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Copper Quest Exploration: Unlocking District-scale Copper Porphyry Systems in North America
Copper Quest Exploration (CSE:CQX, OTCQB:IMIMF, FRA:3MX) is focused on creating shareholder value through the exploration and development of its North American critical mineral portfolio, with more than 40,000 hectares across tier-one jurisdictions in Canada and the US.
In British Columbia, the company’s assets include the Stars copper-molybdenum discovery in the Bulkley Porphyry Belt, the Stellar property with historic showings and new anomalies, an earn-in on the Rip project, a large porphyry copper-molybdenum system, and the Thane Project in the Toodoggone Belt, prospective for copper-gold-molybdenum.
The Stars project is a 9,694-hectare, road-accessible copper-molybdenum property in the prolific Bulkley Porphyry Belt, home to past producers such as Imperial Metals’ Huckleberry mine and Newmont’s Equity Silver Mine. Stars is defined by a 5 × 2.5 km annular magnetic anomaly coincident with a mineralized monzonite intrusion. Drilling in 2018 confirmed a significant porphyry system at the Tana Zone, highlighted by intercepts of 0.466 percent copper over 195.1 meters from 23 meters, including 40 meters averaging nearly 1 percent copper, and 0.20 percent copper over 396.7 meters from 28 meters. All holes to date have returned copper levels well above background, with alteration, intrusive textures, and veining typical of productive porphyry systems.
Company Highlights
- Large, Tier-one Land Position: More than 40,000 hectares across British Columbia’s Bulkley and Toodoggone Porphyry Belts, plus a newly acquired copper-gold porphyry project in Idaho, USA.
- Flagship Discovery at Stars: Drill intercepts of 0.466 percent copper over 195.1 m confirm a fertile porphyry copper-molybdenum system with over 30 km of untested intrusive contacts.
- Multiple Copper Systems: Canadian portfolio includes Stars, Stellar, Rip (earn-in up to 80 percent) and Thane, each offering district-scale potential in proven belts.
- Idaho Acquisition: The Nekash copper-gold porphyry project in Lemhi County, Idaho, is a milestone acquisition aligned with its strategy to build a portfolio of highly prospective copper assets across North America.
- Strong Technical Bench: Leadership and advisory team include former senior executives from Freeport, Glencore and Trevali, with extensive porphyry exploration and mine development expertise.
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Copper Quest Exploration
Investor Insight
Copper Quest Exploration is advancing a portfolio of high-quality copper porphyry projects across British Columbia and the Western United States. With over 40,000 hectares in tier-one jurisdictions and a discovery-first mindset, the company is positioned to deliver multiple catalysts from both Canadian and US projects in 2025 and beyond.
Overview
Copper Quest Exploration (CSE:CQX,OTCQB:IMIMF,FRA:3MX) is focused on creating shareholder value through the exploration and development of its North American critical mineral portfolio. The company’s land position covers more than 40,000 hectares across tier-one mining jurisdictions in Canada and the US.
In British Columbia, Copper Quest holds a 100-percent-interest in the Stars property, a porphyry copper-molybdenum discovery covering 9,693 hectares in central BC’s Bulkley Porphyry Belt; the 5,389-hectare Stellar property, consolidating multiple historic showings and new geophysical anomalies; an earn-in option of up to 80 percent on the Rip project, a 4,700-hectare porphyry copper-molybdenum system in the same belt; and the 100-percent-owned Thane Project, spanning 20,658 hectares in the Toodoggone Porphyry Belt with multiple copper-gold-molybdenum targets.In Lemhi County, Idaho, Copper Quest has acquired the Nekash copper-gold porphyry project, an early-stage, highly prospective property in the Idaho-Montana porphyry belt. The acquisition marks Copper Quest’s expansion to the US, strategically leveraging Idaho’s growing reputation as a copper exploration frontier.
Company Highlights
- Large, Tier-one Land Position: More than 40,000 hectares across British Columbia’s Bulkley and Toodoggone Porphyry Belts, plus a newly acquired copper-gold porphyry project in Idaho, USA.
- Flagship Discovery at Stars: Drill intercepts of 0.466 percent copper over 195.1 m confirm a fertile porphyry copper-molybdenum system with over 30 km of untested intrusive contacts.
