FireFly Metals Ltd. announced that it plans to accelerate underground drilling ahead of mining studies with a sixth underground rig due on site in late May. Drilling at the Ming underground copper-gold mine recommenced following the acquisition of the Green Bay Copper-Gold Project by FireFly in October 2023. In total, the Company has completed ~79,200m of diamond core drilling to date from underground development.
Resource Extension Drilling from the 805L Exploration Drive: Drilling from the northern section of the 805L drill drive has to date focused on extensional drilling outside of the current Mineral Resource, which currently stands at 24.4Mt at 1.9% CuEq Measured & Indicated Resource and 34.5Mt at 2.0% CuEq Inferred Resource. Near-term drilling activities at the Green Bay Copper- Gold Project will continue to focus on three key areas: Mineral Resource Growth, Upgrading the Mineral Resource (infill) and NewDiscoveries. Step-out drilling reported in this announcement demonstrates the growth potential at Ming Mine, with mineralisation now confirmed more than 200m from the limits of the current Mineral Resource.
During 2025, FireFly will continue with its low-cost rapid Mineral Resource growth strategy, with the underground exploration drill drive continuing to be extended to allow effective drill testing down plunge as well as discovery drilling utilising Down Hole Electromagnetics (DHEM) for new parallel and repeat lodes at the Ming deposit. Due to the exceptional results achieved to date, the Company has decided to accelerate the drill program by contracting a sixth underground drill, which is anticipated to arrive at Green Bay in late May 2025. To date, ~79,200m of the planned 130,000m drill program has been completed.
The remainder of the underground drill program for 2025 has three clear strategic components: Mineral Resource extension: Test the down-plunge continuation of both the high-grade copper-gold VMS zones and the broad footwall copper stringer zone: 35,000m of drilling; Work on engineering studies continues to evaluate various scenarios for an up-scaled restart to operations, which will incorporate the expected 2025 Mineral Resource Estimate updates once finalised. With the huge success of the drilling programs to date, the Company does not want to limit the size of any future potential up-scaled mining operation until it has completed the next phase of growth drilling. The Green Bay Copper-Gold Project currently hosts a Mineral Resource prepared in accordance with the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code 2012) and Canadian National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) of 24.4Mt of Measured and Indicated Resources at 1.9% for 460Kt CuEq and 34.5Mt of Inferred Resources at 2% for 690Kt CuEq.
The Company has a clear strategy to rapidly grow the copper-gold Mineral Resource to demonstrate a globally significant copper-gold asset. FireFly has commenced a 130,000m diamond drilling program.
