Junior Copper Mining Companies: Tickers and Stages

Junior copper mining companies: eight to know, by project and stage

A junior copper mining company is a small, usually pre-revenue explorer or developer whose value rests on one or a few copper projects. As of 28 October 2026, eight listed juniors with public, dated milestones are Marimaca Copper, Ivanhoe Electric, Solaris Resources, Hot Chili, NGEx Minerals, Western Copper and Gold, Faraday Copper and Trilogy Metals. This page lists each one’s ticker, main project and stage with a source and a date. For what the term means and how juniors raise money, read What Are Junior Miners? Financing and Due Diligence. This page gives facts from filings and news releases. Not investment advice.

The table is in order of study maturity, not merit, and it is not exhaustive. Sources for each row are in the profiles below.

How the stages compare

Stage tells you how much of the risk is geological and how much is about money, permits and construction. An exploration-stage company has drill results but no published economic study. A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) is the first rough economic test and can include resources that are only inferred. A pre-feasibility study (PFS) tightens the costs, and a feasibility study (FS or DFS) is the version lenders normally ask for. After that come permits, a construction decision and financing. Canadian filers report resources under NI 43-101 and Australian filers under the JORC Code; the JORC resource table guide shows how to read one.

Chart

Initial capital in four juniors’ latest studies

US$ million; study types and dates differ

Context for the US names: the US Geological Survey estimates that US mines produced 1.0 million tonnes of copper in 2025, with Arizona accounting for about 70% of it (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries, February 2026). Ivanhoe Electric and Faraday both work in that state.

Capital cost is the quickest way to see scale. The chart below plots the initial capital in each company’s latest published study. The studies differ in type and date, so read the bars as size, not as a ranking of quality.

Developers closest to construction

Marimaca Copper (TSX: MARI)

Marimaca is a Vancouver-based developer of an open-pit heap-leach copper cathode project in northern Chile. Its August 2025 feasibility study outlined a 13-year mine producing 50,000 tonnes of copper cathode a year, with pre-production capital of US$587 million (MINING.COM, 8 September 2025). The company has since received Chile’s formal environmental approval for the project (The Northern Miner). A February 2026 offering raised C$409 million in total, of which C$136.5 million gross went to the company, and net working capital stood at US$150.9 million on 30 June 2026 (Sharecafe, 14 August 2026).

Chart

Santa Cruz unit costs rose between studies

US$ per pound of copper, life of mine

Ivanhoe Electric (TSX and NYSE American: IE)

Ivanhoe Electric owns 100% of the Santa Cruz copper project in Arizona. Its updated PFS of 23 September 2026 describes an underground mine of about 75,000 tonnes of copper cathode a year over the first 15 years, probable reserves of 140.1 million tonnes at 1.08% copper, and a 24-year life. At a US$4.75 per pound copper price the after-tax net present value at an 8% discount rate is US$1.5 billion, the internal rate of return is 18.7% and initial capital is US$1.43 billion. First cathode is targeted for 2029 (The Deep Dive, 23 September 2026). The company’s news page lists a preliminary US Export-Import Bank letter for up to US$1.1 billion of debt financing on 24 August 2026 (Ivanhoe Electric news).

The costs rose against the 2025 study, as the next chart shows. Higher costs move the break-even copper price, which is why a study’s price assumption matters as much as its headline value.

Solaris Resources (TSX: SLS; NYSE: SLSR)

Solaris is developing Warintza, a porphyry copper project in south-east Ecuador. A PFS was published in November 2025, and on 28 January 2026 the company said it had started the feasibility study with Ausenco, Knight Piésold and AMC Consultants (Solaris release, 28 January 2026). The same release reports an option from Ecuador’s state miner ENAMI EP over new concessions that add about 40,000 hectares around Warintza. Project profiles describe a 22-year mine life and a US$200 million financing package with Royal Gold (Mining Technology).

Study-stage and permitting-stage companies

Hot Chili (ASX and TSXV: HCH)

Hot Chili’s Costa Fuego copper-gold project in coastal Chile completed its pre-feasibility study in March 2025, as the company stated in its 4 February 2026 ASX announcement. A summary of that study reports a post-tax NPV at an 8% discount rate of US$1.2 billion, an internal rate of return of 19% and about 116,000 tonnes of copper equivalent a year for the first 14 years (The Motley Fool Australia, 4 August 2026). On 4 February 2026 the company arranged a A$40 million placement at A$1.65 a share to accelerate drilling at the La Verde discovery and begin a feasibility study that adds La Verde. It named Glencore, Blue Spec and GS Group as its three largest shareholders (ASX announcement, 4 February 2026). The August 2026 summary puts environmental permitting in 2027, a final investment decision in 2029 and first production in 2031.

