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What to expect (Apr. 15)

• 🏠 A new premier copper mining district is developing

• ✅ Monster Pick - Another Porphyry, another good stock

It’s not often that a new mining district emerges in North America.

The James Bay Lithium district is a recent example, and Patriot Battery Metals who rose from a $0.20 stock to a high of nearly $18.

But it’s uncommon.

When a new mining district emerges, a new wave of investors often make serious money on the price action of the early companies in that area.

At the end of 2023 and into 2024, a new mining district has started to emerge in western Idaho - and it didn’t take long for one of the majors to step in.

Let’s take a look at how this area emerged, who’s playing this new game and what it holds for the future.

The Hercules Copper Belt/Trend

In 2023, Hercules Silver (TSX.V: BIG) was exploring western Idaho on their Hercules Silver project when they noticed a zone on the property with some interesting characteristics.

By the way, we featured them as a Monster stock back in December 2023, check that out here: https://stock-monster.com/p/mondays-monster-stock-dec-4

The Leviathan Zone, as they called it at the time, is located within the Hercules Silver Project in western Idaho and the company noted it’s strong potential for gold-copper porphyry mineralization.

This region, now named the Hercules Copper Trend, lies in the Blue Mountain Province, similar to British Columbia's Stikine and Quesnel terranes. These terranes are known for hosting significant porphyry copper deposits, including the Highland Valley and Red Chris mines.

Initially, Hercules did some soil sampling, which helped define the extent of the anomaly and measured approximately 2.7 kilometers east-west and 1.7 kilometers north-south.

They even found some rock samples of 8%+ copper. Very high-grade.

Historical age dating – completed as part of a Ph.D. dissertation by Hercules advisor Dr. Tom Henricksen – provided an age estimate of 200 million years for the nearby intrusives.

This is the same mean age of formation for nearly all significant porphyry copper systems north of the Property in British Columbia.

Geologists are now starting to understand the connection between the two areas.

The company explored this anomaly with drilling in late 2023, and in September announced the results of drill hole HER-23-05, sparking a frenzy in the stock price.

The company released further drill results from nearby holes and in early November, Barrick Gold (TSE: ABX) announced an investment of $25 million.

In the month following HER-23-05, the stock price rose from around $0.25 to over $1.50. It’s since fallen below $1.00, buying opportunity?

HER-23-05 is the first major porphyry copper system identified in the area and is establishing a new district for porphyry exploration in a top-tier jurisdiction.

Idaho is considered the most mining friendly state, according to this.

The geology of the Hercules Copper Trend is eerily similar to British Columbia’s famous Golden Triangle, where some of the world’s largest porphyry copper systems have been discovered.

The difference is that the Hercules Copper Trend in Idaho is accessible year-round, with excellent infrastructure and a supportive, pro-mining government.

Emergence of a new district

Hercules silver isn’t the only company in the area - and with this discovery they certainly won’t be the last.

Companies in the newly discovered Hercules Copper Trend include:

• Hercules Silver (TSX.V:BIG) - Visit website

• Bayhorse Silver - Visit website

• NevGold - just announced staking in the area, learn more.

• Zeus Mining - Visit website

• Scout Discoveries -Visit website

I’m probably missing some. If I am, can you reply and let me know which?🙂

With Barrick making an investment this early, something is up.

We already know Barrick’s geologists are working very closely with Hercules, and you can imagine they’re looking at everything in that area.

Majors don’t mess around, and if there’s a newly discovered system in that area with potential, you can bet Barrick will be aiming to scoop up everything up they can.

As an investor, consider investing in the area as a whole, rather than just one of the companies.

Some companies may successfully find the goods, as $BIG seems to have done, while others may not.

By spreading your investment across several companies in this area, you can hedge your bets.

Western Idaho is primed for big discovery in 2024, it may be wise to take notice.

👋 Colton, Stock Monster.

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This newsletter is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Always conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. All content is based on public knowledge. We have not been compensated in any way for this pick or content; we genuinely just like it. Assume that contributors to articles own or have interest in stocks they talk about, therefore may be biased, but not compensated to promote them.