Alma Metals to drill 34 more infill holes at Briggs copper project in 2026, with 35 more planned for 2027

Alma Metals (ASX:ALM) plans a further 34 infill drill holes totalling 10,000m at its Briggs copper project during 2026, followed by 35 holes of about 17,500m in 2027. The company also plans four exploration holes (1,250m) in the rest of 2026.

The company said on 4 August 2026 that drilling will continue through to the end of the year, with regular progress reports and assays to follow.

Why it matters

The infill program is designed to tighten the Briggs mineral resource estimate (MRE). Alma says the full 80-hole program aims to infill the whole current resource to a nominal 80m spacing, suitable for an Indicated classification, and to supply samples for metallurgical test work. Indicated resources are classed with more confidence than Inferred ones.

The company says a 41-hole, roughly 12,500m high-priority component, aimed at the first half of a potential mining operation, is planned for completion by the end of 2026. It would support an interim resource update, allowing revisions to the Scoping Study and, for the first time, publication of key production and financial metrics for the project. Alma has not stated when that update will be released.

First results

Assays are in for the first three of seven completed holes, with about 2,300m drilled so far. Alma says they are in line with its resource block model.

• 26BRD0039: 322.3m at 0.17% copper from 6.5m, including 86.9m at 0.23%
• 26BRD0040: 388.4m at 0.15% copper from 4.2m
• 26BRD0041: 400.5m at 0.13% copper from 3.5m

The intervals are downhole lengths and may not reflect true widths. The holes were drilled in the north-west central part of the Briggs Central porphyry, where the company says copper in soil samples is lower than on the southern side of the resource. Two holes were reported at different cut-offs, so grades are not directly comparable across all three.

What is uncertain

The exploration holes are meant to test surface copper anomalism west of the current resource, and their results are unknown. Managing Director Dr Frazer Tabeart said the program is tracking toward the resource update that would advance Briggs to a prefeasibility study, but Alma has not given a date for either. The 2027 drilling is described as planned for the first half of that year. If it proceeds, it would extend the work beyond the 2026 program.

Alma recently completed placements and, on 2 July, acquired a camp to speed drilling at Briggs. The company has not stated in this announcement how the remaining work will be funded.