Agadir – Morocco Strategic Minerals Corporation (MCC) has announced early exploration results from its Ouneine and Ait Zekri projects in the Western High Atlas, reporting high-grade copper and silver assays alongside promising gold mineralization.
The company said first-phase sampling at the Ouneine copper-silver project returned copper grades of up to 14.88% and silver values reaching 696 grams per tonne (g/t). Meanwhile, initial work at the Ait Zekri gold project yielded assays of up to 4.16 g/t gold, confirming mineralization both at the surface and within historical underground workings.
According to MCC, 49 grab samples collected at Ouneine identified widespread copper mineralization, with 37 samples grading at least 1% copper and eight exceeding 5.29% copper. The company said the mineralization is hosted mainly within carbonate rocks and is associated with quartz veins, fault structures, hydrothermal breccias, and stockwork vein systems.
Geological mapping also identified copper-bearing minerals including malachite, azurite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, bornite, pyrite, and locally galena and barite, suggesting a polymetallic hydrothermal system.
At Ait Zekri, MCC completed a first-pass exploration program comprising 23 grab samples, including material collected from both surface outcrops and a historical underground gallery.
Gold assays ranged from below 0.05 g/t to a high of 4.16 g/t, while 19 samples returned grades above 0.10 g/t. Six samples exceeded 0.52 g/t gold, including two samples grading above 2.10 g/t.
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MCC noted that historical records indicate approximately 300 meters of underground development and 18 drill holes totaling more than 2,000 meters at Ait Zekri. However, the company stressed that these historical exploration results have not been independently verified by its Qualified Person and should not be considered current mineral resources or reserves.
Alongside the exploration update, MCC said it has established a permanent exploration team in Morocco through local contractors, consisting of two geologists and three technicians supervised by the company’s Canada-based independent Qualified Person.
The team is carrying out geological mapping, structural interpretation, and systematic surface and underground sampling while also rehabilitating historical mine workings through dewatering, rock stabilization, ventilation improvements, and safety upgrades in preparation for future drilling.