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Murray Ward
Flagship Minerals looks to have picked its moment perfectly in Canada’s British Columbia, securing three new mineral claims that more than double its Whipsaw copper tenure, just as the province rolls out the red carpet for miners and copper prices hover near record highs.
The company initially swooped on the massive copper play in June for a mere A$6.5 million. However, its latest ground grab has added a further 37.5 square kilometres to the project, swelling Flagship’s position by a hefty 132 per cent to about 66 square kilometres. The company says the new ground captures prospective strike extensions to its existing exploration target, which sits within a colossal porphyry mineral system stretching roughly 3.7km long and 1.2km wide.
Whipsaw is already backed by 58 historical drill holes with standout hits, including 283.47 metres at 0.28 per cent copper equivalent from 70.1m, 193.7m at 0.30 per cent copper equivalent from 4.42m and 124.93m at 0.33 per cent copper equivalent from 26.3m. Notably, the project also features a sizeable JORC-compliant exploration target of between 510 million and 1.02 billion tonnes, grading between 0.2 and 0.4 per cent copper equivalent, hinting at the sort of scale that’s likely to get pulses quickening.
The expansion comes as British Columbia puts its pro-mining “Look West Strategy” into overdrive, with the government actively looking to fast-track major project approvals. Recent examples include Skeena Resources’ Eskay Creek mine, which saw its application-to-decision timeline cut by 40 per cent alongside Centerra Gold’s Mount Milligan extension, which was approved 60 per cent faster than previous processes.
‘Our objective is straightforward: Advance Whipsaw in a capital-efficient manner for a spin-out to unlock value for Flagship shareholders.’
Flagship Minerals managing director Paul Lock
Flagship says its own claims were granted in just over three months, a timeline that appears to back up the provincial government’s promise to revive its mining sector. That push already seems to be bearing fruit almost on Whipsaw’s doorstep, with Hudbay Minerals’ New Ingerbelle expansion at its Copper Mountain operation, just 17 kilometres away, securing key permits and breaking ground in recent months. New Ingerbelle is expected to deliver 750,000 tonnes of copper, 900,000 ounces of gold and 5.5 million ounces of silver over its mine life.
The geological neighbourhood only adds to the intrigue in what can be fairly described as elephant country for copper. The ground separating Whipsaw from Copper Mountain is held by Collective Metals, whose exploration has already identified porphyry-style targets. Just 134 kilometres north, Teck’s giant Highland Valley operation underscores the region’s pedigree, containing a resource of over 2.2 billion tonnes grading 0.26 per cent copper.
Flagship Minerals managing director Paul Lock said: “The additional tenure strengthens our position at Whipsaw and captures prospective extensions to what is already a very large mineralised system, with a very large drill supported JORC compliant Exploration Target. The approval process and timeline bodes well for the BC Government’s push for a mining revival, aiming to transform the province into a leading mining jurisdiction.”
The market is also putting serious money behind emerging British Columbia copper stories. Amarc Resources, with a market value of C$228 million (A$229M), has Freeport-McMoRan funding its exploration. At the same time, the more advanced Northisle Copper and Gold, with a defined 1.2-billion-tonne resource, carries a market capitalisation of C$1.45 billion (A$1.46B).
Those numbers provide a good example of how the market can progressively revalue big copper systems as they are de-risked, which is pertinent given Flagship’s plans to spin Whipsaw out into a dedicated listed vehicle. Since Whipsaw currently has little to no value assigned to it in the company’s market cap, a spin-out could put the asset under a market spotlight of its own, allowing Flagship to maintain its focus on advancing its flagship 2.1-million-ounce Isidora gold project in Chile.
With the new claims now locked in, the company plans to kick off low-cost LiDAR and drone magnetic surveys to help generate fresh drill targets.
As it prepares to launch its new geophysical surveys over a much larger footprint, in a jurisdiction that is actively encouraging development, Flagship appears to be piecing together all the right ingredients for its Canadian copper aspirations.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
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