Narryer Metals Eyes Chile Copper Growth With Redhill Acquisition and 49Mt Target
Key Takeaways
- Narryer Metals is acquiring 100% of the Redhill Copper Project in Chile via 20 million new shares plus a A$1.0 million milestone payment triggered on delineation of a 12Mt JORC Resource at 2% CuEq.
- The project already carries a JORC Inferred Mineral Resource of 4.3Mt at 1.7% Cu, 0.3g/t Au and 33g/t Ag across five deposits, providing a verified foundation for resource growth work.
- An Exploration Target of 16–49Mt at 1.2–2.6% Cu sits above the existing resource, with the milestone threshold of 12Mt sitting within the lower bound of that target range.
- High-grade intercepts from the Cutters-Ingleses suite include results of 12.4% Cu, 246g/t Ag and 0.4g/t Au, with mineralisation open and shown to extend beyond current strike length.
- A five-step field program is planned for January to May 2027, targeting new drill targets at Ingleses and Franceses and preparing for the first resource drilling program.
- ASX-listed 29Metals (ASX: 29M) is making a strategic A$1.0 million investment in Narryer at A$0.10 per share, providing both capital and vendor alignment against a market cap of just A$13.7M.
Narryer Metals acquires 100% of the Redhill Copper Project in Chile
In its September 2026 investor presentation, Narryer Metals (ASX: NYM) outlined an agreement to acquire 100% of Redhill Magallanes SpA, the entity that owns the Redhill Copper Project in southern Chile. The acquisition positions Narryer with an existing JORC Inferred Mineral Resource, a substantial Exploration Target, and a defined forward work program in one of the world’s premier copper jurisdictions.
The acquisition consideration (Transaction 1) comprises 20 million new Narryer shares, subject to a 12-month escrow, plus a milestone payment of A$1.0 million payable on delineation of a 12Mt JORC Resource at 2% CuEq. Separately (Transaction 2), ASX-listed 29Metals (ASX: 29M) has agreed to subscribe for approximately A$1.0 million in Narryer shares at A$0.10 per share, also subject to 12-month escrow. This is a strategic investment by 29Metals as vendor, not part of the acquisition consideration.
As part of the transaction, Narryer will retain the in-country technical team. Dean Hildebrand, Head of Investments at Mimaro Group (a major NYM shareholder), is proposed to join the Board as Non-Executive Director following completion. At the time of the presentation, Narryer held a cash balance of A$1.3M (as at 30 June 2026) and a market capitalisation of A$13.7M (as at 18 September 2026).
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What is a JORC Inferred Mineral Resource, and why does Redhill’s matter?
A JORC Inferred Mineral Resource is an independently estimated quantity of mineralisation that meets a minimum standard of geological evidence under the 2012 edition of the Australian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. “Inferred” is the lowest confidence classification, meaning geological continuity is implied rather than demonstrated — but it provides a verified foundation for exploration planning and resource growth work.
CuEq, or copper equivalent, combines the value of copper, gold and silver into a single comparable grade figure, allowing different metals to be assessed on an equivalent basis. It is used at Redhill because the deposit contains meaningful quantities of all three metals.
Redhill’s existing Inferred Mineral Resource stands at 4.3Mt @ 1.7% Cu, 0.3g/t Au and 33g/t Ag across five deposits. Beyond that, the project carries an Exploration Target of 16–49Mt @ 1.2–2.6% Cu, 0.4g/t Au and 34–55g/t Ag (1.8–3.3% CuEq). As required by the JORC Code: the Exploration Target is conceptual in nature, there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource.
Mineral Resource breakdown by deposit
The table below sets out the Inferred Mineral Resource across Redhill’s five deposits, as reported in the 29 Metals ASX announcements of 2 July 2021 and 28 February 2025.
| Deposit | Category | Tonnes (Mt) | Cu (%) | Au (g/t) | Ag (g/t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cristina | Inferred | 1.3 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 41 |
| Angelica | Inferred | 0.6 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 53 |
| Gorda | Inferred | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 56 |
| Cutters | Inferred | 0.3 | 3.0 | 0.1 | 51 |
| Franceses | Inferred | 1.7 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 14 |
| Total | Inferred | 4.3 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 33 |
A district-scale copper system in a world-class jurisdiction
Chile is among the world’s most established copper mining addresses, and its credentials are material to how you assess the quality of Narryer’s entry:
- Chile accounted for approximately 24% of global mined copper output in 2024
- The country’s mining exploration budget reached approximately US$875 million in 2025, the highest level since 2013, with copper representing around 76% of exploration spend
- Chile’s 2025–2034 mining investment pipeline totals approximately US$104.5 billion
- An established mining ecosystem of infrastructure, contractors, skilled workforce and smelters is already in place to support development activity
Within Chile, the Redhill Project sits in the under-explored Magallanes region, with the Cutters Cove area located approximately 110km southwest of Punta Arenas, accessible via barge through protected waters or by a 45-minute helicopter ride from Punta Arenas.
The project hosts two distinct mineralisation styles, each contributing differently to the resource growth thesis. Mesothermal veins — quartz-chalcopyrite shear-hosted structures 1 to 5 metres thick in Palaeozoic shale basement — are the source of the project’s high-grade copper, silver and gold credits, including the historic production at Cutters Cove (212kt of ore @ 1.72% Cu between 1970 and 1975). The boundary fault and sedimentary contact style, hosted at the unconformity between basement shales and overlying volcanic sediments and occurring as stockwork or sheeted veins up to 20 to 30 metres thick, was not mined historically and offers significant tonnage potential along the approximately 5km contact at Cutters Cove, which remains open at multiple locations.
The quality of the high-grade system is illustrated by results from the Cutters-Ingleses suite, which include intersections of 12.4% Cu, 246g/t Ag, 0.4g/t Au; 8.0% Cu, 214g/t Ag, 0.3g/t Au; and 8.1% Cu, 80g/t Ag. The mineralisation is open and has been shown in 2022 shallow drilling to extend beyond the current strike length.
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What comes next — the field program and the path to resource growth
The presentation detailed a five-step field program planned for January to May 2027, structured to define high-priority drill targets and establish a clear pathway to resource growth:
- Structural mapping and review of opportunities across the project
- Short-hole drilling to define new targets at Ingleses and Franceses
- Progress regulatory approvals for future resource drilling
- Review historical mining and metallurgical studies
- Prepare for the first resource drilling program
The expected program outcomes include defined high-priority drill targets, identification of new areas of mineralisation, and a pathway to grow the existing Inferred Mineral Resource.
The milestone payment structure gives you a concrete lens on near-term exploration ambition. The A$1.0 million payment to the vendor is triggered on delineation of a 12Mt JORC Resource at 2% CuEq — a target that is substantially larger than the current 4.3Mt resource and sits within the lower range of the Exploration Target. Successfully advancing towards that threshold would represent a significant step-change in the project’s resource base, though whether further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource remains uncertain at this stage.
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