Alma Metals pushes Briggs beyond infill drilling with new copper targets

Briggs drilling reaches 5,002.8 metres

Alma Metals Limited (ASX:ALM) has completed 14 drill holes for 5,002.8 metres at the Briggs Copper Project in Queensland, moving the program from resource definition into early resource expansion. Thirteen holes were drilled inside the existing mineral resource estimate, while the latest hole tested a copper anomaly outside it and was extended to 522 metres from an original 300-metre plan.

“Drill status plan showing holes drilled to date in 2026.”

The infill work is designed to convert much of Briggs’ Inferred resource into the Indicated category, providing data for an interim resource update and the engineering, mine-planning and scheduling work required for the pre-feasibility study. The latest report builds on the earlier 383.8m copper intersection, which had previously been reported from the project.

Broad copper zones dominate the latest assays

Assays from eight holes included 383.8 metres at 0.25% copper, 26 parts per million molybdenum and 0.7 parts per million silver from 10.2 metres in hole 26BRD0042. That interval contained a 76.7-metre zone at 0.34% copper, as well as narrower higher-grade sections including 14 metres at 0.38% copper.

“Cross-Section for hole 26BRD0042. Location of section depicted as dashed line AA' on Figure 1.”

“Cross-Section for hole 26BRD0046. Location of section depicted as dashed line BB' on Figure 1.”

Caption and image © Alma Metals Limited. From “Quarterly Activities/Appendix 5B Cash Flow Report”, 30 Oct 2026.

Hole 26BRD0046 returned 386.6 metres at 0.20% copper from 43 metres, including 40.6 metres at 0.31% copper. Three holes between the Briggs Central and Southern porphyries also encountered copper sulphide mineralisation and elevated molybdenum, with levels reported at two to four times the overall average of the current resource. The company cautions that the reported lengths are downhole intersections and may not represent true widths.

Exploration and metallurgy broaden the PFS work

“Planned drill collar and drill traces for Alma's exploration and infill drilling program.”

Exploration drilling has now started beyond the current resource boundary, where Alma is testing satellite surface copper anomalies that could expand the mineral resource within a potential mining footprint. The company has planned four exploration holes, while continuing infill drilling and geotechnical logging for open-pit planning. The broader campaign follows the Briggs PFS drilling program, which had been framed around a 2027 resource update and study progression.

Metallurgical studies are running alongside the drilling. Alma is evaluating whether molybdenum can be recovered into a separate marketable concentrate, refining copper recovery into high-grade concentrates and testing comminution and flotation across 12 samples covering different copper grades, rock types and locations within the resource. Coarse-particle flotation and environmental baseline surveys are also part of the continuing study program.

Cash position leaves funding question open

Alma ended September with A$1.15 million in cash, A$3.3 million in listed investments and no debt. Exploration and evaluation expenditure reached about A$1.984 million during the quarter, including approximately A$1.196 million in drilling contractor fees. On cash alone, the Appendix 5B calculated just 0.5 quarters of available funding.

Alma said expenditure should fall as drilling slows over the Christmas and New Year period. It also pointed to the potential sale of its listed investments and future equity-market fundraising as sources of funding, while stating that it expects to continue its operations and meet its objectives. That leaves the next assay batch, the interim resource update and the timing of the PFS tied not only to technical results, but also to how the company funds the work.