Kodiak Copper (TSX-V:KDK) has announced an increase in its 2026 exploration program at the wholly owned MPD Copper-Gold Porphyry Project in southern British Columbia, from 6,500m to 16,500m, alongside the addition of a second drill rig.
The expanded program is expected to accelerate the growth in the project’s initial mineral resource estimate (MRE). All seven deposits included in the MRE remain open to expansion, with most open in multiple directions, and the company plans to drill across all deposits during 2026.
The program commenced in early May 2026 and is expected to run through to late autumn this year.
Drilling initially focused on the Ketchan deposit, where 14 holes totalling 2,546m have been completed to date. Ketchan is currently defined over around 1.4km, with Kodiak noting its significant expansion potential.
The soil anomaly at Ketchan extends more than 2km and includes multiple mineralised historic drill holes that are not currently included in the MRE.
The second drill rig has been mobilised to the southern part of the property, where Kodiak recently completed a 3D induced polarization/audio-magnetotelluric survey on the West, Adit, and South deposits.
Kodiak says it has already identified 36 prospective exploration targets, and it is planning to advance several of them to drilling in 2026, alongside the resource expansion program.
Samples are at the laboratory, with results expected by August 2026 and additional assays to be released progressively throughout the remainder of the year. An updated MRE incorporating the results is planned in Q1 2027.
President and CEO Claudia Tornquist says that the drill program is progressing well and notes that the additional rig will help to fast-track progress.
“We continue to see considerable scope to expand our maiden resource and are excited by the prospect of new discoveries across our portfolio of targets,” Tornquist says.
“With the first assay results expected soon, our shareholders can look forward to strong news flow and many exploration results throughout the remainder of the year, leading to an updated resource estimate in 2027 that will reflect the results of the expanded drilling program.”
Kodiak Copper is focused on advancing the MPD copper-gold porphyry project in the Quesnel Terrane in south-central British Columbia, Canada.
Write to Amy Rotman at Mining.com.au
Images: Kodiak Copper
