Kodiak Copper Corp. (TSX-V: KDK) (OTCQB: KDKCF) (Frankfurt: 5DD1) reports drill results from the fully funded, large drill program at its 100% owned MPD copper-gold porphyry project in southern British Columbia. Assay results from the first three holes drilled in 2023 at the West Zone (MPD South / Axe claims) are presented in this release.

Highlights

• Kodiak’s drilling at the West Zone to date has confirmed porphyry mineralization from surface over an area of 300 metres by 300 metres and up to 819 metres depth, extending well below historic drilling and open to extension.
• A new zone of structurally hosted high-grade copper-gold-silver mineralization has been discovered to the east of the West Zone.
• For the first time at the MPD project, significant mineralized hydrothermal breccia has been drilled. The breccia includes copper mineralized clasts suggesting additional undrilled mineralization at depth.

West Zone Drill Results – Figures 1, 2, and 3, Table 1

• Three drill holes were completed into the West Zone, collared near the centre of the geophysical target and drilled to the south, vertically, and to the east.  Additional drill holes are also being completed, with assays pending.
• Drill hole AXE-23-001, drilled towards the south, intersected significant mineralization from bedrock surface to 539 metres depth. Assays include 0.28% Cu, 0.28 g/t Au and 0.83 g/t Ag (0.51% CuEq*) over 158 metres, within a broader interval of 0.18% Cu, 0.20 g/t Au and 0.61 g/t Ag (0.34% CuEq*) over 533 metres.  Figure 6.
• Drill hole AXE-23-002, drilled vertically, intersected mineralization from surface to 488 metres depth, assaying 0.21% Cu, 0.30 g/t Au and 1.36 g/t Ag (0.45% CuEq*) over 203 metres, within 0.15% Cu, 0.16 g/t Au and 0.80 g/t Ag (0.28% CuEq*) over 482 metres.
• Drill hole AXE-23-003, drilled to the east, also intersected from-surface mineralization assaying 0.22% Cu, 0.27 g/t Au and 1.08 g/t Ag (0.44% CuEq*) over 51 metres, within a broad interval of 0.13% Cu, 0.20 g/t Au and 0.61 g/t Ag (0.29% CuEq*) over 209 metres.
• West Zone drilling by Kodiak and others show an approximately 1:1 ratio of g/t gold to % copper, similar to the central Gate Zone and usually indicative of higher temperature mineralization.

Gold-Rich Mineralization Within the West Zone

A review of drill core from AXE-23-001, 002 and 003 suggests some of the high copper-gold-silver values observed within the intervals reported in Table 1 also originate from interpreted north-south trending vein-like structures that enrich the porphyry mineralization.  Examples of these are:

• AXE-23-001:  5.14 g/t Au, 2.68 g/t Ag and 0.83% Cu over 2.1 metres at 21 metres downhole
• AXE-23-002:  10.7 g/t Au, 2.16 g/t Ag and 0.10% Cu over 0.8 metres at 591 metres downhole
• AXE-23-003:  9.51 g/t Au, 3.31 g/t Ag and 0.33% Cu, over 0.9 metres at 71 metres downhole
• AXE-23-003: 8.29 g/t Au, 17.15 g/t Ag and 0.13% Cu over 0.8 metres at 192 metres downhole

New Structurally Hosted High-Grade Zone

• Drilling east beyond the limits of the West Zone magnetic anomaly, drill hole AXE-23-003 intersected a new, structurally controlled high-grade copper-gold silver zone assaying 0.93% Cu, 0.64 g/t Au and 3.2 g/t Ag (1.44% CuEq*) over 16 metres starting at 274 metres down hole. Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4, Table 1.
• The interval contains distinctive copper-gold-silver zone with semi-massive pyrite-chalcopyrite mineralization in phyllic/propylitic altered andesite.  Figure 4.

Discovery of Mineralized Hydrothermal Breccia

• A new discovery was also made at depth in vertical drill hole AXE-23-002 where mineralized high-temperature, high-energy hydrothermal breccia was intersected over 175 metres from 644 to 819 metres. The hole was lost prematurely in mineralization.  This is the first significant breccia-hosted porphyry mineralization drilled at MPD. Figure 5.
• The breccia contains chalcopyrite-mineralized clasts which account for a portion of the total mineralized grade. In most high-energy hydrothermal breccia systems, mineralized clasts indicate a separate, deeper mineralized zone below the breccia. Future drilling will test for mineralization at depth, including the source of the mineralized clasts.
• The discovery interval assayed 0.29% Cu, 0.22 g/t Au and 0.72 g/t Ag (0.46% CuEq*) over 30 metres, within a broader zone assaying 0.11% Cu, 0.13 g/t Au and 0.53 g/t Ag (0.21% CuEq*) over 175 metres, which remains open at depth. Figures 1, 2 and 3, Table 1.

Claudia Tornquist, President and CEO of Kodiak said,

“I am very pleased with these initial results from our 2023 drill program. The first three holes at the West Zone are a promising start and confirm our thesis that porphyry mineralization exists below and adjacent to shallow historic drilling. The West Zone is only one of several targets we will test this year and I am looking forward to the next batch of results from the Man Zone where our second drill is currently turning. In total we are aiming to test four or five targets in 2023, each with excellent discovery potential.”

Chris Taylor, Chairman of Kodiak said,

“We have been looking for mineralized breccias like the ones we have discovered beneath the West Zone since we began drilling at MPD, as higher-grade breccias are key contributors to many alkalic porphyry mines. We interpret both MPD North and MPD South as overlying major structural intersections that controlled porphyry magma emplacement and are using geophysical and drill data to define new targets within these mineralized corridors. This approach has proven effective in similar alkalic porphyry systems such as the Cadia-Ridgeway deposits in Australia, and locally at many British Columbia porphyry mines including Copper Mountain, Mount Polley and Red Chris.”

