Kincora nabs another drilling grant as NSW gets hungrier for critical minerals

Kincora Copper has again won highly sought-after exploration funding from the NSW government to undertake drilling of the emerging Southern Extension Zone discovery at the brownfield Trundle project.

Kincora Copper (ASX:KCC) has been awarded a $100,000 grant under round five of the NSW government’s Frontiers Exploration program to go towards the next phase of drilling at the Southern Extension Zone discovery in the mineral-rich Lachlan Fold Belt.

Copper is key in the electrification of the globe, with the sector witnessing substantial M&A activity as majors look to shore up supply, a move that has seen the price of the red metal advance nearly 20% since the middle of 2022.

The copper market’s available inventory is normally marked in months or weeks, however current levels are at record lows with mere days of supply.

“Copper is a key pillar of the NSW government’s Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Strategy,” CEO Sam Spring said.

“Recent discoveries in both the Macquarie Arc and Cobar Superbasin highlight the significant potential for further new globally significant copper projects within NSW’s Lachlan Fold Belt.”

Kincora previously successfully beat many other applicants to lock in just shy of $400,000 for its Fairholme, Jemalong and Nevertire projects back at the start of 2022.

This is in addition to a further $120,000 secured for its Nyngan project in 2021, with Kincora having approximately $500,000 of cooperative funding drilling grants currently up its sleeve that are expected to be utilised in the next 12 months.

Spring said the New Frontiers Exploration Program and $130m Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Activation Fund provided material financial assistance and sent a strong pro-investment and pro-exploration message to all stakeholders.

The NSW government has awarded $28m of funding grants under stream two of the Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Activation Fund and round Five of the New Frontiers Exploration Program.

“The awards follow a competitive expert panel review process of applications, which were again in high demand,” Spring noted.

“We feel this provides another independent validation of the emerging and very exciting Southern Extension Zone discovery at our flagship Trundle project.”

This latest drilling grant will go towards following up the highest-grade primary mineralisation hit so far from the Trundle project of 2m at 19.9 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 2.43% copper, within a broader zone of 34m at 1.45g/t gold and 0.25% copper.

Spring said the next hole at the Southern Extension Zone will test two settings for the porphyry source of what Kincora believes was the largest mineralised skarn system in NSW, with the size of the skarn representative of the size of the porphyry source.

These settings are similar to the respective Big Cadia skarn to Cadia Quarry porphyry and Little Cadia skarn to Cadia Far East porphyry settings.

The Southern Extension Zone is one of five adjacent system and separate large-scale porphyry targets to be tested in the next phase of drilling across an existing 3.2km mineralised strike, which remains open, at the Trundle project.

The next phase of drilling at Trundle is scheduled to begin in January with the company well-funded and positioned to undertake the high impact and high conviction program.

Kincora recently added $2.4m in fresh cash to its coffers following an oversubscribed placement and CEO Sam Spring outlined in an interview last week the highlights of 2022 and what investors should expect in 2023.

This article was developed in collaboration with Kincora Copper (ASX:KCC), a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.