Categories: Base Metals / Precious Metals
Topics: General Base Metals / General Precious Metals

Hannan Metals (TSX-V: HAN)(OTC: HANNF) CEO Michael Hudson on Exploring for Kupferschiefer Style Copper-Silver Deposits

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the CEO of Hannan Metals, Mr. Michael Hudson. Mike, how are you today?

Michael Hudson: I'm top of the world down under, thanks, Gerardo.

Gerardo Del Real: Another press release, another copper silver shale sample averaging one meter of 2.1% copper, 29 grams per tonne silver within an eight kilometer by one kilometer area at the San Martin project in Peru. The consistency and the spectacular numbers that we're seeing out of this field program, I think you're prudent and accurate in providing context with some of the biggest producers in the world. And I would love for you to really explain how excited the team at Hannan is, with these sample results, the outcropping, the consistency, the continuity, and of course the basin scale potential here.

Michael Hudson: It's hard to get your head around, Gerardo, is the truth, and we are uber excited around these results. I mean, everybody would love to see a drill rig on this property and we're working towards that, and the permittings heading that way for H1 next year. However, we're really de-risking this project at this scale. So, what we've got is 1% of our permit area, which is this DIA area, which is a three or four kilometer wide area by eight kilometers, where we've consistently channeled this copper shale horizon, and that's really important. It's a pancake horizon that we've been able to trace over this large area. We've run the soils and we're becoming predictive where we can dig down and find this copper shale. And from 42 channel samples that we've got back out of 53 that go above a cutoff grade of half a percent, we're seeing this average of one meter at 2.1% copper and 29 grams silver.

Now, what does that mean? It seems pretty skinny. And does that have significance? And certainly there's some very good grades and better widths in that. That's the average, of course. So some of the new data also included the higher end, one and a half meters at 4% copper and 36 silver or a meter at 4.3% copper and 53 grams silver. So, the system can develop grade and that's of course, where we need to focus into the better grade parts of the system as well, rather than the skinnier bits that have less grade, of course. That's a no brainer, but the system is developing better than the average by definition, of course.

So, what does it mean, and the context? Well, we put in the press release, the modern day discovery, which was in the 1950s of the discovery hole into the Kupferschiefer, which is one of the world's leading, the seventh largest, producer of copper today last year, and the leading producer of silver in the world still today. And it's been mined historically for thousands of years. But that modern day discovery came from a drill hole that was two meters thick and at one and a half percent copper was the discovery down at 657 meters. What we're talking about is surface sampling here. So, it's all within the context, we're a little higher grade, and skinnier, but in terms of contained metal, it's not far off those initial discovery metrics from the Kupferschiefer in Poland, which is, as I've said, one of the super systems of the world.

So, it's looking extremely interesting, that we're de-risking by sampling, this horizon over this large area, by defining the continuity. We're obviously digging down where there's very little outcrop, less than 1% outcrop. So, it's a mind numbing set of results, really, and we're looking to get another 36 samples back over the coming weeks. So in the new year, there'll be more results come to the table.

Gerardo Del Real: And again, just for context, this is all from an area that represents just 1% of the San Martin JV area, correct? Out of your total land holdings, 1% of the San Martin joint venture area?

Michael Hudson: Correct. Which is that eight kilometer by one kilometer area, is 1% where we've done this sampling. And then, the JV area with JOGMEC, where this is from the JOGMEC JV, where JOGMEC are fully funding this project over a four year period. And we're getting towards the end of year two now. And then the JV area is only one third of our total land holding in Peru where we have sediment hosted copper silver, like this target here in our own right. Targets are all ground in our own right. And then, about half our ground positions searching for backup porphyry gold coppers, and a few hundred kilometers south, where we're breaking new ground in terms of defining a new belt of porphyrys in the back-arc basin there, which is something we've covered, and we can cover again in the new year, I think, too, Gerardo.

So yeah, a huge amount of opportunity in these areas. And, and the key aspect here is working with the local people, who haven't been dealing with exploration before, and treating them with respect and going in there first with social teams and making sure we're appropriately advising all authorities and stakeholders and bringing them along with what we're trying to do here. So that's a key aspect of the work as well.

Gerardo Del Real: You're finding copper, gold and silver everywhere. I have been very public and I'm also voting with my dollars, by the way, so I'm clearly biased. But I've been very public about the fact that I think Hannan Metals will be one of the leading performers in 2022. I mentioned that you're finding copper, gold and silver all over the place. What you haven't found are archeological remains, and so it's great to see that you received your certificate of the inexistence of archeological remains. And that is important of course, because it sets the table well for what we all expect to be a first half 2022 drilling program at San Martin, correct?

Michael Hudson: Correct. That was a key aspect of the permissions that we need to achieve. And of course, none of us are here to destroy any archeological artifacts. So proving the inexistence of them in our work areas is key, and once again, another de-risker. And I should say also, just from the technical point of view, we've flown nearly an 800 line kilometer LiDAR survey, which has helped us see through this very dense forest canopy, which has really helped pinpoint the location of this copper shale horizon, along with the soil sampling. So it's technology, boots on the ground, hard exploration and a little bit of luck thrown in, and then good social work that is all coming together here.

Gerardo Del Real: Well, making a discovery of significance on par with some of the leading discoveries of the last 70 years, isn't something you just put a drill bit to. I think 2021 was a phenomenal year in terms of you de-risking the project, advancing the project and getting it ready for when I think everyone else will notice, which is of course, 2022, when the drills start turning. Anything to add to that, Mike?

Michael Hudson: No. We look forward to continuing the news flow and wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Gerardo Del Real: And a happy new year, if we don't chat before then. Mike, thank you so much.

Michael Hudson: Thanks, Gerardo.

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