Granite Creek Copper Completes 2019 Field Exploration Program at the Stu Copper-Gold Project in Yukon Territory, Canada

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 12, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Granite Creek Copper Ltd. (TSX.V: GCX) (“Granite Creek”) announces that the Company has completed its inaugural field exploration campaign at the 100%-owned Stu Copper-Gold Project, located in the Minto Copper Belt of Canada’s Yukon Territory. The project, which was acquired in January 2019, is situated between Copper North’s advanced Carmacks Copper Project to the south and Pembridge Resource’s operational Minto copper mine to the north. Following acquisition of the project, Granite Creek secured and reviewed an extensive, privately held exploration database and, based on those findings, launched the 2019 exploration program which was designed to refine drill targets for an anticipated 2020 campaign. An overview of the program, along with an update on other related initiatives, follows.

SOUTH TARGET AREA 

In addition to geological mapping and access rehabilitation, an Induced Polarization (IP) survey consisting of seven lines totalling 24-line kilometres was completed in the South Target area. Designed to confirm the projected northern continuation of Copper North mineralized zones hidden by cover, the survey covered the historic Gran Zone and Zone 2 extension. Effective in detecting subsurface sulphide mineralization, IP surveys have been used successfully by other operators in the Minto Copper Belt as a targeting tool in advance of drilling. The Company worked with geophysicists to design a survey that would detect potential mineralization along strike from the adjacent Carmacks project and, importantly, penetrate deep enough to detect sulphide mineralization beneath the shallow copper oxide layer. Data from the survey is being compiled with historic geophysical data and will be used to target future drill programs with the goal of developing sulphide and oxide mineral resources.

Figure 1 is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/587b150f-dbfb-4f61 ...

Crews also focused on the ‘East Target’ and the historic ‘Zone D’ which lie within a regional scale, northwest trending structure hosted in Povoas Formation volcanics. Zone D was initially discovered in 2012 and was added to the Stu Project during a 2017 staking program. Compilation work completed by the Company brought the zone into focus and an additional 21 new claims were staked on the northeast side of the property (see news release dated July 15^th, 2019). Follow-up prospecting revealed a fracture zone with malachite and iron oxides within the larger northwest trending structure. Anomalous copper values in soils suggest mineralization continues along the structure in both directions from Zone D. The presence of copper mineralization is confirmed in this area by a rock sample collected at Zone D which returned 0.74% Cu and 0.4 g/t Au, and sample 1481712 which was collected 1200m SE of Zone D and carried anomalous copper (180 ppm).