Major Copper Expansion at Aquila Prospect
True North Copper has delivered another significant breakthrough at its emerging Aquila copper-cobalt discovery within the Mount Oxide project in northwestern Queensland. The company's latest phase-two drilling results have extended the mineralised strike length to more than 900 metres, confirming what management describes as the emergence of a multi-deposit copper district with substantial potential.
Impressive Assay Results Revealed
The most recent assays from the phase 2 RC drilling campaign at Aquila have produced some of the strongest copper-cobalt-silver numbers seen to date. One standout intercept returned 32 metres grading 1.02 percent copper, 0.17 percent cobalt and 4.4 grams per tonne silver from 109 metres depth. Within this interval, a particularly high-grade section showed 6 metres at 3.56 percent copper and 0.60 percent cobalt from 122 metres.
Another drill hole intersected 31 metres at 0.57 percent copper and 0.15 percent cobalt from 89 metres, including a 5-metre section grading 2.10 percent copper. These results have reinforced the geometry of two steep, high-grade plunging mineralised shoots measuring 250 metres and 150 metres respectively, with both remaining open at depth for further expansion.
Growing Scale and Future Plans
The new intercepts originate from the southern shoot area, where the company acknowledges that suboptimal drill collar positioning failed to diminish the overall scale of the mineralised system. Instead, this information has helped refine targeting strategies for the upcoming drilling phase.
True North Copper management continues to await results from four final holes drilled at Aquila, with complete assay results from the nearby Apollo and Acanthis prospects expected between December and January. Despite these pending results, the emerging picture clearly indicates that Aquila is growing rapidly in scale and significance.
The latest findings support the company's mapping of a fresh 250-metre strike extension that pushes the mineralised corridor beyond 900 metres at Aquila, placing its scale in comparable standing to the company's nearby Vero deposit.
True North managing director and chief executive officer Andrew Mooney stated: "It's becoming increasingly clear that we're onto something big here at Aquila, with the potential to exceed the scale and quality of our existing high-grade Vero resource at Mt Oxide. With four drillholes pending at Aquila, the story is still unfolding."
The company plans to return to the field in 2026 following the wet season to conduct comprehensive drilling at Aquila "north, south and at depth," then systematically progress along strike to test multiple new high-priority targets. The follow-up program will build upon expanded geophysical surveys, including extension of induced polarisation (IP) surveys across Aquila, Apollo, Acanthis and the Rhea target.
True North has already completed 5000 metres of drilling toward an expanded 12,000-metre program, with several holes still awaiting assay results. Management believes current results provide a "significant boost" to understanding the Aquila system, indicating strong continuity along strike and at depth – essential characteristics for district-scale copper development.
Aquila's location places it within strategic proximity to the Vero deposit, which contains resources of 15.03 million tonnes at 1.46 percent copper and 10.59 grams per tonne silver, along with 9.15 million tonnes at 0.23 percent cobalt. With copper now firmly established on national critical mineral lists and prices showing an upward trend over five years, the timing appears exceptionally favourable for True North's expanding Queensland operations.
The Mount Oxide project area carries a rich mining history, originally discovered in 1882 by the renowned Ernest Henry. Underground mining operations spanned from the 1920s through the 1960s, followed by open-pit and leaching activities. The site entered remediation limbo after 1999 until True North stepped in and made the game-changing Aquila discovery last year.
Beyond Aquila, True North is advancing a three-stage growth strategy: restarting its Cloncurry operation to the south, which includes a processing plant capable of handling oxide ore; aggressively expanding the Mt Oxide resource base; and pursuing tier-one targets at Chumvale, Marimo and the Salebury IOCG system.
With modern drilling technology having barely explored much of Mt Oxide's broader tenement package, the company maintains there remains significant undiscovered potential within the region. Based on the trajectory of recent results, that hidden potential may not remain concealed for much longer.
