Meridian Mining (LSE:MNO), the London-listed explorer developing the Cabaçal gold-copper-silver project in Mato Grosso, Brazil, has drilled multiple stacked layers of gold-copper-silver and zinc-lead mineralisation below its Santa Helena resource area.
Peak assays reached 7.31g/t gold and 71.7g/t silver, and the hole intercepted a second, deeper copper-dominant layer grading up to 1.6% copper 13.6 metres below the main horizon.
Drill hole CD-878 returned 11.3 metres at 0.8g/t gold, 0.2% copper, 17.6g/t silver, 3.4% zinc and 0.6% lead from 199.8 metres, including a 4.4 metre section grading 1.7g/t gold and 5.8% zinc, with visible gold present in the interval.
The upper zone is interpreted as a 90-metre down-dip widening of the previously reported CD-869 intersection, with mineralisation remaining open in all directions and a borehole electromagnetic survey planned to guide follow-up drilling.
"The quickest way to build further resource tonnes at Santa Helena is by drilling thick layers of mineralisation," said CEO Gilbert Clark, adding that CD-878's lower copper-rich layer was "exciting."
Meridian has also begun its first reconnaissance programmes across the Jauru and Araputanga greenstone belts, where it holds 66,552 hectares alongside 51,826 hectares in the Cabaçal Belt, with 147 landholder agreements now signed.
The company expects those regional programmes to accelerate later this year and into 2027, ahead of the anticipated publication of Cabaçal's definitive feasibility study.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
Meridian has extended Santa Helena's mineralisation vertically, discovering stacked VMS layers with a second copper-rich horizon 13.6 metres below the main gold-silver zone, while keeping both zones open in all directions. This directly addresses the company's stated strategy—CEO Clark noted that thick layered mineralisation is 'the quickest way to build further resource tonnes'—and expands the exploration upside across 118,378 hectares of greenstone belts where reconnaissance is now underway, ahead of the Cabaçal definitive feasibility study.
The discovery of stacked, open-ended mineralisation at depth strengthens the case for a larger Santa Helena resource and validates the VMS model across the broader licence package. However, resource expansion alone does not advance the path to production; the material test remains the feasibility study and project finance, both still in progress.
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