The name Copper Quest Exploration Inc. and the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE) ticker symbol CQX have replaced Interra Copper Corp. (IMCX:CSE; IMIMF:OTCQB; 3MX:FRA) and IMCX, respectively, noted a news release. Copper Quest Exploration Inc. (CQX:TSX) began trading under its new identifiers on the CSE this morning. With these changes comes a new company website, copper.quest.
"The rebrand to Copper Quest marks the culmination of our corporate restructuring," Copper Quest Chief Executive Officer Brian Thurston said in the release. Those efforts, made over the past eight months, included developing new management and technical teams, revitalizing the company's board, and implementing strong corporate governance.
"Under the new name we are now deploying our full efforts to the business of planning and executing critical mineral exploration and development on our portfolio of properties," added Thurston.
Exploring in Proven Copper Belts
Vancouver-based Copper Quest has four assets, all in British Columbia. Here are more details from the Q1/25 Corporate Presentation on each of them:
1) Stars, acquired in December and 100% owned, is 9,694 hectares in size. Drilling there has shown a productive porphyry environment with good to high grades of copper (Cu) and molybdenum (Mo), multiphase veining, and a broad intrusion containing 100-plus parts per million (ppm) of copper in most places. The intrusion's contact was tested only in the Tana zone and potentially contains ore-grade intersections. Two impressive intercepts from Tana were 0.466% Cu over 195.07 meters (195.07m) from 23m and 0.2% Cu over 396.67m from 28.37m. Neither has been followed up, and Stars boasts many untested targets.
2) Stellar, acquired in October 2024 and 100% owned, comprises 5,389 newly consolidated hectares. Historical exploration defined a 5x3 kilometer (km) area showing high copper, gold, and silver grades. Also present is a magnetic geophysical anomaly, about 2,500m in size, called Cassiopeia. Other targets include the Jewelry Box area mineral showings, the North-West mineral showings, and the Galena zone.
3) Rip is a 4,770-hectare concession of which Copper Quest may acquire up to 80% through its earn-in agreement with ArcWest Exploration Inc. (AWX:TSX.V). In October 2024, Copper Quest, then Interra, drill tested one geophysical target with two holes over 1,033m and intersected a copper-molybdenum mineralized porphyry system. Highlight intercepts included:
- 0.102% copper equivalent (Cu eq) over 126.6m from 21.4m, including 0.267% Cu eq over 24.6m
- 0.113% Cu eq over 114.3m from 33.6m
A new induced polarization (IP) survey of the Rip target showed two adjacent porphyry systems.
Stars, Stellar, and Rip are on the Bulkley Porphyry Belt, a developing exploration and mining district. The Some of the projects being advanced there are Surge Copper Corp.'s (SURG:TSX.V) Berg, with a Measured and Indicated resource of 1,009,000 tons (1.009 Mt) of 0.23% copper; Sun Summit Minerals Corp.'s (SMN:TSX.V; SMREF:OTCMKTS) Buck, on which a maiden mineral resource estimate is expected this quarter; and Artemis Gold Inc.'s (ARTG:TSX.V; ARGTF:OTCMKTS) Blackwater, whose mine poured its first gold and silver in January. Two past-producing mining operations on the belt are Newmont Corp.'s (NEM:NYSE) Equity Silver (silver-gold-copper) and Imperial Metals Corp.'s (III:TSX) Huckleberry (copper-molybdenum).
4) Thane is 100%-owned, 20,658 hectares in size, and located in a different place. The property was shown to contain a 14x6 km alteration and mineralization footprint that hosts multiple copper-gold porphyry systems. Within the broader alteration envelope, there are 10 mineralized targets. Thane is one of "the strongest porphyry-related geochemical anomalies" in B.C.'s prolific Toodoggone mining district, the company said. Nearby, there are growing resources like Amarc Resources Ltd.'s (AHR:TSX.V; AXREF:OTCMKTS) AuRORA, as well as large mines, such as Centerra Gold Inc.'s (CG:TSX; CADGF:OTCPK) Kemess and Mt. Milligan.