Western Copper and Gold (TSX and NYSE American: WRN)

Western Copper and Gold owns the Casino copper-gold project in the Yukon. Its July 2026 corporate update says it filed responses on 15 July 2026 to the review board’s information requests and that the review panel has not yet been set up, because that follows the board’s sufficiency decision (Western Copper and Gold corporate update). The company completed a C$92 million bought-deal offering on 26 February 2026 and announced a leadership transition on 27 October 2026 (company news releases).

Faraday Copper (TSX: FDY)

Faraday’s Copper Creek project in Arizona rests on a May 2023 PEA: a 32-year plan, an after-tax NPV at 7% of US$713 million, a 16% internal rate of return, initial open-pit capital of US$798 million and measured and indicated resources of 421.9 million tonnes at 0.45% copper (MINING.COM, 8 May 2023). On 15 October 2026 the company closed its purchase of the San Manuel property from BHP, after shareholders approved the share issue on 25 August 2026, and it lists the combined ground as the Redhawk Copper Complex (Faraday news releases).

Trilogy Metals (TSX and NYSE American: TMQ)

Trilogy holds its Arctic copper project in Alaska through the Ambler Metals joint venture. The project was accepted as a covered project under the federal FAST-41 permitting programme on 15 May 2026, and the venture filed its Clean Water Act Section 404 application in April 2026. Cash was US$38.8 million at 31 May 2026. A letter of intent for a US government strategic investment of about US$35.6 million, shared with South32, had its deadline extended to 31 July 2026 (Trilogy second-quarter release, 8 July 2026).

Exploration-stage: NGEx Minerals and the Lunahuasi discovery

NGEx Minerals, part of the Lundin Group, drills the Lunahuasi copper-gold-silver system in San Juan province, Argentina. It has not published a maiden resource estimate. Phase 4 ended with 32 holes totalling 27,318 metres, and Phase 5 and an underground exploration adit are being planned (Quartr Q2 2026 summary). A July 2026 release reported 19.00 metres at 25.84% copper equivalent within 57.75 metres at 9.41%, and shareholders vote on 29 October 2026 on spinning out the Valle Ancho property (NGEx news releases).

Exploration-stage names carry the widest range of outcomes, because grade, width and continuity are still being drilled. Drill intercepts are single holes, so ask whether the company has published a resource estimate before treating them as a deposit. A short explainer on how AI is used in exploration and where it falls short may help when you read such claims.

▶ How AI is used in mineral exploration, where it fails, and how to check a claim. · 4:37

Juniors that stopped being independent

Older lists still show names that have since been bought. Hudbay closed its acquisition of Arizona Sonoran Copper on 24 June 2026, paying 0.242 of a Hudbay share per Arizona Sonoran share, and now owns the Cactus project outright (Hudbay release, 24 June 2026). Eldorado Gold completed its acquisition of Foran Mining in April 2026, a deal that CIM Magazine values at $3.8 billion, and the McIlvenna Bay copper-zinc project produced its first copper concentrate on 7 June 2026 (CIM Magazine, 9 June 2026). Both were juniors until the deals closed. Each move shows the usual exit for a successful junior: a larger company buys the asset once the study and permits reduce the risk. A producer-side comparison is in Largest Copper Mining Companies Ranked by Output, and the US producers are in US Copper Mining Companies Ranked by US Output.

Where juniors are listed and how to screen by size

North American juniors list mainly on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and its venture board (TSXV), with many also on NYSE American or the OTCQX market. Australian juniors list on the ASX, and Hot Chili and Marimaca show that a Chile-focused company can hold more than one listing. The tickers in the table above come from each company’s own releases, but exchanges, tickers and market values change, so check the exchange’s current listing before relying on any of them.

To build a list of North American junior exploration companies under a market-capitalisation limit, such as US$1 billion, filter the exchange’s issuer list by sector and then by market value on the day you search. Market value moves daily, so any fixed list ages quickly. Several names on this page, such as Solaris and Ivanhoe Electric, carry studies with multi-billion-dollar capital estimates, so project size and company market value are different things.

Market capitalisations are not listed on this page because they change daily.

Chile is the base for two of the juniors above, Marimaca and Hot Chili, so searches for a Chile exploration company usually lead to these two. Other metals have their own junior lists: see Canadian junior silver miners and uranium companies and stocks, and for gold and copper trends together see junior gold and copper miners. For a longer list of listed copper names by output, see copper stocks list.

