ArcWest Announces $4 Million Drilling Program at its Todd Creek Copper-Gold Project in 2025, Funded by Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc.
ArcWest Announces $4 Million Drilling
Program at its Todd Creek Copper-Gold
Project in 2025, Funded by Freeport-McMoRan
Mineral Properties Canada Inc.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 26, 2025) - ArcWest Exploration Inc. (TSXV: AWX)
("ArcWest") is pleased to announce that it has mobilized to begin a drill program at its wholly owned
Todd Creek Copper ("Cu") - Gold ("Au)" Project in British Columbia's Golden Triangle, with drilling
scheduled to begin by the end of June 2025. Program funding of at least CAD$4 million is being 100%
provided by Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc. ("Freeport"). Freeport's funding is
provided under the March, 2023 Todd Creek Earn-In Agreement ("EIA"), by which Freeport may earn a
51% interest in the Todd Creek project by spending CAD$20M over a five-year period and making
staged cash payments to ArcWest.
Highlights
First drilling at the Todd Creek project since inception of Freeport earn-in agreement in 2023
Four broad porphyry copper-gold targets to be tested in first phase program: (1) Orange Mountain,
(2) Fall Creek - Ice Creek, (3) Yellow Bowl, and (4) South Zone (
Figure 1
).
Program guided by the same Freeport technical team responsible for the recent high grade Aurora
porphyry Cu-Au discovery in northern BC (Joy project, Amarc Resources)
Tyler Ruks, President and CEO of ArcWest commented
, "Our work with Freeport to date at Todd
Creek demonstrates that the property is host to one of the largest underexplored Cu-Au systems in BC.
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 km long trend, is related to one or more underlying
porphyry Cu-Au systems.
The 2025 drill program represents the first test of four of these deeper targets. ArcWest looks forward to
working with the Freeport technical team, who played a key role in the recently discovered high grade
Aurora porphyry Cu-Au system in northern British Columbia.
ArcWest thanks Freeport for funding the
2025 Todd Creek drill program and providing a supportive relationship during the two year process of
refining drill targets."
Tyler Ruks
comments further,
"ArcWest remains in a strong financial position with $2.65 million hard
dollars in the treasury as of May 30
th
, 2025, in addition to marketable securities worth $391,489. The
company has no warrants, significant insider ownership and a low burn rate. Anticipated income for
ArcWest between now and the end of the year totals approximately $375,000 including option and share
payments from earn-in partners in addition to operatorship fees for ArcWest managed exploration
programs.
As of June 25th, the company has a market capitalization of $7.48 million."
The Todd Creek Property
ArcWest's 100% owned, 21,700 hectare Todd Creek Cu-Au project adjoins Newmont Corporation's
Brucejack Gold Mine property, one of the highest-grade operating gold mines in the world, and is
located approximately 40 km southeast of Seabridge Gold's KSM-Iron Cap Cu-Au deposits, which is
one of the largest Au-Cu concentrations in North America.
The Todd Creek project is host to a 13-kilometre-long zone of strongly gossanous, variably altered,
predominantly Early Jurassic volcanic rocks and contained Cu-Au mineral occurrences (Todd Creek
alteration corridor; "TCAC") that are broadly coeval with the nearby Brucejack and KSM-Iron Cap
epithermal Au-Ag and porphyry Cu-Au systems, respectively (
Figure 1
). At least four broad target areas
within the TCAC are planned for drill testing during the 2025 exploration program. Drill targets were
defined through extensive geophysical, geochemical and geological mapping programs conducted
during the 2023-2024 field seasons, as part of the Freeport earn-in expenditures. Within the TCAC, Cu-
Au occurrences are widespread, however, historical drilling has been focused on just a few discrete
linear mineralized zones testing for shallow high-grade precious metal systems. These historical drill
holes defined a number of Cu-Au mineralized structures to shallow depth:
South Zone: 3.6 grams per tonne ("g/t") Au and 0.27% Cu over 29.75m from 59.5m in drill hole
NTC88-19;
Ice/Fall Creek Zone: 3.47 g/t Au and 0.73% Cu over 31.85m, from 29.3m in drill hole 88-22
Re-logging of historic drill holes has documented previously unrecognized porphyry style veins,
alteration, and related intrusions from a number of Cu-Au mineralized zones throughout the TCAC. The
exploration-hypothesis that one or more porphyry Cu-Au centers underlie the Cu-Au occurrences at
surface has been under appreciated by historical operators and has never been adequately tested with
drilling. The 2025 Todd Creek drill program will comprise a first phase test of at least four high-potential
porphyry Cu-Au targets and will include at least six drill holes with planned 500-metre or deeper down-
hole depths.
