 holes completed as part of the 2023 definition program at the Southwall Zone of the main Palmer deposit. Highlights from Southwall Zone 1 (upper) include:

• 14.8 meters averaging 1.26% copper, 7.68% zinc, 0.09% lead, 0.44 grams per metric ton gold, and 39.81 g/t silver from a depth of 142.6 meters in hole CMR23-152, including 1.1 meters averaging 7.48% copper, 2.99% zinc, 0.84 g/t gold, and 81.4 g/t silver, as well as 7.1 meters averaging 0.72% copper, 11.86% zinc, 0.15% lead, 0.46 g/t gold, and 42.18 g/t silver.

• 23.4 meters averaging 1.78% copper, 13.73% zinc, 0.04% lead, 0.25 g/t gold, and 32.4 g/t silver from 147.9 meters in CMR23-153, including 6.2 meters averaging 1.49% copper and 30.16% zinc.

• 33.3 meters averaging 1.42% copper, 3.35% zinc, 0.01% lead, 0.14 g/t gold, and 14.53 g/t silver from 157.3 meters in CMR23-155, including 15.5 meters averaging 2.43% copper, 4.8% zinc, 0.01% lead, 0.21 g/t gold, and 24.58 g/t silver.

• 36.5 meters averaging 0.68% copper, 2.19% zinc, 0.18% lead, 0.27 g/t gold, and 26.67 g/t silver from 144.8 meters in CMR23-156, including 2.7 meters averaging 3.74% copper, 1.82% zinc, 0.2 g/t gold, and 31.11 g/t silver.

American Pacific says that initial assay results indicate a zinc-barite-rich eastern side to Zone 1, with a transition to more copper-rich mineralization in the center of the lens. Current assays in the eastern portion also indicate a thickening of the modeled Zone 1 lens.

Highlights from Southwall Zone 2-3 (lower) include:

• 12.2 meters averaging 0.67% copper, 0.71% zinc, 0.08 g/t gold, and 10.65 g/t silver from a depth of 423.2 meters in hole CMR23-151, including 1.5 meters averaging 3.91% copper, 3.06% zinc, 0.42 g/t gold, and 65.88 g/t silver.

• 9.7 meters averaging 0.7% copper, 0.1% zinc, 0.05 g/t gold, and 11.9 g/t silver from 363.9 meters in CMR23-154, including 2.6 meters averaging 1.37% copper, 0.07% zinc, 0.07 g/t gold, and 17.97 g/t silver.

• 27.2 meters averaging 1.87% copper, 3.48% zinc, 0.02% lead, 0.36 g/t gold, and 21.87 g/t silver from 499.3 meters in CMR23-157-01, including 5.3 meters averaging 4.23% copper, 5.17% zinc, 0.01% lead, 0.47 g/t gold, and 35.17 g/t silver.

Drill holes 151 and 154 targeted a gap in the current block model, where copper-zinc stringer mineralization was intersected in addition to valuable structural data.

157-01 was a planned directional hole that intersected significant copper-rich mineralization within two distinct massive sulfide lenses separated by mineralized massive barite and capped by mineralized barite and chert.

The company adds that Zone 1 infill assay results to date have exceeded expectations with higher grades and mineralized thickness than the current modeling in the eastern portion of the deposit, with overall results encouraging and supporting the mineral resource definition in the Southwall.

"Initial assay results continue to highlight the copper-zinc-rich nature of the Palmer deposit and we look forward to receiving and reporting additional assay results in the coming weeks," said Smith.