Freeport, Amarc seek more JOY copper-gold

Amarc Resources Ltd. July 16 reported that a C£10 million (£7.3 million) exploration program funded by Freeport-McMoRan is now underway at the JOY project in Northern British Columbia's emerging Toodoggone Mining District. This year's program will include additional drilling at the exciting AuRORA copper-gold-silver discovery made last year, as well as several other deposits and targets across the 495-square-kilometer (191 square miles) Joy project.

"We are very excited to be back out on the ground working with Freeport to advance the high-grade, near-surface AuRORA Cu-Au-Ag deposit discovery announced earlier this year that remains open to expansion, and to continue to drill test other discoveries and numerous deposit targets across the JOY District," said Amarc President and CEO Diane Nicolson. Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc., a subsidiary of the copper and gold mining major, has earned a 60% interest in JOY by investing C£35 million (£25.5 million) in exploring the project over the past four years. This year's program marks the start of a phase-two earn-in option, which allows Freeport to increase its interest in JOY to 70% by investing an additional C£75 million (£54.6 million) over the next five years.

Freeport's decision to exercise its second option follows the 2024 discovery of AuRORA, a shallow and high-grade porphyry copper-gold target along the eastern border of the JOY property. Highlights from 2024 drilling at AuRORA include: o 82 meters averaging 1.24 grams per metric ton gold, 0.38% copper, and 2.47 g/t silver from a depth of 18 meters in discovery hole P24057.

o 271 meters averaging 0.98 g/t gold, 0.25% copper, 1.93 g/t silver from a depth of 24 meters in hole P24059. o 130 meters averaging 2.4 g/t gold, 0.61% copper, and 5.33 g/t silver from a depth of 74 meters in hole JP24060. o 212 meters averaging 1.36 g/t gold, 0.4% copper, and 3.35 g/t silver from a depth of 21 meters in hole JP24071.

o 162 meters averaging 2.19 g/t gold, 0.63% copper, and 6.95 g/t silver from a depth of 69 meters in hole JP24074. o 266 meters averaging 1.24 g/t gold, 0.31% copper, and 3.42 g/t silver from a depth of 34 meters in hole JP24075. o 132 meters averaging 1.87 g/t gold, 0.63% copper, and 5.2 g/t silver from a depth of 137 meters in hole JP24080.

These holes were drilled within the core of the larger four-square-kilometer (1.5 square miles) Northwest Gossan (NWG) target, which coincides with a strong induced polarization (IP) geophysical anomaly.

Amarc Resources Ltd. This year's drill program at AuRORA will focus on resource delineation and testing the larger NWG target. In addition to drilling at AuRORA, Amarc and Freeport plan to carry out drilling at PINE, a 2,500-meter-long drill-defined porphyry body about 13 kilometers (eight miles) southeast of AuRORA, along with Twins and Canyon, earlier-staged targets lying along a roughly 11-kilometer (6.8 miles) trend of IP anomalies that encompass PINE and extend to the southwest.

The partners also plan to explore other targets across the district-scale JOY property. "Amarc believes that the JOY District has the potential to deliver further major copper-gold discoveries," said Nicolson. "The focus of the Canadian and BC (and international) governments on critical mineral strategies designed to power the green and digital economy1 presents a clear opportunity and impetus for the efficient and responsible advancement of projects like JOY." In addition to drilling, Amarc has entered into an option agreement with Canasil Resources Inc. to acquire 100% interest in Brenda, a 44.5-square-kilometer (17.2 square miles) property immediately northeast of AuRORA.

Further, Freeport has the option to earn an 80% interest in PIL, a property immediately north of AurRORA.

The entire Brenda property and roughly 32% of the PIL property are being brought into the JOY District joint venture.

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Publisher

Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.