Australian explorer Bastion Minerals (ASX: BMO) has announced its intention to acquire a portfolio of three high-grade copper assets in Canada. This includes the ICE deposit in the Yukon Territory, as well as the Mariner and Harley projects in the Northwest Territories (NWT), which are renowned for their significant gold, base metals, uranium, and diamond mines.

The ICE deposit, a Cyprus-style volcanic-hosted massive sulphide (VHMS) deposit, has a historical, non-JORC resource estimate of 4.56 million tonnes at 1.48% copper. This estimate was based on 121 shallow drill holes from 1998, with exploration mainly focused on the nearby Wolverine mine. The most promising assay results were concentrated in a central zone of the deposit, including intersections of 5.92m at 8.56% copper, 20.56m at 5.20% copper, and 19.75m at 4.31% copper. The deposit also shows potential gold credits of up to 0.8 g/t, as well as up to 100 g/t silver and 1,820 ppm cobalt, which were not included in the original resource estimate.

Bastion is acquiring 260 claims that encompass the ICE deposit, located roughly 100 km from the now-closed Wolverine mine and processing plant. The company plans to assemble a team to validate the historical work and develop a timeline for drilling and exploration.

The Harley copper project is a 310 sq. km prospecting license near Great Bear Lake in the northern NWT, with historical drill holes currently under evaluation. The Mariner copper project, a 155 sq. km prospecting license also near Great Bear Lake, is situated adjacent to White Cliff Minerals’ Port Radium project, with potential for VHMS, IOCG, and strataform copper mineralization.

Bastion will pay a total of A$140,000 in cash along with 187.5 million BMO shares, 93.75 million options, and 125 million performance shares to Arcus Resources, pending shareholder approval.

Bastion executive chairman Ross Landles expressed excitement about the acquisition, noting its potential to significantly impact the company’s portfolio. He highlighted that the ICE deposit’s historical resource estimate did not account for gold, which could add further value. The projects also feature untested drill targets that could reveal new high-grade mineralized zones.

Additionally, Bastion has exercised its option to acquire three promising lithium properties in Ontario: Pakwan East, Raleigh Lake, and McCombe North. These properties are located near known pegmatites where adjacent companies have reported significant drilling results. Bastion also holds interests in the Cometa copper project in Chile, the Gyttop rare earth elements (REE) project in Sweden, and both the Morrissey lithium and REE project and the Split Rock Dam lithium and gold project in Western Australia.