On June 8, 2026, Bell Copper reported that the Company and its joint venture partner, Cordoba Minerals Corp., have approved a 2026 exploration program of 1,700m of drilling at the Perseverance Copper Project in Arizona, USA.
Beyond the Headline
On June 8, 2026, Bell Copper reported that the Company and its joint venture partner, Cordoba Minerals Corp., have approved a 2026 exploration program of 1,700m of drilling at the Perseverance Copper Project in Arizona, USA. Cordoba has also confirmed that its earn-in at the Perseverance Copper Project has ended without Cordoba earning an additional interest, meaning the Project is a 51/49 joint venture with Bell Copper.
The announced 2026 exploration program at Perseverance is focused on testing the potential for supergene enrichment at depth. Three (3) existing drill holes originally drilled by Rio Tinto will be deepened to reach IP chargeability anomalies interpreted to be potential supergene chalcocite blankets. All three historic holes (K-13, K-19 and K-23; Figures 1 and 2) were stopped in goethite-hematite leached cap rocks beneath a young, 20-million-year-old basalt flow covering Proterozoic and Laramide basement rocks. The Company notes that in Arizona this is indicative of the potential for copper-rich chalcocite replacing pyrite and chalcopyrite below the leached cap rock. The goal is to identify the potential for a high-grade copper deposit at Perseverance that can be mined by similar underground mining methods to the Santa Cruz deposit that is currently being developed by Cordoba’s majority shareholder, Ivanhoe Electric Inc., at Casa Grande south of Phoenix.
Ivanhoe Electric’s Santa Cruz deposit will be a significant long-term U.S. producer of copper cathode to help meet domestic demand. Probable Mineral Reserves are 136 million tonnes at a grade of 1.08% copper, totaling 1.5 million tonnes of contained copper, which will support a 23-year mine life at a 20,000 tonnes per day production rate. Copper recoveries using conventional on/off heap leaching over the mine life are projected at 92.2%. Annual production of 72,000 tonnes of copper cathode is projected for the first 15 years of mining. Estimated cash costs of $1.32 per pound of copper are projected over the life of mine. Capital cost is $1.24 billion. Construction is expected to start in the first half of 2026 with first copper cathode production in 2028.
Bell Copper also plans to drill hole K-24 to test two distinct, stacked targets with a single drillhole. Located immediately to the west of State Highway 93 (Figure 1), this hole will be drilled through water-saturated sand and gravel deposits to test the source of a broad, magnetotelluric (MT) resistivity low potentially indicative of conductive sulphide (“Eastern MT Anomaly”), and which was originally identified in 2020.
The total 2026 exploration program budget is approximately US$1.7M, including up to 1,700m of drilling, of which Bell Copper is responsible for funding 49%. Drilling is not expected to commence until required permits have been obtained, which is not anticipated prior to late Q3 2026.
Comments
Supergene enriched blankets are always a very attractive target because of the typical high grades with chalcocite, the principal copper mineral, containing 80% copper. Based on the historic drill holes which intersected goethite-hematite leached cap rocks and the strong chargeability anomalies immediately below the leached, this is a well-conceived program technically. Copper grades comparable to that at Santa Cruz will, however, need to be intersected to outline a potentially economic underground resource. This project will definitely be an interesting one to follow later this year once drilling permits are received.
Figure 1
Source: Bell Copper
Drill Hole Locations and Plan for the 2026 Exploration Program at the Perseverance Copper Project, Bell Copper press release June 8, 2026.
Figure 2
Source: Bell Copper
NNW-SSE AA’ cross-section through K-15, K-19, K-13 & K-14, Bell Copper press release June 8, 2026.
