White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN) commences diamond drilling at Rae sediment-hosted copper discovery
White Cliff Minerals has commenced diamond drilling at its Rae Copper Project in Nunavut, Canada, with the programme designed to test extensions of copper mineralisation identified during the company’s 2025 drilling campaign.
The drilling is targeting sediment-hosted copper mineralisation at depth and along strike within the easternmost sedimentary structure identified at the project.
Highlights
- The first of two diamond drilling rigs is now operational at the Rae Copper Project.
- Drilling is targeting high-grade sediment-hosted copper mineralisation at depth and along strike.
- A 1.7km footprint of mineralisation was identified between drillholes STK25001 and STK25004 focused on the redox boundary at the base of the Rae Group.
- STK25001 returned 7m @ 0.41% Cu from 177m and 3.5m @ 7.2% Cu within 12m @ 2.45% Cu from 287m.
- STK25003 returned 24.55m @ 0.56% Cu from 240m, including 1m @ 5.7% Cu from 254m.
- The 2026 drilling campaign aims to extend mineralisation east into the basin and north within the priority sub-basin.
The current programme follows the company’s 2025 drilling campaign, which confirmed the presence of sediment-hosted copper mineralisation at the base of the Rae Group where it is in contact with the underlying oxidised sediments and basalts of the Husky Creek Formation.
White Cliff reported that a total 1.7km strike length of copper mineralisation was discovered adjacent to the Herb Dixon Fault and concentrated at the redox boundary.
Drilling has commenced on the eastern margins of the inferred sub-basin, targeting structures interpreted from the 2024 magnetic data, which White Cliff stated are considered important potential controls on mineralisation.
High-priority electromagnetic responses identified from the 2025 HeliTEM survey and located east of the 2025 discovery drillholes will also be tested as part of the programme.
The target is the contact between the reduced, pyrite-bearing mudstones of the basal Rae Group and the oxidised sandstones of the underlying Husky Creek Formation.
White Cliff stated that this geological setting is considered analogous to key controls observed in major sediment-hosted copper systems, including the Central African Copperbelt.
The company reported that drillhole STK25003 intersected this geological transition at the start of the Husky Creek Formation at 238m, with copper mineralisation beginning immediately below the redox boundary at 240m, while White Cliff also reported that drillhole STK25001 confirmed copper mineralisation within the sedimentary horizon.
White Cliff Managing Director Troy Whittaker commented on the commencement of drilling at the sedimentary targets at Rae.
“The first holes are designed to test key structures interpreted from magnetic data where they cross into the Rae Group stratigraphy. These structures may represent important pathways for copper-bearing fluids and provide a clear opportunity to extend the known mineralised footprint to the east and north from STK25001.”
White Cliff stated that a second diamond drilling rig is expected to arrive early next week to target and vector into the high-grade zones at Danvers.
The company also stated that the programme is focused on testing the scale potential of the sediment-hosted copper system and targeting further high-grade zones within the priority sub-basins.
According to White Cliff, drilling results have validated a geological model that highlights more than 70km of prospective strike across the Rae Project Area.