Amarc and Freeport Successfully Complete 2025 Aurora Expansion Focused Drill Program at Joy Copper-Gold District
Amarc and Freeport Successfully Complete 2025 Aurora
Expansion Focused Drill Program at Joy Copper-Gold
District
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / October 22, 2025 / Amarc Resources Ltd.
("Amarc" or the "Company") (TSXV:AHR)(OTCQB:AXREF) is pleased to announce the
successful completion of the 2025 drill program at the JOY District ("JOY" or "District") in
the Toodoggone-Kemess region of north-central British Columbia ("BC"). The 2025 drilling
program was primarily designed to expand the AuRORA Deposit, where 2024 drilling
discovered high grade near surface copper-gold-silver ("Cu-Au-Ag") mineralization
with exceptional vertical and lateral continuity. The area drilled in 2024 measured 500
m by 600 m and remained open to expansion (see Amarc releases January 17 and 20, and
February 28, 2025). In addition to the AuRORA Deposit, the 630 km2 JOY District hosts the
PINE and Brenda historical deposits, TWINS and Canyon Discoveries and multiple other
Cu-Au deposit targets. Amarc believes the AuRORA discovery could be key to the
emergence of a potential world-class porphyry Cu-Au district in the Toodoggone.
As announced on September 4, 2025, Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc.
("Freeport") elected to proceed to Stage 2 of the JOY Mineral Property Earn-in Agreement by
sole-funding a further CAD $75 million to earn an additional 10% interest in AuRORA
Minerals Ltd. The JOY District is now being advanced under a private joint venture
corporation agreement. The CAD $15+ million 2025 exploration program is being funded by
Freeport.
Highlights of the 2025 JOY District Field Program
• A total of 15,381 m of core drilling was completed in 35 drillholes across the JOY
District with up to four drill rigs (Figure 1) (total to date of 127 Amarc drill holes for
54,497 m in since 2017).
• Of these, 24 core holes (9,687 m) were drilled at AuRORA, consisting of 23 deposit
step-out expansion holes and a single infill hole (total 2024-2025 is 45 drill holes for
17,586 m). The area drill tested at AuRORA now extends over an area of
approximately 1 km by 1 km.
• The 2025 program follows up 2024 AuRORA Discovery drilling, a highlight intercept
from hole JP24075 is:
266 m of 1.2 g/t Au, 0.31% Cu and 3.4 g /t Ag from 34 m
Incl. 109 m of 2.41 g/t Au, 0.51% Cu and 5.3 g/t Ag from 37 m
• Partial assay results from AuRORA hole JP25098 were recently announced; it is
located approximately 260 m southeast of drill hole JP24079 and some 350 m
east-southeast of drill holes JP24081 and JP24084, which are the nearest to the
2024 AuRORA Discovery core holes. Hole JP25098 illustrates the potential for
significant expansionat AuRORA (see Amarc release September 22, 2025). Host
rocks, alteration and mineralization in JP25098 are consistent with those
encountered in the 2024 AuRORA discovery drill holes.
• 2025 drilling was also designed to further expand the TWINS and Canyon
Discoveries and to test other new high potential Cu-Au Deposit
Targets identified by surface surveys.
• Next assay results are expected later this month, with additional results to be
released in batches over the coming months.
Figure 1: JOY District - Large-Scale Mineral Systems Host the AuRORA, TWINS and
Canyon Discoveries, PINE Deposit, NWG, NUB and Other Sulphide Systems
Other survey work completed in 2025 includes 64 line-km of ground Induced Polarization
(total Amarc and historical to date 662 line-km) and 96 km2 of airborne magnetics (total
Amarc and historical to date 532 km2) geophysics, approximately 90 km2 of geological
mapping and 938 grid soil (total Amarc and historical 9,321 samples), 640 rock chip (total
Amarc and historical 2,881) and 319 silt geochemical samples.
About Amarc Resources Ltd.
Amarc is a mineral exploration and development company with an experienced and
successful management team focused on developing a new generation of long-life, high-
value porphyry Cu-Au mines in BC. By combining high-demand projects with dynamic
management, Amarc has created a solid platform to create value from its exploration and
development-stage assets.
Amarc is advancing the JOY , DUKE and IKE porphyry Cu±Au Districts located in different
prolific porphyry regions of northern, central and southern BC, respectively. Each District
represents significant potential for the development of multiple and important-scale,
porphyry Cu±Au deposits. Importantly, each of the three districts are located in proximity to
industrial infrastructure - including power, highways and rail.
Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc. ("Freeport"), a wholly owned subsidiary
of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. at JOY and Boliden Mineral Canada Ltd. ("Boliden"), an entity
within the Boliden Group of companies at DUKE, can earn up to a 70% interest in each
District through staged investments of CAD $110 million and CAD $90 million, respectively.
Together, this provides Amarc with potentially up to CAD $200 million in non-share dilutive
staged funding for these Districts. In addition, Amarc completed self-funded drilling at its
Empress Cu-Au Deposit in the IKE District in 2024. Amarc is the operator of the DUKE
District. Amarc manages and has been appointed the primary contractor of the exploration
at the JOY District on behalf of AuRORA Minerals Ltd., the private joint venture corporation
which holds the JOY District mineral rights and titles, and in which Freeport and Amarc hold
60% and 40% of the shareholding, respectively.
Amarc's exploration is led by an internationally successful team of experienced geologists
specializing in porphyry Cu-Au deposits. Members of this team have been involved in and
have tracked porphyry Cu-Au exploration advancements in the Toodoggone region since
1990. Their experience and early recognition of the porphyry potential at the NWG Target in
terms of a shallowly overburden covered and underexplored transitional epithermal-
porphyry geological setting, led to the discovery of the Au-rich AuRORA porphyry Cu-Au-Ag
Deposit.
Amarc is associated with HDI, a diversified, global mining company with a 35-year history
of porphyry Cu deposit discovery, development and transaction success. Previous and
current HDI projects include some of BC's and the world's most important porphyry
deposits - such as Pebble, Mount Milligan, Southern Star, Kemess South, Kemess North,
Gibraltar, Prosperity, Xietongmen, Newtongmen, Florence, Casino, Sisson, Maggie,
AuRORA, PINE, IKE and DUKE. From its head office in Vancouver, Canada, HDI applies its
unique strengths and capabilities to acquire, develop, operate and monetize mineral
projects.
Amarc works closely with local governments, Indigenous groups and stakeholders in order
to advance its mineral projects responsibly, and in a manner that contributes to
sustainable community and economic development. We pursue early and meaningful
engagement to ensure our mineral exploration and development activities are well
coordinated and broadly supported, address local priorities and concerns, and optimize
opportunities for collaboration. In particular, we seek to establish mutually beneficial
partnerships with Indigenous groups within whose traditional territories our projects are
located, through the provision of jobs, training programs, contract opportunities, capacity
funding agreements and sponsorship of community events. All Amarc work programs are
carefully planned to achieve high levels of environmental and social performance.
Qualified Person
Mark Rebagliati, P .Eng., a Qualified Person ("QP") as defined by National Instrument 43-
101, has reviewed and approved the technical and scientific information in this news
release. Mr. Rebagliati is not independent of the Company.
For further details on Amarc Resources Ltd., please visit the Company's website
at www.amarcresources.com or contact Dr. Diane Nicolson, President and CEO, at (604)
684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114, or Kin Communications, at (604)
684-6730, Email: [email protected].
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF AMARC RESOURCES LTD.
Dr. Diane Nicolson
President and CEO
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined
in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
Forward Looking and other Cautionary Information
This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking
statements" . All such statements, other than statements of historical facts that address
exploration plans and plans for enhanced relationships are forward-looking statements.
Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking
statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of
future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in
the forward-looking statements. Assumptions used by the Company to develop forward-
looking statements include the following: Amarc's projects will obtain all required
environmental and other permits and all land use and other licenses, studies and
exploration of Amarc's projects will continue to be positive, and no geological or technical
problems will occur. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
in forward-looking statements include market prices, potential environmental issues or
liabilities associated with exploration, development and mining activities, exploitation and
exploration successes, continuity of mineralization, uncertainties related to the ability to
obtain necessary permits, licenses and tenure and delays due to third party opposition,
changes in and the effect of government policies regarding mining and natural resource
exploration and exploitation including the effects of land use plans that may impact
activities on or access to properties, exploration and development of properties located
within Aboriginal groups asserted territories may affect or be perceived to affect asserted
aboriginal rights and title, which may cause permitting delays or opposition by Aboriginal
groups, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or
business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees
of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those
projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on Amarc Resources
Ltd., investors should review Amarc's annual Form 20-F filing with the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov and its home jurisdiction filings that
are available at www.sedarplus.ca.
Figure 1: JOY District - Large-Scale Mineral Systems Host the AuRORA, TWINS and
Canyon Discoveries, PINE Deposit, NWG, NUB and Other Sulphide Systems
SOURCE: Amarc Resources Ltd.