Key Highlights

  • Canterbury Resources reported assays for four holes at the Briggs Copper Project, with 13 holes and about 4,850 metres drilled in the current program.
  • Hole 26BRD0046 intersected 386.6 metres averaging 0.20 per cent copper from 43 metres, using a 0.1 per cent copper envelope.
  • The 2026-27 program comprises 80 holes designed to infill the mineral resource estimate to a nominal 80 metre spacing.

Canterbury Resources Limited (ASX:CBY) has reported a progress update from drilling at the Briggs Copper Project in central Queensland, part of work for a pre-feasibility study. About 4,850 metres have been drilled in 13 completed holes. The 2026-27 program comprises 80 holes designed to infill the whole mineral resource estimate to a nominal 80 metre spacing, and drilling is expected to continue to the end of 2026, with regular updates.

Assay results

The announcement reports assays for four holes. Hole 26BRD0046, which ended in mineralisation, intersected 386.6 metres averaging 0.20 per cent copper, 19 parts per million molybdenum and 0.54 grams per tonne silver from 43 metres, using a 0.1 per cent copper envelope. Within that, it returned 40.6 metres at 0.31 per cent copper from 206.4 metres, 22 metres at 0.30 per cent from 310 metres and 20 metres at 0.25 per cent from 397 metres.

Holes 26BRD0043 to 26BRD0045 were drilled between the Central and Southern porphyries, an area with little earlier drilling. The company said they returned copper grades with molybdenum two to four times the resource average. Hole 26BRD0044 returned 184 metres at 0.13 per cent copper from 5 metres, including 26 metres at 0.21 per cent from 131 metres, and hole 26BRD0045 returned 266 metres at 0.13 per cent copper from 95 metres. Hole 26BRD0043 returned 113.6 metres at 0.14 per cent copper from 7.9 metres.

These are downhole widths, and the company does not state true widths.

Resource context

The existing mineral resource estimate, on a 100 per cent project basis and a 0.15 per cent copper cut-off, comprises 137 million tonnes at 0.25 per cent copper in the Indicated category and 793 million tonnes at 0.20 per cent in the Inferred category. The company says this contains 2.0 million tonnes of copper, 73 million pounds of molybdenum and 16.5 million ounces of silver. The new drill results are not a resource update. The infill program aims to upgrade resources to Indicated.

Ownership and agreements

The Briggs tenements, about 50 kilometres west-south-west of Gladstone, are held 51 per cent by Alma Metals and 49 per cent by Canterbury Resources (ASX:CBY). Alma is funding and managing current activity under an earn-in agreement; it reached 51 per cent in August 2024 and must spend a further A$10 million on exploration and evaluation by 30 June 2031 to reach 70 per cent. Rio Tinto holds a 1.5 per cent net smelter Royalty on two of the tenements.

Next steps

Hole 26BRD0052 is nearing completion on the south side of the Central Porphyry, testing toward a copper and molybdenum soil anomaly. Infill drilling will then resume. Four exploration holes of about 1,250 metres in total are planned to test surface copper anomalism west of the resource. The first phase of metallurgical test work on copper and molybdenum recovery is expected later this quarter. The managing director expects initial assays from the John Hill project next month and a John Hill resource upgrade early in the new year.

Caveats

Collars were located by handheld GPS and are to be upgraded to differential GPS. Core was assayed by ALS, with no audits completed. The announcement refers to different coordinate systems in different sections, and one highlight cites gold for an interval that the results table reports as silver. The competent person is Dr Frazer Tabeart, managing director of Alma Metals. Forward-looking statements are subject to risk, and results may differ materially.