Transcription of The Stock Network Interview with Kincora Copper (ASX/TSXV: KCC), President and CEO, Sam Spring
Lel Smits: With the price of gold smashing through records this year and copper starting to follow suit, Kincora Copper continues to advance its portfolio of projects with a hybrid prospect generator strategy driven by both corporate and exploration milestones. The company has just recommenced drilling at the Nevertire magmatic complex following strong phase one results. This is within a total of eight projects and multiple catalysts across New South Wales, Macquarie’s Arc and Mongolia’s Southern Gobi.
I’m joined today by President and CEO Sam Spring to discuss how the upgraded Nevertire results and joint ventures with Anglo Gold Ashanti are accelerating Kincora’s momentum. Sam, welcome back to the Stock Network.
Sam Spring: Thank you for having us on.
Lel Smits: Now, phase one drilling has upgraded the immediate target at the Nevertire and drilling is now underway again. What have these results shown and also what are you now testing in this round?
Sam Spring: Yeah, and late last year we did our first drilling campaign in partnership with Anglo Gold at our Nevertire South projects. Historically, there was two really good holes by Newcrest in the centre of the Nevertire magmatic complex.
They had the right characteristics. Newcrest saw analogues directly to Cadia, to the Gunumbla, the North Park systems. We look to follow those up for the first time, having consolidated the northern strike and these eight holes have confirmed our thesis and upgraded those immediate targets.
They were widely spaced across a 5.4 kilometre area but really have confirmed our thesis that there is a big new mineralised system here, a new Macquarie Arc complex that is at attractive depths with all the right characteristics suggesting that we’re close to where you want to be. The copper gold results are proximal in terms of our interpretation relative to other systems and the drilling, as you mentioned, has recommenced, following up those vectors, giving us better clues of where to follow up, having upgraded those immediate targets, trying to hone in on making not only one but potentially multiple discoveries of new porphyry system cores.
Lel Smits: Excellent. Looking further at that expansion, in addition to the phase one drilling results, a review of prior explorer drill results, a new geophysics completed in December has expanded the total search area to more than 40 kilometres of prospective strike now. Can you outline what work is now underway to evaluate the larger footprint and also what that might mean going forward?
Sam Spring: Yeah, and what we’re really excited about is this is offering now not only one immediate high priority, really exciting target, but a new province scale potential. We’re onto one area that we think is very prospective, one new complex.
There are other complexes that have been drilled by previous explorers that have similar features to what we’ve just identified but haven’t been followed up. And then there’s also scope for areas that still haven’t ever had a drill hole into them. So what we’re looking to now do is systematically work up a 40 kilometre strike down to the south, taking existing drilling results, new geophysics, and then looking to prioritise that.
I’d expect that through the course of 2026, that will lead to further step out drilling from previous explorer holes, but also some new scout holes. So a really busy period in partnership with Anglo Gold Ashanti, not only at our Nevattia, Nevattia South projects, but also we’d expect to be coming back and drilling Ningen and potentially also Ningen South. So a pretty extensive work program that we’ve got ahead of us.
Lel Smits: Great to hear. And in the first 12 months of pursuing the prospect generator model, Kincora’s partners have now funded more than 7 million of exploration and over 16,000 metres of drilling with a strategy to see seven different licences drilled. How are investors likely to benefit from this model and also sole funded exploration in the year ahead?
Sam Spring: Yeah, and we’ve pursued this prospect generator project, generator model, where you’re able to have multiple shots on goal by not having all your eggs in one basket with one project, but having a proper portfolio.
And that’s what we’re starting to see as our partners ramp up that funding. And we’ve just talked about Anglo Gold Ashanti, and we’ve got a big pipeline there. But also in September last year, we were able to close a financing, North American led financing with a 12 month hold that supports us doing focused work on some of our own 100% own projects.
And some of the work that we just commenced last year, the results of that will come through this year. So we drilled a hole that our One Garben project results will come out this year. We did some airborne geophysics at our Condoblon project, the results will come out soon, we’ll come in and drill some priority targets that come of that.
Our other partners are doing work programs on some of our other projects. So that portfolio means that there’s a very busy pipeline of news flow and share price catalysts ahead of us, driven by exploration in the field, but also as we speak to other partners about further partnerships for our existing projects. Obviously, the copper price, the gold price is doing really well.
You’re seeing that improved sentiment towards the sector, but you’re also seeing the majors increasingly returning to growth. And we’re really well positioned on that front to benefit from that trend.
Lel Smits: Well, Sam, it’s great to get an update from Kincora Copper and I look forward to hearing more about that pipeline and news flow as the months progress.
Sam Spring: Thank you, Lel.
Ends