Copper Quest Exploration Inc. announced that it has closed the previously announced acquisition of the Nekash Copper-Gold Porphyry Project ("Nekash" or the "Project") located in Lemhi County, Idaho, United States. This acquisition marks an important milestone in the Company's strategy to build a portfolio of highly prospective copper assets across North America. The Nekash Copper-Gold Project is a porphyry exploration opportunity located in LemHI County, Idaho, along the prolific Idaho-Montana porphyry copper belt that hosts several gold and copper deposits including world-class systems such as Butte and CUMO.
The project is fully road-accessible via maintained U.S. highways and forest service roads and currently consists of 70 unpatented federal lode claims covering an area of 585 hectares. Historic evaluation by the U.S. Bureau of Mines and more recent work has confirmed the presence of outcroppingphyllic alteration, copper-gold quartz veins, stockwork veining, and a stratabound "manto" horizon grading up to 3.8% Cu, 0.9 g/t Au, and 25 g/t Ag, with the sample returning 3.8% Cu having been taken across 6.4 metres. The project lies along the Trans-Challis shear zone, a regional-scale structure that has acted as a plumbing system for major mineralizing events.
Historical placer gold production reported just across the border in Montana suggests a compelling district-scale potential for the Nekash Property. Copper Quest intends to build on the previous exploration work with modern geophysics, geochemistry, and drilling to unlock the full opportunity of this underexplored system. Copper Quest is also pleased to announce the appointment of Joshua White, P.Geo., as Technical Advisor to the Company and Aqua Terra Geoscientists LLC as the Nekash project management company.
Mr. White is an exploration geologist with over 13 years of experience and a principal of Aqua Terra Geoscientists Inc.olicymakers have highlighted the strategic importance of copper in energy, defense, and technology, with incentives emerging for the advancement of U.S.-based projects. Against this backdrop, Copper Quest's entry into Idaho positions the Company to benefit from potential policy tailwinds and domestic supply security initiatives. Globally, copper demand continues to surge, driven by electrification, electric vehicles, renewable energy, and the massive expansion of AI and data center infrastructure.
Yet supply remains constrained, with declining grades at existing mines, limited new discoveries, and prolonged permitting timelines. The resulting supply-demand imbalance underscores the importance of advancing new porphyry discoveries in stable jurisdictions like the U.S. Copper Quest is aligned with this macro trend, positioning Nekash to become part of the next generation of copper discoveries. Under the terms of the agreement, Copper Quest has acquired a 100% interest in the Nekash Project through the issuance of 4,250,000 common shares of the Company.
The shares will be subject to a 16-month escrowed leak out from the date of closing. There is no cash component and no royalty payable as part of the transaction.
