Key Highlights

  • Alma Metals reported hole 26BRD0046 returned 386.6 metres at 0.20 per cent copper from 43 metres at the Briggs project in Queensland.
  • The four holes are part of an 80-hole programme to infill the Mineral Resource Estimate to a nominal 80 metre spacing.
  • Thirteen infill holes, about 4,500 metres, have been completed so far, and results are preliminary with no revised resource announced.

Alma Metals Limited (ASX:ALM) reported assays on 23 October 2026 for four infill holes, 26BRD0043 to 26BRD0046, drilled in the south-eastern part of the Briggs Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) in Queensland. Hole 26BRD0046 returned 386.6 metres at 0.20 per cent copper from 43 metres, including 223.2 metres at 0.22 per cent from 206.4 metres and a 40.6 metre zone at 0.31 per cent. The company said the hole was drilled into the Southern Porphyry through quartz stockwork veins hosting chalcopyrite and pyrite.

The other three holes intersected copper with molybdenum:

  • 26BRD0043: 113.6 metres from 7.9 metres at 0.14 per cent copper and 130 ppm molybdenum
  • 26BRD0044: 184.0 metres from 5.0 metres at 0.13 per cent copper and 77 ppm molybdenum
  • 26BRD0045: 266.0 metres from 95.0 metres at 0.13 per cent copper and 91 ppm molybdenum

The company said molybdenum in these three holes is two to four times the MRE average, but the release does not state that average. Hole 26BRD0046 averaged 19 parts per million molybdenum over its main interval. Silver averaged between 0.46 and 0.54 grams per tonne across the main intervals.

Purpose of the programme

The four holes form part of an 80-hole programme to infill the MRE to a nominal 80 metre spacing, aimed at supporting conversion of Inferred resources to the Indicated category for the pre-feasibility study (PFS). The company said these and future results will update the MRE block model. Thirteen infill holes, about 4,500 metres, have been completed so far. Results are preliminary and subject to that update, and no revised resource has been announced.

Project background

The existing MRE contains about two million tonnes of contained copper in Indicated and Inferred resources at a 0.15 per cent copper cut-off. Metallurgical testwork indicates about 95 per cent copper recovery into concentrates grading 23 to 29 per cent copper at a 212 micron primary grind, and the concentrates may contain economic levels of molybdenum and silver. The project is about 60 kilometres from the port of Gladstone, near power, rail, gas and road infrastructure.

Alma manages the project and holds 51 per cent, with Canterbury Resources (ASX: CBY) holding 49 per cent. Alma has committed to the final earn-in to reach 70 per cent, which requires further spending by 30 June 2031. Rio Tinto holds a 1.5 per cent net smelter return Royalty over two of the tenements.

Next steps

Four additional holes, about 1,250 metres in total, will test surface copper anomalism west of the MRE. Hole 26BRD0052 is nearing completion at 370 metres on the south side of the Central Porphyry, drilling away from the MRE boundary towards a copper and molybdenum soil anomaly, and high-priority infill drilling resumes once it finishes. The first phase of copper and molybdenum recovery testwork is expected to be reported later this quarter. Drilling continues through the end of 2026, with further drilling proposed into 2027 to support the PFS.

Caveats

Intercepts are downhole lengths that may not reflect true widths. They are reported at cut-offs of 0.10, 0.20 and 0.30 per cent copper, with maximum internal dilution of 4 metres and a minimum reported interval of 10 metres, and intervals with no core recovery were assigned the weighted average of adjacent assays. Quality control results were considered within acceptable limits, and no external audits or reviews have been undertaken. Exploration results are not resources or reserves. For Alma Metals (ASX:ALM), the pre-feasibility study, funding of the remaining earn-in spend and any development decision remain future events.