- Multiple Copper Systems: Canadian portfolio includes Stars, Stellar, Rip (earn-in up to 80 percent) and Thane, each offering district-scale potential in proven belts.
- Idaho Acquisition: The Nekash copper-gold porphyry project in Lemhi County, Idaho, is a milestone acquisition aligned with its strategy to build a portfolio of highly prospective copper assets across North America.
- Strong Technical Bench: Leadership and advisory team include former senior executives from Freeport, Glencore and Trevali, with extensive porphyry exploration and mine development expertise.
Key Projects
Stars Project
The Stars project is a 9,694-hectare, road-accessible copper-molybdenum property situated within the prolific Bulkley porphyry belt. The district is home to past-producing operations such as the Huckleberry mine, operated by Imperial Metals, and Newmont’s Equity Silver Mine, making it a proven copper jurisdiction. Stars is defined by a 5 × 2.5-kilometre annular magnetic anomaly that coincides with a copper-molybdenum mineralized monzonite intrusion. In 2018, drilling confirmed a significant porphyry system at the Tana Zone, returning intercepts of 0.466 percent copper over 195.1 m from 23 m with molybdenum credits and 0.20 percent copper over 396.7 metres from 28 metres depth. Shorter, higher-grade sections included 40 metres averaging close to 1 percent copper. Importantly, every hole drilled on the property has returned copper concentrations well above background levels, with strong phyllic and potassic alteration, multi-phase intrusive textures, and quartz-sulfide veining consistent with productive porphyry systems.
Impressive drill results in 2018 have never seen follow-up exploration
Geological comparisons with Huckleberry suggest Stars has the potential to host multiple deposits along more than 30 kilometres of untested intrusive contact. Upcoming work will focus on IP surveys to vector into contact zones, step-out drilling at the Tana Zone, and initial drilling of embayment features such as the “Big Dipper” anomaly.
Rip Project
The Rip project is a 4,750-hectare copper-molybdenum property located 60 kilometres south of Houston, BC, with excellent access via Highway 16 and logging roads. Geophysical surveys completed in 2024, including airborne magnetics and a 3D-DCIP induced polarization program, identified two concentric chargeability anomalies encircling separate magnetic highs. These “donut” features are classic pyrite halos that typically rim porphyry copper centres.
In late 2024, Copper Quest drilled two holes totaling 1,033 metres into the northern anomaly. The results confirmed the presence of multi-phase porphyry intrusions with abundant quartz-pyrite-chalcopyrite-molybdenite veining, long intervals of anomalous copper above 0.1 percent, and strong alteration patterns. The larger southern anomaly remains completely untested and represents the project’s most significant target. Copper Quest has the option to earn up to 80 percent in Rip by spending $1 million by the end of 2025, after which the agreement transitions to a joint venture. Planned drilling will test the southern anomaly while stepping out on the northern target to vector into higher-grade zones.
Stellar Project
The Stellar project covers 5,389 hectares and lies immediately north of Stars. It consolidates multiple historic claims and showings that had never been evaluated under a unified geological model. Stellar hosts several key targets, most notably the Cassiopeia anomaly, a 2.5-kilometre magnetic bullseye with an 800-metre magnetic low at its centre, discovered in 2019 but never drill tested. This geophysical feature is strongly consistent with porphyry copper-molybdenum-gold models.
The Jewelry Box area is another high-priority target, hosting eight documented MINFILE showings where historical sampling returned extreme grades, including 36.7 percent copper, 31.2 percent copper, 22.6 percent copper with 4,860 grams per ton (g/t0 silver, and gold values up to 42 g/t. These occurrences are related to a porphyritic intrusion that cuts Hazelton Group volcanic rocks and limestone, with mineralization styles ranging from high-grade copper-gold-silver veins to lead-zinc-silver occurrences and rhodonite-hosted mineralization. Additional targets include the Galena Zone, a 100 × 150 metre area with strong lead-silver-zinc mineralization, and the Northwest Showings, associated with syenite intrusions. Copper Quest is applying a holistic approach to the property for the first time, integrating fragmented historical exploration. Planned programs include ground IP at Cassiopeia, systematic mapping and sampling at Jewelry Box, and drill targeting across the consolidated property.