Copper price and what a project can earn

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange traded at US$14,487.50 a tonne at 1700 GMT on 27 October 2026, its strongest since 16 October, according to Reuters (MINING.COM, 27 October 2026). That is about US$6.57 per pound, because a tonne holds 2,204.62 pounds. Studies use a lower base price, such as the US$4.75 used by Ivanhoe Electric, and the same study shows the value at a spot price of US$6.79 per pound on 21 September 2026: an after-tax NPV of US$3.5 billion against US$1.5 billion at the base price.

Use the calculator below to see how output, price and cash cost change a project’s yearly margin. The output and cost defaults echo the Santa Cruz study; the US$6.50 price is an example near the late-October spot price, not the study’s US$4.75 base case, which gives a 4.8-year payback. Examples, not a forecast.

How much cash a junior has

A junior without revenue spends its cash on drilling and studies, so its cash balance sets how long it can keep working before the next raise. The chart shows the liquidity that two companies reported in their own releases, on different dates and with different definitions, so compare them as a size check and not as a ranking.

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Liquidity reported by two juniors

US$ million; Trilogy cash, Marimaca net working capital; dates differ

What to check in a junior copper company’s report

• Stage and date of the study. A 2023 PEA is not a 2026 feasibility study. Note the copper price and discount rate each study assumes.
• Resource category. Measured and indicated resources carry more weight than inferred ones.
• Permits. Environmental approval, water rights and community agreements often take longer than drilling.
• Cash and funding plan. Compare cash with the exploration budget and the cost of the next study.
• Shareholders and offtake. Large industry holders, such as BHP at Faraday or Glencore at Hot Chili, show strategic interest but do not guarantee a sale.
• Ownership changes. Confirm the company still exists under that name and ticker.

Where satellite screening fits for licence owners and explorers

If you hold a copper licence or are weighing a claim, the same stage logic applies to your own ground. Sentinel-2 and ASTER imagery can map iron-oxide caps and clay alteration across a licence in 5 to 20 business days, which helps rank targets before you pay for drilling. The result is an exploration target, not a resource estimate, and it does not replace sampling or a qualified person’s report. Farmonaut is a US-based company that runs this screening from a licence boundary.

▶ A short look at Farmonaut Mining Pro, which turns a licence boundary into a geological and economic picture. · 4:56

Frequently asked questions

Which junior copper mining companies have a feasibility study?

Marimaca published a feasibility study in August 2025 and Solaris began its feasibility study in January 2026. Ivanhoe Electric published an updated pre-feasibility study on 23 September 2026. Check each company’s latest release for current status.

What is a copper junior?

It is a small mining company, typically without mine revenue, whose value depends on exploring or developing copper projects. The term has no legal definition. See the linked guide on junior miners for how they are financed.

Which copper juniors are listed in Canada, the US and Australia?

In this list, Marimaca, Solaris, NGEx, Western Copper, Faraday, Trilogy and Ivanhoe Electric are listed on the TSX, and Hot Chili is listed on the ASX and TSXV. Ivanhoe Electric, Solaris, Western Copper and Trilogy also have US listings. Marimaca also has an Australian listing.

Which juniors have been acquired?

Arizona Sonoran Copper (acquired by Hudbay, 24 June 2026) and Foran Mining (acquired by Eldorado Gold, April 2026).

Are exploration companies a risky category?

Without revenue, juniors depend on drill results, studies, permits and fresh funding, and any of these can change a company’s outlook quickly. This page gives facts only. Not investment advice.

Which junior copper projects are in Arizona?

Ivanhoe Electric’s Santa Cruz project and Faraday’s Redhawk Copper Complex, which combines Copper Creek and San Manuel. Arizona Sonoran’s Cactus project is now part of Hudbay.

Which junior has the largest planned capital cost?

Among the studies charted on this page, Ivanhoe Electric’s Santa Cruz plan lists US$1.43 billion of initial capital, against US$798 million for the first Faraday pit and US$587 million for Marimaca. Capital size says little about quality, because the projects differ in scale and design.

Which copper juniors work in Chile?

Marimaca (Marimaca Oxide Deposit) and Hot Chili (Costa Fuego) are the two on this page. NGEx drills in Argentina and Solaris in Ecuador.

What copper price do these studies assume?

It varies by study. Ivanhoe Electric’s base case is US$4.75 per pound and its spot-price case uses US$6.79 per pound. Always read the price assumption beside the NPV.