Granite Creek Copper Ltd. (GCX:TSX.V; GCXXF:OTCQB) has provided additional information concerning its acquisition of a 100% interest in the Lucky Ship (LS) molybdenum (moly) project, located within the traditional territory of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation in central British Columbia.
The region has a long history of mining, including the Endako molybdenum mine, the Huckleberry copper-molybdenum mine, the Equity silver mine, and others.
There are a series of considerations that must be made for the company to acquire a 100% interest in the LS Project, including issuing vendors 3,7500,000 common shares incrementally within the first three years, keeping the LS Project in good condition, and completing minimal work required to keep the claims in good standing, and making cash payments to vendors if the total value of share issuances is less than CA$300,000.
According to a news release from the company, the Lucky Ship project is "accessible year-round along a well-developed network of forestry roads, with a high-capacity power line within 50 kilometers and paved highway and rail line access within 85 kilometers."
The Lucky Ship moly project is considered by Granite Creek to be a secondary asset to its flagship Carmacks copper-gold-silver project in Yukon and one the company would look to partner with via potential earn-in, JV, or similar structure.
A Closer Look at Granite Creek Copper
As stated on its website, Granite Creek Copper (Granite Creek) is "a Canadian exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of highly prospective brownfields assets in top districts of favorable North American mining jurisdictions." It is a member of the Metallic Group of Companies, along with Metallic Minerals and Stillwater Critical Minerals.
The company has a highly experienced exploration team, including Jacob Longridge, Ph.D., and Debbie James, P. Geo. as lead geologists, supplemented by a very strong advisory board. The company's President and CEO/Director is Tim Johnson, who also brings decades of exploration and logistics experience. As a member of the Metallic Group, the technical prowess is significantly magnified via access to the vast wealth of expertise in its sister companies, as well.
The potential application of the mineral resources that Granite Creek is involved in is vast, particularly with both copper and moly being identified in Canada as ‘critical minerals.’ These metals are becoming ever more recognized as fundamental to the global move toward a more sustainable, carbon-free future.
S&P Global Market Intelligence predicted that global demand for copper will double to around 50 million tons by 2035.
Copper is essential in the creation of electric vehicle (EV) batteries, as well as in wind turbines, solar panels, and electrification in general. Last year, S&P Global Market Intelligence predicted that global demand for copper will double to around 50 million tons by 2035. In 2021, copper production fell short of the 25 million tons needed to satisfy demand for that year.
Similarly, silver is used to carry electricity within solar cells because it's such an excellent conductor.
Molybdenum, the focus of Granite Creek's newest LS project and a byproduct in its Carmacks copper project, is predominantly used to make alloys. It can be used to increase the strength of certain materials, as well as improve conductivity. Global demand for molybdenum remains strong.
Couloir Capital referred to Granite Creek Copper as a "promising base metals explorer with a near-term target of reaching a billion pounds of copper at its Carmacks Copper Project."
As well as offering attractive project economics, per a 2023 PEA, the Granite Carmacks Project has the potential for significant additional cash flow from the processing of oxide tailing to increase total copper recovery. The economic assessment announced earlier this year identified additional metallurgical optimization of this oxide material which would have positive implications for the net present value (NPV).
According to the company, this work is currently underway and expected to be completed near the end of Q2. The company has also identified additional near-mine exploration targets that have the potential to increase the resource from the current 36 million tonnes grading around 1.07% copper equivalent. The project currently has a mine life of nine years, at 7,000 TPD, and any further expansion into the surrounding area could significantly extend that operational lifespan.
In a recently conducted research report, Couloir Capital referred to Granite Creek Copper as a "promising base metals explorer with a near-term target of reaching a billion pounds of copper at its Carmacks Copper Project." The report also gave an overview of recent successes from the company, including the identification of new resource expansion targets at Carmacks and the raising of money from a private placement.
Couloir Capital expects Granite Creek Copper to "focus on resource expansion, mine plan optimization, geotechnical drilling, and environmental studies in order to advance the Carmacks project toward a feasibility study."
CA$1.35 Million Private Placement
This morning, May 12, Granite Creek announced a non-brokered private placement financing of up to US$1,350,000 through the issuance of 20,000,000 common shares and 10,000,000 warrants.
The company reports the completion of an initial tranche of the offering after having received subscription agreements for 6,400,000 of the common share units and 4,436,677 of the flow-through units for total funds of CA$716,750. The company continues to see interest in the remainder of the offering and expects to close a second and final tranche soon.
You can learn more details about this private placement here.
Multiple Upcoming Catalysts
Granite Creek Copper expects the results from its additional metallurgical recovery work on Oxide tailings to be available soon. It will also have announcements regarding the 2023 exploration, with those results to follow upon receipt of data.
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Granite Creek Copper Ltd. (GCX:TSX.V; GCXXF:OTCQB)
There's also the potential for an updated PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment) should both the metallurgical work and resource expansion drilling warrant another look at the overall project economics.
Ownership and Share Structure
According to Thomson Reuters, 5.44% of Granite Creek is held by management and insiders. President, CEO, and Chairman Timothy Johnson owns 2.62%, with 3.70 million shares. Director Robert Sennott owns 1.33%, with 1.88 million. Director Michael Rowley owns 1.19%, with 1.68 million, and Director John Cumming owns 0.30%, with 0.42 million.
The rest is held by retail investors.
Headquartered in Vancouver, Granite Creek Copper has a market cap of CA$10.5 million, with 140 million shares in total. It has 18.9 million warrants and 17.8 million options.
The company currently has CA$500,000 in the bank and has a monthly burn rate of around CA$30,000, and trades in the 52-week range between CA$0.05 and CA$0.14, according to Market Watch.
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