Company Description
Pacific Empire Minerals Corp. (OTC: PEMSF) is a copper exploration company focused on early-stage and district-scale copper-gold systems in north-central British Columbia, Canada. The company is based in Vancouver, British Columbia and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol PEMC. Its primary assets are the Trident and Pinnacle projects, which together form a large land position in a region that has seen significant historical and modern copper-gold exploration.
Core Focus and Exploration Strategy
Pacific Empire describes itself as a copper exploration company with a district-scale land position in north-central British Columbia totaling 22,541 hectares. The company’s main exploration focus is the Trident copper-gold project, an early exploration stage alkalic porphyry copper-gold-silver prospect with district-scale potential that is accessible by road. Trident and the nearby Pinnacle project lie within the Quesnel Terrane and the broader South Hogem copper-gold belt, a region known for copper-gold porphyry deposits.
The company emphasizes a mineral systems-based and system-scale exploration approach. At Trident and Pinnacle, Pacific Empire views multiple targets as parts of a larger mineral system rather than isolated prospects. This approach is reflected in its focus on regional structural architecture, geophysical signatures, soil geochemistry, and the spatial relationship between intrusive and volcanic rocks.
Trident Copper-Gold Project
The Trident property is an early exploration stage alkalic porphyry copper-gold-silver prospect located in north-central British Columbia. The property covers 6,618 hectares and is accessible by vehicle via well-established logging roads that support exploration programs. Trident is located approximately 50 km southeast of the Kwanika deposit owned by NorthWest Copper Corp. and 50 km northwest of Centerra Gold’s Mt. Milligan copper-gold mine.
Copper mineralization at Trident was first discovered in 1969 during follow-up work on anomalous stream sediment samples. Subsequent exploration by Falconbridge in the 1970s, Kookaburra Gold in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and Solomon Resources between 2006 and 2008 included IP and magnetic surveys, geological mapping, soil sampling, and diamond drilling. This work led to the discovery and delineation of the A Zone, where porphyry-style copper-gold mineralization has been intersected.
In 2013, Pacific Empire optioned the property and in 2014 optioned it to Oz Minerals, which completed an IP survey and a two-hole diamond drilling program. In 2022, Pacific Empire acquired a 100% interest in Trident in exchange for granting the vendors a 2% net smelter return royalty (NSR). One-half (1%) of this NSR can be purchased by Pacific Empire for $500,000. The company reports that all claims in its consolidated Trident-Pinnacle land position are in good standing through December 31, 2029.
Geology and Target Model at Trident
Pacific Empire’s work at Trident focuses on a gold-enriched copper porphyry system. The company reports robust copper, gold, and zinc soil geochemical anomalies, together with multiple coincident geophysical anomalies, as key support for its target model. Copper-in-soil anomalies with values up to 5,213 ppm define a zone approximately 2 km north-south by 4 km northwest-southeast, while gold-in-soil anomalies up to 591 ppb cover an overlapping area approximately 2 km by 1.5 km. A strong zinc-in-soil anomaly at the southeast extent of the grid is interpreted as potentially related to a proximal hydrothermal system.
Geophysical data at Trident include airborne resistivity, ground induced polarization (IP) chargeability and resistivity, and airborne Mobile Magnetotelluric (MT) surveys. The primary porphyry target aligns with an airborne resistivity high, a ground IP chargeability anomaly, a ground IP resistivity high, and a strong apparent resistivity anomaly from Mobile MT data. Pacific Empire notes that the MT signature at Trident is similar in character to that observed at the Mt. Milligan mine, highlighting the potential for a significant porphyry copper-gold system.
Historically, mineralization at Trident was thought to be associated with fracture and shear zones. A later review of historical drill core by Pacific Empire’s exploration team led to a different interpretation emphasizing hornblende-feldspar monzonite porphyry intrusions. The company reports that these intrusions, characterized by sheeted quartz-sulphide veins with disseminated chalcopyrite and bornite, appear to be directly associated with the highest historical copper and gold grades. This reinterpretation underpins the current drilling strategy, which is oriented to test the inferred core of the porphyry system.
Recent Drilling and Exploration at Trident
Pacific Empire has outlined and begun executing a multi-hole diamond drilling program at Trident. The company describes an initial program of approximately 2,500 to 2,600 metres across five to six holes, designed to:
- Confirm and extend mineralization at the historical A Zone through follow-up drilling.
- Test a primary porphyry target immediately north of the A Zone, where multiple geochemical and geophysical datasets converge.
- Drill previously untested breccia targets to the east and west of the central porphyry target that are defined by conductivity highs and strong copper and gold geochemistry.
At the A Zone, Pacific Empire reports historical drilling results that include intervals such as 70 m grading 0.69% copper and 102 m grading 0.59% copper, with localized higher gold grades. More recently, the company announced that a 2025 winter diamond drilling program intersected broad, near-surface copper-gold mineralization in Hole DD25-TRI-001, describing 183.0 metres grading 1.23% copper equivalent from 9.0 metres to 192.0 metres, including higher-grade internal intervals. The company notes that these results represent the strongest copper-gold mineralization intersected at Trident to date and materially advance its geological understanding of the system.
Pacific Empire also reports that multiple holes completed in 2025 intersected visible copper mineralization, including disseminated chalcopyrite and visible bornite, and that one hole confirmed a porphyry intrusion at the center of a large resistivity anomaly. The company interprets these outcomes as validation of its geophysical model and as providing vectors toward higher-grade zones associated with later, more copper-rich intrusive phases.