For further details, the Todd Creek technical presentation is available for download from the ArcWest
website
here
.
2025 Drill Target Areas
The 2025 Todd Creek drill program will test four discrete target areas within the TCAC for porphyry Cu-
Au centres. From north to south, these are: (1) Orange Mountain, (2) Fall Creek - Ice Creek, (3) Yellow
Bowl, and (4) South Zone (
Figure 1
).
Fall Creek - Ice Creek
Multiple holes are designed to test geophysical targets in the Ice Creek - Fall Creek area (
Figure 2
). The
Ice Creek and Fall Creek zones include linear trends of Au-Cu bearing quartz-sulfide veins, breccias and
breccia dykes, which have been tested to shallow depths by historical drill holes (Figures
3
and
4
), e.g.:
NTC88-022 (31.85 meters of 3.47 g/t Au and 0.73% Cu; 29.3-61.95m), and NTC88-047 (20.95m of
1.78 g/t Au and 0.55% Cu; 28.7-49.65m). These overall NNW trends contain secondary NE-trending
structures as well as stratabound zones within permeable volcanic and sedimentary units.
Host volcanic
rocks are variably altered, including zones of intense quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration ("QSP") with high
white mica crystallinity.
At Fall Creek-Ice Creek, high level Au-Cu trends at surface are underlain by extensive chargeability
highs and an intense resistivity low; these significant geophysical anomalies are predominately at depths
that are untested by historical drilling (Figures
3
and
4
).
Yellow Bowl
Yellow Bowl, the largest gossanous area on the property, hosts strong Cu-Au values in rocks over a 1 by
2 km area and has been tested by just two drill holes to date (
Figure 5
). Pyrite and chalcopyrite are
associated with strong QSP and local advanced argillic ("AA") alteration with up to 10% or more
disseminated sulfides. Larger gossans are associated with "blow-outs" along intersecting structures.
Polymictic hydrothermal breccias, including breccias with chalcopyrite-mineralized, possibly intrusive
clasts, are significant in the southern part of Yellow Bowl (
Figure 6
). The 2023 induced polarization
survey outlined a 1.5 by 0.7 km chargeability high west of the area tested by two 2020 Yellow Bowl drill
holes (the only holes ever drilled at Yellow Bowl). The outermost margin of this chargeability high was
"clipped" by Yellow Bowl drill hole TC20-02 (
Figure 7
), where it intersected a zone of multiply brecciated
quartz-chalcopyrite veining and local porphyry-like veins (e.g., quartz veins with pyrite-chalcopyrite
centrelines).
This interval returned 0.78% Cu, 84 ppb Au over 14.05m from 330m depth and suggests
that the nearby chargeability anomaly, which remains untested by drilling, may be associated with a
porphyry Cu-Au centre. A drill hole has been designed to test the the chargeability high below strong
QSP alteration as well as a copper-molybdenum (Cu-Mo) soil anomaly (up to 3420 parts per million
[ppm] Cu and 99.5 ppm Mo) at surface.
