White Cliff Minerals Hits Record 23.5% Cu as Danvers Zone Grows 220m
Key Takeaways
- Step-out hole DAN26036 returned 23m @ 6.18% Cu from 161m depth — matching the discovery hole in grade and exceeding it on grade-thickness product (142 vs 132 %Cu-m) at 105m lateral distance.
- A peak sample of 0.60m @ 23.50% Cu sets a new record assay for the entire Danvers prospect, with the high-grade zone remaining open towards surface and depth.
- High-grade chalcocite mineralisation is now confirmed over 220m of strike at Danvers 3, with 248m of untested ground still remaining between DAN26036 and the next drillhole to the southwest.
- A repeatable geological targeting model has been established, linking chalcocite mineralisation along the flanks of the Teshierpi Fault Zone to a strong magnetic gradient — improving drill targeting precision across the broader system.
- Multiple near-term catalysts are active simultaneously: assays pending for Danvers 1 (DAN26047, due 4–6 weeks) and Danvers 4 (DAN26044), plus step-out drilling targeting 500m+ gaps at Danvers 2 and 3.
Danvers 3 step-out delivers record copper grade and 220m strike extension
White Cliff Minerals has reported a standout step-out drilling result from the Danvers 3 target at its Rae Copper Project in Nunavut, Canada, with drillhole DAN26036 returning 23m @ 6.18% Cu and 13g/t Ag from 161m depth and confirming that high-grade chalcocite mineralisation extends more than 220m along strike from the original discovery hole.
The result is the first meaningful step-out from DAN26012, the discovery hole announced on 10 June 2026, and it materially expands the known Danvers 3 footprint. DAN26036 was collared 105m west of DAN26012 and intersected the mineralised zone well away from the discovery area, demonstrating that the high-grade breccia system is not localised but genuinely extensive.
The high-grade core within DAN26036 reached 3.90m @ 16.45% Cu and 31g/t Ag from 175.4m, including a peak sample of 0.60m @ 23.50% Cu and 44g/t Ag — the highest copper assay returned from the Danvers prospect to date. A further 248m of strike remains untested between DAN26036 and the next drillhole to the southwest, and the mineralised zone remains open towards surface and depth.
Troy Whittaker, Managing Director
“DAN26036 is exactly the type of result we want from step-out drilling. More than 220m from DAN26012, it has delivered 23m at 6.18% Cu, including 3.90m at 16.45% Cu and a new Danvers record assay of 23.5% Cu – Assays that demonstrate thick and high-grade continuity of the copper mineralisation. The high-grade zone remains open, with another 248m still untested towards the next drillhole in the southwest.”
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Grade continuity confirmed — step-out matches discovery hole metrics
The comparison between DAN26012 and DAN26036 tells an important story for investors: the step-out is not a one-off spike. It matches the discovery hole in both thickness and grade, and on a grade-thickness basis it is actually slightly stronger.
| DAN26012 (Discovery) | DAN26036 (Step-Out) | |
|---|---|---|
| ASX Announcement | 10 June 2026 | 2 September 2026 |
| Interval | 19.81m from 152.4m | 23.00m from 161.0m |
| Average Cu Grade | 6.64% Cu | 6.18% Cu |
| Grade x Thickness | 132 %Cu-m | 142 %Cu-m |
| High-Grade Core | 7.62m @ 11.38% Cu | 3.90m @ 16.45% Cu |
| Peak Sample | 1.52m @ 21.10% Cu | 0.60m @ 23.50% Cu |
The grade-thickness product — a measure that combines interval width with average grade — came in at 142 %Cu-m in the step-out versus 132 %Cu-m in the discovery hole. That is a meaningful nuance: the system is not thinning or diluting as it extends laterally. If anything, the mineralised envelope is holding its intensity over distance, which is exactly what you want to see when assessing whether a high-grade copper target has genuine scale.
Understanding why the high grades occur — the geological vector emerging
Knowing that the grades are consistent is one thing. Understanding why they occur gives the company a repeatable targeting model. That is what makes this update particularly significant from an exploration standpoint.
Chalcocite is one of the richest copper sulphide minerals found in economic deposits. It forms when copper-bearing hydrothermal fluids migrate through rock and precipitate in available void space — and the grade you get depends heavily on how much open space existed for those fluids to fill.
At Danvers 3, that open space is provided by what geologists call a crackle/mosaic breccia: rock that has been broken into angular fragments with limited rotation or breakdown, preserving the gaps between fragments. When copper-bearing fluids move through this permeable breccia, they cement the spaces with chalcocite, producing the exceptional grades observed in DAN26012 and now DAN26036.
