Hercules Metals (TSXV: BIG) has extended its Southern Flats copper porphyry discovery at the Hercules project in western Idaho, with a 200 metre step-out hole cutting close to 290 metres of mineralization in the first assays from its 2026 summer drill program.
The hole was collared west of discovery hole HER-25-25, which the company reported in May. Highlights from the results include:
- HER-26-01: 0.43% copper, 158 ppm molybdenum, 4.0 g/t silver and 0.03 g/t gold (0.58% copper equivalent) over 286.52 metres from a depth of 862.58 metres
- Including 0.61% copper, 89 ppm molybdenum, 11.3 g/t silver and 0.04 g/t gold (0.80% copper equivalent) over 65.54 metres from a depth of 862.58 metres
Southern Flats is the second porphyry centre identified on the property since Leviathan was discovered in 2023. Company modelling suggests the zone may be a roughly one kilometre southern extension of that system.
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Mapping places Southern Flats within a down-dropped fault block beneath thicker cover rock, though the model shows that cover thinning again to the south toward the largely untested Pegasus target. HER-26-01 ended in a lower-grade late porphyry intrusion, with mineralization interpreted on either side of it.
Chris Paul, senior vice president of exploration, said the discovery “provides a proof of concept” that the company now plans to apply at its Hook and Pegasus targets. He added that systematic exploration has so far covered only about 20% of Hercules’ 100,000-acre land position.
Assays are pending for HER-26-04. Two rigs are currently drilling HER-26-05 and HER-26-06, which are designed to push Leviathan south and fill a 1-kilometre gap in drilling between the two zones. Leviathan has been traced over more than 1.35 kilometres of strike and remains open to the north, south and at depth.
Hercules Metals last traded at $1.29 on the TSX Venture.
