(Kitco News) Arizona Eagle Mining began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange on March 31 under the symbol AZEM, as the company advances early-stage drilling at its McCabe gold-silver project in Arizona with a focus on validating and expanding a historic high-grade system.
Speaking with Kitco Mining prior to the announcement, President and CEO Kevin Reid said the company’s reverse takeover of Core Nickel was designed to accelerate its path to market. “It also allowed us to keep to a tight timeline to go public,” he said.
The transaction leaves Arizona Eagle with two asset groups: a past-producing gold-silver-copper project in Arizona and nickel assets in Manitoba’s Thompson Nickel Belt. Reid said the Arizona asset will be the primary focus, with the Manitoba portfolio providing longer-term optionality. “We like the assets in Manitoba,” he said.
The Eagle Project is anchored by the historic McCabe mine in Yavapai County, where Arizona Eagle has consolidated a district-scale land position. The company said in its March 31 listing release that the project now covers nearly 4,500 acres, including more than 300 acres of private land surrounding the past-producing mine.
Reid said the private land position is a key advantage, simplifying the permitting pathway relative to projects on federal ground. He also pointed to existing underground development, including a shaft to about 1,450 feet and extensive historical workings, as part of the project’s foundation.
Arizona Eagle is working to validate and expand a historic estimate at McCabe of roughly 878,000 oz of gold and 5 million oz of silver, originally defined in the 1980s. The company notes the estimate is historical in nature and non-compliant with current NI 43-101 standards. Reid said the scale of prior investment supports confidence in the underlying dataset. “You don’t spend that kind of money without having an extreme amount of comfort with the data,” he said.
He added that the historic estimate was calculated using a 6.8 g/t cutoff, which may understate the system’s potential in the current price environment. “This is not $300 gold, this is $4,500 gold today,” Reid said.
The company’s current drill program is designed to test that thesis. While Reid referred in the interview to an inaugural 5,000-meter campaign, Arizona Eagle said in its March 31 release that the Phase 1 program totals approximately 4,500 meters and is expected to conclude in June 2026.
Reid said initial drilling is focused on confirming the historic mineralization, with flexibility to expand the program if results warrant. “We are confirming the historic resource,” he said. “It will really depend on how successful we are.”
Arizona Eagle said the Phase 1 program is fully funded, and a second core drill rig is expected to mobilize in July. Reid added during the interview that “The company is well funded to complete its inaugural 5,000 meter drill program,” and that management has invested “approximately $6 million” in the company.
The March 31 release also outlined a tightly held capital structure, with approximately 49 million shares outstanding and about 53% held by principals and management on an undiluted basis.
Beyond Arizona, the company retains nickel assets in Manitoba that Reid said could be advanced using flow-through funding when market conditions improve. “The market will tell you what they want to see happen,” he said.
For now, the company’s focus is on whether drilling can demonstrate that McCabe extends beyond its historic footprint. Reid said the near-term objective is clear. “Success for us would be showing that this McCabe mine is open in all directions,” he said.
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