White Cliff Minerals: Advancing a Material Copper Discovery
Investor Highlights: Rae Copper Project Delivers Exceptional Results
White Cliff Minerals (ASX: WCN) is strategically focused on delineating a material copper project in a tier 1 jurisdiction, having secured a significant footprint of prospective high-grade copper ground across an emerging copper region in Canada.
Recent drilling at the company's Rae Copper Project has confirmed a material copper discovery with exceptional results, including:
- 175m @ 2.5% Cu and 8.66g/t silver (Ag)
- 58m @ 3.08% Cu and 13.3g/t Ag
- 63m @ 2.23% Cu and 7.1g/t Ag
With a large underexplored tenure package located in historically proven areas, White Cliff's projects present the potential for significant, high-grade and scalable copper development in the supportive jurisdiction of Canada.
The company is led by a committed board and management team with sector expertise who have demonstrated their confidence through the purchase of approximately A$3.9m in shares over the previous 12 months.
Project Locations: Strategic Canadian Assets
White Cliff Minerals has established a strategic portfolio of assets in Canada, comprising:
Rae Copper-Silver Project
- License area totalling 1,228km² in Nunavut
- Initial drilling results have confirmed significant copper mineralisation
- District-scale geophysical conductive anomalies identified
- Continued drilling planned for the remainder of 2025
Great Bear Lake Project
- License covers an area exceeding 2,900km² in the Northwest Territories
- Located in proximity to significant historical mining operations such as Eldorado, Echo Bay, and Contact Lake mines
- Historical production included high-grade uranium, copper, gold, and silver
- Recent exploration confirmed high-grade mineralisation at surface
- World-class prospective silver district identified within close proximity to the historic silver mines of Bonanza and El Bonanza
Rae Copper-Silver Project: Well-Positioned for Development
Access and Infrastructure
The Rae Project benefits from excellent logistics and infrastructure:
- Located on mainland Canada, 75km from the town of Kugluktuk (population ~2,000)
- Kugluktuk provides support services and a deep-water port
- Camp and project area accessed via all-weather runway
- Key logistics supported from Yellowknife (population >20,000), located only 90 minutes away by flight
- Yellowknife offers established mining sector support services for numerous nearby operations
Nearby mines include Agnico Eagle's Hope Bay (Au) mine, B2Gold Corp's Goose (Au) Mine, Burgundy Diamond Mines Ekati (diamond) mine and Rio Tinto's Diavik (diamond) Mine. Additionally, Canadian Government "First Mile" funding initiatives provide further potential for infrastructure development.
Project Overview
The Rae Project covers 1,228km² and is situated approximately 75km from Kugluktuk and its open-water port. Recent assay results have confirmed the presence of substantial high-grade copper mineralisation.
The project has shown potential to host high-grade, large tonnage epithermal and sedimentary copper systems:
- Danvers: An epithermal vein system with a mineralised envelope open in all directions
- Hulk: A large-scale sediment-hosted copper target with a geophysical anomaly spanning 150km² within the >72km Rae group sedimentary structure
2025 Drilling Results at Rae
Recent results from White Cliff's 2025 RC campaign at Danvers have affirmed the potential for a material copper discovery:
- DAN25008: 175m @ 2.5% Cu & 8.66g/t Ag from 7.6m, including 14m @ 7.55% Cu & 25.8g/t Ag, ending in mineralisation with the last 1.5m sample recording 4.46% Cu & 11.58g/t Ag, open at depth
- DAN25003: 58m @ 3.08% Cu and 13.3g/t Ag from 52m, including 18m @ 5.21% Cu and 22.33g/t Ag
- DAN25002: 63m @ 2.23% Cu & 7.1g/t Ag from 9.14m, including 15m @ 5% Cu & 16.9g/t Ag from 18.29m
Drilling has extended mineralisation below historic drilling limits to at least 30m depth.
Next Steps at Rae
- Further assays from Danvers expected in the coming weeks
- Follow-up diamond drilling planned to commence in July 2025
- Selected geophysical survey and investigation to be undertaken to explore the 9.1km target fault zone
Understanding Copper: Essential Metal for the Future
Copper is a versatile metal with excellent electrical conductivity, making it essential for modern infrastructure and the global transition to renewable energy. As one of the first metals used by humans thousands of years ago, copper continues to be crucial in today's technology-driven world.
Key Properties and Applications
Copper possesses several valuable properties that make it indispensable:
- Superior electrical conductivity: Second only to silver, making it the primary material for electrical wiring
- Excellent thermal conductivity: Used in heat exchangers and cooling systems
- Corrosion resistance: Forms a protective patina that prevents further degradation
- Antimicrobial properties: Effective against bacteria and viruses
- Malleability and ductility: Easily shaped into wires, tubes, and complex forms
Copper in the Green Energy Transition
The global shift toward renewable energy and electrification has significantly increased copper demand:
- Electric vehicles require 3-4 times more copper than conventional vehicles
- Renewable energy systems like wind and solar use 4-5 times more copper than traditional power generation
- Grid infrastructure upgrades to support electrification require substantial copper investments
This fundamental role in the green energy transition positions copper as a critical metal for the foreseeable future, with demand expected to outpace supply in coming years.
