NorthWest Copper finds shallow copper, gold in B.C.

NorthWest Copper (TSX-V: NWST) says drilling at its main Kwanika project in British Columbia yielded near-surface copper and gold in two different zones.

Hole K-25-287 cut 47.5 metres grading 1.22% copper, 0.82 gram gold and 3 grams silver from 96.5 metres depth, NorthWest Copper said Monday. It also intersected 25.9 metres grading 0.91% copper, 1.29 grams gold and 3.18 grams silver from 154 metres downhole.

Drilling at Kwanika has demonstrated “the continuity of higher-grade zones over significant widths in both the Central zone and the Pit zone, materially improving our understanding of the mineralization,” NorthWest Copper CEO Paul Olmsted said in a statement.

Results from the Pit zone are expected to support higher-grade open pit resources. The company is planning to deliver an “exciting” resource update in this quarter, Olmsted added.

K-25-287 is the 15^th reported hole from the company’s 2025 exploration program at Kwanika.

PEA update

News of the latest drilling results comes as NorthWest Copper works to update a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) from 2023 that it wants to release by the middle of 2026. The company says it’s targeting “significantly improved economics” in the new PEA through a higher-grade, higher-margin and lower capital project.

Combined with the adjacent Stardust deposit, Kwanika holds 105 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 0.37% copper, 0.4 gram gold and 1.6 grams silver for contained metal of 849 million lb. copper, 1.35 million oz. gold and 5.4 million oz. silver, according to a 2023 resource.

Inferred resources are estimated at 33.6 million tonnes grading 0.35% copper, 0.23 gram gold and 4.12 grams silver for contained metal of 259 million lb. copper, 254,000 oz. gold and 4.46 million oz. silver.

Drill-ready targets

Mineralization at Kwanika is hosted within strong potassic alteration crosscut by a dismembered early quartz stockwork that contains pyrite and chalcopyrite, NorthWest Copper says.

Located about 150 km north of the municipality of Fort St. James, Kwanika is accessible via an all-season forest road. It’s part of a land package covering more than 350 sq. km that includes seven other drill-ready targets.

NorthWest Copper shares rose 1.2% to 43¢ Monday morning in Toronto, boosting the company’s market value to about $112 million (US$81 million). The stock has traded between 15¢ and 58¢ in the past year.