Gunnison Reports Copper Intercepts of 790.3 and 738.3 Feet in Arizona
Key Facts
Gunnison Copper said on November 10 that two holes at its Gunnison project in Arizona intersected long copper intervals, with the first measuring 790.3 feet at a grade of 0.46%, and the second 738.3 feet at a grade of 0.43%. The company said the intervals were recorded in holes NSM-18 and NSM-22, respectively. The results are part of a drilling program that the company said in August could reach 120 holes totaling about 138,000 feet during 2026. At the time, it expected to release initial results in the fourth quarter of 2026 and full results in mid-2027. The announced results add new drilling data to the company's assessment of its project, while metallurgical testing remains part of ongoing work on sulfide ores.
Gunnison is also testing sulfide-processing options through a flotation program at FLSmidth, with the aim of assessing the potential to recover copper and zinc in saleable concentrates, with silver as a byproduct. The company said the testing program announced in August includes 63 tests to recover copper, zinc and silver from copper sulfide ores. It noted that the reported grades do not establish recovery rates, concentrate quality or the saleability of byproducts. The results also do not establish the ore's suitability for heap leaching. Chief Executive Craig Hallworth said, "Our next priority is to better understand the best way to recover that metal," adding that the company is testing a potential concentration route to recover zinc and silver alongside copper.
The metallurgical testing program announced in August includes up to 36 holes totaling about 33,000 feet, as well as up to 405 column-leach tests. This work covers different ore-processing routes, while the flotation tests focus on the potential to recover metals from sulfide ores. The new results alone do not determine which route will be adopted or what recovery rates may be. The copper intervals are therefore also relevant in light of what metallurgical testing may reveal about the potential to separate metals and produce saleable concentrates. Full results from the drilling program, expected in mid-2027 according to the August announcement, remain a later milestone in the company's assessment of the project.
The company estimates inferred resources at the Strong & Harris deposits at about 76 million tonnes, with average grades of 0.49% copper, 0.56% zinc and 0.12 ounces of silver per tonne, according to the resource estimate effective January 23, 2026. The Strong & Harris deposit is about 1.9 miles from Gunnison's processing facilities and is included in the mine plan, the company said. In its preliminary economic assessment published in February, the company used a base copper price of $4.60 per pound. It estimated after-tax net present value at about $1,952 million and an after-tax internal rate of return of 22.7%. These figures provide background on the project's published assumptions ahead of the current drilling results, while the impact of the new intervals remains tied to resource assessment and metallurgical testing.
The company is already operating in Arizona through its Johnson Camp mine, which it said reached commercial production in September 2026. Gunnison said this followed record monthly copper production in August and production remaining above the required operating threshold during the first half of September. In the market data provided, GCUMF shares closed at $0.27788 on November 9, the last close before the drilling results were announced on November 10. Management's next identified step is to better understand the best ways to recover the metals, including testing a potential concentration route for zinc and silver alongside copper. The company also expects to publish full results from its drilling program in mid-2027, according to the schedule it announced in August.