BOA Resources has returned high-grade copper intersections from all six initial RC holes at Ricci Lee, including 14 metres at 2.49% copper and 15 metres at 2.25%. Assays from 40 further RC holes and 92 aircore holes across five other prospects remain pending.
- 14m at 2.49% copper, including 7m at 4.60%
- 15m at 2.25% copper from 130m
- All six initial Ricci Lee holes intersected significant copper
- 40 RC assays and 92 aircore results pending
- Maiden drilling campaign completed across six priority targets
Six Ricci Lee holes confirm high-grade copper
BOA Resources Limited (ASX:BOA) has opened its Ricci Lee assay program with a result that gives the company what exploration campaigns are designed to seek: repeated high-grade copper across an interpreted mineralised structure. All six initial reverse circulation holes returned significant copper, led by 14 metres at 2.49% copper from 122 metres in hole 26NCRC001, including 7 metres at 4.60% copper.
A second standout intersection delivered 15 metres at 2.25% copper from 130 metres in 26NCRC003. Other results included 12 metres at 1.58% copper from 64 metres, including separate intervals at 3.38% and 3.14%, and 9 metres at 1.69% copper from 84 metres, including 3 metres at 4.43%.
Drilling points to continuity across southern Ricci Lee
BOA says the six holes targeted the main mineralised zone, described as a north-northwest-trending brittle fault containing copper and associated silver. The results support continuity in the southern portion of Ricci Lee, with the company’s cross-sections indicating continuity down dip and along strike between holes.
That is encouraging exploration evidence, but it is not yet a resource estimate. The reported figures are downhole widths and true widths are not known. The intersections were calculated using a 0.2% copper threshold, with up to two metres of internal dilution permitted, while the higher-grade intervals use a 1% copper threshold.
40 Ricci Lee assays remain outstanding
BOA completed 46 RC holes for 7,364 metres at Ricci Lee, expanding the original 5,500-metre plan to test strike extensions, deeper mineralisation and short-range continuity. The program covered an interpreted structure over 640 metres of strike and about 220 metres vertically, with drilling generally on 80-metre lines and 40-metre hole spacing, including tighter infill sections in the north.
Only six of those 46 holes have been reported. The remaining 40 Ricci Lee assays, together with results from 92 aircore holes drilled across Rooneys, Blockley, Mueller, Ward and Limestone Bore, are expected to flow through the fourth quarter of 2026. BOA managing director Graeme Purcell said the company had completed the 138-hole, 13,086-metre campaign safely and within budget, describing the pending results as a substantial exploration pipeline.
Resource ambition meets ownership decision
Ricci Lee sits within the Neds Creek Copper Project, two kilometres southwest of the Thaduna Copper Deposit. BOA says the prospect shares its stratigraphic and structural setting and is interpreted as a geological analogue of Thaduna, which has a stated Mineral Resource Estimate of 4.1 million tonnes at 2.5% copper for 103,000 tonnes of contained copper.
BOA currently owns 49% of Neds Creek and operates the project. Its proposed acquisition of the remaining interest, including the Thaduna and Green Dragon deposits, is subject to shareholder approval at a general meeting scheduled for 12 October 2026. Meanwhile, assay turnaround could be affected by high demand at Perth laboratories, leaving the next test of Ricci Lee’s promise dependent on both the quality and consistency of the results still in the queue.
Bottom Line?
The first six holes have strengthened the case for a maiden Ricci Lee resource, but the investment story still rests on whether the next 40 RC assays demonstrate similar grade continuity and meaningful true widths.
Questions in the middle?
- Will the remaining 40 RC holes extend the high-grade zones beyond the southern portion of Ricci Lee?
- How will the downhole intersections translate into true widths and a potential maiden Mineral Resource?
- Will shareholders approve BOA’s proposed move from 49% to 100% ownership of Neds Creek on 12 October?