Breakthrough Minerals Confirms High-Grade Copper Growth at Barbara

High-Grade Copper Intercepts Validate Resource Upside

Breakthrough Minerals (ASX:BTM) has kicked off its maiden diamond drilling at the Barbara Copper-Gold Project in North Queensland with a bang, delivering high-grade copper assay results that confirm both resource growth within the current Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) and extensions beyond its boundaries. The first three holes have all hit their geological targets, underscoring the robustness of the Barbara Shear Zone mineralisation and setting the stage for a potential resource upgrade.

Key Drillhole Highlights Show Wider, Richer Mineralisation

The standout intercept came from hole 26BAR001 in the South Pit area, which returned a broad 35m interval grading 1.34% copper from 204m depth. Within this, a higher-grade core of 18m at 2.18% copper was recorded, including an 11m section hitting 3.02% copper. Even more striking were discrete pods of semi-massive chalcopyrite with grades up to 6.60% copper, suggesting the high-grade Main Lode may be more substantial than previously modelled.

Meanwhile, 26BAR002, a step-out hole beyond the current resource boundary, intercepted 36m at 0.52% copper from 343m, including zones grading over 2% copper. This confirms that the mineralised system remains open at depth, a critical factor given the deposit’s current vertical extent of more than 400m. Hole 26BAR003, drilled in the northern extension, also showed encouraging results with 18m at 0.82% copper including 6m at 2.16% copper, reinforcing the continuity and potential for grade improvement in the Northern Lode.

Barbara Deposit Context and Resource Base

The Barbara deposit currently holds an MRE of 6.5 million tonnes at 0.97% copper equivalent (CuEq), containing approximately 63,000 tonnes of copper metal. This forms about one-third of the broader North Queensland Copper-Gold Project’s 18.8Mt resource at 1.07% CuEq, which totals around 200,000 tonnes of contained copper equivalent metal. The deposit is hosted within a significant shear zone characterised by iron sulphide copper-gold mineralisation, with a strike length of roughly 700m and remains open both along strike and at depth.

Breakthrough Minerals acquired the North Queensland Copper-Gold Project only in March 2026 and swiftly mobilised a 2,000m diamond drilling program at Barbara, aiming to test key gaps in the resource model and explore down-dip extensions. The initial results validate the company’s geological model and reinforce confidence in resource expansion potential within this strategically important copper-rich district.

Ongoing Drilling and Broader Exploration Plans

Drilling continues at Barbara with further assay results expected to be released progressively. Breakthrough plans to complement drilling with downhole electromagnetic (EM) surveys to identify new conductor targets outside the current resource limits. Following completion of the Barbara program, the company intends to shift focus to the Turpentine Deposit at the Hazel Creek Project, before moving on to other near-mine targets as part of a broader 10,000m exploration campaign across its North Queensland Copper-Gold Project portfolio.

Managing Director Nigel Broomham emphasised the significance of starting the program strongly and noted the uncommitted nature of the 200kt CuEq resource positions Breakthrough well to capitalise on strengthening copper market fundamentals and growing strategic interest in quality Queensland copper assets.