en.Wedoany.com Reported - Osisko Metals (TSX: OM; US-OTC: OMZNF) has kicked off its 2026 drilling campaign at the Gaspé Copper Project in eastern Quebec, yielding a batch of high-grade intercepts that may lie within the planned pit shell.
The company said in a statement that hole 30-1196 in the Needle Mountain Extension zone returned 80 metres grading 1.93% copper, 9.64 grams per tonne silver and 0.013% molybdenum from a depth of 196 metres. Within this interval, a 30-metre section from 224 metres averaged 3.49% copper, 18.4 g/t silver and 0.018% molybdenum.
Scotia Capital mining analyst Eric Winmill noted in a report that many of the intercepts fall within the waste rock model of the 2026 Whittle pit, meaning successful conversion would add resource tonnes without requiring pit expansion.
Osisko is working to expand the resource base of the Gaspé copper system with a view to potentially reopening the former Noranda mine in Murdochville, about 825 km northeast of Montreal. The company plans to obtain permits and begin construction in the early 2030s, with initial capital expenditure estimated at around C$1.8 billion.
In Tuesday morning trading on the Toronto market, the company's shares rose 5.8% to C$1.64, giving it a market capitalization of approximately C$1.2 billion (US$874 million). The stock has traded in a range of C$0.38 to C$1.91 over the past year.
Other results released Tuesday included nearby hole 30-1195, which returned 76.5 metres grading 0.35% copper, 2.54 g/t silver and 0.020% molybdenum from a depth of 281 metres. A deeper interval below the pit shell returned 61.5 metres grading 0.27% copper, 1.74 g/t silver and 0.008% molybdenum from approximately 569 metres.
CEO Robert Wares said in the statement that the 2026 drilling program has gotten off to an excellent start, with three new significant intercepts reported from the Needle Mountain Extension, all located within the waste rock model of the 2026 mineral resource estimate Whittle pit volume. With the launch of the 2026 drilling program, the company believes there is excellent potential to convert areas currently classified as in-pit waste into new mineralized zones toward the Needle Mountain direction.
Five drill rigs are currently operating at the Gaspé project, with two more expected to begin work later this month. This year's drilling program aims to upgrade inferred resources to higher confidence categories and test areas beyond the current resource model for additional growth potential.
The Gaspé project is centered on the historic Copper Mountain mine, which produced copper under Noranda from 1955 to 1999. Osisko acquired the asset from Glencore (LSE: GLEN) in 2023 and has since conducted extensive drilling to expand and upgrade the resource base. According to the company, Gaspé hosts the largest undeveloped copper resource in eastern North America.
Osisko released an updated resource estimate in April, more than doubling contained copper metal. Gaspé now holds an estimated 1.83 billion tonnes of measured and indicated resources grading 0.27% copper, 0.017% molybdenum and 1.57 g/t silver, containing 10.77 billion pounds of copper, 673.2 million pounds of molybdenum and 92.8 million ounces of silver. Inferred resources stand at 238.8 million tonnes grading 0.41% copper, 0.016% molybdenum and 1.88 g/t silver, containing 2.16 billion pounds of copper, 82.9 million pounds of molybdenum and 14.5 million ounces of silver.
Osisko said the mineralization at Gaspé is a porphyry copper-skarn system. Copper occurs primarily as disseminated and stockwork chalcopyrite with pyrite or pyrrhotite, along with minor bornite and molybdenite.
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