The location of this breccia matters too. Oriented diamond core observations show that the strongest chalcocite mineralisation is concentrated along the flanks of the Teshierpi Fault Zone, not within the fault core itself. The centre of the fault zone is characterised by more intensely worked, matrix-rich breccia with lower permeability — less ideal for copper precipitation. The permeable margins are where the copper accumulates.
What the magnetic data tells us
Critically, these mineralised breccia margins correlate with a strong magnetic gradient in geophysical data. This allows the structural interpretation from oriented drill core to be integrated directly with the magnetic dataset, providing a repeatable exploration vector — meaning the company can now predict, with higher confidence, where to position future drill holes to intersect the high-grade parts of the system.
This is a meaningful step-change from broad-brush regional drilling. The company now has a geological model, grounded in multiple data sets, that tells it where to look next. That improves capital efficiency and reduces the randomness that typically defines early-stage exploration.
As Managing Director Troy Whittaker noted in the announcement: “This gives us a much sharper targeting vector. With strong mineralisation now being demonstrated across Danvers 1, 2, 3 and 4, we are seeing multiple high-grade centres emerging within a much larger copper system as we continue to drill aggressively, to define its scale.”
System-wide momentum — Danvers 1 and 4 add to the picture
The Danvers 3 result does not stand alone. Activity across the broader Danvers system is building simultaneously at multiple centres, which supports the company’s emerging interpretation of a large-scale copper system.
Danvers 1 infill confirms mineralisation continuity
The first infill diamond hole into the Danvers 1 core zone, DAN26047, was collared between 2025 drillholes DAN25007 and DAN25012. Its purpose is to tighten drill spacing and improve understanding of plunge and internal grade controls within the high-grade breccia system.
Key details from this hole:
- DAN26047 intersected 42.19m of bornite-chalcocite dominant vein and breccia-hosted copper sulphides, providing strong visual support for mineralisation continuity between existing holes
- This is only the second diamond drillhole completed into Danvers 1, providing valuable oriented structural data and specific gravity measurements
- Assays are pending and expected within 4–6 weeks
- Three additional diamond holes are planned into the Danvers 1 core breccia zone to test down-dip and plunge extensions
It is important to note that the 42.19m interval is a visual estimate only, not an assayed result. As the announcement clearly states, visual estimates of mineral abundance should never be considered a proxy or substitute for laboratory analyses. Assay confirmation is required before the significance of this interval can be fully assessed.
Danvers 4 — potential structural link to Danvers 1
DAN26044, drilled 365m northwest of Danvers 1, intersected a total of 31.43m of chalcocite and bornite mineralisation (assays pending). As drilling has advanced through Danvers 4, copper sulphides have been observed along the southeastern contact of the main Teshierpi Fault Zone, in places approximately 200m from the surface projection of mineralisation at Danvers 1.
This raises the possibility that the two mineralised zones may be structurally connected. Further drilling will directly test whether mineralisation along the main Teshierpi Fault Zone links with the Danvers 1 splay — a potentially important control on the scale and geometry of the broader Danvers system. That question remains open; it is not yet confirmed.
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What’s next — aggressive drilling targets multiple high-priority gaps
The near-term catalyst pipeline is active across all four Danvers targets. Investors tracking the program should watch for:
- Three additional diamond holes into the Danvers 1 core breccia zone, testing down-dip and plunge extensions in areas of limited historic drill coverage
- Following completion of Danvers 1 infill, the rig will move northeast to systematically test continuity between currently wide-spaced drillholes that have returned copper mineralisation
- Step-out drilling at Danvers 2 and Danvers 3, targeting gaps of more than 500m between existing mineralised holes — providing multiple opportunities to materially expand the known copper footprint
- Assay results pending for DAN26044; assay results for DAN26047 are pending and expected within 4–6 weeks
White Cliff Minerals is drilling aggressively across four distinct Danvers targets simultaneously. With a geologically informed targeting model now in place, a record peak assay at Danvers 3, and multiple pending assay results across Danvers 1 and 4, the near-term catalyst pipeline is unusually well-stocked for a project at this stage of exploration.
Ready to Learn More About White Cliff Minerals’ Rae Copper Project?
The Danvers 3 step-out has confirmed high-grade chalcocite mineralisation extending over 220m of strike, with a record peak assay of 23.50% Cu and over 248m of untested ground still remaining — all while drilling advances simultaneously across four distinct Danvers targets.
Explore the full scope of this emerging copper system and stay across upcoming assay results by visiting the White Cliff Minerals investor profile on Discovery Alert, where you can track all project developments as they unfold.