
Carnaby identified the shallow Miniboom shoot via a water-bore drill hole at Mount Hope Central. Assays returned 232 metres at 1.3% CuEq from surface. The find could improve open-pit economics if continuity is confirmed by follow-up drilling.
Carnaby Resources (ASX: CNB) has uncovered a shallow high-grade copper shoot at the Mount Hope Central ore reserve, part of the broader Greater Duchess project in Queensland. The company identified the Miniboom discovery via a vertical reverse circulation drill hole that targeted a water bore on the edge of the planned open pit.
Management believes the shoot is a shallow high-grade extension of the Boomerang lode structure. The best copper equivalent assays returned 232 metres at 1.3% CuEq (1.1% copper and 0.2 grams per tonne gold) from surface, including a higher-grade interval of 65 metres at 2.9% CuEq (2.4% copper and 0.5 g/t gold) from 25 metres.
The Miniboom Lode represents a second high-grade mineralisation focus alongside the main Boomerang Lode, though its ultimate significance to the Greater Duchess project remains unconfirmed. The discovery sits within the Mount Hope Central ore reserve boundary, near the planned pit edge, meaning it could directly improve the stripping ratio and mine plan if the shoot proves continuous.
Managing director Rob Watkins framed the find as a predictable outcome of the complex geology at Mount Hope. He said the deposit is "strongly controlled in folded and structurally displaced quartz vein lode hosts in multiple orientations," which means new lodes are easy to miss in directed drilling. The water bore that hit mineralisation was drilled for a different purpose entirely, and the company is now ramping up follow-up drilling to assess the shoot's size and geometry.
Watkins also noted that the structural complexity implies other lodes likely exist but remain undetected. For investors, the question is whether Miniboom is an isolated high-grade pocket or part of a broader system that can materially lift the Mount Hope Central reserve. Further drilling will test continuity along strike and down dip.
Separately, Carnaby released a new step-out drill result from the Trek 2 zone, where recent high-grade intercepts below the current open-pit design have already raised the possibility of a larger resource. The latest hole returned 53 metres at 0.4% CuEq from 182 metres, about 60 metres down dip of the previously reported 35 metres at 2.9% CuEq.
The geometry suggests the higher-grade plunge trends further to the northeast, meaning the current resource model may understate the deposit's extent. Carnaby plans to complete an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) within the next few months, targeting an upgraded open-pit design at Trek 2.
Key insight: The new lower-grade intersection is structurally informative even if it is not economic on its own. It constrains the orientation of the higher-grade shoot and gives the resource model a stronger geological framework. Without it, the previous 35 metre result could have been an isolated boulder.
The infill and extension program aims to convert Inferred material to the Indicated category, a step that directly affects the viability of an enlarged pit. Carnaby intends to re-optimise the Trek 2 open pit after the updated MRE and will use the existing ore reserve as the starting pit for the current feasibility study (FS).
Carnaby is targeting completion of the Greater Duchess FS by mid-2025, followed by a final investment decision and first ore production before the end of 2026. The Miniboom and Trek 2 results will feed into the study if they are incorporated into an updated resource model in time.
The next few months of drilling will determine whether Miniboom adds real tonnage or remains a curiosity. For now, the discovery gives the Greater Duchess project a second high-grade vector alongside the existing Boomerang Lode, a setup worth tracking for investors watching the Queensland copper belt.
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