Three Briggs assays confirm long intersections; mine-plan confidence remains unearned

Six Briggs infill holes totalling 2,082.6m were completed in the June quarter. By 4 August, approximately 2,300m had been drilled across seven holes, expanding the dataset for resource conversion and mine scheduling.

The first three assays reported on 4 August returned 322.3m at 0.17% Cu, 388.4m at 0.15% Cu and 400.5m at 0.13% Cu, broadly consistent with predicted grades. Higher-grade intervals included 86.9m at 0.23% Cu, 21.4m at 0.22% Cu and 139.1m at 0.17% Cu. The results support the 2026 infill objective, but do not establish commissioning or cash flow.

A 16-person camp was acquired for a second rig, with August commissioning outstanding. Current funding supports the programme underway, but not the requirements beyond it.

1. 01A further 34 infill holes and four exploration holes were planned for 2026.
2. 02Alma plans approximately 17,500m across 35 holes in 2027 for PFS engineering, mining and scheduling.
3. 03Consistent assays improve the technical dataset; second-rig delivery, completion of the drilling programme and funding beyond the current phase remain execution tests.

Briggs has the scale to support a mine-plan-relevant copper operation. The April 2025 MRE contains 932Mt at 0.21% Cu, including 137Mt Indicated and 793Mt Inferred, with approximately 2.0Mt copper, 73Mlb molybdenum and 16.5Moz silver at a referenced 0.15% Cu cut-off. August drilling returned continuous mineralisation over 322.3m at 0.17% Cu, 388.4m at 0.15% Cu and 400.5m at 0.13% Cu, supporting continuity rather than isolated discovery.

The East Kimberley venture profit-share remains bounded optionality because no numeric evidence supports standalone value. Briggs is consequently the only recognised interest with a quantified development base.

At 0.21% Cu, contained metal alone does not establish economic value. Throughput, recovery, strip ratio, power, water and logistics will determine how much of the resource can become payable production. The 2026 infill results support the existing grade model, but 793Mt remains Inferred and requires conversion into a mine-plan-relevant study base.

1. 01Rougher recoveries of 93-96% and locked-cycle recoveries of 93-95% support a conventional crush-grind-flotation route.
2. 02Scale-up and variability work remain necessary before those results can carry PFS-level engineering confidence.
3. 03Molybdenum and silver could improve payable revenue, but no standalone value is assigned without recoveries and payable terms.

PFS work covers recovery optimisation, coarse particle flotation, possible molybdenum processing, environmental baselines and waste/tailings characterisation. The 30Mtpa reference is aspirational, not a production target or reserve-based plan; reserve expansion and any build beyond the approved project remain unproven. Briggs therefore supports development-stage assessment, but should not carry full producer economics until PFS engineering confidence supports commissioning and first cash. The unresolved step is converting the resource and testwork into an operating plan.

The funding window is open but selective: the Federal Reserve funds target range was 3.50%-3.75% on 18 March 2026 and the US 10-year Treasury yield was 4.31% on 14 April 2026. Higher yields and periodic volatility limit indiscriminate junior-mining capital. We think this affects financing timing, not standalone project value.

Electrification, power-network and construction demand support the long-term copper case, but no dated benchmark, inventory series or quantified deficit is supplied to support a price forecast. Copper sentiment can improve strategic, JV or offtake interest, but cannot replace project economics, construction capital or permitting. The commodity backdrop therefore improves access only when company-specific execution supports it.

Current funding supports the technical programme rather than construction, commissioning or first production. Access to project debt, strategic or JV equity, or offtake prepayment remains conditional on the resulting study evidence.

1. 01Stronger company-specific evidence should increase the probability of external project capital and reduce reliance on ordinary equity.
2. 02Weaker markets would raise dilution risk, while stronger copper alone would not justify producer-style credit.
3. 03Macro conditions can improve financing timing; commissioning, first production and early cash flow remain the events that change valuation probability.

Remaining 2026 assays and completion of the 34-hole, approximately 10,000m Briggs infill programme are the immediate valuation events. An interim MRE with materially greater Indicated content would increase risked NAV credit by making mine scheduling more credible, while weaker conversion would keep Briggs largely outside the economic valuation universe.

The 2026-27 PFS must connect resource conversion with recoveries, comminution, mine scheduling, environmental baselines and waste/tailings design. The programme then extends into approximately 17,500m of drilling in 2027, making funding terms for that work a further valuation-relevant watch item.

Commissioning, first production and early cash flow are the final gates to producer credit. Delays would reduce the probability-weighted credit assigned to Briggs rather than merely defer a headline milestone.

The valuation path is therefore sequential: Indicated conversion, an integrated PFS, and then funded commissioning and first cash flow.