NorthWest Reports Significant Ore Sorting Results at Kwanika
NorthWest Copper leverages ore sorting to high-grade mill feed as it pivots toward a leaner, higher-margin development strategy at Kwanika.
The most recent news (February 23, 2026) reports successful X-Ray Transmission (XRT) ore sorting test work for the Kwanika project. The program demonstrated that 25% of the mined mass could be rejected as barren or low-grade material while recovering approximately 89-90% of the Copper, Gold, and Silver. This process resulted in a 19% increase in the grade of the material sent to the mill (1.0% Cu, 1.85g/t Au, 3.25g/t Ag). The rejected material (0.33% Cu, 0.75g/t Au) will be stockpiled for end-of-mine-life processing. These results are intended to be integrated into an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) scheduled for mid-2026.
The impact is Routine - Positive. While the results are technically significant, they represent an incremental optimization step in a long-running series of metallurgical improvements (following the January 21, 2026, report of 94-96% gold recoveries). - Operational Efficiency: Rejecting 25% of mass before it reaches the mill allows for a smaller, less expensive processing plant or higher metal throughput for the same plant size. - Economic De-risking: This supports management’s "new strategy" (initiated in early 2025) to move away from the high-CAPEX block cave model of the 2023 PEA toward a more selective, lower-CAPEX open pit and underground bulk mining operation. - Expectation Alignment: The news is in line with the company's stated goals of improving project economics to offset inflationary pressures and capitalize on higher gold prices. It does not, however, change the fundamental status of the company from an explorer/developer to a producer.
NorthWest Copper is a Canadian developer focused on the Kwanika-Stardust project in British Columbia. Kwanika is a copper-gold porphyry deposit, while Stardust is a high-grade copper-gold carbonate replacement deposit (CRD). The company also holds the Lorraine-Top Cat project. Under new leadership (CEO Paul Olmsted, appointed late 2024), the company has shifted from a large-scale, low-grade mining philosophy to a "phased approach" targeting high-grade "subdomains" to minimize upfront capital.