Ivanhoe Electric and BHP Exploration Alliance Advance Exploration Activities in the Southwest U.S.

Published: January 9, 2025 |

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Ivanhoe Electric released an update on the activities of the BHP Exploration Alliance in the Southwest U.S.

“The Basin and Range province of the Southwest U.S. remains one of the most promising frontiers for porphyry exploration. Together with BHP, we have deployed a new generation Typhoon™ system to look for potential world-class deposits that are hidden from the surface by younger cover rocks,” said Ivanhoe Electric Executive Chairman Robert Friedland.

“We are pleased with the rapid progress made by our exploration alliance with BHP and look forward to completing our first Typhoon™ survey at an area of interest located in Arizona. Our alliance is proving to be an effective platform to pursue exploration opportunities that are well-suited for Ivanhoe Electric’s exploration technologies, looking deep below the surface for new sources of copper and other critical metals in the Southwest U.S.,” said Ivanhoe Electric President and Chief Executive Officer Taylor Melvin.

The Alliance is focused on exploring mineral deposits hidden under post-mineral cover. It received an initial funding commitment of $15 million from BHP and is operated by Ivanhoe Electric’s exploration team.

The Alliance is actively exploring six designated areas of interest (AOI) within Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Any joint venture that is agreed to be established within these areas will operate under a 50/50 ownership structure.

A new-generation Typhoon™ unit was mobilized in early December to commence the Alliance’s first deep-penetrating geophysical survey. The initial Typhoon™ survey is being completed along a well-known and major porphyry copper trend, with a significant production history and a large endowment of copper in current reserves and resources in the region.

During the first phase of the Alliance, exploration teams have been deployed to advance reconnaissance work, geochemical sampling, and detailed geological mapping programs across the AOIs in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. In addition, more than 5,600 line-kilometers of airborne magnetic surveying and 1,500 line-kilometers of hyperspectral surveying have been completed so far.

The results of exploration fieldwork and three-dimensional inversion of geophysical data were used to inform subsequent land acquisition and Typhoon™ planning. So far, more than 110 square kilometers of unpatented mining claims have been staked across Arizona and New Mexico.

Once the initial survey is complete, the Typhoon™ results will be processed by Computational Geosciences. The resulting data will then be integrated with other datasets to develop the Alliance’s first drill targets.

Ivanhoe Electric is a U.S. company that combines advanced mineral exploration technologies with electric metals exploration projects predominantly located in the United States. They use its accurate and powerful Typhoon™ geophysical surveying system, together with advanced data analytics provided by its subsidiary, Computational Geosciences Inc., to accelerate and de-risk the mineral exploration process as they seek to discover new deposits of critical metals that may otherwise be undetectable by traditional exploration technologies. Ivnahoe believe the United States is significantly underexplored and has the potential to yield major new discoveries of critical metals. Their mineral exploration efforts focus on copper as well as other metals including nickel, vanadium, cobalt, platinum group elements, gold, and silver. Through the advancement of their portfolio of electric metals exploration projects, headlined by the Santa Cruz Copper Project in Arizona and the Tintic Copper-Gold Project in Utah, as well as other exploration projects in the United States, they intend to support United States supply chain independence by finding and delivering the critical metals necessary for the electrification of the economy. Ivanhoe also operates a 50/50 joint venture with Saudi Arabian Mining Company Ma’aden to explore for minerals at the underexplored Arabian Shield in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

BHP is a world-leading resources company. They work in more than 90 locations worldwide and their products are sold globally. They have positioned their business to support the megatrends shaping our world. Iron ore and metallurgical coal for the steel needed for global infrastructure and the energy transition. Copper for renewable energy and potash to support more sustainable farming. A resource mix for today — and critical to the future.

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