South Zone - Acid Pit
Historical drilling at South Zone has consistently intersected epithermal-like Au-Cu mineralization over a
strike length of 875m and up to 250m down dip, with intercepts up to 3.6 g/t Au and 0.27% Cu over
27.75m from 59.5m in NTC88-19 (
Figure 8
). Gold and copper occur in a roughly north trending, steeply
west dipping zone of banded to coxcomb multistage quartz-sulfide veins and breccias with abundant
chalcopyrite, hematite and jasper. About 500m west of South Zone, the recently discovered Acid Pit is a
zone of intense advanced argillic alteration (alunite - pyrophyllite - diaspore - dickite - kaolinite)
associated with a north trending zone of low resistivity and coincident high chargeability which
represents a significant, 2 km long untested structure. Both South Zone and Acid Pit may represent high
level and/or lateral expressions of a larger porphyry system at depth (
Figure 9
). Relogging of South Zone
drill hole SZD07-01A in 2024 indicated that porphyry style mineralization and intense potassic alteration
in intrusive rocks was intersected from surface just west of the main South Zone trend.
A drill hole has
been designed to test the downplunge and along strike extents of South Zone for an underlying porphyry
Cu-Au system.
Orange Mountain
The Orange Mountain area is host to a large gossan comprising argillic/QSP altered volcanic rocks
(
Figure 10
). The zone is host to quartz-barite veins and local Cu-Au ± Pb-Zn occurrences.
Orange
Mountain has only been tested by two shallow inclined drill holes (AM07-01 and 01A), which intersected
variably altered and mineralized volcanic rocks with up to 0.59 g/t Au, 30.3 g/t Ag, 0.47% Cu, 92 ppm
Mo, 593 ppm Pb, 3410 ppm Zn, 1060 ppm As and 82 ppm Sb over assay intervals of 1-1.5m. The drill
holes contain zones of banded quartz-magnetite/hematite-chalcopyrite veins, and sulfide stockworks
with QSP alteration resembling porphyry style veins. A drill hole has been designed at Orange Mountain
to test the downplunge extents of volcanic hosted quartz-magnetite-chalcopyrite veins for an underlying
porphyry Cu-Au centre.
About ArcWest Exploration Inc.
ArcWest Exploration is a project generator focused on porphyry copper-gold exploration opportunities
throughout western North America. The company is in possession of seven copper-gold projects
throughout BC's premier porphyry copper-gold districts. These include ArcWest's Todd Creek and
Oweegee Dome projects, which are two of the largest and most prospective land positions for copper-
gold exploration in BC's prolific Golden Triangle. Oweegee Dome neighbours Seabridge Gold's
supergiant KSM-Iron Cap-Snowfield porphyry copper-gold deposit and Todd Creek adjoins Newmont's
Brucejack mine property. Several ArcWest projects are currently being advanced through earn-in and
joint venture agreements; this includes an agreement with mining giant Freeport-McMoRan to advance
ArcWest's 100% owned Todd Creek copper-gold project. By conducting partner funded exploration on
multiple exploration projects simultaneously, ArcWest's chances of discovery are enhanced while
exposing shareholders to minimal dilution. The company is managed by an experienced technical team
with a track record of discovery and a reputation for attracting well-funded senior partners, including
Freeport-McMoRan, Robert Friedland group companies, ITOCHU, Antofagasta and Teck.
Qualified Person
ArcWest's disclosure of a technical or scientific nature in this news release has been reviewed and
approved by Tony Barresi, Ph.D., P.Geo., a consultant and technical advisor for ArcWest, who serves as
a Qualified Person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101.
For further information please contact: Tyler Ruks, President and CEO at +1 (604) 638 3695.
Investors are cautioned that ArcWest Exploration Inc. has not verified the data from the KSM-Iron
Cap, Brucejack, Treaty Creek, deposits. Further, the presence and style of mineralization on these
properties is not necessarily indicative of similar mineralization on the ArcWest Exploration Inc.
property. Historical assays from drill programs on its properties have not been verified by ArcWest but
have been cited from sources believed to be reliable. Assay results reported by ArcWest in this news
release range from trace amounts to the values stated. Historical drill intercepts reported here are not
true widths.
This news release contains statements about ArcWest's expectations and are forward-looking in
nature. As a result, they are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Although ArcWest believes that
the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should
not be placed on them as actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The
forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof, and
ArcWest undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or
information, except as required by law.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit
https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/256890