Vizsla Copper (TSX-V:VCU) has commenced a 10,000m diamond drilling program at its Palmer volcanogenic massive sulphide project in southeastern Alaska, US.
Two drill rigs are operating on site as part of the fully financed 2026 exploration program, which represents the first phase to expand the project’s critical mineral resource base and evaluate opportunities across the broader Palmer district.
Initial drilling focuses on the Palmer deposit’s South Wall zone, where previous drilling identified a ‘high-grade’ copper-rich core within Zone 1, including some of the ‘highest copper grades’ intersected on the property to date.
“With drilling now underway, our team is focused on building upon the success of recent exploration at Palmer,” CEO Craig Parry says.
“The 2026 program is designed to expand high-grade mineralisation at the South Wall deposit while evaluating several priority targets across the district.”
Later this season, drilling will target two priority exploration prospects located between existing deposits.
The HG prospect, west of the Palmer deposit, hosts significant copper-zinc-silver mineralisation exposed over more than 600m of strike length and shares several geological characteristics with the South Wall mineralised system.
The Waterfall prospect, situated between the Palmer and AG deposits, represents a target where geological, geochemical, and alteration characteristics suggest potential to add additional mineralisation between known deposits.
“The drill rigs are currently focused on areas where previous drilling has returned some of the highest copper grades encountered on the property while mountain crews prepare additional drill sites to evaluate the mineral potential between the Palmer and AG deposits,” Senior Vice President for Alaska Peter Mercer says.
The Palmer project hosts an indicated mineral resource of 4.77 million tonnes (Mt) grading 1.69% copper and 5.17% zinc, containing approximately 178 million pounds (Mlbs) of copper and 543Mlbs of zinc.
Inferred mineral resources total 12.0Mt grading 0.57% copper and 3.92% zinc, containing approximately 152Mlbs of copper and 1.04 billion pounds of zinc, in addition to significant silver, gold, and barite.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: Vizsla Copper
