en.Wedoany.com Reported - Breakthrough Minerals (ASX:BTM) has reported assay results from the first diamond drilling at the Turpentine deposit within its North Queensland copper-gold project, with drill intersections confirming high-grade mineralisation in the down-dip extension direction interpreted by the gravity inversion model. These results directly validate the deep targets previously delineated through gravity data.
Key intersections from the drilling include: hole 26TUR001 returned 31 metres at 0.52% copper equivalent (CuEq) from 210 metres downhole, including 7 metres at 1.02%; hole 26TUR002 returned 16 metres at 1.30% CuEq from 180 metres, including 6 metres at 2.18%; and hole 26TUR003 returned 19 metres at 1.03% CuEq from 216 metres, including 9 metres at 1.84% and 4 metres at 2.83%. The company stated that drilling results to date are outperforming the existing block model, with mineralisation extending into the target zone in the northern down-dip direction, which is a positive signal for the deposit's resource potential.
At the Barbara copper-gold deposit, further assay results from diamond drilling confirm the continuity of the mineralised system at depth and along strike, with mineralisation extending beyond the initial three holes reported in June 2026. The latest assays returned multiple higher-grade intersections within broader mineralised zones: 7 metres at 0.54% CuEq from 441 metres, within a mineralised zone of 45 metres at 0.24% from 440 metres; 7 metres at 1.08% CuEq from 339 metres, within a mineralised zone of 39 metres at 0.32% from 339 metres; and 10 metres at 0.56% CuEq from 550 metres, within a mineralised zone of 73 metres at 0.24% CuEq from 503 metres.
Managing Director Nigel Broomham said these results reinforce the company's resource growth thesis across its two cornerstone deposits. Turpentine is currently the company's largest deposit, hosting 101,000 tonnes of contained copper equivalent metal, and the new results support the interpretation of mineralisation extending northward in the down-dip direction. Six additional holes have been drilled into this down-dip target and are awaiting assay, with drilling ongoing.
Both Turpentine and Barbara form part of the larger North Queensland copper-gold project, which hosts total resources of 18.8Mt at 1.07% CuEq, representing approximately 200,000 tonnes of contained copper equivalent metal. An initial drilling program of approximately 4,000 metres is underway to test the extension of copper-gold mineralisation to the north and at depth. The first two holes at Turpentine were designed to test the northern down-dip continuation delineated through gravity inversion modelling and magnetic data, with six holes along this target now completed and in the assay phase. Barbara has an existing resource of 6.5Mt at 0.97% CuEq, and the company has completed drilling at infill and extensional positions both within and beyond the resource.
In addition to ongoing drilling at Turpentine, the company plans to undertake approximately 2,000 metres of reverse circulation drilling across the broader Hazel Creek project to advance priority targets including Turpentine South, Eight Mile Creek North, Eight Mile Creek East, and SE Offset Prospect. At Barbara, downhole electromagnetic surveys will be conducted in selected completed holes to identify additional conductor targets. These activities form part of BTM's approximately 10,000-metre exploration campaign in North Queensland for 2026.
