Copper Ridge looking to re-brand

After a significant injection of new blood into its corporate composition, Copper Ridge Explorations (KRX-V) is looking to fashion itself into the go-to play for base metal exploration in the northwestern corner of North America.

The new look company emerged from a shake-up that began back in the spring of 2009 when it sold four of its gold properties to Golden Predator Royalty and Development (GPD-V) in exchange for stock.

Along with the deal came the expertise of Golden Predator’s chairman and chief executive Bill Sheriff, who, while retaining his duties at Golden Predator, now also serves as chairman of Copper Ridge. Sheriff is perhaps most noted for his co-founding Energy Metals which was sold to Uranium One (UUU-T) for $1.8 billion in 2007. Joining Sheriff on Copper Ridge’s board was also John Legg, president of Golden Predator.

But the inflow of Golden Predator talent into Golden Ridge wasn’t done there. In January of this year Michael O’Brien agreed to take on the title of chief financial officer at Copper Ridge, alongside his same title at Golden Predator.

The impact of the new members of the board was felt almost immediately as the company did an equity financing which raised $3 million and then consolidated its shares on a 15 to one basis. That significantly shrank the company’s shares outstanding which now at just 12 million.

Now much leaner, and with the Golden “Predator” additions, perhaps a tad meaner, Copper Ridge is putting the bulk of its energy into two projects: Duke Island and Clear Lake.

Duke Island is a copper, nickel, platinum and palladium project in southeast Alaska.

The Vancouver-based company thinks there is the potential to define massive sulphide lenses along a basal contact in an “ovoid” style of mineralization.

Previous drilling by Quaterra Resources (QTA-V, QMM-X) hit 90 metres grading 0.127% copper and 57 metres grading 0.165% copper. Both of those holes also had anomalous platinum, palladium and nickel values.

But Copper Ridge believes it can do better.

It argues that new geophysical data shows the two Quaterra holes did not test the highest priority target which it says occurs along the base of the intrusion. It plans to correct that failing with a drill program that gets underway in June.

Copper Ridge acquired an interest in the project from Quaterra back in September of last year. The deal lets Copper Ridge earn up to a 65% stake in the project.

The company’s other priority project is Clear Lake, which sits in central Yukon roughly 225-km north of Whitehorse.

The deposit currently has an inferred mineral resource of 7.8 million tonnes grading 7.6% zinc, 1.08% lead and 22 grams silver per tonne. That resource estimate was released in January of this year and was based on historical drill results.

But Copper Ridge is aiming to improve on those numbers. The company has a two-staged drill program planned for the 2010 field season that it says will drill a total of 2,500 metres at a cost of $1.9 million.

The first stage will use 1,500 of those metres to test for extensions on the existing deposit to depth and along strike to the southwest.

The second stage will drill three high priority targets along strike that have been defined by geophysical surveys.

To fund its ambitious plans the company will draw from the roughly $2.5 million it currently has in its coffers.

Should the drill return some promising results Copper Ridge will be in a good position to receive a more positive market valuation.

The company’s shares have traded in a tight range between 30¢ and 23¢ over the last three months – failing to partake in some of its copper exploring peers recent market successes.

Sheriff, for his part, has signaled his belief in the company’s future success. The INK Insider’s report shows that the recently appointed chairman acquired close to 200,000 shares of the company between January and late April of this year at prices ranging from 23¢ to 30¢/