Coppernico Metals Inc. (COPR:TSX; CPPMF:OTCQB) provided an update on the first phase of the 2025 diamond drill program at its Sombrero copper-gold project in Peru, including the delineation of two new targets, according to a news release. Coppernico's wholly owned, private Peruvian subsidiary, Sombrero Minerales SAC, is doing the drilling.
“Drilling to date has been completed under budget and on time and is continuously providing valuable insights into our thesis that a large, mineralized skarn system could be present," Coppernico Chair and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ivan Bebek said in the release. "Our knowledge of the controls of the system and the vectoring towards key mineralized areas of the skarn continue to improve."
This first phase of drilling is focused solely on the Ccascabamba skarn-porphyry system at Sombrero, including the Hojota, Corrales, Chumpi and Escondida targets, the news release explained. To date, 17 (over 7,100 meters) of 20 planned holes were drilled. Sombrero Minerales is working on the next hole and will continue until the remaining three are drilled.
"The phase one drilling campaign has delivered results in line with the company's exploration thesis, with intercepts confirming the presence of mineralization and each additional drill hole helping vector towards higher-grade zones," noted Bebek. Coppernico has confirmed the magnetic anomalies correlate to causative intrusion boundaries that contain mineralized zones.
Coppernico identified two additional targets for exploration that highlight district-scale potential. One is the Tipicancha epithermal target, southwest of Ccascabamba. The other is the Antapampa target, an iron-skarn occurrence 1.5 kilometers north of Nioc.
In addition, holes 14 through 17 intersected mineralization, suggesting a potential extension of the high-priority zone in Hojota previously identified with last year's hole 24SOM-004. However, assays for this recent quartet of holes, as well as others, are pending.
In other news, Coppernico's Bebek and technical team are participating in the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Conference, which is underway now through March 5.
Expanding a Prolific Copper Belt
With its ongoing drill program at Sombrero in Peru, targeting Ccascabamba for starters, Coppernico Metals Inc. is working to extend the world-class Andahuaylas-Yauri copper-gold skarn and porphyry mining belt through discoveries, according to its March 2025 Corporate Presentation.
It will be "a billion dollar-plus idea if it works," if the company has drill success and is able to prove up even just half the resource of the Ccascabamba target alone, Steven Therrien, senior mining analyst at 3L Capital, wrote in a recent report.
He explained that Coppernico, when it spun out of Auryn Resources in 2020, had narrowed its land position in Peru to the most promising pieces of ground, each having strong geological indications that a large-scale copper mineralizing system is or might be present from surface. This resulted from years of the company's thorough mapping, geochemical sampling, age dating, geophysics, and social efforts.
Sombrero, in the western extension of the Andahuaylas-Yauri, contains several copper-gold skarn and porphyry systems along with precious metal epithermal deposits. In terms of rock type, scale, mineralization style, and age, Sobrero is analogous to MMG Ltd.'s (MMLTF:OTCMKTS) Las Bambas, the world's 11th largest copper-producing mine, and other large mines in the area. They include Glencore International Plc's (GLNCY:OTCMKTS; GLEN:LSE) Antapaccay, Altair Minerals Ltd.'s (ALR:ASX) Vanatica, and HudBay Minerals Inc.'s (HBM:TSX; HBM:NYSE) Constancia.
Andahuaylas-Yauri is a prolific, globally significant, 300-kilometers long geological trend that hosts Tier 1 copper deposits, Investing News Network described.
"The belt stands out due to its simplicity in discovering these globally significant deposits which typically occur at the margin contact of the Batholith Intrusive," noted INN.
Coppernico, headquartered in British Columbia, remains fully funded for this year's planned work, having completed a CA$19.37 million (CA$19.37M) financing secured last year,, including CA$8.77M from Teck Resources Ltd. (TECK:TSX; TECK:NYSE).
While advancing Sombrero, Coppernico's management is reviewing other projects in South America, aiming to expand the company's portfolio and thereby offer more value to shareholders and reduce risk, the company said.
Coppernico had a productive 2024. Along with completing a financing and an inaugural drill program at Sombrero, and reporting its first drill results, it got listed and began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange and OTCQB, the company said.
