Sun Metals Corp. (TSX-V: SUNM) is pleased to announce that initial drilling results from the 2020 Stardust exploration program have established continuity between the 421 and Canyon Creek zones along a 900 metre corridor of continuous high-grade copper-gold mineralization. The 100% owned Stardust project is located in northcentral B.C.   

• Drill hole DDH20-SD-457M establishes continuity from the 421 zone to a lens of the overlying Canyon Creek zone. The 421 zone is now revealed to be a feeder to the overlying Canyon Creek zone mineralization.
• Stardust’s high-grade copper gold massive sulphide mineralization has now been traced along one of the continuous pathways in the currently known 900m of plunge length from surface.
• DDH20-SD-457M results:
  • 2.88% copper equivalent¹ over 44.00m² grading 1.57% copper,
    1.08 grams per tonne gold, and 28.2 g/t silver, from 505.70m;
  • Including 5.61% CuEq over 13.90m grading 3.05% Cu, 2.12 g/t Au and 53.6 g/t Ag, from 535.80m.

“The Stardust copper-gold massive sulfide deposit is one of the highest-grade systems discovered in Canada in the past decade. The mining industry is dominated by porphyry copper deposits with grades in the order of 0.3% copper. The high-grade mineralization we are finding at Stardust is consistently an order of magnitude higher than what is commonly being mined today. Being able to track the high-grade massive sulphide interval intersected in DDH20-SD-457M revealed to us a lot about this robust system consisting of multiple pathways of high-grade copper gold mineralization. Like previous drill holes in the 421 zone, this high-grade intercept occurs within a broader 83.40 metre interval of alteration and mineralization grading 1.70% copper equivalent. We have consistently observed a pattern where high-grade copper gold massive sulphide is within a broader envelope of alteration and mineralization” states Sun Metals President & CEO Steve Robertson.

Drill hole DDH20-SD-457M tested an area in the southern portion of the 421 zone (See Figure 1), above the previously interpreted upper limit to the mineralization and has intersected strong, high grade mineralization. The 13.90m interval of 5.61% CuEq pushes the interpreted upper edge of the 421 zone into the lower limits of the Canyon Creek zone, thus establishing continuity between the two zones and  advancing our understanding of this high-grade copper gold massive sulphide system (See Figure 2).

The original discovery outcrop of the Canyon Creek zone is the top of a 900m plunging high-grade zone (See Figure 3). The continuous corridor of copper gold mineralization is connected though the Canyon Creek zone, into the 421 zone at DDH20-SD-457M and through to drill hole DDH19-SD-455D at the lower extremity of the system as explored to date.

Figure 4– Mineralized core from DDH20-SD-457M showing high-grade replacement style mineralization  

DDH20-SD-456M

Drill hole DDH20-SD-456M was drilled into the 421 zone south of the Canyon Creek Fault and tested an area near its lower predicted limits. Mineralization included: 2.90m of high-grade copper-gold mineralization grading 4.37% CuEq, within a larger 19.60m zone of continuous alteration and mineralization grading 1.25% CuEq establishing that the area is within the mineralized system.

DDH19-SD-455D

Drill hole DDH19-SD-455D was collared in late 2019 but the drill hole was not completed before the end of the exploration season of that year. The final 276m were drilled this season into a target area deep on the north end of the 421 zone. The intercepted 2.00m interval of 2.52% CuEq is slightly lower than the main mineralized corridor and demonstrates the continuity of the mineralization in the deepest test of the 421 zone to date.

Table 1: Significant Drill Results

• Figure 1 – Plan View:

 http://www.sunmetals.ca/_resources/images/NRSept29Fig1.pdf

• Figure 2 – Long Section: 

http://www.sunmetals.ca/_resources/images/NRSept29Fig2.pdf

• Figure 3 – 900m Plunge Length View: 

http://www.sunmetals.ca/_resources/images/NRSept29Fig3.jpg

Exploration Program Update

Our 2020 Stardust exploration program is focused on expanding the high-grade 421 zone and exploring the potential for multiple feeders including in the area between the 421 and Canyon Creek zones. The drill campaign began in early July with three drills and is anticipated to run until early October. A total of 17 drill holes have been completed during the program and as of the date of this release, all drills have completed the drilling for this program. A total of 11,988m of drilling was completed with 3,147 samples shipped to the lab. Lab turnaround time has been significantly negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and consequently, only results from three drill holes have been received at the time of this release. Geophysical surveys, geotechnical and geologic core logging and sampling are ongoing at the Stardust project site.

In just three years, Sun Metals’ technical team has developed an understanding of this system that has resulted in significant discovery success. In 2018, our first full season at Stardust, our technical team made one of our industry’s strongest discoveries with the 421 zone³. In 2019, Sun Metals started to delineate the 421 zone, and 20 reported pierce points now define it and have established continuity to surface.  

Drill Results Table: 

http://www.sunmetals.ca/_resources/images/NRSept29MasterDrillResults.pdf

Quality Assurance / Quality Control     

Drilling completed on the project in 2019 was supervised by on–site Sun Metals personnel who collected and tracked samples and implemented a full QA/QC program using blanks, standards and duplicates to monitor analytical accuracy and precision. The samples were sealed on site and shipped to Bureau Veritas (BV) in Vancouver BC for analysis.   BV’s quality control system complies with global certifications for Quality ISO9001:2008.  Core samples were analyzed using a combination of BV’s AQ270 process for low level concentrations (ICP–ES/MS aqua regia) and the MA270 process for higher level concentrations (ICPES/MS 4 acid digestion).  Gold assaying was completed with FA330, a 30–gram fire assay with ICP–ES finish.    Base metal overlimits were finalized with titration, with gold overlimits completed with a gravimetric finish. A silica wash was used between high–grade samples to ensure no sample carry over.  

Prices used to calculate the CuEq values¹ in this project have been updated from previous reporting on the Stardust project. In some drill intercepts in the 421 zone, up to half of the value can be from gold, silver and zinc and the increase in price of those commodities relative to copper has motivated the update to prices nearer to current spot price quotations. As a result, the previously reported intervals that are referred to in the figures and table related to this release have been updated and will be different than previously presented.   

Technical aspects of this news release have been reviewed, verified and approved by Ian Neill P.Geo., Vice President Exploration of Sun Metals, who is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Minerals Projects.

About Sun Metals

Sun Metals is advancing its 100% owned flagship, high-grade Stardust Project located in northcentral British Columbia, Canada. Stardust is a high-grade polymetallic Carbonate Replacement Deposit with a rich history.  Sun Metals also owns the Lorraine copper-gold project (joint-ventured with Teck Resources Limited), and the OK copper-molybdenum project. 

The Canyon Creek copper-gold skarn zone at Stardust was the subject of a 2018, NI 43-101 resource estimate published by the Company titled “Stardust Project NI 43-101 Technical Report Omineca Mining Division, British Columbia” with an effective date of January 8, 2018. In that report, GeoSim Services Inc. provided the following estimate.

Stardust Project – Canyon Creek zone Mineral Resource Estimate⁴: