Electric vehicles (EVs) are one of the hottest topics of conversation and it’s easy to see why: in addition to being practical, EVs are known for reducing emissions and saving money both in terms of fuel costs and maintenance.
As consumers shift to more economically friendly products at a global scale, the demand for EVs is also rising. According to a report from Meticulous Research, by volume the EV market is expected to reach 233.9 million units by 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 21.7 per cent during the forecast period.
While lithium plays a vital part in the EV battery market, copper is essential to the technology and the supporting infrastructure of EVs.
What this means is that the ever-growing EV market will have a drastic impact on copper demand, and companies in the sector will be rising in order to the challenge to meet that need.
Take
Interra Copper Corp. (CSE:IMCX, OTCQB:IMIMF, Forum), for example, a junior exploration company focused on advancing its assets, primarily its Thane Property in Northern British Columbia.
The company recently changed its name from
IMC International Mining Corp to Interra Copper in order to reflect its position in the copper market and the dominating resource at the Thane Property.
The company’s property is located the prolific and well-documented Quesnel of the west coast province. The property has limited exploration history, only going as far back as the 1970s, which gives it a leg up in terms of significant mineralization and clues to its full potential.
Past and planned production within the region totals 50 billion pounds of copper and 28 million ounces of gold, making Interra Copper’s Thane Project number one priority — and so the company can position itself as a player in the regions EV copper market.
Headquartered in Vancouver, BC Interra Copper’s management has an extensive history of the discovery and development of assets backed by a team with expertise, ability and homegrown advantage in the region.
With its experience as a junior exploration company, Interra Copper understands the value and importance of moving a mineral project ahead. With the EV market accelerating, so too does the need for copper and companies like Interra Copper exploring the space.
The Thane Property’s position in North American copper supply
The Thane Property is 100 per cent owned by Interra Copper, which spans 206.58 square kilometers. The property is close to power and road access.
British Columbia also serves as Canada’s premium region for copper supply — having accounted for over half of copper production in Canada in 2019 — which gives Interra Copper a prime opportunity to tap into the driving need for copper production.
With its ideal location, the Thane Property sits on a prolific belt for porphyry-style deposits and is located in close proximity between past-producing Kemess to the north and producing Mt. Milligan south.
The company acquired the property in March of 2020
through the acquisition of privately-held company Thane Minerals.
(Click to enlarge image)
Throughout summer 2020, Interra Copper — previously known as IMC International Mining Corp. — the company completed exploration fieldwork comprising an 8-week field program which included induced polarization surveying, petrographic studies, geological mapping and rock, soil and silt sampling, which was all done with the goal of identifying prospective drill targets for this year’s exploration season.
This has led the company to where it is now as it gears up for its drilling and exploration program set to begin in July, Dave McMillan, Director and Interim CEO for Interra Copper, told Stockhouse Editorial in an interview.
As Interra Copper prepares for its summer drilling program, McMillian said that the company is fully funded to execute the program. The company just raised an additional C$2.6 million through the second and final tranche towards the program, proceeds of which are to be used before the end of 2022.
“The [funding] raise was to progress the property,” McMillian told Stockhouse Editorial, which included the second tranche and the first one,
which raised over $1.4 million through the sale of 6.4 million flow-through units.
Now that the program is scheduled, Interra Copper’s plans for drilling and exploration at the Thanes Property include diamond drilling, inducing polarization surveys and geological mapping and sampling.
The initial drill program includes 2,400 metres in eight holes, which have been designed to test high priority targets in the property’s Cathedral Area, with drilling to begin in mid-July.
In order to speed up the process of obtaining its geochemical results, the company intends to use a portable XRF, which is a device that can instantly quantify and qualify elements in a sample, like copper. This expedites informed planning in terms of drilling expansion past the eight planned for drill holes.
With the program fully funded and ready to go, McMillian said Interra Copper won’t be in a position where it will have to do another round of funding or stop the program and start up again.
“Everything is a go at this point and we will be able to complete this initial program without any halts,” he said.
Case in point, the United States is fifth overall in terms of global copper production, although Canada currently isn’t in the top 10. That being said, copper production in Canada is on the rise, having produced roughly 544,000 tonnes in 2019 — which is a 3 per cent increase from 2018.
As Canada’s copper growth continues — particularly in regions such as British Columbia — Interra Copper’s potential footprint in domestic supply will be integral in order to meet copper demand for EVs.
The Management Team
Although Interra Copper has only been publicly traded since 2019, its management team is backed by years of experience as it leads the company towards copper production.
David McMillan, Director, President and Interim CEO
Mr. McMillan has been involved in the mining and financial markets for over 40 years.
As a stock broker and Senior Partner in a private investment firm in the 1980s and 1990s, Dave travelled to and financed many exploration projects around the world, including the original junior exploration companies that discovered the Kemess and Mount Milligan open pit, copper/gold mines in British Columbia which are located in the same geological trend as Interra’s Thane property. Since 2001, Dave has held numerous Director and Executive roles in private and public companies.
Christopher O. Naas, P. Geo, Director and COO
For over 34 years, Christopher O. Naas has accumulated experience in the mineral exploration field in Canada, the US, South America and Africa. Additionally, Naas has extensive experience in supervising mineral exploration programs that have successfully developed mineral resources from grassroot prospects.
Before Interra Copper, Naas was director and project manager at Yellowhead Mining, which was sold to Taseko Mines, part of the Hunter Dickinson group of companies.
Oliver Foeste, CFO
Mr. Foeste is the founder and Managing Partner of Invictus Accounting Group and brings over 10 years of financial reporting and executive experience across numerous industries including junior exploration and mining companies.
Previously, Oliver has held senior management and executive positions in multinational and small capitalization companies listed in Canada and the United States.
The investment opportunity
Founded in 2018, Interra Copper currently has a market capitalization of C$13.43 million and over $2,900,000 cash on hand. The company currently has just over 74 million shares outstanding and 41.16 million in the public float. Shares of Interra Copper are currently priced at $0.19 on the Canadian Securities Exchange.
With the popularity of EVs continuing to accelerate, now more than ever is the time to be investing in copper exploration companies such as Interra Copper.
In line with this, U.S. President Biden has made the push for electric vehicles in the United States with a proposed US$3 trillion bill focused on green infrastructure and clean energy — which will also fuel the need for resources such as copper.
Case in point, an EV’s motor is made up largely of the base metal resource and uses more than double the copper of an internal combustion engine vehicle. In addition to this, copper is also used heavily in an EV’s infrastructure.
“More domestic [copper] resources are needed,” McMillian told Stockhouse Editorial, adding that the need for North American copper will rise as the industry moves away from outside North American sources.
As such, exploration companies such as Interra Copper will be rising to meet that demand, thanks to its domestic property where McMillian said there’s a rich history of open pit copper mines within proximity the same geological belt to the Thanes Project.
With the company gearing up for its fully funded drilling program, investors can expect regular results from Interra Copper as the program progress.
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.