Kodiak Copper Leveraging AI for Discovery Success In Top Copper Jurisdiction

• Kodiak Copper made a high-grade copper discovery at their MPD project in southern British Columbia
• The company weathered the recent market downturn by financing at good prices and executing a large drill program to advance the project in 2024
• Kodiak is working with VRIFY AI's software to enhance drill targeting by analyzing project data to find patterns and generate prioritized targets
• AI is expected to accelerate exploration, lower costs, and increase chances of success by optimizing drill hole placement
• Kodiak aims to demonstrate a large mineralized system at economic grades to attract interest from major mining companies as a potential acquirer

Kodiak Copper (TSX-V:KDK) is a junior mining exploration company focused on making large-scale copper discoveries in established mining jurisdictions. The company's flagship asset is the its MPD copper-gold porphyry project located in the prolific Quesnel Trough in southern British Columbia, Canada.

Kodiak made a high-grade copper-gold discovery at MPD in 2020 and has since significantly expanded the mineralized footprint with a large drill program. The company recently started working with VRIFY AI, an artificial intelligence firm, to optimize drill targeting. Kodiak is well-positioned to continue advancing MPD as copper prices are forecast to rise due to growing demand and constrained supply.

Interview with President & CEO Claudia Tornquist and Chairman Christopher Taylor

The MPD Copper Gold Porphyry Project

MPD is a large, consolidated land package in a highly favorable mining jurisdiction. The project is road-accessible and sits within an established, year-round exploration region with excellent infrastructure including power, rail, highways, and mining communities.

Kodiak made a breakthrough discovery at MPD's Gate Zone in 2020 obtaining best intercept of 535m of 0.49% copper and 0.29 g/t gold, including 282 m of 0.70% copper and 0.49 g/t gold, including 45.7 m of 1.41% copper and 1.46 g/t gold. Subsequent drilling has significantly expanded the Gate Zone footprint to over multiple kilometer-scale in north-south extent with mineralization starting from surface.

In addition to Gate, Kodiak has found multiple other centers of copper-gold mineralization across a large 10 km² area at MPD demonstrating a significant porphyry system. This includes the Dillard Zone which showed high-grade copper gold mineralization, and five new targets at MPD: Agie, Leeside, Celeste, Orbit and Comet identified from Kodiak’s 2023 regional exploration program.

According to Kodiak Chairman Chris Taylor:

"If you look around the world, the people who build and run porphyry mines are big companies. I don't think there is a single one that is being built or is being run by the junior who discovered it. So I think our mission is really to generate value at the drill bit and at some point someone much bigger than we are will get interested and then snap us up."

VRIFY AI Partnership

In March 2024, Kodiak announced it started working with VRIFY AI, an artificial intelligence firm, to optimize drill hole targeting at MPD. VRIFY AI uses proprietary software to analyze large exploration datasets to identify patterns and generate ranked drill targets.

The AI system works by taking a project's geological, geophysical, and geochemical data and finding correlations and anomalies. It then generates probability maps of where mineralization is most likely to occur. Kodiak tested the VRIFY AI platform on a portion of the MPD project with known mineralization from drilling.

The results were highly encouraging, as CEO Claudia Tornquist explained:

"The system confirmed the mineralization where we found it, confirmed some of the targets that we had already, and generated a whole lot of new ones which we now our geologists look at and prioritize."

VRIFY AI has the potential to be a game-changer for mineral exploration by accelerating the discovery process and lowering costs. With AI-optimized drill targeting, Kodiak has a higher probability of drilling into mineralization and maximizing the impact of each drill hole. It also allows Kodiak's geologists to cover more ground and generate targets faster than using traditional methods.

Next Steps

Building on the successful 2023 program, Kodiak plans to launch a large follow-up drill program at MPD in 2024 to expand known zones and test new high-priority targets, including AI-generated targets. Drilling is expected to commence in Q2 after the snow melts.

The company is well-funded for exploration after raising over $8 million in 2023 through a bought deal private placement. CEO Claudia Tornquist commented:

"Typically we start drilling in the spring in April and then drill until November. We are flexible on the exact size and timing. If the market really doesn't come back then we can decide to delay a bit. We can make the program big or slightly more conservative depending on market conditions."

