Critical Mineral Resources reported first assay results from its 2026 drilling at the Agadir Melloul project showing consistent, near‑surface copper mineralisation including multiple thick, high‑grade intercepts and said the programme is expected to lead to a maiden resource by Q3.
The drill programme is fully funded, has ramped to approximately 1,200m per month and forms part of CMR’s Morocco‑focused exploration and development push for critical minerals, with assays to be released every four to five weeks, the company said.
Notable results include 5m at 1.20% Cu, 0.77g/t Au and 1.42g/t from 24m; 3.7m at 1.76% Cu and 8.6g/t from 6.3m; and 4m at 1.20% Cu from 18m, with several intercepts averaging ~5m true width versus the company’s 2m target, which the company says supports an open‑pit scenario.
“These results continue to confirm a shallow, coherent copper system with widths and grades that are consistent with an open pit development scenario,” said Charlie Long, Chief Executive Officer.
Management retains a medium‑term exploration target of 25m tonnes, a figure the company describes as conceptual in nature requiring further work, and notes less than 3% of the project area has been drilled to date.
The company has received conversion notices totalling 78.99m shares, of which 35.12m were issued today, leaving its largest shareholder on a 28.5% holding and total voting rights of 376.7m, with remaining shares to be admitted after the AGM expected towards the end of June.
Near‑term technical milestones include metallurgical testwork in May-June, process flowsheet and preliminary plant design by July, geotechnical studies and an EIA submission by August, a maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate scheduled for Oct-Nov, and a target DFS and EIA approval by December.
