ArcWest shares jump on Freeport earn-in deal as majors eye BC copper

BRITISH COLUMBIA | Major to spend up to $50M over 10 years for 80% stake in Todd Creek

BY COLIN MCCLELLAND

First Phosphate (CSE: PHOS), headed by former environment minister Peter Kent, says the first drill results from its Bègin-Lamarche property in Quebec show multiple high-grade layers of the fertilizer and battery mineral.

Drilling encountered four highgrade layers returning grades of 7.8% to 10.6% phosphate along a magnetic trend continuing for 1 km at the site in the Saguenay-Lac-StJean region about 400 km north of Quebec City, the company said in a news release on Mar. 9.

Layer two showed a thickness of up to 83 metres with a strong apatite presence in drill holes along a strike length of more than 500 metres, it said.

Drill hole BL-23-01 cut 83.5 metres grading 7.8% phosphate from 131.9 metres down in layer two, and 23.8 metres grading 10.6% phosphate from 5.9 metres in layer one.

BL-23-02 returned 13.1 metres grading 9.9% phosphate from 16.6 metres depth in layer three, and 57.3 metres grading 8.4% phosphate in layer four. The company plans an initial 4,000 metres of drilling.

“These initial drill results confirm our earlier high grade surface findings and are some of the highest-grade drill results ever established in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of Quebec,” First Phosphate president Kent said in the release.

“The Bégin-Lamarche property is optimally located within existing regional infrastructure and is situated only 75 km driving distance from the deep-sea port of Saguenay.”

Kent, 79, was minister of the

Exploring for High-Grade Gold in Canada

environment under former prime minister Stephen Harper after a career as a television journalist in the 1960s.

First Phosphate began a preliminary economic assessment in March on its separate Lac à l’Orignal phosphate project in the same region as it vies to enter the surging battery mineral industry. It wants to supply material for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. They are less expensive than lithium-ion batteries, but have a lower energy density. Phosphate is non-toxic when compared to cobalt oxide or manganese oxide in other batteries. Also, LFP batteries can deliver constant voltage at a higher charge cycle, which essentially means they last longer.

The Bègin-Lamarche property’s mineralization is found within nelsonitic peridotite containing 15-20% apatite on average, the company said. Layer one started in bedrock and it’s possible it may be thicker. Hole BL-23-02 was stopped while still in mineralization and it’s possible layer four also may be thicker, it said. The company said it plans to deepen the hole.

The Lac à l’Orignal phosphate project, about 110 km north of Saguenay, holds 15.8 million tonnes grading 5.2% phosphorus pentoxide for 821,000 tonnes contained phosphate, 23.9% iron oxide for 3.8 million tonnes contained iron and 4.2% titanium oxide for 670,000 tonnes contained titanium, according to an indicated resource released in November.

The inferred resource is 33.2 million tonnes grading at 5.1% phosphorus pentoxide for 1.7 million tonnes contained phosphate, 22.6% iron oxide for 7.5 million tonnes contained iron and 4.2% titanium oxide for 1.4 million tonnes contained titanium, the same report showed.

Earlier in March, the company added 6.1 sq. km of claims to the property by issuing 27,173 common shares valued at 92¢ each to the vendor. The company holds 2,778 claims over 1,531 sq. km in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region.

First Phosphate listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange, as well as the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, only in February. Its shares are up 47¢ or almost 100% since listing on Feb. 22. The stock traded at $1.01 at press time. It has a market capitalization of $48.8 million. TNM

BY ALISHA HIYATE

Shares in junior explorer ArcWest Exploration (TSXV: AWX) jumped more than 80% in morning trading in Toronto on Mar. 10 after it announced an earn-in deal with Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) on one of its copper-gold properties in B.C.’s Golden Triangle.

Under the agreement, Freeport will be able to earn up to 80% of ArcWest’s Todd Creek project which is next to Newcrest Mining’s (TSX: NCM; ASX: NCM) Brucejack mine. To earn an initial 51% interest, Freeport needs to fund $20 million of work at ArcWest over five years, and make staged payments to the company totalling $900,000. ArcWest will remain operator during this stage.

Once it earns its initial stake, Freeport can up its interest to 80% by funding $30 million in work at Todd Creek over five years and making staged payments totalling $750,000.

After Freeport has finalized its ownership level (whether at 51% or 80%), each party will be responsible for funding its proportionate share of work at Todd Creek.

ArcWest believes the project, which it says covers one of the fundamental north-south structural corridors in the Stikine terrane and is near multiple major projects and mines, could be an analogue to the Hod Maden gold-copper project in Turkey.

“ArcWest looks forward to advancing our Todd Creek project in partnership with Freeport, one of the world’s largest copper miners and a team with a track record of global copper-gold discoveries that have proceeded to mine development,” said Tyler Ruks, president and CEO of ArcWest, in a release. “ArcWest’s Todd Creek project is host to one of the largest underexplored copper-gold systems in B.C.’s Golden Triangle, and Freeport’s endorsement of the project is a testament to its potential for hosting a world class copper-gold deposit.”

Ruks added that ArcWest is in discussions with other mining companies on potential earn-in agreements for its other copper-gold porphyry projects. The company has seven in B.C. ArcWest isn’t the only B.C. junior to attract the attention of copper majors recently.

Amarc Resources (TSXV: AHR; US-OTC: AXREF), which already had a strategic exploration partnership with Freeport at its JOY project, also signed a deal with Sweden’s Boliden in November for its DUKE copper-gold district in the Babine region of B.C. ArcWest shares reached a new 52-week high of 10¢, up 82% or 4.5¢, on Mar. 10 in Toronto, before dipping to 9¢ at press time The stock has traded between 5¢ and 10¢ over the last year and has a market cap of $7.8 million. TNM