Sedimentary Copper Potential at Rae
The Rae Project shows strong indicators for sedimentary-hosted copper deposits:
- All first-order controls for sediment-hosted copper deposits are present, with proof-of-concept historic drilling results less than 2km east of White Cliff's licence boundary
- The project's Proterozoic Era basins are contemporaneous with some of the largest sediment-hosted copper deposits globally
- Evidence of copper-fertile hydrothermal fluids is present throughout the project, demonstrated by numerous volcanic-hosted showings
- More than 72km of highly prospective Rae Group sediments sit on the company's licence
Hulk Target: A District-Scale Opportunity
The Hulk target represents a significant opportunity:
- Three fault-controlled sub-basins covering >20km of strike across the Rae Group Sediments
- Covers >150km² within a larger sub-basin with interpreted dimensions exceeding 20km by 10km, with anomalies open to the north
- Mineralisation being targeted within a sedimentary horizon approximately 200-300m below surface
Herb Dixon Fault Target – Stark
The Stark target presents another significant opportunity:
- Located on the Herb Dixon fault, a major regional N/S fault covering >25km through the Rae Project
- Intersects the Hulk area and can be traced to the Vision target where rock chip assays returned up to 64.02% Cu
- Presents a highly conductive signature over more than 14km strike length and up to 2.2km wide, coincident with a well-defined structure
Great Bear Copper-Gold-Silver-Uranium Project
Overview
The Great Bear Project is situated in a historic and proven mining area:
- Recognised as one of Canada's largest uranium mining districts
- Total historical production across the area (pre-1982) included:
- 13,700,000 pounds of uranium oxide (U₃O₈)
- 34,300,000 ounces of refined silver
- 11,377,040 pounds of copper with gold credits
- 127,000 kilograms of nickel, 227,000kg of cobalt and 104,000kg lead
Geology
The Great Bear Magmatic Zone has been identified as having Canada's highest probability for hosting iron-oxide-copper-gold uranium plus silver-style mineralisation in the country. It hosts a spectrum of mineralisation styles within the broad IOCG hydrothermal model:
- Epithermal – Ag, Au, Cu, U
- Skarn – Ag, Cu, Mo, Pb, Zn, W
- IOCG – Au, Ag, Co, Cu, +/- U
The project area has untapped potential, as copper and gold were never the focus of historic exploration work.
Early Exploration Success
Highlights from the 2024 field campaign included high-grade surface samples:
Phoenix:
- 38.2 g/t Au & 76.5 g/t Ag
- 29.7 g/t Au & 121 g/t Ag
- 42.6% Cu, 2.28g/t Au & 159 g/t Ag
Coyote:
- 17.4 g/t Au
- 16.95 g/t Au & 10.55% Cu
Slider:
- 7.54% Ag (75,439g/t)
- 5.35% Ag (53,506g/t)
Next Steps at Great Bear
A recently executed exploration agreement with the DĂ©lı̀¨nÄ™ Got'ı̀¨nÄ™ Government allows for an expanded exploration footprint. Planned activities include:
- Ground truthing at new, high-priority geophysical targets at the Contact Lake fault
- Drilling at targets including gold, silver, copper, and uranium prospects
- Regional exploration to investigate critically underexplored areas
Corporate Overview
Board & Executive Team
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Rod McIllree, Executive Chairman: Australian geologist with extensive experience in developing large-scale projects, M&A, international logistics, and small-cap fundraisings
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Troy Whittaker, Managing Director: Executive with more than 20 years of experience spanning successful international project evaluation activities and the development and operation of multibillion-dollar assets globally
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Eric Sondergaard, Executive Director: Registered Professional Geoscientist with over 20 years of operational experience in the mining industry, including expertise in frontier exploration and project management
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Dan Smith, Non-Executive Director: Over 17 years of capital markets and corporate governance expertise, serving as chairman or director for numerous companies on ASX and AIM in the natural resources sector
Capitalisation Data
(As of 18 May 2025)
- Share Price: A$0.029
- Basic Shares Outstanding: 1,928 million
- Market Capitalisation: A$56 million
- Cash: A$2.95 million
- Enterprise Value: A$52 million
Shareholder Information
- Top 20 Shareholders: 32.62%
- Board & Management: 18.67%
- Number of Shareholders: 3,168
- 52-week High/Low: A$0.037 / A$0.013
- Average Volume (90-day): 8.75 million shares/day
Upcoming Catalysts and Newsflow
White Cliff has outlined several key activities to drive progress across its project portfolio:
Rae Project
- Drilling: Further drilling targeting the Hulk sedimentary targets, along with strike and depth testing at Danvers
- Geophysics: Selected geophysical survey and investigation to explore the 9.1km target fault zone at Danvers; downhole electromagnetic surveys at Hulk
Great Bear Project
- Field Work: Further field truthing and surface sampling, following up on aerial geophysics results
- Planning: Additional field reconnaissance, sampling and drilling programs to refine the project pipeline
- Exploration: Ongoing target generation across the portfolio
Summary
White Cliff Minerals presents an opportunity for exposure to high-grade copper projects in tier-one jurisdictions. The company's early drilling success at the Rae Project, combined with the multi-commodity potential at Great Bear Lake, provides a solid foundation for growth. With a clear strategy focused on copper, experienced leadership with significant ownership, and a pipeline of upcoming catalysts, White Cliff is positioned to advance its material copper discovery and create value for shareholders.
Ready to Invest in White Cliff's Copper Discovery?
Discover more about White Cliff Minerals' exceptional drilling results and strategic copper assets in Canada by visiting their website. With recent intercepts including 175m @ 2.5% Cu and a clear pathway for development, White Cliff offers investors exposure to a material copper discovery in a tier-1 jurisdiction at a pivotal time in the global transition to green energy. Learn how their experienced management team is advancing this promising opportunity today.
