ArcWest Announces Results From 2025 Drilling of the Todd Creek Project
ArcWest’s Freeport-funded "Elephant Hunt" at Todd Creek yields smoke but no fire as 2025 drill results fail to deliver high-grade discovery.
The most recent news (March 16, 2026) reports results from the 2025 drill program at the Todd Creek project, funded entirely by partner Freeport-McMoRan. The program completed 4,614 meters across nine holes testing five distinct target areas. While the drilling confirmed the presence of a large-scale hydrothermal system with "porphyry-style" mineralization and vertical zonation (transitioning from epithermal veins to deeper porphyry-style sets), the release notably lacks high-grade assay intervals. Key findings include Cu-Au-As bearing sulfide mineralization at Orange Mountain and sulfide-rich alteration at Ice/Fall Creek.
The impact is Routine - Neutral. While the news confirms the geological model and the presence of copper-gold mineralization across a 13km trend, it is a "technical success" rather than a "commercial discovery." - Expectation vs. Reality: The June 2025 news set high expectations for testing "one of the largest underexplored Cu-Au systems in B.C." The results provided evidence of the system's scale but failed to produce the "discovery hole" investors typically look for in the Golden Triangle. - Financial Insulation: The materiality is softened by the fact that Freeport-McMoRan is 100% funding the exploration. ArcWest is not burning its own cash for these results, preserving its $3.89M treasury (as of Sept 2025). - Partner Retention: The critical factor is whether these results are sufficient for Freeport to continue the earn-in. The news suggests "encouragement," but without high-grade intercepts, the risk of a partner withdrawal in future years remains a background threat.
ArcWest is a project generator focused on porphyry copper-gold targets in British Columbia. Its flagship is the Todd Creek Project, located in the Golden Triangle adjacent to the KSM-Brucejack trend. The project is characterized by a 13km mineralized corridor. The company’s strategy is to mitigate risk by having major miners (like Freeport) fund high-cost drilling while ArcWest retains upside through minority interests and royalties.