Chalice Opens New Copper Belt With Deep Blue Drilling
Chalice Mining has confirmed a broad copper-silver-gold system at its Deep Blue target in Western Australia, with first-pass drilling extending across 1.2km of strike. The early results are low grade, but the system remains open within a largely untested 30km exploration belt.
- Broad copper-silver-gold mineralisation across 1.2km of strike
- Best result of 21m at 0.18% copper from 50m
- High-grade rare-earth rock chips remain unexplained
- Goomalling tenure expanded across an approximately 30km belt
- IP, soil sampling and follow-up drilling planned for Q4 CY26
Deep Blue Confirms 1.2km Mineralised System
Chalice Mining Limited (ASX:CHN) has found what it describes as a large-scale copper-silver-gold system at Deep Blue, with 16 initial reverse-circulation holes confirming mineralisation across approximately 1.2km of strike. The system remains open along strike, giving the company a sizeable exploration target within its newly defined Goomalling Copper Project in Western Australia.
The strongest reported interval was 21 metres at 0.18% copper, 0.67 grams per tonne silver and 0.03 grams per tonne gold from 50 metres in hole DBRC004. That interval included narrower zones of 4 metres at 0.41% copper and 2 metres at 0.47% copper. A second notable result returned 9 metres at 0.21% copper, 0.86 grams per tonne silver and 0.05 grams per tonne gold from 180 metres in DBRC005.
Early Results Point to Broad, Low-Grade Mineralisation
Chalice said visual disseminated and fracture-controlled chalcopyrite appeared across broader intervals in most holes, with anomalous copper above 400 parts per million extending over widths of up to roughly 30 metres. The company believes that pervasive mineralisation extends beyond the intervals reported using its primary 0.1% copper cut-off.
That scale is the attraction, but the grades remain firmly in reconnaissance territory. The drilling was widely spaced, reported intervals are downhole lengths rather than confirmed true widths, and the spacing is not sufficient to establish mineralisation continuity for a Mineral Resource. Chalice also says the geological style is not yet fully understood, despite similarities in grade tenor and metal association to the nearby Caravel Copper Project (ASX:CVV).
Rare-Earth Source Still Unresolved
The copper results have not solved a separate puzzle at Deep Blue: the source of previously identified rock chips grading above 15% total rare-earth oxides. First-pass drilling did not locate that high-grade rare-earth mineralisation. Reanalysis of soil data has instead highlighted anomalous rare-earth values near large-scale east-north-east trending structures that cross the prospect, which Chalice intends to test through further targeting.
The company has expanded its regional position to cover an approximately 30km prospective belt, much of which remains untested by soil sampling or drilling. Comparable copper results from the Kann target, around 5km east of Deep Blue, include 4 metres at 0.48% copper from 5 metres and 13 metres at 0.12% copper from 9 metres to the end of hole, which Chalice interprets as a possible eastern flank or parallel trend associated with folding.
IP Survey and Fold Targets Set Next Test
Chalice is now reviewing the structural setting, with two interpreted fold targets marked as priorities immediately south-west of Deep Blue and around 4km north-west at Deep Thought. The company believes fold hinges may locally thicken mineralised zones, drawing on observations at Caravel, although that targeting concept has yet to be demonstrated at Deep Blue.
An induced polarisation survey is planned to help map conductive chalcopyrite against more resistive host rocks. Expanded and infilled soil sampling, including a broader rare-earth analytical suite, and follow-up RC drilling are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of calendar 2026 after the cropping season. The next results should determine whether Deep Blue is a broad but modestly mineralised system, or the surface expression of higher-grade structural zones.
Bottom Line?
The discovery has established scale, not yet economic grade. The key test is whether IP-led drilling finds thicker or higher-grade mineralisation at the interpreted fold hinges while also explaining the rare-earth anomalies.
Questions in the middle?
- Can future drilling establish true widths and continuity beyond the widely spaced first-pass holes?
- Will the interpreted fold hinges deliver materially higher grades or thicker copper zones?
- Where are the high-grade rare-earth rock chips sourced from, and do the ENE structures provide a coherent target?
