The BC Porphyry Project will enable the minerals industry to effectively explore for porphyry copper deposits in British Columbia (BC) and across the world. This research will include work at several BC study sites with known alkalic copper porphyry deposits, as well as other sites with smaller resources. This research project aims to improve the efficiency and pace of porphyry copper discovery in British Columbia by providing mineral exploration companies with new tools and knowledge to identify the most fertile deposits, and “vector” towards those deposits.

This project is supported by a number of leading minerals and instrumentation companies, including Anglo American, Antofagasta Minerals, BHP, Brixton Metals Corporation, Centerra Gold Inc., Fortescue Metals Group, Freeport-McMoRan Inc., New Gold Inc., Newmont Corporation, Nicola Mining Inc., NorthWest Copper Corp., Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc.,SciAps Inc. and (Taseko) Gibraltar Mine. In addition to the industry partners, the research will be carried out in collaboration with UBC faculty Dr. Ken Hickey and Prof. Dominique Weis, Director of the Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research, Dr. Pilar Lecumberri-Sanchez (University of Alberta), Dr. Eva Enkelmann (University of Calgary) and Prof. Peter Hollings (Lakehead University).