Vancouver-based junior ArcWest Exploration’s share price surged more than 50% on Friday, after the company announced an earn-in agreement with copper major Freeport-McMoRan to advance the Todd Creek copper/gold project in the Golden Triangle.
The Todd Creek project adjoins Newcrest Mining’s Brucejack mine property and is about 40 km southeast of Seabridge Gold’s KSM-Iron Cap porphyry copper/gold deposit and Tudor Gold’s Treaty Creek gold/silver/copper project.
ArcWest president and CEO Tyler Ruks commented that the Todd Creek project was one of the biggest underexplored copper/gold systems in British Columbia’s Golden Triangle.
“Freeport’s endorsement of the project is a testament to its potential for hosting a world-class copper/gold deposit,” he said.
Under the terms of the earn-in agreement, Freeport has a two-stage option to earn up to an 80% ownership interest in the Todd Creek project over up to a 10-year period. To earn an initial 51% interest, Freeport is required to fund C$20-million of work expenditures over a five-year period and make staged cash payments to ArcWest totalling C$900 000. ArcWest will be the operator during the initial earn-in period. Upon Freeport earning a 51% interest, it can elect, at its sole discretion, to earn an additional 29% ownership interest in the Todd Creek project by sole funding a further C$30-million within the following five years and make staged cash payments to ArcWest totalling C$750 000. Once Freeport has finalised its earned ownership interest at either the 51% or 80% level, each party will be responsible for funding its pro rata share of project costs on a 51:49 or 80:20 basis.
ArcWest’s stock closed 54.6% higher at C$0.085 a share on Friday.