Pacific Empire Reports Strong Market Interest and Completion of First Hole at Trident Gold-Enriched Copper Project
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October 23, 2025 7:30 AM EDT | Source: Pacific Empire Minerals Corp.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 23, 2025) - Pacific Empire Minerals Corp. (TSXV: PEMC) ("Pacific Empire", "PEMC" or the "Company"), a copper-gold explorer based in British Columbia, is pleased to report a surge in trading activity following the commencement of diamond drilling at its 100%-owned Trident gold-enriched copper project in north-central British Columbia.
On October 20, 2025, Pacific Empire's shares closed at $0.07 on 5.9 million shares traded, representing a significant increase in both price and volume compared to recent averages. The strong market response reflects growing investor interest in the Company's ongoing drill program targeting gold-enriched copper porphyry mineralization within the prolific Hogem Batholith region of the Quesnel Terrane.
Hole 1 Intersects Mineralized Porphyry Intrusion
The first diamond drill hole (DD25TRI001) has now been completed to a depth of 503 metres. This drillhole was intended to follow up on historical drilling conducted in 2007, which intersected copper mineralization associated with discrete porphyry dikes.
Visible sulphides and copper mineralization were observed throughout portions of the drillhole and particularly well correlated with hornblende-feldspar porphyry intrusive units.
"The identification of a mineralized porphyry intrusion in our first 2025 drillhole represents an important milestone for Pacific Empire," commented Brad Peters, President & CEO. "It strongly affirms our working hypothesis that gold-enriched copper mineralization at Trident is directly related to monzonite-porphyry intrusions, similar to those that host some of British Columbia's most significant porphyry deposits."
Core from Hole 1 is currently being cut and prepared for immediate shipment to ALS Laboratories in North Vancouver for geochemical analysis. Results will be released once assays are received and validated.
Next Steps
Hole 2 (DD25TRI002) was recently collared approximately 500 metres north-northeast of Hole 1 and is being drilled with an azimuth of 010° and a dip of -70°. This hole is designed to test the interpreted north-trending orientation of the mineralized zone and to vector toward the potential core of the porphyry system identified in historical drilling and confirmed by Hole 1. This location also coincides with a previously untested chargeability anomaly, providing another compelling target for gold-enriched copper mineralization.
"By drilling from south to north, we are systematically testing the geometry of mineralization observed in 2007," added Peters. "Each subsequent drillhole provides critical geological information that will assist us in zeroing in on the heart of the system."
Exceptional Drilling Performance
Pacific Empire is also pleased to acknowledge the outstanding performance of Omineca Drilling Ltd., the Company's drilling contractor for the 2025 program. The crew has been averaging over 100 metres of drilling per day, maintaining exceptional production rates and core recovery.
"I'm very impressed with the professionalism and production from the Omineca team," stated Peters. "Their focus, efficiency, and teamwork have been instrumental in keeping the program running smoothly and ahead of schedule."
Timing Couldn't Be Better
The current exploration success comes at an ideal time for Pacific Empire. Both gold and copper prices remain strong, with forecasts for both metals continuing to trend positively amid global demand for electrification and hard-asset investment.
"For over a decade, Pacific Empire has worked to consolidate 100% ownership of this highly prospective belt," noted Peters. "It's incredibly rewarding to see everything come together-favorable markets, a strong technical team, and the first tangible signs of a mineralized porphyry system that could represent the discovery we've been working toward for years."
Figure 1 - Map showing Pacific Empire's Trident property, highlighting historical drill collars, the first two 2025 diamond drill holes (DD25TRI001 and DD25TRI002), and additional untested target areas to the north.
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Figure 2 - Compilation map of the Trident property showing multiple independent datasets converging on a major discovery opportunity. A large porphyry target is outlined by copper and gold soil anomalies, resistivity and chargeability features, and favorable intrusive-volcanic contacts. Flanking this centre, conductivity highs define undrilled breccia targets supported by strong copper geochemistry. Together, the data outline a system-scale copper-gold target that has never been tested.
