Alma Metals (ASX:ALM) reports results from infill drilling at its Briggs Copper Project in Queensland, with hole 26BRD0042 returning 383.8m @ 0.25% copper (Cu) from 10.2m.
The hole intersected 76.7m @ 0.34% Cu within the broader intercept, occurring at the contact between the porphyritic felsic intrusive core and surrounding volcanic sediments.
Additional intercepts include 131m @ 0.31% Cu from 130m, 20m @ 0.31% Cu from 269m, and 72.45m @ 0.28% Cu from 315m.
The results support conversion of inferred resources to the indicated category, a key objective of the infill program designed to upgrade the mineral resource estimate (MRE) for a Prefeasibility Study.
The company has completed 10 holes totalling about 3,600m of an 80-hole program targeting nominal 80m drill spacing across the MRE.
Managing Director Frazer Tabeart says the hole confirms a ‘consistent pattern’ along the northern rim of the system.
“Hole 26BRD0042 confirms what we are increasingly seeing across the northern rim of the system, a well-developed higher-grade zone of copper mineralisation that follows the contact between the intrusive core and the surrounding volcanics in a consistent and predictable pattern,” Tabeart notes.
“With at least 200m of strike length already defined on this margin and further drilling planned to the northwest later this year, we expect to see this zone continue to grow.”
The hole tested the northern central part of the central Briggs porphyry and is one of few holes drilled to date targeting the northern intrusive contact and the northern edge of the MRE.
Limited core drilling in the area in 2023 recorded similar grades in two holes either side of 26BRD0042, demonstrating continuity along a 200m strike length.
Alma plans to drill 35 holes totalling about 17,500m in H1 2027 to convert most of the remaining inferred resources to indicated. The program also includes four exploration holes totalling about 1,250m to test surface copper anomalism west of the current MRE.
Alma holds 51% of Briggs under a joint venture with Canterbury Resources (ASX:CBY) and has committed to the final stage of the earn-in to reach 70%. The Briggs MRE contains 2 million tonnes of copper metal in indicated and inferred resources at a 0.15% Cu cut-off.
Alma Metals is an Australian explorer advancing a portfolio of porphyry copper assets.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: Alma Metals
