Canadian juniors Cascadia Minerals and Granite Creek Copper have announced a merger agreement that will consolidate two complementary project portfolios in the Yukon, creating a new copper/gold exploration and development company.

Under the agreement, Cascadia will acquire 100% of Granite Creek’s issued and outstanding shares, with shareholders receiving 0.25 Cascadia shares for each Granite Creek share held, or equivalent to $0.04 a share. The offer represents a 48% premium based on Granite Creek’s five-day volume-weighted average price ending June 6.

The combined company will bring together Granite Creek’s advanced-stage Carmacks project and Cascadia’s pipeline of copper/gold exploration assets in the Stikine Terrane.

“This transaction is a great opportunity for both Cascadia and Granite Creek shareholders,” said Cascadia president and CEO Graham Downs. “The Carmacks project provides a strong foundation of road-accessible resources in a safe jurisdiction. Our team is confident in the exploration potential around the main deposits and throughout the property.”

Carmacks hosts a measured and indicated resource of 651-million pounds of copper and 302 000 oz of gold, and was the subject of a 2023 preliminary economic assessment that returned a post-tax net present value of $230.5-million and a 29% internal rate of return.

Cascadia plans to build on work completed by Granite Creek, including a fall 2025 drill programme focused on resource growth around high-grade intercepts such as CRM21-011, which returned 105.52 m at 0.96% copper, 0.18 g/t gold and 4.06 g/t silver.

“With Cascadia’s board and management’s long history of discovery and development of mineral projects in the Yukon, I have confidence that they are the right team to advance the Carmacks project and create long-term shareholder value,” said Granite Creek CEO Tim Johnston.

“This merger is a logical next step for both companies and will result in a combined entity with a robust portfolio of projects that will be positioned for success in these strong copper and gold markets.”

The combined company will also offer Granite Creek shareholders exposure to Cascadia’s Catch property, which is host to a high-grade gold showing grading 1 065 g/t gold in outcrop and porphyry-style copper/gold mineralisation.

The transaction will be supported by a non-brokered private placement of up to $2.25-million, backed in part by strategic investor Michael Gentile. Upon completion, the merged company is expected to have $2.5-million in cash on hand.