Valhalla Metals drills 32.6m at 4.35% copper equivalent at Sun
The Alaska program tested resource gaps and extensions with 50 to 100 metre step-outs; reported intervals are core lengths with true widths unknown.
Mara Quinlan
Valhalla Metals Inc. CVEVMXX OTCMKTSVMXXF reported on Tuesday that hole Sun26-006 cut 32.6 metres grading 4.35 per cent copper equivalent at its Sun project in northwestern Alaska. The interval includes 6.5 metres at 6.98 per cent copper equivalent, from a program testing gaps and extensions around the existing resource.
Shares closed lower at C$0.37 on the TSX Venture Exchange on Nov. 2 at 4 p.m. EST, according to the CVEVMXX quote page. That close preceded Tuesday's assay release.
The reported intervals are drilled core lengths, and true widths are unknown. Valhalla said the program tested mineralization down dip and along strike, with step-outs ranging from 50 to 100 metres.
Copper equivalent combines copper, lead, zinc, gold and silver using assumed prices and recoveries. Tuesday's results cover three holes totalling 739 metres, from a completed six-hole program spanning 1,787 metres.
Valhalla is a mineral explorer focused on polymetallic deposits in Alaska's Ambler Mining District. It described the drilling as filling resource-model gaps within inferred areas while testing the continuation of known mineralization.
Holes Sun26-005 and Sun26-006 followed up a thicker interval from Valhalla's earlier drilling and tested copper-rich mineralization to the northeast. The higher-grade included interval in Sun26-006 contains 0.46 per cent copper and 11.95 per cent zinc.
Sun26-005 returned 11.2 metres grading 5.67 per cent copper equivalent. Sun26-007 intersected 12.5 metres at 3.97 per cent copper equivalent in an area of historical drilling, testing continuity between stacked mineralized horizons in the deposit's southern portion.
Read more: Tectonic Metals drills 41.15m at 5.61 g/t gold at Black Creek
The Nov. 3 calculation assumes US$3.50 a pound for copper, US$0.90 for lead and US$1.25 for zinc. Its precious-metal assumptions are US$3,700 an ounce for gold and US$50 for silver.
Assumed recoveries are 91 per cent for copper and zinc, and 80 per cent for lead. Gold recovery is assumed at 59 per cent and silver at 35 per cent.
The Nov. 3 release says recovery assumptions were based on Valhalla's technical report and modelled after a neighbouring deposit's feasibility study.
"These results support our strategy of systematically expanding the known mineralized zones while improving our understanding of the deposit's geological characteristics," chief executive Sorin Posescu said in the release.
Valhalla reported US$9.9 million in cash and equivalents at June 30 in its unaudited interim statements. Operating activities used US$841,840 in the six months ended on that date.
Valhalla expects Sun assays in the fourth quarter of 2026, with the remaining holes to be released after receipt, review and validation.
