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Freeport-McMoRan funds B.C. gold miner's new drilling program
Junior miner ArcWest Exploration (TSXV:AWX), market capitalization C$10.38 million, will break ground on a drill program at its Todd Creek copper-gold project in B.C. by the end of June
The program is fully funded with at least C$4 million from Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada
ArcWest is a mining project generator creating value through porphyry copper-gold exploration in western North America
ArcWest Exploration stock has given back 3.85 per cent year-over-year but remains up by 78.57 per cent since 2020
Junior miner ArcWest Exploration (TSXV:AWX), market capitalization C$10.38 million, will break ground on a drill program at its Todd Creek copper-gold project in B.C.'s Golden Triangle by the end of June.
The program is fully funded with at least C$4 million from Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada – a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoran (NYSE:FCX), market capitalization US$63.34 billion – under the companies' 2023 earn-in agreement, which grants the global metals player the right to earn a 51 per cent interest in Todd Creek by spending C$20 million over five years and making staged cash payments to ArcWest.
Drilling will test four porphyry copper-gold targets defined through robust geophysical, geochemical and geological mapping during the 2023-2024 field seasons, also part of Freeport's earn-in.
Work will be overseen by the same Freeport technical team behind the recent high-grade Aurora porphyry copper-gold discovery in northern B.C. in partnership with Amarc Resources.
The 21,700-hectare Todd Creek project hosts a 13-kilometre-long zone of contained copper-gold mineral occurrences, many of which, according to Thursday's news release, went underexplored in historical drilling. The project adjoins Newmont's Brucejack gold mine, one of the world's highest-grade producers, and is located about 40 kilometres southeast of Seabridge Gold's KSM-Iron Cap deposits, one of the largest copper-gold concentrations in North America. Leadership insights
'Our work with Freeport to date at Todd Creek demonstrates that the property is host to one of the largest underexplored copper-gold systems in B.C.,' Tyler Ruks, ArcWest Exploration's president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. 'The 2025 Todd Creek drill program represents the culmination of two years of extensive field work, which has outlined multiple drill targets on the property. ArcWest is excited to begin testing if the gold-copper mineralization, which occurs near surface along a 13-kilometre-long trend, is related to one or more underlying porphyry copper-gold systems.'
'ArcWest remains in a strong financial position with C$2.65 million hard dollars in the treasury as of May 30th, 2025, in addition to marketable securities worth C$391,489,' 'no warrants, significant insider ownership and a low burn rate,' Ruks added. 'Anticipated income for ArcWest between now and the end of the year totals approximately C$375,000, including option and share payments from earn-in partners, in addition to operatorship fees for ArcWest managed exploration programs.' About ArcWest Exploration
ArcWest is a mining project generator creating value through porphyry copper-gold exploration in western North America. The company's portfolio includes seven projects throughout B.C.
ArcWest Exploration stock (TSXV:AWX) is up by 38.89 per cent on the news trading at C$0.12 as of 9:55 am ET. The stock has given back 3.85 per cent year-over-year but remains up by 78.57 per cent since 2020.
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