Trailbreaker Acquires the Drill-Ready Coho Copper-Gold Porphyry Project in Central British Columbia
thenewswire.com
May 26, 2025 – TheNewswire - Trailbreaker Resources Ltd. (TBK.V) (“Trailbreaker” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Coho property, a drill-ready copper-gold (Cu-Au) porphyry target located in central British Columbia (BC), 30 km west of the Mount Milligan mine.
Highlights of the Coho Property
- 8,000 hectares in size.
- Located 90 km north of Fort St. James, BC and 185 km northwest of Prince George, BC
- Excellent road access throughout the property.
- 30 km west of the Mount Milligan Cu-Au porphyry deposit (reserves of 1.2 B lbs Cu, 2.8 Moz Au) which has a similar geological setting.
- 3 km south of Pacific Ridge Exploration’s BP zone which hosts a non-NI 43-101 compliant historic resource of 50 million tonnes grading between 0.21 - 0.40% Cu and 0.21 - 0.44 g/t Au. Significant drill intersections at the BP zone include 0.51% copper equivalent (CuEq) over 100 m and 0.27% CuEq over 382 m.
- Recently completed property-wide geochemical and geophysical surveys, but with only 2,186 meters of historic drilling in 20 widely-spaced holes.
- The priority target, the Coho zone, has never been drilled, but hosts a recently identified chargeability and resistivity anomaly with high-grade gold and copper values from rock grab samples at surface.
- Two faults, the Valley and Redline faults, extend south from the BP zone and converge with the Coho fault at the Coho zone.
- Surface grab samples at the Coho zone returned values up to 16.15 g/t Au, 16.35% Cu, and 67.3 g/t silver (Ag).
Daithi Mac Gearailt, CEO of Trailbreaker, commented: “We are extremely pleased to add the Coho property to Trailbreaker’s portfolio of high-quality gold and copper exploration projects. With some ground-truthing of pad locations, the Coho zone will be drill-ready and represents an excellent prospect for a large copper-gold porphyry discovery. We would like to thank Mr. Ron Bilquist, a renowned BC prospector, for presenting us with this rare opportunity to test a well-explored, but un-drilled target.”
Location and Access
The 8,000-hectare Coho property is located 90 km north of the Town of Fort St. James, BC (see Figure 1). The property has excellent road access via Forest Service Roads throughout the claims. The property is also located 30 km west of Centerra Gold’s Mount Milligan Cu-Au porphyry deposit, a producing mine with current reserves of 1.2 B lbs Cu and 2.8 Moz Au.
The nearest First Nation communities with overlapping traditional territories in the project area include Nakazdli Whut’en (Fort. St. James area), Takla First Nation (Takla Landing) and McLeod Lake Indian Band (McLeod Lake).
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Figure 1: Location of the Coho property.
History
Exploration at the Coho property dates back to the 1960s and includes property-wide soil geochemical surveys, geophysical surveys, and 2,186 meters of diamond drilling in 20 widely spaced holes. Several kilometer-scale geochemical anomalies have been defined, and narrow, high-grade copper-gold values were intersected in historic diamond drill holes. Recent exploration efforts have outlined several new copper-gold porphyry targets that remain to be drill tested. These include the Chent West, Coho West, Brooks, and Coho zones (see Figure 2).
Trailbreaker’s Coho property is contiguous with the Chuchi Project which is currently being advanced by a joint venture between Centerra Gold and Pacific Ridge Exploration. The Chuchi Project has undergone a considerable amount of exploration since its discovery in the 1960s, by companies such as Noranda, BP, and AuRico, and with over 11,000 meters of diamond drilling completed in 53 drill holes. The majority of this drilling has focused on the BP zone which represents a 1.5 km x 1.5 km area of copper-gold mineralization with a historic, non-NI 43-101 compliant resource of 50 million tonnes grading between 0.21 - 0.40% Cu and 0.21 - 0.44 g/t Au2. Significant drill intersections include: 16 m of 1.55% CuEq within 100 meters of 0.51% CuEq (1991 drill campaign), and 382 meters of 0.27% CuEq (2024 drill campaign). The BP zone sits on the north-south Valley/Redline fault structure that trends south into Trailbreaker’s Coho property (see Figure 2).
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Figure 2: Mineralized zones and faults at the Coho property.
Geology and Mineralization
Trailbreaker’s Coho property covers a similar geological and mineralogical setting to the BP zone (3 km to the north) and the Mount Milligan Cu-Au porphyry deposit (30 km to the southeast). Situated within the prolific Quesnel tectonic terrane, the Coho property is underlain by Lower Jurassic volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Takla Group intruded by Jurassic monzodiorite and syenite porphyry intrusions associated with the margin of the Hogem batholith.
The Coho property is an alkalic Cu-Au porphyry target. This type of mineralized system commonly forms in clusters which have strong potential for significant gold content. Examples of such deposits along the Quesnel terrane include: Mount Milligan, Mount Polley (measured and indicated resource of 1.25 B lbs Cu, 1.9 Moz Au4), Kemess (measured and indicated resource of 1.7 B lbs Cu, 4.4 Moz Au5), Red Chris (reserves of 8.1 Moz Au, 4.8 B lbs Cu6), and Amarc's new AuRORA discovery in the JOY district (recent drill results include 0.98 g/t Au, 0.25% Cu over 271 m7).
The Drill-Ready Coho Zone
The Coho zone is the priority target, defined by a 650 x 550 m Cu-Au-Ag surface rock and soil geochemical anomaly hosted in diorite and spatially associated with an ENE-trending fault zone (the Coho fault) and gabbro dykes. Two additional faults, the Valley and Redline, extend south from the BP zone (Chuchi Project) and converge with the Coho fault at the Coho zone.
