Shaw and Partners has maintained its buy recommendation and $1.20 share price target for FireFly Metals Ltd (ASX:FFM) after the company struck broad intersections of high-grade copper during drilling at its Green Bay Copper-Gold Project in Canada.
The copper and gold exploration company released the first assays from the project that contained very high copper and gold grades over substantial widths.
Notably, the latest round of drilling has extended the known volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) mineralisation at the Green Bay resource by a further 350 metres down plunge.
FireFly Metals shares are currently trading at $0.54 with a market cap of about $200 million.
READ: FireFly Metals hits up to 19.4% copper equivalent at Green Bay Copper-Gold Project, Canada
“The results from the drill program at Green Bay to date are highly encouraging,” Shaw and Partners said.
“FireFly has discovered new structures outside the existing resource envelope and extended known mineralisation by 350 metres.
“A resource update is expected in September quarter.
"The resource is large and the grade compares well with comparative exploration stage projects.”
The following are extracts from the research firm’s report.
Core drivers and catalyst
At Green Bay, Auteco's initial focus will be to grow the resource base as quickly as possible in order to gain an immediate value uplift for shareholders. At Pickle Crow, FireFly will continue its strategy of defining high-grade gold near the ‘headframe’ and across its district-scale and underexplored landholding, with a current focus on unlocking the vast regional exploration potential of the 500 square kilometres of tenure in the Northern Pickle Lake greenstone belt.
FireFly is exploring in two highly prospective but lightly explored regions. Newfoundland and Ontario are host to numerous gold and copper deposits. There are many historical drill intercepts showing mineralisation that have not been followed up by a modern, systematic exploration program.
Green Bay has the potential to supply copper into a market characterised by looming supply shortages and growing demand driven by global efforts to de-carbonise the global economy. Pickle Crow is a very high-grade project. The existing high-grade quartz vein resource is 9.8 g/t, which makes it the highest-grade gold project from a selection of ASX-listed gold explorers.
Green Bay is located in Newfoundland, Canada, which also has an established and well regarded legislative, tax and financial structure. Pickle Crow is located in a Tier 1 mining region with access to road, power and water.
FireFly’s purchase of Green Bay in September 2023 for $65 million in cash and shares was a notable pivot to copper from gold previously given Green Bay has a resource of 39.2 million tonnes at 2.1% for 811,000 tonnes of copper equivalent, 68% measured and indicated.
FireFly has over $22 million in cash, leaving it well funded for future work programs.