Metals & Mining: Global Drill Results Monitor

We have captured copper and gold drill results from over 1,000 properties, spanning more than 60 countries year-to-date. This report ranks the year's most significant drill results to surface which projects and regions are producing the assays that matter.

Global Exploration Activity Snapshot 

The Beaver Creek Precious Metals Summit and Denver Gold Forum closed out the annual Colarado circuit at the end of September. With it we saw a wave of drill results as explorers and miners vied for investor attention in a crowded field. The underlying numbers we captured put that competition in perspective.

Figure 1. Gold and Copper Drill Results at a Glance, Jan – Sep 2026

Gold

Regionally, Mexico's Guerrero state has the highest grade per meter reported amongst gold regions with three or more actively drilled projects averaging 3.48 g/t Au across 7,846 m, 2.9 times the global figure. Heliostar's (HSTR-CA) Ana Paula (5.85 g/t Au) leads the region, and Torex Gold's (TXR-CA) Morelos Complex (4.01 g/t Au) follows, both clearing the 85th percentile grade of all gold projects.

Figure 2. Gold: Top 5 Regions by Average Grade Per Meter (3+ Actively Drilled Projects)

Torque Metals’ (TOR-AU) 100%-owned Ritz Gold Project in Western Australia produced the year’s highest-ranked gold intercept on a grade x width basis, narrowly ahead of Fruta Del Norte. Hole 26HRC135 returned 11 m at 456.00 g/t Au from 122 m at the HHH deposit. A nearby follow-up diamond hole returned 7.9 m at 1.37 g/t Au, a sharp grade contrast that highlights potential short-range variability. Torque raised A$25 million in October (pro forma cash of A$32.7 million) to expand its drilling campaign. 

Figure 3. Top-10 Gold Drill Holes, Ranked by (Grade x Width), Jan – Sept 2026

Lundin Gold’s (LUG-CA) Fruta Del Norte (FDN) in Ecuador holds the second- and third-ranked gold intercepts globally year-to-date. The company's current year 133,000m drill program delivered eight top-100 intercepts this year, the most of any project in the dataset. The program's primary goals are extending mine life with the FDNS and FDN East target zones and advancing the emerging copper-gold porphyry corridor.

Figure 4. Fruta Del Norte - Drill Intercepts, 2023 – Present, Gold Grade vs Depth From, Log Scale 

Figure 5. Gold Projects, Ranked by # of Top-100 Intercepts, Jan – Sept 2026

Alamos Gold’s (AGI-CA) exploration program at Island Gold leads all properties (with a minimum of 1000m and 10 holes reported) in grade per meter drilled reported. Its results come from its $43 million 2026 exploration budget, up from $24 million in 2025. Island Gold's successful drill program has grown its main structure from under 2 million ounces of contained gold in 2017 to nearly 7 million ounces today, net of 1.7 million ounces produced.

Figure 6. Gold Projects, Ranked by Average Grade Per Meter, Jan – Sept 2026

Two other notable projects rank within the top-five projects both on an average grade per meter basis as well as breadth of top-100 intercepts.

New Found Gold’s (NFGC-CA) Queensway project delivered seven top-100 hits, one behind FDN, from its C$44M, 190-hole, 90,000 m drill program for 2026. The program's primary goal is resource conversion (Inferred → Indicated) to advance the project's phased PEA toward a targeted first ore delivery in Q4 2027. On October 22, New Found Gold published an updated mineral resource estimate of 1.92 Moz Au Measured and Indicated at 2.19 g/t Au, up 38%, plus 0.61 Moz Inferred, with a revised PEA showing an after-tax NPV(5%) of C$1.73 billion at US$3,600/oz gold.

