Nine Mile Metals (CSE:NINE) is conducting systematic drilling to help identify the size and scale of the mineralised body at the Wedge Copper Project in Canada, after completing the third drillhole in the western extension drilling program.
The third drillhole – WD-25-02B – was collared 60m northwest of the first drillhole and drilled an azimuth of 325 degrees and a dip of -50 degrees to a final depth of 122m. The company says this further increases the mineralised footprint of the target to the west.
Nine Mile notes that hole uncovered massive copper bearing sulphides found associated with the contact breccia at 56.4m with mineralisation continuing to 122m.
CEO Patrick Cruickshank says the third hole continues to show the “high-quality” mineralisation at the deposit and the company is now testing the depth on the western flank of the targets.
“We look forward to revisiting this area of the Target Plate in our next phase of drilling, as we were just entering a very impressive high-grade copper zone,” Cruickshank says.
With massive mineralisation present at the base of the drillhole, an additional hole is being designed by the technical team. The hole will be initiated from the other side of the fault zone in the phase two drill program in 2026.
Vice President of Exploration Gary Lohman adds that the style of the mineralisation varies from massive volcanic massive sulphide (VMS) to sequences of intercalated volcanics and VMS bands.
“X-ray fluorescence analysis has confirmed the high presence of copper, and we look forward to obtaining the permits required to drill this high-grade zone from the other size of the fault zone in the spring drill phase,” Lohman says.
Following completing a rock sampling program earlier this year, Nine Mile has been focused on targeting a copper-rich area to the west and an unexplored depth extension below 150m, where mineralisation is expected to extend to a minimum depth of 300m.
On 5 December 2025, the company confirmed two copper-rich VMS zones in hole WD-25-02 which was drilled from the same pad as the first hole but stepped 50m west, extending the mineralised strike.
Last week, Nine Mile also received surface samples assays, collected along the western portion of the Wedge Project, which reflect the copper-rich nature of the asset, as previously reported.
The company has received certified assay results, returning up to 15.21% copper-equivalent, for volcanogenic massive sulphide mineralisation, with samples collected from a pre-drill area on the Wedge Project.
Some of the other results included up to 32 grams per tonne silver, 0.516g/t gold, 3.98% zinc, and 1.7% lead.
The Wedge Project, covering 35.83km2, is located in New Brunswick, Canada. The project was historically mined and produced 1.503 million tonnes @ 2.88% copper, 0.65% lead, 1.81% zinc, 20.6 grams per tonne silver.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Nine Mile Metals