Figure 1: West Zone plan map showing 2023 Kodiak drilling to date with assays (yellow traces).  Bar graphs showing downhole copper (green) and gold (red) values. Background is Heli TMI magnetic data (Xstrata, 2012). 

Figure 2: West Zone north-south long section at 677400mE (looking west). See Table 1 for results from new holes AXE-23-001, AXE-23-002 and AXE-23-003.  

Figure 3: West Zone east west long section at 5503100mN (looking north). See results Table 1 for new holes AXE-23-001, AXE-23-002 and AXE-23-003  

Figure 4: Example of core from 2023 drilling at the West Zone, hole AXE-23-003. New copper-gold-silver zone with semi-massive pyrite-chalcopyrite mineralization in phyllic/propylitic altered andesite breccia east of historic drilling. Core is within a 16-metre intercept reporting 0.93% Cu, 0.64 g/t Au and 3.20 g/t Ag from 274 to 290 metres.

Figure 5: Two examples of core from 2023 drilling at the new lower zone, West Zone, hole AXE-23-002. Fragmental polymict breccia including chalcopyrite mineralized clasts in a potassic altered rock flour matrix with disseminated to blebby chalcopyrite and pyrite mineralization.  Core is within a 30-metre intercept reporting 0.29% Cu, 0.22 g/t Au and 0.76 g/t Ag from 767 to 797 metres, towards the bottom of the drill hole.

Figure 6: Example of core from 2023 drilling at the West Zone, hole AXE-23-001. Altered andesite volcanoclastic breccia with quartz-chalcopyrite-pyrite disseminated and as patches  in matrix. Core is at 515 metres within a broad 533-metre intercept reporting 0.18% Cu, 0.20 g/t Au and 0.61 g/t Ag from 6 to 539 metres.

 Table 1: Weighted assay intervals for 2023 drill holes AXE-23-001, AXE-23-002 and AXE-23-003 (West Zone). See Figures 1, 2 and 3

 Table 2: 2023 MPD Drill Collar Information 

Holes AXE-23-001, 002 and 003 were all drilled from the same site to the south, vertical and eastward respectively (Table 2 and Figure 1). These holes were designed to confirm mineralization in historic drilling, and test for continuation at depth within a magnetic high, and below shallow 3D IP responses.

New drilling at the West Zone confirmed significant copper-gold mineralization from bedrock surface over 300 metres of width (east-west) and at least 300 metres of strike (north-south). Hole AXE-23-001 exited the mineralized zone on the west at approximately 540 metres downhole. Vertical hole AXE-23-002 confirmed copper-gold to 488 metres and then discovered a new lower zone of altered polymict breccia with chalcopyrite from 644 to 819 metres (where the hole was lost), and below historic drilling.  Hole AXE-23-003 was drilled to test the eastern extent of the West Zone and encountered a fault bounded contact at 215 metres. This hole also intersected a second new 16-metre-wide high-grade, copper-gold-silver zone further east at 274 metres.

In addition, all three holes intersected high-grade, structural/vein hosted gold-silver-copper zones, with approximately metre-scale widths and interpreted to trend north-south within the broader porphyry envelope.

MPD is a large land package (226 square kilometres) located near several operating mines in the southern Quesnel Terrane, British Columbia’s primary copper-gold producing belt. The project is located midway between the towns of Merritt and Princeton, with year-round accessibility and excellent infrastructure nearby.

QA/QC Procedures

All core samples were sent to ALS Canada Ltd. (ALS) in North Vancouver, BC for preparation and analysis.  ALS meets all requirements of International Standards ISO/IEC 17025:2005 and ISO 9001:2015 for analytical procedures.  NQ size core was split and sampled over approximately three metre intervals. Samples were analyzed using ALS’s Fire Assay Fusion method (Au-AA24) with an AA finish for gold and by a 48-element four acid digest ICP-AES analysis (MS61) with additional analysis for Ore Grade Elements (ME-OG62) and Ore Grade Cu (Cu-OG62).  Results were reported in parts per million (ppm) and converted to percent (%), or grams per tonne (g/t) when applicable. In addition to ALS Laboratory quality assurance- quality control (QA/QC) protocols, Kodiak implements an internal QA/QC program that includes the insertion of sample blanks, duplicates, and standards in the field.

Jeff Ward, P.Geo, Vice President Exploration and the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed, and approved the technical information contained in this release.  Kodiak believes historic results referenced herein to be from reliable sources using industry standards at the time.  However, the Company has not independently verified, or cannot guarantee, the accuracy of this historic information.

About Kodiak Copper Corp.

Kodiak is focused on its 100% owned copper porphyry projects in Canada and the USA.  The Company’s most advanced asset is the MPD copper-gold porphyry project in the prolific Quesnel Trough in south-central British Columbia, Canada. MPD has all the hallmarks of a large, multi-centered porphyry system. Kodiak has made the Gate Zone discovery of high-grade mineralization within a wide mineralized envelope, and MPD hosts several other targets with similar discovery potential.  Kodiak also holds the Mohave copper-molybdenum-silver porphyry project in Arizona, USA, near the world-class Bagdad mine.  Kodiak’s porphyry projects have both been historically drilled and present known mineral discoveries with the potential to hold large-scale deposits.

Kodiak’s founder and Chairman is Chris Taylor who is well-known for his gold discovery success with Great Bear Resources.  Kodiak is also part of Discovery Group led by John Robins, one of the most successful mining entrepreneurs in Canada.