Why Kodiak Copper?

Kodiak presents a compelling investment opportunity based on the company's strong technical merits and upside potential:

• Large mineralized porphyry system: MPD is a 226 km² land package hosting a significant alkalic porphyry system containing multiple discovery zones which remain open in all directions and depths. Mineralization has been drilled down to 850m and remains open indicating the potential for a sizeable deposit.
• Established mining jurisdiction: MPD is located in mining-friendly British Columbia, Canada proximal to infrastructure and operating mines. The region hosts several large copper-gold porphyry deposits including Teck's Highland Valley mine and Imperial Metals' Mount Polley mine.
• Potential for economic grades: Kodiak has intersected grades at MPD that are comparable to other producing BC porphyry mines in the 0.2-0.3% Cu range. These deposits can be very profitable in a favorable jurisdiction at current copper prices.
• Innovative exploration approach: Kodiak's partnership with VRIFY AI gives the company a potentially significant competitive advantage in exploration through AI-optimized drill targeting. This could allow Kodiak to accelerate discoveries while being more capital-efficient.
• Attractive valuation: Kodiak's market capitalization of over C$30 million is very low relative to the company's large strategic land position in BC and the exploration success to date. As Kodiak demonstrates continued exploration success and expands/upgrades the MPD discovery, the company is likely to attract interest from larger miners.

The Investment Thesis for Kodiak Copper

• Copper fundamentals are highly favorable due to growing demand from the clean energy transition and electric vehicles combined with shrinking global mine supply. Kodiak provides leverage and exposure to rising copper prices.
• Discovery upside potential - MPD is an underexplored project in a productive copper porphyry belt. Kodiak has made multiple discoveries and sees potential to delineate a large, economic deposit. Upcoming drilling could deliver steady news flow and discovery catalysts.
• Attractive risk/reward: The downside is limited with Kodiak trading near cash value while the company offers significant upside potential on exploration success. The stock could be a multi-bagger if Kodiak can delineate an economic porphyry deposit.
• Kodiak is an attractive takeout candidate for a mid-tier or major miner seeking pipeline growth in a top jurisdiction. The company's 100%-ownership of a large and expanding porphyry discovery makes it a desirable asset. Neighboring porphyry projects have been acquired for large premiums.

Kodiak Copper presents a timely investment opportunity to gain exposure to a large-scale copper discovery with multi-bagger upside potential. The company has validated the porphyry potential of MPD with multiple drill discoveries and sees potential to delineate a sizeable, economic copper-gold deposit.

With a strong treasury, a large drill program planned, and new AI-enabled targeting, Kodiak is well-positioned to continue delivering exploration catalysts in 2023. As copper prices are forecast to rise due to the clean energy transition, Kodiak offers significant upside potential and could become a prime takeover target. For investors looking for a copper-focused explorer with a disruptive new approach and assets in a tier-1 jurisdiction, Kodiak is one of the most compelling opportunities in the junior mining sector.

Macro Thematic Opportunity

The outlook for the copper market is very bullish due to growing demand from the global transition towards renewable energy and electric vehicles. Copper is an essential and non-substitutable metal for clean technologies including wind turbines, solar panels, and EVs.

Indeed, EVs use up to 4x more copper than gasoline-powered cars. Meanwhile, the global copper mine supply is projected to shrink due to aging assets, declining grades, and a thin project pipeline. Discoveries are critical to meet growing demand and prevent a supply crunch. The imbalance could send copper prices much higher and ignite a new bull market in the red metal.

As Kodiak Chairman Chris Taylor explains the opportunity: "If you look around the world, the people who build and run porphyry mines are big companies. I don't think there is a single one that is being built or is being run by the junior who discovered it. So I think our mission is really to generate value at the drill bit and at some point, someone much bigger than we are will get interested and then snap us up."

Junior miners with quality copper projects in good jurisdictions like Kodiak are well-positioned to benefit from this macro narrative and become highly sought-after MA targets.