Alma Metals Drills for Indicated Resource; Copper Holds Above $6

Alma Metals (ASX: ALM) has started a 25,000m to 30,000m infill drilling campaign at its Briggs copper project in central Queensland. The company aims to upgrade the 932-million-tonne resource from Inferred to Indicated status and deliver a pre-feasibility study by late 2027. Copper spot prices trade between $6.12 and $6.35 per pound, well above the $4.50 per pound the November scoping study used. Citi analysts recently forecast $6.80 per pound and upgraded the sector.

Copper supply has tightened from multiple directions. Seismic events cut output at several of the world's top-10 mines. The Middle East conflict disrupted sulphuric acid shipments, a key input for heap-leach operations, curbing production from oxide deposits. Chinese buyers returned to international markets, driven by rural electrification and data-centre construction. These forces have pinned the spot price above $13,500 a tonne. For a wider view of the commodities dynamics, see our market page.

Briggs is a bulk-tonnage porphyry system. The current resource is almost entirely Inferred, the lowest confidence category. By-product credits could improve project economics: 73 million pounds of molybdenum, 16.5 million ounces of silver, and gold. The scoping study outlined a conventional processing route using a SAG mill, ball mill, and froth flotation. That design avoids exotic chemical risks and should keep capital costs more predictable. The deposit sits in central Queensland with existing road, rail, power, and water infrastructure, lowering development risk compared to remote deposits.

The drilling campaign runs 12 to 15 months. Each hole tests the deposit's continuity and grade. Parallel metallurgical work is testing comminution and flotation performance on samples taken across the orebody. Results will feed into the engineering design for the PFS. The company operates the project under a joint venture with Canterbury Resources (ASX: CBY).

Alma funded this phase with an oversubscribed A$4 million placement. That money covers drilling and preliminary engineering. It does not cover the full PFS or any future mine construction. The company will need additional capital, likely through equity, before the study is complete. Dilution is a standard risk for a junior moving from resource definition to engineering.

The permitting timeline for a new copper mine in Queensland typically runs several years. Even after the PFS, a definitive feasibility study and environmental approvals would push first production past 2030. The market may or may not wait that long.

The next concrete information will come from the drilling results. Assay data should start arriving in the second half of 2026. Each positive intercept will reduce geological uncertainty. Each recovery improvement will strengthen the economic case. A sustained copper price below $4.50 would make the scoping study economics marginal. A move toward $7 or higher would support a stronger story.

The drilling campaign continues through mid-2027. The first batch of assays will land around the middle of next year.