Copper: More Growth Ahead
The world is seeing copper supply increasingly unable to keep pace with demand, noted a recent Sprott Special Report. In just two short years, according to a CRU Consulting forecast shared at the annual Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference going on now, demand will start exceeding supply, reported Mining.com on March 2.
"This creates a compelling investment thesis for copper, with investors able to gain exposure through exchange-traded funds, mining stocks and futures contracts," noted Crux Investor on Feb. 24.
By 2050, BHP analysts project copper demand will have reached 50,000,000 tons per year, reflecting a 70% increase from now and 2% growth each year on average. They said they see demand come from three key areas: energy transition (electrification, electric vehicles, wind and solar power, and grid storage and augmentation), digital (data centers, 5G, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and blockchain) and traditional economic growth.
"Today, we estimate that the traditional vs. energy transition vs. digital split of global copper demand is around 92%-7%-1%," the analysts added. "By 2050, we predict the split to have evolved to 71%-23%-6%."
New copper supply is falling short of demand due to multiple factors, the Sprott report noted, such as production disruptions, declining ore grades, long project lead times, regulatory hurdles, capital requirements and depletion. Other obstacles, Ahead of the Herd's Richard Mills pointed out recently, include events like strikes and protests, wars and moves toward resource nationalism.
"If the world is going to continue to where it needs to be, we need to find more copper," David Stang, CEO of Ero Copper Corp. (ERO:NYSE), said during a panel discussion at PDAC. To do that, the copper price must be higher.
Experts expect that the price, up 18% so far this year and most recently US$4.57 per pound (US$4.57/lb), will continue climbing. The Economy Forecast Agency forecasts the year-end copper price in 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2028 to be US$4.62/lb, US$5.61/lb, US$6.42/lb, and US$7.33/lb, respectively.
JP Morgan estimates the price next year will average about US$11,000 per metric ton, or US$4.99/lb, Reuters reported on March 3. Also, the bank indicated, it expects at least a 10%, and potentially 25%, tariff on U.S. refined copper and copper product imports to be implemented by late Q3/25. Last week, Citi said it anticipates a 25% tariff in the same time frame, noted Reuters. Markets.com wrote that U.S. tariffs on copper imports could pull down the copper price over time.
The value of the copper market, however, is projected to grow through 2030, according to Research and Markets, at a 5.4% compound annual growth rate, reaching US$368.8 billion (US$368.8B) from US$269B in 2024.
The Catalysts: Drill Results, Phase Two
In the coming weeks, Coppernico expects to announce additional 2025 drill results, according to the news release.
Once the last three holes of 2025's phase one drilling are completed, Coppernico will temporarily pause drilling to optimize capital allocation, review data, update its technical knowledge base, and receive expanded permits before starting on phase two. These permits, for which the company applied earlier this year, would allow an increase in the number of holes to be drilled at Sombrero and would extend the boundaries permitted for drilling to include Fierrazo and Tipicancha. Along with these, the company plans to cover the Chumpi and Escondida South targets in phase two drilling as well.
"With a 100,000-hectare land position, we have barely scratched the surface of this district," Bebek said.
Worth a Look by Investors
According to 3L Capital's Therrien, "Coppernico is one of the best copper discovery drill stories one can currently participate in." It flagship asset Sombrero has all the essentials to become a globally significant, world-class project, he wrote after visiting the site in 2024.
In recent research reports, the analyst highlighted Sombrero's favorable geology, positive early drill results, the project location's suitability for an open-pit mine, nearby infrastructure, and the company's strong balance sheet.
Ownership and Share Structure
According to Refinitiv, six strategic entities own 15.08% of Coppernico Metals. Of these, the Top 3 are Teck Resources with 9.9%, Coppernico CEO Ivan Bebek with 3.49%, and Coppernico Director Jeffrey Mason with 1.13%. Institutional ownership amounts to 0.13%, and the rest is in retail.
The Canadian explorer has 177.3 million (177.3M) outstanding shares and 150.56M free float traded shares.
Its market cap is CA$24.52M. Its 52-week trading range is CA$0.19−CA$0.54 per share.
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