August 4, 2021, Vancouver, BC – Amarc Resources Ltd. (“Amarc” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: AHR; OTCQB: AXREF) is pleased to announce that Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc. (“Freeport”) has increased its first year contribution to the Company’s ongoing exploration program at the JOY District (the “JOY”) in north-central British Columbia (“BC”) by 37.5% – from CDN$4 million to CDN$5.5 million.
Amarc is operating a comprehensive exploration program at JOY this summer, with core drilling and geological, geochemical and geophysical survey crews all active on-site. Additional funding provided by Freeport will be primarily focused on expanding the ongoing diamond drilling program.
“These are transformative times for Amarc and the JOY District,” said Amarc President & CEO Dr. Diane Nicolson. “The strength of our alliance with Freeport, our shared understanding of the exceptional copper and gold discovery potential at JOY, and the combined expertise of our respective teams has positioned Amarc for success at a historic time in our metals markets. We believe it’s a combination that could drive significant value creation for our shareholders in the months and years ahead.”
Nicolson said the objective of Amarc’s 2021 field season at JOY is to advance both deposit delineation and assess multiple targets areas – some of which are already known to host copper and gold mineralization. She added that the Company expects to begin announcing initial results from this season’s exploration campaign before the end of the summer.
The JOY District covers the northern extension of the prolific Kemess porphyry Cu-Au district in the underexplored Toodoggone region, part of BC’s Golden Horseshoe.
In May 2021 Amarc announced that it had formed an alliance with Freeport, a wholly owned subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX), to explore the JOY District. Under the terms of the agreement, Freeport has a two-stage option to earn up to a 70% ownership interest in the mineral claims comprising the JOY District, plus other rights and interests, over up to a 10 year period, by spending a total of CDN$110 million.
Amarc’s 100%-owned consolidated mineral tenure at JOY hosts a pipeline of high quality targets, including: the PINE Cu-Au deposit, which remains open to expansion; the MEX Cu-Au deposit target; and, a number of other high potential drill-ready Cu-Au porphyry targets, which cluster on the property. In addition, related Au-Ag epithermal deposit potential remains to be fully explored at JOY.