New Copper Potential at Canyon Prospect
Austral Resources Australia announced a major copper oxide discovery at its Canyon Prospect, situated less than four kilometres from the company’s Mt Kelly facility in Queensland’s Mt Isa region. The announcement came on 19th June 2026.
Significant copper intercepts were revealed by initial drilling results, including 24 metres at 1.03 per cent copper, with a high-grade section of 14 metres at 1.60 per cent copper. Additional results showed 57 metres at 0.44 per cent copper from a depth of four metres.
Chairman David Newling remarked, “Discoveries of this scale and proximity to existing infrastructure are uncommon. Rather than requiring significant investment in new processing facilities or long haulage distances, Canyon has the potential to leverage infrastructure already in place at Mt Kelly.”
Potential for Future Operations
The Canyon Prospect’s copper oxide system spans a strike length of over 1.2 kilometres, covering Canyon North, Central, and South areas. Mineralisation remains open in all directions, pointing to further exploration opportunities.
Concealment beneath transported cover and silcrete largely hid the discovery from previous explorers. Identified as a sediment-hosted copper deposit, the system is known for forming extensive mineralised zones.
Austral Resources plans follow-up drilling, metallurgical testwork, and step-out programmes to further define the copper system’s extent and continuity across all three prospect areas.
Operating a copper cathode production facility at Mt Kelly with a capacity of 30,000 tonnes per annum, the company recently expanded its capabilities by acquiring the Rocklands Facility. This expansion enables processing of both copper sulphides and oxides.
Mineralisation confirmed over a 1.2km strike extent across three prospect areas: Canyon North, Central, and South. The system remains open in all directions, indicating considerable exploration upside.
The maiden drilling at Canyon Prospect confirmed a large copper oxide system, which is less than 4km from Austral’s Mt Kelly Heap Leach and SX-EW facility. This discovery represents high-grade oxide mineralisation with intercepts like 24m at 1.03% Cu and 14m at 1.60% Cu.
Canyon’s potential to provide future feed directly into Austral’s existing processing infrastructure could avoid the need for new capital-intensive facilities. As the mineralisation remains open in all directions, considerable exploration upside is expected.
Last updated: 19 June 2026, 2:15 pm