Permitting and Access at Trident
The company has received a multi-year Mines Act Permit (MX-100000345) for Trident, valid until September 30, 2028. This permit authorizes construction of a camp and staging area, surface diamond drilling from 20 permitted drill sites, exploration access, road construction or modification, and fuel storage. The permit includes environmental, cultural heritage, and reclamation requirements, such as watercourse protection, caribou-interaction mitigation measures above certain elevations, progressive reclamation, and invasive species control.
Pacific Empire highlights that nearly 80 historical drill holes have been completed at Trident since the 1970s, primarily south of a creek that historically limited access to the most prospective northern target area. With the multi-year permit and new access infrastructure, the company notes that it is positioned to drill northern porphyry and breccia targets that have not previously been tested.
Pinnacle Copper-Gold Project
The Pinnacle project lies immediately west of Trident in a proven copper-gold porphyry district. It is located approximately 60 km west of Centerra Gold’s Mt. Milligan copper-gold mine and 30 km southeast of NorthWest Copper’s Kwanika copper-gold deposit. Access to Pinnacle is by road, including an expanding network of logging roads and trails throughout the main target areas. The company states that this improved access is expected to support cost-effective drill programs and provide additional bedrock exposure.
Pacific Empire identifies two primary target areas at Pinnacle:
- Aplite Creek North Target, where copper in outcrop is associated with aplite dikes and quartz veining, and historical drilling (hole AH90-01) returned 6.0 metres grading 6.4 g/t gold. This target is supported by radiometric signatures interpreted as indicative of potassic alteration, strong IP chargeability around its margins, and copper-in-soil anomalies.
- South Pinnacle Target, characterized by copper-in-soil anomalies, ovate magnetic and resistivity anomalies from a 2007 airborne mag-EM survey, and IP chargeability and resistivity highs from a 2014 ground IP survey. Strong IP chargeability responses along target margins coincide with copper-in-soil anomalies.
The company notes that logging activities and forest fires have significantly increased road access and rock exposure at Pinnacle, creating new opportunities for mapping, prospecting, and sampling. Historical work has identified visible gold in drill core at Pinnacle, and Pacific Empire plans to prioritize prospecting along new roadcuts and exposed areas.
Trident–Pinnacle District Context and Klawli River Gold
Trident and Pinnacle are separated by the Klawli River. Pacific Empire reports that panning in the Klawli River has yielded significant placer gold, from fine flour gold to flakes approximately 1 mm thick and 2–3 mm in diameter. The company interprets the presence of placer gold as evidence of nearby hard-rock gold sources and as further support for the potential of a gold-enriched copper porphyry system within its land package.
Pacific Empire emphasizes the regional structural setting of Trident and Pinnacle, including an “Elbow” feature described by a government geologist and interpreted as related to sinistral transpression during the Middle to Late Jurassic. The company notes that this structural regime is thought to have influenced the emplacement of porphyry stocks and hydrothermal systems at known deposits such as Mt. Milligan and New Afton, and that similar structural trends have been identified on its properties.
Corporate History and Business Model
Pacific Empire states that it was founded around what is now the consolidated Trident-Pinnacle land position. The company describes a history that includes a period between 2016 and 2022 when it pivoted to a prospect generator business model, advancing a broader portfolio of projects, completing partner-funded drilling at Pinnacle in 2016 and 2017, going public in 2018, and investing in in-house drilling capabilities. An important inflection point for the company was the 2022 acquisition of the Col property (now part of Trident), which allowed Pacific Empire to reunify and fully consolidate its original system-scale land position.
Today, Pacific Empire reports that it owns 100% of its Trident-Pinnacle land position with no underlying property obligations other than the NSR at Trident, and that all claims are in good standing through the end of 2029. The company indicates that it is actively evaluating strategic investment opportunities and potential long-term capital partners to support sustained exploration activity at Trident and Pinnacle.
Operating Jurisdiction
Pacific Empire highlights that its projects are located in British Columbia, which it describes as a “Green” copper jurisdiction with abundant hydroelectric power, access, and infrastructure in proximity to end markets. The company’s projects benefit from existing logging roads, regional power infrastructure, and proximity to operating and past-producing mines.
Company Status and Trading
According to the provided information, Pacific Empire Minerals Corp. trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol PEMC and is accessible to U.S. investors through the OTC symbol PEMSF. No SEC filings are listed in the available data, and there is no explicit indication in the provided materials of delisting, bankruptcy, merger, or name change affecting the company’s status.
Stock Performance
Latest News
SEC Filings
No SEC filings available for Pacific Empire Minerals.
Financial Highlights
Upcoming Events
Sustained exploration (funding)
Mines Act Permit expiration
Claims expiration date
Short Interest History
Short interest in Pacific Empire Minerals (PEMSF) currently stands at 226.4 thousand shares, up 29.7% from the previous reporting period, representing 0.1% of the float. Over the past 12 months, short interest has increased by 92.5%. This relatively low short interest suggests limited bearish sentiment.
Days to Cover History
Days to cover for Pacific Empire Minerals (PEMSF) currently stands at 1.0 days. This low days-to-cover ratio indicates high liquidity, allowing short sellers to quickly exit positions if needed.