Thane Project
The Thane project is a 20,658-hectare copper-gold property in the Toodoggone District of the Quesnel Terrane, an area that hosts major porphyry deposits such as Mt. Milligan and Kemess. The property encompasses a 14 km × 6 km alteration footprint with at least ten mineralized centres, including Cirque, Fairway, Bananas, Gail, and Aten. Historical exploration has involved more than $5 million of investment in mapping, geochemistry, geophysics and shallow drilling, with 12 short diamond drill holes completed to date. Rock sampling campaigns between 2013 and 2020 returned copper grades exceeding 9,000 parts per million (ppm) and gold values up to 12.8 g/t, highlighting the system’s fertility. Regional Geoscience BC datasets place Thane in the 100th percentile for copper prospectivity across British Columbia. Copper Quest views Thane as a large-scale discovery opportunity and is considering a joint venture to advance the project while retaining upside exposure.
Nekash Project
The Nekash project is a highly prospective copper-gold porphyry opportunity in Lemhi County, Idaho, situated along the prolific Idaho-Montana porphyry belt. Spanning 70 unpatented federal lode claims (~585 hectares), the property is fully road-accessible via maintained US highways and forest service roads. Historic sampling has confirmed the presence of high-grade surface mineralization, including up to 3.8 percent copper, 0.9 g/t gold, and 25 g/t silver over 6.4 m in a stratabound “manto” horizon, and porphyry-style veins grading as high as 6.6 percent copper with gold values.
Acquired at a modest cost (4.25 million shares, no cash payment or royalties), and coupled with the appointment of an experienced technical advisor, Nekash offers shareholders exposure to a jurisdiction with favorable infrastructure, strong comparables and room for significant upside through geophysics, geochemistry and drilling.
Management Team
Brian Thurston — CEO and Director
Geologist with over 30 years of global exploration experience Brian Thurston is the former country manager for Aurelian Resources in Ecuador during the Fruta del Norte discovery. Has managed and founded multiple public resource companies with expertise in porphyry systems, corporate strategy, and capital markets.
Dong Shim — CFO
Dong Shim is a chartered professional accountant with extensive experience in public company audits, financial controls and cross-border reporting for TSXV, CSE and OTC issuers.
Dr. Mark Cruise — Director
A geologist and mining executive with over 25 years of experience, Mark Cruise is the founder and former CEO of Trevali Mining, which he built into a top-10 global zinc producer with operations in four countries. Previously with Anglo American.
Jason Nickel — Director
Jason Nickel is a mining engineer with three decades of mine design, operations, and project management experience across Canada. Held senior roles in underground and open-pit operations.
Cameron MacDonald — Director
Cameron MacDonald is a capital markets professional with background in M&A, project financing and equity/debt raises exceeding $950 million.
Joshua White – Technical Advisor
Joshua White is an exploration geologist with more than 13 years of experience, and a principal of Aqua Terra Geoscientists LLC. He worked for Kinross Gold as a project generation gold geologist, working at mines and exploration projects on 4 different continents.
Copper Prices Up as Freeport-McMoRan Announces Force Majeure at Grasberg
It is expected that the investigation will be completed by the end of 2025.
Due to the mine's closure, Freeport has adjusted its guidance, reporting that third quarter consolidated sales will be 4 percent lower for copper and 6 percent lower for gold compared to its July estimates.
Furthermore, Grasberg's closure means sales from the mine during the fourth quarter will be insignificant; the company previously forecast the sale of 445 million pounds of copper and 345,000 ounces of gold.
The Grasberg site encompasses several underground mines: the Grasberg block cave, the Deep Mill Level Zone (DMLZ) and Big Gossan. DMLZ and Big Gossan were not affected, and could restart production in the fourth quarter.
However, according to Freeport-McMoRan, a preliminary assessment indicates a delayed restart of operations at the Grasberg block cave, resulting in the deferral of significant production in the near term. A ramp up in this area is not anticipated to begin until the first half of 2026, with the mine potentially returning to full production in 2027.
Grasberg is one of the world’s largest copper and gold mines, producing 1.7 billion pounds of copper and 1.4 million ounces of gold annually. Freeport holds a 49 percent interest, with the Indonesian government owning the rest.
The announcement caused copper prices to spike nearly 5 percent in trading on Wednesday, climbing to US$4.84 per pound on the COMEX and US$9,900 per metric ton on the London Metal Exchange.
Freeport’s share price tumbled 16.95 percent in trading, closing the session at US$37.67 after opening at US$41.66.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.