Amarc, Freeport plan 2025 drill program in JOY District

Amarc Resources announced that planning in collaboration with Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Mineral Properties Canada, ahead of a significant 2025 drill program, is well advanced. Drilling is planned to be focused at the Company’s new, high grade, gold-rich porphyry copper-gold-silver AuRORA Deposit, the PINE Deposit and the Twins and Canyon Discoveries as well as several high potential and drill-ready Cu-Au Deposit Targets across the JOY District in north-central British Columbia. Comprehensive exploration of the JOY District is indicating high potential for the development of a major Cu-Au district, hosting multiple important scale deposits. Freeport is fully funding work programs at JOY, and has provided notice under the Mineral Property Earn-In Agreement that it has invested C$35M, under an accelerated time frame, and earned an initial 60% interest in the JOY District. The 2025 program of C$10M is subject to Freeport electing to proceed to fund an additional C$75M in exploration and development programs under Stage 2 of the Agreement, which election is anticipated by Amarc to be made during the third quarter of 2025. At Freeport’s request, Amarc has agreed to continue managing all aspects of the exploration work programs. The AuRORA Deposit Discovery, announced earlier this year, is located within the expansive approximately 4 km 2 Northwest Gossan Target, an area within the 495 km 2 JOY District that had not previously been drill tested; much of the NWG Target remains unexplored. AuRORA is characterized by its high grades, near-surface location and excellent lateral and vertical continuity. Importantly, AuRORA remains open to further expansion. Following completion of discovery hole JP24057, Amarc began systematically stepping out, drilling with three core rigs along six 100 m spaced sections to start outlining the AuRORA Cu-Au-Ag discovery, and confirm its high grade potential. None of these drill sections were completed as the Amarc team had to demobilize from the Centerra Gold Inc.’s Kemess Mine Camp by mid-October 2024, which was scheduled to be winterized at that time. The AuRORA deposit currently extends over 600 m by 500 m and remains open to lateral expansion. The grade range encountered so far in AuRORA drill intersections is higher than that mined historically by Northgate Mineral Corp. at the Kemess South deposit in the Kemess Mining District located immediately to the south of the JOY mineral claims. Centerra Gold, which owns and is currently advancing the Kemess District, has recently reported Au and Cu resources for the Kemess Open Pit, Kemess Underground and Kemess East deposits.