Jr. Discovers New Mineralized Zone Drilling at Yukon Project

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Granite Creek Copper Ltd. (GCX:TSX.V; GCXXF:OTCQB) announced the discovery of a new mineralized zone from its now-completed 2024 drill campaign at its wholly-owned Carmacks copper-gold-silver project in central Yukon.

A total of 1,420 meters were drilled in four holes to test new targets adjacent to existing high-grade, pit-constrained resources, the company said. The program was successful in locating and partially delineating what the company named the Gap Zone.

The zone was traced for about 170 meters and remains open along strike and at depth, Granite Creek said. Copper mineralization was observed in three of the four holes drilled.

"Despite a long history of exploration on the project primarily focused on the 147 Zone, new discoveries can and will continue to be made on our Carmacks copper-gold-silver project," Granite Creek President and Chief Executive Officer Timothy Johnson said. "The project hosts significant copper-gold-silver resources and has the potential for expansion throughout the 177-square-kilometer land package in this top mining jurisdiction."

Mineralized sections from the Gap Zone have been sampled and delivered to the lab for analysis, the company said, although the observed mineralization and host rocks were similar in appearance to known ore zones on the property.

The company said the Gap Zone lies between the proposed 147 and 2000S pits and was first identified by a 2022 geophysical induced polarization (IP) survey.

"Likely representing a fault offset from the main 147 Zone, the Gap Zone has the potential to add significant tonnage and extend the mine life envisioned by the 2023 Preliminary Economic Assessment," the company said in a release.

'Significant Resource Expansion Is Possible'

Granite Creek said Carmacks contains over 824 million pounds Measured and Indicated and 29 million pounds Inferred copper equivalent (Cu Eq) within a National Instrument 43-101-compliant, high-grade resource of 36.2 million tonnes grading 1.07% Cu Eq, or 0.81% Cu, 0.31 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au), and 3.41 g/t silver (Ag).

It is road-accessible from the Freegold Road, a Resource Gateway Road being upgraded by the Yukon government, and is within 20 kilometers of the Yukon electrical grade, the company said. It's also in the Minto Copper Belt, an area of about 80 kilometers long known for high-grade copper-gold-silver mineralization, including the recently operational Minto copper-gold mine which, in an historic move, is set to be acquired by the local Selkirk First Nation.

The 2022 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for Carmacks identified increased resources along with improved recovery as prime means of increasing the Net Present Value of the project, Granite Creek said.

"Work completed this year … demonstrated that recoveries exceeding the target outlined in the PEA can be achieved," the company said. "The just completed drill program was designed to show that significant resource expansion is possible and was specifically targeting areas that could lead to an expanded mine life as envisioned by the PEA."

 Johnson has highlighted the underexplored nature of the Carmacks project despite its long history, noting the potential for new discoveries and resource expansion, citing the 2021 drill campaign that resulted in a 40% increase in contained copper resources.

A July research report by Couloir Capital noted the company was a promising base metals explorer with a near-term objective of expanding Carmacks to 1 billion pounds of copper equivalent.

The firm's analyst maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a target price of CA$0.22 per share, a projected upside of over 780% from Thursday's share price of CA$0.025.

Couloir Capital's analysis underscored the significant potential for value creation at Carmacks, which is driven by continued exploration, resource expansion, and optimization of the mine plan.

The Catalysts: Batteries, Solar Panels, EVs, AI

Copper is vital for the world economy's energy transition. Outside of silver, it's the best natural conductor of electricity in nature and is needed for everything from batteries to solar panels. Electric vehicles contain as much as 175 pounds of copper. Power-hungry artificial intelligence (AI) is also expected to put a squeeze on electricity demand.

The "battle cry of the energy transition is 'Electrify everything,'" Vince Beiser wrote for WIRED. That translates into a lot of copper, which "we need it to massively expand and upgrade the countless miles of power cables that undergird the energy grid in practically every country," the author wrote. "In the United States, the capacity of the electric grid will have to grow as much as threefold to meet the expected demand."

Copper futures rallied to US$4.79 per pound on Monday and hit a record high of US$5.20 in mid-May.

"Granted, tension in the Middle East has continued to underpin the U.S. dollar due to its safe haven status, Crispus Nyaga wrote for Microsoft Start. "Similar to other dollar-priced assets, a stronger greenback makes the red metal more expensive for buyers holding foreign currencies."

According to Credendo, demand for copper could double by 2035. New copper production — and investment in exploration — will be needed to fuel the supply of those vehicles in the long term, analysts have said.

An informal poll of attendees at a London Metal Exchange seminar on Monday showed that 46% of attendees said copper was the base metal that is likely to have the most upside, slightly down from last year's 53%, Reuters reported.

Ownership and Share Structure

According to Refinitiv, insiders own 6.29% of Granite Creek Copper, including the CEO Johnson with 2.56%. The next top two, both directors, are Robert Sennott with 2.01% and Michael Rowley with 1.37%.

The company does not have any institutional investors. Retail investors own the remaining 93.71%.

Granite Creek has 198.27 million shares outstanding and 185.79 million free-float traded shares. The company's market cap is CA$3.97 million, and it trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.02 to CA$0.06 per share.