True North Copper Revs Up Drilling at High-Grade Queensland Copper-Gold Site
True North Copper has launched an intensive drilling campaign at its Wallace North copper-gold deposit near Cloncurry in northwest Queensland, marking a significant step in advancing its broader Cloncurry copper project. The company is deploying reverse-circulation (RC) and diamond drilling rigs to target near-mine extensions and gather critical data for upcoming development studies.
Drilling Program Details and Objectives
The drilling program at Wallace North includes six diamond holes planned for approximately 1000 metres and eight RC holes for 1500 metres. This effort is focused on expanding the open pit footprint and following up on high-grade intercepts from 2025, such as a notable 9-metre section at 4.33% copper and 3.64g/t gold. The campaign aims to boost the existing two-million-tonne resource, which grades 1.28% copper and 0.77g/t gold, and support a pre-feasibility study scheduled for 2026.
Strategic Importance and Regional Context
Wallace North is emerging as a key component of True North's Cloncurry copper project, which is being evaluated as a potential hub-and-spoke mining opportunity in the resource-rich Cloncurry and Mt Isa region. The area benefits from proximity to established infrastructure, including regional concentrators and rail-to-port options. Additionally, the company has identified potential for strike and underground extensions at Wallace North, drawing comparisons with nearby copper-gold systems like AIC Mines' Eloise and Jericho, though further verification is required.
Additional Targets and Future Plans
Another target in the drilling program is Buena Vista, located 1200 metres southwest of the Wallace pit boundary, which has shown encouraging mineralisation, including 5 metres at 0.51% copper and 2.44g/t gold. Drilling at Wallace is expected to conclude in late April, with assay results to follow. Subsequently, True North will shift focus to its flagship Mt Oxide operation, where it plans to follow up on high-priority exploration results, such as the Aquila discovery, which has been defined over more than 1 kilometre of strike and remains open in all directions.
Resource Estimates and Project Outlook
True North Copper's total estimated resource for the Cloncurry copper project currently stands at 13.63 million tonnes at 0.8% copper for 109,000 tonnes of copper, and 2.7 million tonnes at 1.35g/t gold for 117,000 ounces of gold. With two drill rigs active and key study data anticipated from the Wallace program, the company is poised to advance its Queensland copper portfolio, keeping stakeholders informed through ongoing updates.
