Amarc, Freeport extend AuRORA copper in BC
Amarc Resources Ltd. Sept.
22 announced the partial results from a step-out drill hole that expands the overall mineralized footprint and potential of the AuRORA copper-gold-silver discovery on the company's JOY project in the Toodoggone Mining District in Northern British Columbia. Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc., a subsidiary of the copper and gold mining major that has already earned a 60% interest in JOY, is funding this year's program as part of a phase-two earn-in that will increase its interest to 70% by investing an additional C£75 million (£54.6 million) in exploration 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 western border of the JOY property. Highlights from 2024 drilling at AuRORA include:
Amarc Resources Ltd.
Hole JP25098 hit porphyry copper-gold mineralization outside of the magnetic high that marks the core of the AuRORA discovery. 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.
AuRORA is found within a larger IP geophysical anomaly at the NWG targets.
This year's drilling at AuRORA is focused on resource delineation and expanding the mineralized footprint outlined last year. So far, Amarc and Freeport have drilled 19 expansion and one infill hole at the emerging porphyry copper-gold target. The 2025 drilling includes hole JP25098, a large step-out hole drilled well outside of a magnetic high geophysical anomaly that defines the core of the AuRORA copper-gold-silver mineralization outlined in 2024.
When the drill core from hole JP25098 showed the same host rocks, alteration, and mineralization as seen in the 2024 holes, Amarc shipped it to the laboratory for rush assays. The results back from the lab show that this hole drilled 260 meters southeast of the nearest 2024 hole cut 223 meters averaging 0.41 g/t gold, 0.27% copper and 4.6 g/t silver from a depth of 217 meters. "The information released today illustrates the potential for significant resource expansion of the exciting new, high-grade, AuRORA porphyry copper-gold-silver deposit, which remains open," said Amarc Resources President and CEO Diane Nicolson. "Additionally, a fourth drill rig has arrived at the JOY site to assist in the further evaluation of major deposit potential elsewhere in the District, targeting the Twins and Canyons copper-gold discoveries and multiple other newly emerging deposit targets."
Assays remain pending for 19 additional holes drilled so far this year at AuRORA.
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.