Encounter Resources Reviews Copper Portfolio as Drilling Extends Oxide Zones

Encounter Resources has launched a strategic review of its copper portfolio in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, with alternative corporate structures and new partnerships under consideration. The review coincides with fresh reverse circulation drilling at the company's wholly owned Yeneena copper project, where shallow oxide mineralisation has been extended across eight kilometres of the Parbo copper system and the oxide blanket at Griffin has been confirmed at more than 800 metres wide.

Three diamond drill holes have been completed at the Tyrell and Griffin targets, with a third at Maitland. Assays are expected in September and October 2026. The portfolio also includes an existing shallow copper resource at Tyrell, high-grade copper results at the Lamil copper-gold project, and a pipeline of earlier-stage prospects.

Encounter considers its copper interests to be overshadowed by the 70,000-metre drill program, high-grade niobium resource growth, and development work at the Aileron project. That prompted the review of how the copper assets are structured and advanced.

“Against a backdrop of growing demand for new copper supply, a quality copper exploration portfolio in a Tier 1 jurisdiction with the potential for scale, such as that assembled by Encounter, is increasingly scarce,” executive chair Will Robinson said. “The strategic review will assess alternative corporate structures and new partnerships that could better realise the value of this portfolio and accelerate its advancement.”

Parbo hosts copper oxide mineralisation extending for more than eight kilometres along the McKay Fault. It includes the near-surface Tyrell inferred resource of 2.9 million tonnes at 0.79% copper above a 0.25% cut-off, with 1.1 million tonnes at 1.27% copper. Recent RC pre-collar assays at Griffin returned broad shallow intersections including 16 metres at 0.5% copper and 20 metres at 0.4% copper, with higher-grade two-metre intervals reaching 1.7% copper. At Armstrong in the southern part of Parbo, RC drilling extended shallow copper oxide mineralisation with an intersection of six metres at 0.56% copper from 130 metres, and the zone remains open.

Encounter is also testing deeper sulphide targets beneath the oxide system. Historical drilling at Griffin and Maitland returned high-grade copper intersections that remain priorities for follow-up work. Reported intersections are downhole lengths; true widths are not yet known because drilling remains insufficient to fully define the geometry.

At Lamil, previous drilling at the Dune prospect returned a standout 1.5-metre intersection at 19.1% copper from 409.1 metres. RC drilling at Elsa earlier in 2026 intersected shallow copper-gold mineralisation including 18 metres at 0.45% copper from 96 metres. The wholly owned Sandover copper project in the Northern Territory contains outcropping copper-bearing shale units mapped for more than 20 kilometres, with surface sampling returning assays up to 20.9% copper. A broader passive seismic survey is scheduled for October 2026.

At Jessica, where Encounter has a $15 million farm-in arrangement, the 2026 program includes 4,000 metres of RC drilling and about 2,000 metres of diamond drilling to test priority geophysical targets.

Encounter will use progress across these projects alongside the strategic review to assess how its copper portfolio can be advanced while its principal development focus remains on Aileron. Assays from the diamond drilling are expected in September and October 2026.