Copper: A Compelling Investment
Demand for copper continues to rise, yet new supply of the metal remains constrained by various factors. Against this backdrop, the metal's fundamentals should remain "firmly bullish" as the supply deficit likely grows throughout 2025 and beyond, noted a recent Sprott Special Report.
"This creates a compelling investment thesis for copper, with investors able to gain exposure through exchange-traded funds, mining stocks and futures contracts," noted Crux Investor on Feb. 24.
The value of the copper market is projected to grow through 2030, according to Research and Markets, at a 5.4% compound annual growth rate, reaching US$368.8 billion (US$368.8B) from US$269B in 2024.
Some experts expect the copper price also to rise over the next several years. The Economy Forecast Agency, for example, forecasts the year-end price in 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028 to be US$4.62/lb, US$5.61/lb, US$6.42/lb and US$7.33/lb, respectively.
What could drag down the copper price over time is any new tariffs on the metal imposed by the U.S. on other countries, noted Markets.com. Last week President Donald Trump ordered an investigation into national security implications of copper imports into the country, Reuters reported. Subsequently, Citi said it expects the U.S. will have implemented a global 25% copper-specific tariff by Q4/25.
Citi told Reuters, "The tariff announcement should boost confidence in eventual duties, and ahead of the tariffs, U.S. buyers may stockpile copper, driving up prices, but this trend could reverse once the tariffs take effect."
Regarding global copper demand, analysts for mining major, BHP, wrote last year they expect it to increase about 70% to more than 50 Mt per annum by 2050, reflecting 2% growth per year on average. They purported that demand will come from the three key areas: energy transition (electrification, electric vehicles, wind, and solar power, and grid storage and augmentation), digital (data centers, 5G, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and blockchain), and traditional economic growth.
"Today, we estimate that the traditional vs. energy transition vs. digital split of global copper demand is around 92%-7%-1%," the analysts added. "By 2050, we predict the split to have evolved to 71%-23%-6%."
As for new copper supply throughout the world, numerous factors continue to hinder it, noted Paul Wong and Jacob White, authors of the Sprott report, such as production disruptions, declining ore grades, long project lead times, regulatory hurdles, capital requirements, and depletion. Events that could have a similar effect include strikes and protests, wars, and moves toward resource nationalism, Ahead of the Herd's Richard Mills pointed out recently.
"With its strong fundamentals and growing strategic importance, we think copper remains one of the most compelling commodities for the year ahead," Wong and White wrote.
The Catalysts: Achieving Project Objectives
Copper Quest's work agenda for its properties this year is extensive.
"We are eager to advance our 2025 objectives and build upon the foundation we've laid," Thurston said in the release.
Plans for Stars include relogging drill core, engaging First Nations in the area, exploring the newly staked property, and drilling. The latter is to include follow-up testing of the high-grade copper-molybdenum intersections in the Tana zone and testing the high-potential targets in the central magnetic anomaly.
Regarding Stellar, Copper Quest intends to relog old core, investigate the Jewelry Box area, carry out magnetic anomaly ground proofing and an IP survey of Cassiopeia, prospect the entire claim block, and compile prior data.
As for Thane, the company may do some nondilutive exploration there to add value and look into the possibility of a joint venture or other option for the asset.
Ownership and Share Structure
About 55% of Quest Copper is owned by a combination of management, directors, advisers and a few strategic investors, according to the company. The rest is in retail.
The Canadian explorer has 53.4 million (53.4M) outstanding shares and 78.5M fully diluted shares.
At market close on Friday, Feb. 28, the company's share price was CA$0.11 and its market cap, CA$5.34 million, according to Refinitiv. During the past 52 weeks, the copper company traded between CA$0.075 and CA$0.22 per share.
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