US minerals explorer Headwater Gold has struck a definitive earn-in agreement with Centerra Gold that could see the Canadian miner take a 70% interest in the Crane Creek gold project in Idaho through up to $25-million in staged exploration spending and delivery of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA).

Under the terms, a Centerra subsidiary can secure an initial 60% stake by funding $25-million in exploration and granting Headwater a royalty. The agreement carries a minimum spend of $2.5-million over the first three years. Centerra can lift its interest to 70% by completing a PEA.

Crane Creek, which is fully permitted for drilling under both federal and state approvals, forms part of a broad epithermal system in western Idaho, 18 km north-east of Weiser. The 1 240 ha land package hosts an array of quartz veins within a large geochemical anomaly and lies along trend from Nutmeg Mountain, which hosts more than 1.2-million ounces of indicated and inferred gold resources.

Historic work between 1984 and 1996 focused largely on shallow reverse-circulation drilling targeting near-surface bulk-tonnage mineralisation, with most holes averaging only 71 m depth and few surpassing 150 m. Several holes cut mineralised quartz veins grading between 2 g/t and 8.14 g/t gold but were never followed up, leaving high-grade vein potential untested.

Recent airborne magnetic, radiometric and ground gravity surveys completed by Headwater have outlined a much larger structurally controlled hydrothermal system than previously recognised. The datasets reveal a 4 km by 2 km potassium anomaly interpreted as illite–adularia alteration, along with north-northwest-trending structural breaks and magnetite-destructive lows that may signal fault-hosted vein zones.

Headwater president and CEO Caleb Stroup said Centerra’s willingness to commit to a multi-stage earn-in highlighted the scale of the opportunity at Crane Creek.

“Since becoming a strategic Headwater shareholder last year, Centerra has been an engaged and supportive partner. We are very excited to expand that relationship into a fully aligned exploration partnership on the project level at Crane Creek,” he said.

“Centerra’s commitment to a substantial multi-stage earn-in underscores the scale of the opportunity at this project and allows us to properly test what we believe is a large, underexplored epithermal system with high-grade potential at depth as well as near surface bulk-tonnage potential.”

The partners will now integrate recent geophysical results with historical data to refine drill targets across the main vein corridor and new structural and alteration zones, with Phase 1 drilling expected to start as early as spring 2026.

Centerra, which operates the Mount Milligan mine in Canada and the Öksüt mine in Türkiye, has been expanding its North American project pipeline following its exit from the Kyrgyz Republic.