FireFly Metals (ASX: FFM) Makes High-Grade Copper-Gold Discovery

FireFly Metals has discovered a copper and gold-rich volcanogenic massive sulphide system at Mount Joy, adding a new regional target to its Green Bay Copper-Gold Project in Newfoundland, Canada.

Discovery hole FFR26-071 intersected 22.5 metres at 2.5% copper equivalent from 109 metres, comprising 1.9% copper, 0.6 grams per tonne gold and 0.4% zinc. The interval included 9 metres at 3.9% copper equivalent, with 3.0% copper and 1.0 grams per tonne gold.

The result came from FireFly’s first drilling program in the Tilt Cove–Betts Cove district. Mount Joy is about 35 kilometres east of the company’s flagship Ming Mine and only 2.6 kilometres from the Nugget Pond processing facility, which is on care and maintenance.

That proximity could become strategically relevant if further drilling establishes an economic deposit, although Mount Joy does not yet have a Mineral Resource Estimate.

Follow-up hole extends the system

An initial hole, FFR26-064, returned 6.5 metres at 2.0% copper equivalent from 15.6 metres. Downhole electromagnetic surveying then identified a conductor about 80 metres south, leading to the stronger intersection in FFR26-071.

Follow-up hole FFR26-076 subsequently intersected about 40 metres of visually logged semi-massive sulphides between 240 and 280 metres downhole. Additional pyrite-chalcopyrite stringer mineralisation continued beyond 400 metres.

Assays from that hole are pending and expected within about four weeks. Visual estimates do not establish grade or economic value, making the laboratory results the next important test of the discovery’s continuity and scale.

Downhole electromagnetic work has also identified further off-hole conductive anomalies for drill testing. FireFly plans additional drilling at Mount Joy, with a winter access road proposed from Nugget Pond to support track-mounted drilling during the Canadian winter of 2027.

Green Bay development remains the priority

Mount Joy sits outside the established Ming deposit, which contains 57.3 million tonnes at 2.44% copper equivalent in Measured and Indicated resources and 17.3 million tonnes at 2.77% copper equivalent in Inferred resources.

FireFly has budgeted C$16.7 million for regional exploration in the 2027 financial year. Three surface rigs are expected to continue regional drilling through the remainder of 2026, while a maiden Inferred resource for the nearby Main Mine prospect is planned for the first quarter of 2027.

The company is also targeting an updated Green Bay resource and Feasibility Study in that quarter, followed by consideration of a final investment decision in mid-2027. Formal construction is targeted for around July 2027, subject to board approval.

FireFly reported an unaudited pro-forma funding position of about A$368 million, comprising cash and liquid investments at July 31 plus gross proceeds from its subsequent equity raising and share purchase plan. That balance is intended to fund drilling, studies and pre-construction work as Green Bay advances toward a potential restart.