Morning Briefing: Copper Maintains Momentum, Ivanhoe Electric

SPEAKER_1 (0:02)

Good morning, and welcome back to the Mining Stock Daily Morning Briefing, presented by the Clear Commodity Network, and delivering today's top news in mining and mineral exploration. From the new ClearCom studios, here's your host, Trevor Hall.

Michael McCray (0:17)

Good morning, and welcome back to Mining Stock Daily Morning Briefing. I am Michael McCray filling in for Trevor Hall. It is Wednesday, September 23rd. The United States' stock futures remain relatively flat, to slightly positive, dropping oil prices have been a positive, while the hawkish stance by the Fed is tempering stock gains. Copper is having a good September. The metal is hovering around $6.73 per pound. It recently extended a multi-session rally, gaining roughly 2% to 3% over the past month, and remaining up more than 40% year over year. Last week, the US Metals News reported that Chile, the world's dominant producer, had its weakest second quarter output in at least 19 years, and full year production forecast is cut for a second consecutive quarter. Tariffs have also helped push the metal higher. Gold is right again, down 0.78% today to 4,342. The metal is off 7% for the month. We will get to the news from the miners and explorers in a moment, but first, a mention of today's sponsor. Today's episode of Mining Stock Daily is brought to you by Equinox Gold.

Equinox Gold is a growth-focused gold producer operating mines across the Americas with cornerstone assets like Greenstone Mine in Ontario and Valentine Gold Project in Newfoundland and Labrador. Equinox is advancing a new generation of large-scale long-life gold operations. Learn more about their portfolio and development pipeline at equinoxgold.com. Here's what you need to know today. Ivanhoe's Electric 2026 Preliminary Feasibility Study for its 100% owned Santa Cruz Copper Project in Arizona outlines a high-grade underground mine with heat bleach processing to produce copper cathode without smelting. The initial, with initial capital of $1.43 billion, a 1.08% life of mine grade, C1 costs of $1.47 pound, all in sustaining costs of $2.28 per pound, and an average output of about 75,000 tons a year over a first 15 years with first cathode targeted for 2029 The headline after-tax NPV of $3.5 billion and a 30% IRR rests on a spot copper price of $6.79 per pound, while the study's own $4.75 base case cuts those figures to an NPV of $1.5 billion, a 19% IRR and a 4.8-year payback. Integra Resources reported a new near-mine drill results producing Florida Canyon Mine in Nevada, building on the 74% mineral reserve increase in its July 2026 technical report and 30 140-meters RC drilling completed so far this year. The strongest intercepts came from the inter-pit saddle between central and radio tower pits, including 1.3 grams per ton gold over 62.5 meters and 0.59 grams per ton over 167.6 meters, while the newly accessible Madre Shira North target beneath the north dump returned 0.48 grams per ton gold over 54.9 meters. CEO George Salamis called these some of the best intercepts since Integra acquired the mine and the company plans 7,000 meters of drilling at the Standard Mine area 8 kilometers south to test targets outside the current footprint.

Dryden Gold's whole DGR-058 at Gold Rock in Ontario returned 7.88 grams per tonne gold over 12.7 meters at about 65 meters true depth including 46.05 grams per tonne over 1.9 meters which the company says confirms high-grade continuity over 350 meters of strike at its Alora structure between Jubilee and Pearl Zones. Through intervals or core lengths with unknown true widths and uncut assays and at the 1.9 meter high-grade core accounts for most of the holes roughly 100 gram meters. CEO Trey Wasser said that the near-surface continuity and down-plunge successes, including 1.35 grams per ton over 12 meters at about 300 meters depth on a BM-1 structure, now allows the company to begin evaluating open pit potential at a system that has grown from 3 mineralized structures to 15 over the 2025-2026 drill programs.

Tocvan Ventures reported that hole JES-26-175 and its El Mezquite trend on its Grand Pillar project in Sonora returned 160.8 meters of 0.5 grams per ton gold and 3.5 grams per ton silver within a broader 271.5 meter envelope of 0.26 grams per ton gold starting at 1.5 down hole and 130 meters north of the August Discovery Hole. It is the third significant hole along a corridor now traced for roughly 1,400 meters and open along strike. And depth is sitting at 1.6 to 1.9 kilometers east of the company's primitive 50,000 ton heap leach pilot facility with true widths estimated at 60 to 80% of the drilled widths. Brixton Metals assigned an option to acquire 100% of the 1,460 hectare Silvergruvan silver polymetallic property in Sweden's Bergsland District from an arm's-length vendor at McKnight Resources, a historical mining area dating from the 1600s that the company compares geologically to Bollidan's Grassberg Mine, where silver made up 47% of 2025 revenue. Brixton can earn the property over three years by issuing 1.5 million in shares, priced at no less than 50 cents and spending 3.3 million on exploration, after which McKnight retains a 2% NSR.