A total of 135 rock grab samples taken at the Coho zone from 2020 to 2022 returned the following values:
- Up to 16.15 g/t Au, with an average of 0.79 g/t Ag (median 0.04 g/t)
- Up to 16.35% Cu, with an average of 1.00% Cu (median 0.31%)
- Up to 67.3 g/t Ag, with an average of 7.7 g/t Ag (median 2.2 g/t)
A recent (2022) airborne ZTEM (Z-axis Tipper electromagnetic) survey followed by a 2023 ground-based induced polarization (IP) survey identified an interpreted 400 m x 250 m x 200 m deep porphyry intrusive complex (3D ZTEM anomaly) with a two-limbed IP chargeability high anomaly that spans more than 1.4 km (see Figure 3). The chargeability limbs may represent phyllic alteration that commonly surrounds a potassic-altered porphyry core. The eastern limb underlies both the surface geochemical anomaly and 3D ZTEM intrusive complex identified at the Coho zone and is interpreted to represent an eastward tilted porphyry copper-gold system similar to the nearby Mount Milligan deposit.
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Figure 3: Geophysical targeting at the Coho and Coho West zones.
The Coho zone is located 4.5 km south of the BP deposit and is currently interpreted to be situated along the same Valley/Redline fault structure that hosts the BP deposit. Alkalic porphyry deposits commonly occur in clusters and Trailbreaker’s team believes the Coho property, in particular the Coho zone, may represent a similar Cu-Au porphyry deposit to the BP deposit, and that this system is part of a cluster of deposits found along the margin of the Hogem batholith. The high Au grades returned from surface sampling at the Coho zone also represent the potential of a higher-grade porphyry gold system, similar to the Mount Milligan deposit (average mine grade of 0.39 g/t Au8). The Coho zone has never been drilled and remains the top priority drill target.
Terms of the Option Agreement
On May 15th, 2025, Trailbreaker signed an option agreement (the “Agreement”) with Ron Bilquist (“Bilquist”) of Gabriola, BC. Subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, Trailbreaker has the option to acquire a 100% interest in the Coho property if the following terms are met:
(a) pay to Bilquist an aggregate $380,000 as follows:
(i) $20,000 on execution of this Agreement;
(ii) an additional $25,000 on or before May 20, 2026;
(iii) an additional $35,000 on or before May 20, 2027;
(iv) an additional $50,000 on or before May 20, 2028;
(v) an additional $50,000 on or before May 20, 2029;
(vi) an additional $200,000 on or before May 20, 2030; and
(b) issue and deliver to Bilquist an aggregate 700,000 Trailbreaker common shares (“Shares”) as follows:
(i) 50,000 Shares within 10 days of the date of Regulatory Approval;
(ii) an additional 100,000 Shares on or before May 20, 2026;
(iii) an additional 150,000 Shares on or before May 20, 2027;
(iv) an additional 200,000 Shares on or before May 20, 2028;
(v) an additional 200,000 Shares on or before May 20, 2029; and
(c) complete Expenditures on the Property of $200,000 as follows:
(i) $200,000 of Expenditures on or before May 20, 2027; and
(ii) Expenditures (including the Expenditures referred to in (i) above) of $1 million or
1,500 metres of diamond drilling within 3 years of receiving a drill permit
Upon completion of the Agreement, Trailbreaker will obtain a 100% interest in the property and Bilquist will retain a total 2.0% Net Smelter Return (NSR) royalty, which may be brought down to 0.5% through a cash payment of $1,500,000 to Bilquist.
References
- Centerra Gold website - centerragold.com
- Pacific Ridge Exploration April 30, 2024 news release – pacificridgeexploration.com
CuEq calculation in news release is:
((Cu%) x $Cu x 22.0462) + (Au(g/t) x AuR/CuR x $Au x 0.032151) / ($Cu x 22.0462)
- Jago, C.P. and Carlson, G.G. 2024. Geophysical Report on the Chuchi South Project. For Pacific Ridge Exploration, Vancouver, BC.
apps.nrs.gov.bc.ca
- Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley 2016 Technical Report
imperialmetals.com
- Centerra Gold Kemess 2024 year-end resources
s205.q4cdn.com
- Imperial Metals’ 2021 Red Chris Technical Report
imperialmetals.com
- Amarc Resources January 17, 2025 news release - amarcresources.com
- BC Minfile for Mount Milligan - minfile.gov.bc.ca
About Trailbreaker Resources
Trailbreaker Resources is a mining exploration company focused primarily on mining-friendly British Columbia and Yukon Territory, Canada. Trailbreaker is committed to continuous exploration and research, allowing maintenance of a portfolio of quality mineral properties which in turn provides value for shareholders. The company has an experienced management team with a proven track record as explorers and developers throughout the Yukon Territory, British Columbia, Alaska and Nevada.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Daithi Mac Gearailt
President and Chief Executive Officer
Carl Schulze, P. Geo., Consulting Geologist with Aurora Geosciences Ltd, is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 for Trailbreaker's BC and Yukon exploration projects, and has reviewed and approved the technical information in this release.
Other
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Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "Forward-Looking Information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-Looking Information includes, but is not limited to, disclosure regarding possible events, conditions or financial performance that is based on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action; expectations regarding future exploration and drilling programs and receipt of related permitting. In certain cases, Forward-Looking Information can be identified by the use of words and phrases such as "anticipates", "expects", "understanding", "has agreed to" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "would", "occur" or "be achieved". Although Trailbreaker has attempted to identify important factors that could affect Trailbreaker and may cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in Forward-Looking Information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, if any, Trailbreaker has applied several material assumptions, including the assumption that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner. There can be no assurance that Forward-Looking Information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on Forward-Looking Information. Except as required by law, Trailbreaker does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to Forward-Looking Information contained in this news release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. |
