Announcement • Jun 04
Gunnison Copper Corp Launches Major District-Wide Drilling Program At Gunnison Copper Project
Gunnison Copper Corp. announced a major district-wide drilling program at its Gunnison Copper Project, including the Strong & Harris satellite deposit, located in Arizona's Cochise Mining District. The entire drilling program has now been fully contracted and committed with drill rig mobilization expected to commence this month. The program consists of up to 120 drill holes totaling approximately 138,000 feet (42,000 meters) of drilling and is designed to support ongoing Pre-Feasibility Study work program activities, resource expansion, metallurgical optimization, and resource conversion across the Company's district-scale copper assets. Work will begin with metallurgical optimization drilling utilizing two drill rigs until the construction of a new larger core processing and storage facility is completed, expected during the third quarter of 2026, after which the Company plans to increase drilling capacity to as many as six drill rigs. The total direct cost of the drill program and associated laboratory testing is estimated at USD 15.0 million, excluding employee payroll, with preliminary results expected within six months and full results within 12 to 15 months. The metallurgical program is expected to include up to 36 drill holes totaling approximately 33,000 feet (10,000 meters) of representative samples across the Gunnison and Strong & Harris deposits. The objective is to provide additional samples for ongoing metallurgical test work, engineering studies, and mine planning activities supporting the Company's Pre-Feasibility Study work program and permitting initiatives. This includes a material increase in column leach tests, which are the industry standard for predicting and optimizing full-scale copper heap leaching. Up to 270 column leach tests are planned over the next 12 months. Following completion of the initial metallurgical drilling phase, the Company will focus on a comprehensive resource drilling program expected to include up to 84 drill holes totaling approximately 105,000 feet (32,000 meters). The objectives of the resource drilling program include: Resource expansion through testing extensions of known mineralization and identifying new mineralized zones; Upgrading Inferred Mineral Resources to Measured and Indicated categories; Further defining the limits of mineralization at both the Gunnison and Strong & Harris deposits; and Evaluating the continuation of the Gunnison mineralized system at depth. The Gunnison Copper Project and the Strong & Harris satellite deposit form part of Gunnison's district-scale land package in Arizona's Southern Copper Belt. The Company believes significant opportunities remain to expand and further define mineralization across multiple deposits located within economic trucking distance of the planned processing infrastructure. Its flagship asset, the Gunnison Copper Project, has a main pit Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource containing over 846 million tons with a total copper grade of 0.33% (Measured Mineral Resource of 192 million tons at 0.37% and Indicated Mineral Resource of 655 million tons at 0.31%). The Strong & Harris satellite deposit, located approximately 1.9 miles from the Gunnison processing facilities, is also included in the mine plan and hosts an Inferred Mineral Resource of 76 million tons grading 0.49% total copper (0.32% CuOx) at a 0.07% cutoff, 0.56% zinc and 0.12% silver, containing approximately 740 million pounds of copper, including 483 million pounds of oxide copper, as well as zinc (856 million pounds) and silver (9.0 million ounces). A preliminary economic assessment was completed in March 2026 for the Gunnison Project yielding robust economics including an NPV8% of $2 billion, IRR of 23%, and payback period of 3.9 years. It is being developed as a conventional operation with open pit mining, heap leach, and SX/EW refinery to produce finished copper cathode on-site with direct rail link. In addition, Gunnison's Johnson Camp Asset, which is now in production, is fully funded by Nuton LLC, a Rio Tinto Venture, with a production capacity of up to 25 million lbs of finished copper cathode annually. Other significant deposits controlled by Gunnison in the district, with potential to be economic satellite feeder deposits for Gunnison Project infrastructure, include South Star, and eight other deposits.
