Gunnison Copper (TSX:GCU) has kicked off a ‘major district-wide’ drilling campaign at the Gunnison Copper Project in Arizona’s Cochise Mining District, following an oversubscribed bought deal public offering.
Covering up to 120 holes over approximately 42,000m, the program aims to support ongoing Prefeasibility Study (PFS) work program activities, resource expansion, metallurgical optimisation, and resource conversion.
Drilling has been fully contracted, with drill rig mobilisation expected to begin this month.
Metallurgical optimisation drilling is expected to include 36 holes for 10,000m from representative samples across Gunnison deposit and the Strong and Harris deposit.
This portion of the drilling campaign aims to source additional samples for ongoing metallurgical testwork, engineering studies, and mine planning activities to support the PFS work program and permitting initiatives.
Gunnison has up to 270 column leach tests planned over the next 12 months, as samples retrieved from drilling are expected to return a material increase in column leach tests.
Resource drilling will include 84 holes across 32,000m, aiming for resource expansion by testing extensions of known mineralisation and identifying new mineralised zones.
Other objectives for resource drilling include upgrading inferred mineral resources to measured and indicated categories; further defining the limits of mineralisation at both the Gunnison deposit and the Strong and Harris deposit; and evaluating the continuation of the Gunnison mineralised system at depth.
CEO Craig Hallworth says Gunnison is focused on working with a “great sense of urgency” to increase the domestic copper supply.
“This program is designed not only to potentially add more copper to our flagship project, but also support metallurgical optimisation and the resource conversion required to support a mineral reserve in our planned PFS,” Hallworth says.
The company will begin with two drill rigs operating on the site until the construction of a new larger core processing and storage facility is completed. The facility is expected to be completed in Q3 2026.
Gunnison will increase its drilling capacity to as many as six rigs after completion of the facility.
As reported by Mining.com.au, Gunnison Copper closed its bought deal public offering to advance the Gunnison Copper Project earlier this week, raising C$34.5 million ($34.82 million).
Gunnison Copper is a multi-asset pure-play copper developer and producer that controls the Cochise Mining District in the Southern Arizona Copper Belt in the US.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Gunnison Copper
