Hawk Resources Hits Copper in 13 of 16 Holes With Lab Assays Due October
Key Takeaways
- Hawk Resources completed the Cactus Corridor programme with visible copper mineralisation intersected in 8 of 11 holes, and 13 of 16 holes across the full corridor programme to date.
- The headline pXRF spot reading of 35.5% copper in hole DD26CT016 at 45.2m downhole confirms chalcopyrite presence, but is a field reading only — laboratory assay results from ALS Nevada are the material catalyst, expected October 2026.
- The final hole DD26CT016 intersected a 45m downhole zone of visible copper mineralisation at the northwestern end of historical Cactus mine drilling, indicating the system is open towards the New Years prospect with 250m of undrilled ground between them.
- Hawk's own 2024 drilling at New Years already returned 26m @ 1.3% Cu and 30m @ 0.78% Cu from surface, meaning near-surface copper mineralisation is confirmed at both ends of the 1km Cactus Corridor.
- If October assays are positive, Hawk has outlined a clear pathway to Q4 2026 next-phase drilling design and resource delineation drilling in H1 2027.
Copper shows up in eight of eleven holes as Cactus Corridor drilling wraps up
Hawk Resources (ASX: HWK) has completed its Cactus Corridor drilling programme at the Cactus copper-gold project in Utah, USA. Visible copper mineralisation was intersected in 8 of the 11 holes drilled during the programme, which tested the 550m Comet-Cactus zone for near-surface mineralisation. The headline pXRF spot reading came in at 35.5% copper in hole DD26CT016 at 45.2m downhole — though it is critical to note this is a portable XRF field reading, not a laboratory assay result. All samples have been submitted to ALS laboratories in Nevada, with results expected in early October 2026.
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What the Cactus Corridor drilling found
Strong copper across the final five holes
The final five holes of the programme, DD26CT012 through DD26CT016, targeted the Cactus zone within the broader Cactus Corridor. Four of the five intersected visible copper mineralisation. The mineralisation style is dominated by chalcopyrite occurring in veinlets, veins, fractures, coarse blebs, and disseminations within tourmaline breccia and altered quartz monzonite intrusive.
Hole DD26CT013 did not intersect significant visual mineralisation. The announcement interprets this as the hole having passed either above or marginal to the tourmaline breccia target, noting it traversed a highly fractured zone with narrow zones of green chloritic alteration that may indicate proximity to breccia-hosted mineralisation.
The zone is open — and that’s the key finding
The most significant result from a programme-scale perspective came from DD26CT016, the final hole drilled at the northwestern end of historical Cactus mine drilling. It intersected a 45m down-hole zone of visible copper mineralisation, indicating that the mineralised system is open towards the New Years prospect.
There is currently 250m of undrilled ground between DD26CT016 and New Years. That gap matters because Hawk’s own 2024 drilling at New Years returned 26m @ 1.3% Cu and 30m @ 0.78% Cu from surface, demonstrating that near-surface copper mineralisation already exists at the northwestern end of the corridor. The full Cactus Corridor extends approximately 1km from Comet in the southeast to New Years in the northwest.
Cactus Corridor copper-gold mineralisation has been building across successive Hawk drilling programmes, with earlier holes confirming near-surface grades that established the geological context for the current Cactus zone targeting.
The previously announced Hawk drilling intercepts along the corridor, which are laboratory-confirmed results and separate from the current pXRF readings, include:
- DD26CT003: 19.6m @ 1.25% Cu within 80m @ 0.48% Cu from surface
- DD26CT004: 10.4m @ 0.97% Cu within 72.9m @ 0.36% Cu from 18m below surface
- DD26CT005: 4.3m @ 2.2% Cu and 5.8m @ 1.4% Cu within 71.7m @ 0.45% Cu from 14m below surface
- NY2024DDH3: 8.0m @ 2.8% Cu within 26m @ 1.31% Cu from surface
Managing Director Scott Caithness described the significance of the final two holes:
Scott Caithness, Managing Director
“Strong visual copper mineralisation has again been intersected in Cactus Corridor drilling, this time in the Cactus Zone with spot pXRF grades of 35.5% copper confirming chalcopyrite mineralisation. The most exciting aspect of the drilling is the intersection of copper mineralisation in the last two holes, DD26CT015 & CT016 at the northwestern end of historical drilling into the Cactus deposit which indicates that the mineralisation zone is open towards New Years…”
Understanding what pXRF results mean for copper exploration
pXRF stands for portable X-ray fluorescence — a handheld field instrument that detects the presence and approximate concentration of metals in drill core on-site, without the delay of sending samples to a laboratory.
The key limitation for investors to understand: pXRF readings are not a substitute for laboratory assay results. They confirm that copper mineralisation is present, but they cannot determine representative grades or the true width of mineralised intervals. The announcement is explicit on this point, and it is standard industry practice to treat pXRF data as indicative only.
What the October lab results from ALS Nevada will provide is the actual grade and width data across the Cactus Corridor holes. That makes them the next material catalyst — the results that will either confirm or refine what the visual and pXRF data is pointing to. Hawk is drilling with HQ-sized diamond core, sampled at 2m intervals, which is industry-standard for this style of mineralisation.
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What comes next and why it matters for investors
The company has outlined a clear four-step sequence following the completion of drilling:
- Finalise all drill logs and hole sampling; all samples submitted to ALS Nevada (September 2026)
- Obtain and review assay results for all Cactus Corridor drill holes (October 2026)
- If assay results prove positive, design the next phase of Cactus Corridor drilling (Q4 2026)
- Carry out follow-up drilling aimed at delineating an initial resource at Cactus (H1 2027)
Across the full Cactus Corridor programme, near-surface copper mineralisation has now been identified in 13 of 16 Hawk holes drilled along the corridor. That breadth of hits across the system adds weight to the case that this is a coherent mineralised trend rather than isolated occurrences.
For historical context, the Cactus mine produced 1.3Mt grading 2.07% Cu, 0.33g/t Au, and 7.36g/t Ag between 1905 and 1920, providing a reference point for the grade potential of this district.
The investment logic is straightforward: October lab assays are the near-term binary catalyst. If results are positive, the company has indicated it will move into the Q4 2026 drilling design phase, with resource delineation drilling targeted for H1 2027.
The table below summarises the five holes from the current Cactus zone programme, with collar data verified from Appendix 1 of the source announcement.
| Hole ID | Length (m) | Azimuth (°) | Dip (°) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DD26CT012 | 108.51 | 217 | -50 | Completed |
| DD26CT013 | 92.81 | 212 | -51 | Completed |
| DD26CT014 | 136.86 | 210 | -50 | Completed |
| DD26CT015 | 102.71 | 230 | -50 | Completed |
| DD26CT016 | 96.32 | 220 | -50 | Completed |
Source: Hawk Resources ASX Announcement, 4 September 2026, Appendix 1
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