Ramelius Resources’ (RMS-AU) Dalgaranga in Western Australia ranks third with six top-100 hits and delivered the highest-grade result of any intercept wider than 3 m in the dataset, 3.4 m at 996.0 g/t Au from hole DUG26060. Its current 63,000m underground campaign aims to establish Gilbey's Underground as a second mine alongside Never, displacing low-grade mill feed. With this addition, together with upgrades elsewhere in the hub, Ramelius updated FY30 group production guidance to 560–610 koz Au, up from 500–550 koz Au previously.

Copper

Regionally, New South Wales in Australia has the highest grade among the eight copper regions with three or more actively drilled projects (at least 500 m and ten holes reported), averaging 0.48% Cu across 26 projects, 1.4 times the global figure (0.34% Cu). San Juan, Argentina remains a standout copper discovery corridor, contributing 33 of the year's top 100 copper results across NGEx Minerals' Lunahuasi and the Altar project.

Figure 7. Copper: Top 5 Regions by Average Grade Per Meter (3+ Actively Drilled Projects)

DPM Metals’ (DPM-CA) exploration efforts near its Chelopech mine in Bulgaria produced the year’s highest-ranked copper intercept on a grade x width basis: hole EX_BRESPO_03 at the Brevene South porphyry returned 1,054 m at 1.20% Cu and 1.20 g/t Au from 1,172 m, 3.7%. Brevene South is a new gold-copper-molybdenum porphyry discovery in 2026 now shown to extend onto the Chelopech mine concession. DPM outlined an alteration envelope exceeding 500 m x 500 m x 1,000 m, open to the north, south, west and at depth, and plans further delineation drilling in 2027.

NGEx Minerals’ (NGEX-CA) Lunahuasi leads all projects this year with 17 top-100 copper results, one ahead of Altar (16), and holds six of the year’s top-10 copper holes (ranks 2, 3, 5, 6, 9 and 10), including the second- and third-ranked (DPDH063: 1,768 m at 0.69% Cu; DPDH064: 1,540 m at 0.79% Cu). The project has rapidly emerged as one of the most significant copper-gold projects globally since its 2023 discovery. Its Phase 4 program extended the porphyry system, with the deposit now encompassing four distinct styles of mineralisation across a volume measuring at least 1,100 m strike x 1,200 m width x 1,200 m depth, open in all directions. The Phase 5 program is scheduled to begin in Q4 2026.

Figure 8. Lunahuasi - Drill Intercepts, 2023 – Present, Copper Grade vs Depth From, Linear Scale

Figure 9. Top-10 Copper Drill Holes, Ranked by (Grade x Width), Jan – Sept 2026

Figure 10. Copper Projects, Ranked by # of Top-100 Intercepts, Jan – Sept 2026

Altar (16 top-100 results), Valeriano (10), Fruta Del Norte (10, from its copper-gold porphyry corridor) and Cobrasco (6) follow, ranking at the 66th, 73rd, 59th and 70th percentiles of all projects by grade. No copper project ranks in the top 5 on both grade and breadth. The projects that rank highest on average grade are all Volcanic-Massive-Sulphide systems compared to Copper-Gold Porphyry’s above.

FireFly Metals’ (FFM-CA) Ming - Green Bay in Newfoundland leads all copper projects in grade per meter drilled, with a minimum of 1,000m and 10 holes reported, averaging 2.93% Cu across 120 holes and 2,457 m, the 98th percentile of all projects. The August 2026 preliminary economic assessment outlines a 1.8 Mtpa base case with an after-tax NPV (7% discount rate) of about A$2.2 billion, an IRR of 41%, a mine life of about 32 years and payback of 1.9 years. A feasibility study with a maiden reserve and updated resource estimate is planned for Q1 2027.

Figure 11. Copper Projects, Ranked by Average Grade Per Meter, Jan – Sept 2026

Conclusion

2026's exploration results underscore exceptional execution at marquee projects: Lundin Group's Fruta Del Norte and Lunahuasi dominate rankings with eight and seventeen top-100 intercepts respectively. Emerging high-grade systems such as FireFly's Ming-Green Bay VMS and DPM's Brevene South porphyry signal robust near-term copper development opportunities.

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