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Figure 3 - A highly anomalous copper-in-soil anomaly defines the primary porphyry target at Trident. On a moderate slope, the source of the anomaly is most likely located near its upper extent - precisely where drilling is planned. This anomaly, combined with supporting geophysics and geology, makes Trident one of the most exciting undrilled porphyry copper-gold targets in British Columbia.
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Unlocking Untested Ground
Although nearly 80 drill holes have been completed at Trident since the 1970s, none have tested the northern porphyry and breccia targets. Historically, access to this area was prevented by the need to cross a creek, which required significant planning and permitting. With PEMC's recently granted Multi-Year Area-Based Exploration Permit, the Company is now positioned to drill this area for the very first time. This makes the 2025 program a true milestone in the project's history - opening ground that has long been considered the most prospective but remained completely untested.
Strategic Importance
The Trident drill program comes at a time when global copper demand is accelerating due to electrification, grid expansion, and electric vehicle adoption. At the same time, new large-scale copper discoveries have become increasingly rare, underscoring the importance of exploring in proven, mining-friendly jurisdictions such as British Columbia. With gold also consistently present as a by-product credit in the system, Trident has the potential to deliver the combination of size, grade, and precious metals that makes porphyry copper-gold deposits particularly attractive.
Pacific Empire believes the 2025 drill program represents a critical opportunity in the Trident property's 50-year history of exploration. The combination of historical mineralization at the A Zone, overlapping geophysical and geochemical anomalies at the porphyry target, and newly permitted access to never-before-drilled breccia targets creates a unique discovery opportunity. With drilling scheduled to begin in September 2025, PEMC is well positioned to advance Trident toward what could be a significant gold-enriched copper porphyry discovery.
Other Matters
The latest President's Newsletter, along with updated maps and Corporate Presentation, are now available at www.pemcorp.ca.
About Trident
The Trident property is an early exploration stage property hosting an alkalic porphyry copper-gold-silver prospect with district-scale potential that is accessible by vehicle. The property is located approximately 50 km southeast of the Kwanika deposit owned by NorthWest Copper Corp. and 50 km to the northwest of Centerra Gold's Mt. Milligan Mine. The property covers 6,618 hectares endowed with well-established logging roads providing important efficient access to conduct exploration programs.
In 2022, Pacific Empire acquired a 100% interest in the property in exchange for granting the vendors a 2% net smelter return royalty ("NSR"). One-half (1%) of the 2% NSR which may be purchased for $500,000 by Pacific Empire.
About Pinnacle
The Pinnacle project is located 60 km west of Centerra Gold's Mt. Milligan Copper-Gold Mine and 30 km southeast of NorthWest Copper's Kwanika Copper-Gold Deposit in a proven copper-gold porphyry district. Access to the Pinnacle is by road including a new and expanding network of logging roads and trails throughout the main target areas. This improved access is a significant development and is anticipated to contribute to cost effective drill support and provides additional bedrock exposure.
Qualified Person's Statement
Kristian Whitehead, P.Geo., serves as a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 and has reviewed the scientific and technical information in this news release, approving the disclosure herein.
About Pacific Empire
Pacific Empire is a copper exploration company based in Vancouver, British Columbia and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol PEMC. The Company has a district-scale land position in north-central British Columbia totaling 22,541 hectares.
British Columbia is a "Green" copper jurisdiction with abundant hydroelectric power, access and infrastructure in close proximity to the end market.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,
"Brad Peters"
President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Pacific Empire Minerals Corp.
Tel: +1-604-356-6246
brad@pemcorp.ca
www.pemcorp.ca
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
Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: the need for additional financing; operational risks associated with mineral exploration; fluctuations in commodity prices; title matters; environmental liability claims and insurance; reliance on key personnel; the potential for conflicts of interest among certain officers, directors or promoters with certain other projects; the absence of dividends; competition; dilution; the volatility of our common share price and volume and the additional risks identified the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.
 SOURCE: Pacific Empire Minerals Corp. |
