18 october 2021
Kodiak Drills 105 m of 0.76% CuEq within 504 m of 0.47% CuEq at Gate Zone, Begins Drilling Dillard Copper Porphyry Target
October 18, 2021 – Vancouver, British Columbia – Kodiak Copper Corp. (the "Company" or “Kodiak”) (TSX-V: KDK, OTCQB: KDKCF, Frankfurt: 5DD1) today reports drill results at the 100% owned MPD copper-gold porphyry project in southern British Columbia.
Nine new Gate Zone drill holes are presented in this release. These holes 1) define additional mineralization towards the centre of the zone, and 2) expand the margins of the zone to the south, and west. The Gate Zone porphyry target remains open to extension in multiple directions.
One of Kodiak’s two drill rigs at MPD has been relocated to the Dillard copper-gold porphyry target, while one rig remains at the Gate Zone.
Kodiak’s ongoing exploration at MPD includes drilling with two rigs, prospecting-mapping, trenching, geophysical, geochemical and environmental surveying. The fully funded 2021 program is progressing well and remains on budget.
Central Gate Zone
Three new drill holes completed along approximately 500 metres of strike length underlying the central Gate Zone copper-in-soil target once again intersected significant grades and interval lengths of copper-gold mineralization. Results are shown in Table 1 and Figures 2, 3.
Highlights include:
New drill hole MPD-21-016 intersected 105 metres of 0.50% Cu, 0.39 g/t Au and 1.57 g/t Ag (0.76% CuEq*) within a broader 504 metre interval of 0.37% Cu, 0.15 g/t Au and 1.11 g/t Ag (0.47% CuEq*) Figure 4A
Hole MPD-21-016 was mineralized from near surface at 21 metres to 720 metres downhole (699 metres) and represents the third best hole drilled by Kodiak to date (Cu% grade x width)
New drill hole MPD-21-012 intersected 108 metres of 0.45% Cu, 0.09 g/t Au and 0.59 g/t Ag (0.51% CuEq*) within a broader 243 metre interval of 0.31% Cu, 0.08 g/t Au and 0.35 g/t Ag (0.36% CuEq*) Figure 4B
New drill hole MPD-21-024 intersected 42 metres of 0.32% Cu, 0.34 g/t Au and 1.56 g/t Ag (0.55% CuEq*) within a broader 447 metre interval of 0.21% Cu, 0.11 g/t Au and 0.72 g/t Ag (0.29% CuEq*) Figure 5A
Drilling Gate Zone Margins
Six new drill holes targeted the pyrite-dominated envelope surrounding higher grade mineralization, to help define the dimensions of the Gate Zone porphyry centre. Results are shown in Table 1 and Figures 2, 3.
Two of these new drill holes intersected significant gold mineralization within quartz-carbonate veins and structurally-controlled quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration zones on the eastern and western margins of the Gate Zone:
Drill hole MPD-21-015 intersected 6.0 metres of 2.40 g/t gold
Drill hole MPD-21-011 intersected 3.5 metres of 3.58 g/t gold
Gold-rich pyrite dominant mineralization is a common feature of the outer margins of copper-porphyry systems and identifies potential new gold-rich drill targets at the Gate Zone
Five of the six drill holes intersected anomalous to low-grade copper gold mineralization with pyrite dominating over chalcopyrite over significant widths. Highlights include:
Drill hole MPD-21-007 intersected 132 metres of 0.15% Cu, 0.08 g/t gold and 0.43 g/t silver (0.21% CuEq*) Figure 5B
Drill hole MPD-21-013 intersected 318 metres of 0.14% Cu, 0.06 g/t gold and 0.13 g/t silver (0.20% CuEq*)
Ongoing systematic drilling at the Gate Zone has successfully intersected porphyry-related mineralization and host lithology along 950 metres of strike, having the depth (850 metres) and width (350 metres) typical of other multi-centre copper porphyry deposits in British Columbia
The results from the pyrite-dominated envelope are of similar interval lengths and grades to historical drill results elsewhere at the MPD project. The Gate Zone was discovered by further testing adjacent to and below historic intervals, which are now shown to surround a significantly higher-grade core. These results highlight the prospective nature of other areas such as the Dillard. Man and Axe targets, which generally lack deeper drilling
Dillard Target Drilling
The high priority Dillard target exhibits similar copper-in-soil anomalies, geophysical responses and encouraging historic drilling to the Gate Zone. Dillard will be drill-tested during the remainder of Q4 as part of the 2021 program. Like at the Gate Zone, most historic drilling at Dillard was shallow. See 3D model of drilling at Gate, Dillard and Man in Figure 6.
Historic drilling at Dillard intersected anomalous copper over significant widths. It rarely tested below 350m depth and mineralized potential remains open in all directions
Historic soil surveys at Dillard outlined a 600 x 1500 metre area with anomalous copper and gold
Kodiak’s 2020 ZTEM airborne survey identified a regional magnetic low (1000 x 1000 metre) and large resistivity anomaly at depth, below historic drilling, and copper in soil anomalies
The Dillard target area is underlain by dioritic rocks displaying porphyry-style alteration (potassic and calcic), a “pyrite-halo” from mapped geology and copper-gold mineralization associated with altered volcanic and intrusive rocks
Ongoing Exploration Program
34 holes (18,724 metres) have been drilled as of October 17 and assay results will be reported throughout the remainder of 2021 and onwards; delays in lab throughput times continue
The Company expects to achieve between 20,000 – 25,000 metres of drilling before year-end
Additional plans in Q4 include a DC Resistivity/Induced Polarization (3DIP) and Magnetotelluric (MT) geophysical survey at the Gate Zone conducted by SJ Geophysics Ltd.
Results from 1,755 soil samples, and 176 rock samples from prospecting and trenching will be reported throughout the remainder of 2021 and onwards
The Company expects to achieve between 20,000 – 25,000 metres of drilling before year-end
A large exploration program is planned for 2022 and drilling will continue in Q1 2022. The program will include assessing the three kilometres regional magnetic low between the Gate and Man target areas, follow up drilling at Dillard, testing analogous targets elsewhere across MPD and initiating work on the newly acquired Axe Property. The Axe property overlies significant geophysical targets with similar signatures to Kodiak’s Gate Zone discovery, and historical copper results in drill core, soils, and rock samples.
Claudia Tornquist, President and CEO of Kodiak said, “The Gate Zone keeps delivering impressive drill results and I am very pleased with the progress of our work to date. Kudos to our technical team for executing successfully the largest ever exploration program at MPD, despite unusually challenging weather conditions this year. The Gate Zone discovery is only the first step of our exploration strategy. It proves our district scale approach and provides a road map for other target areas at what we believe is a multi-centre porphyry system at MPD. We will now replicate our successful approach at the Dillard Zone this year and I am looking forward to testing several further interpreted porphyry centres with a large drill program in 2022.”