Fitzroy Minerals Advances Caballos with Improved Drill Targeting

• Global copper demand is accelerating due to electrification, EV adoption, and data centre expansion, while supply remains constrained, increasing the value of Tier-1 discoveries.
• Fitzroy Minerals has commenced a 750 line-km MobileMT survey at the Caballos Project, designed to trace surface breccias to their subsurface porphyry source and generate high-confidence drill targets.
• Chile offers a jurisdictional advantage with mature infrastructure, a skilled workforce, and a more supportive permitting environment, reducing geopolitical discount rates and enhancing potential Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) relevance.
• Exploration-stage valuation leverage is significant, with MobileMT-led targeting and a potential maiden inferred resource could drive EV/lb re-rating, compress risk discounts, and broaden the investor base.
• The March 2026 MobileMT interpretation is a near-term catalyst providing a defined data-delivery window, enabling investors to assess risk-adjusted re-rating scenarios ahead of drill testing.

Copper Incentive Prices & the Re-Rating of Tier-1 Exploration Assets

Global copper demand is entering a sustained growth phase driven by electricity infrastructure, electric vehicles, and data centre expansion. The International Energy Agency has recorded electricity demand growth of 4.3%, well above the prior decade's average, with that trajectory expected to continue as electrification accelerates; copper intensity remains structurally embedded across these end uses. Against this demand backdrop, supply is constrained, reinforcing the need for higher incentive prices to justify new mine development and increasing the strategic value of credible discovery pipelines.

Early-stage explorers offer discovery torque without the cost exposure of producing assets. In copper, valuation typically progresses from resource delineation and Enterprise Value (EV)/lb re-rating to strategic investment optionality, with proximity to infrastructure in Tier-1 jurisdictions supporting potential Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) premiums. At this stage of the cycle, capital efficiency and the reduction of geological risk are the primary value drivers for investors seeking asymmetric exposure to a structural deficit without the All-in Sustaining Cost (AISC) burden of an operating mine.

Caballos Heliborne MobileMT Survey Commences

In February 2026, Fitzroy Minerals commenced a 750 line-km heliborne Mobile Magnetotelluric (MobileMT) survey covering the entirety of the Caballos Copper Project in Chile. Survey completion is anticipated within two days, widepths of approximately 1 to 2 km, dependingth data interpretation targeted for March 2026. The results are expected to generate a 3D conductivity and resistivity model that will be used to prioritise drill targets.

The primary objective of the MobileMT program is to trace surface-exposed mineralised breccias toward their subsurface porphyry source. Breccia systems in porphyry copper environments are pathfinder features rather than economic centres; the economic mineralisation characteristically sits within the intrusive stock and associated alteration halos at depth. The MobileMT survey is integrated with Very Low Frequency Electromagnetic (VLF-EM) methods to provide near-surface resolution, extending the effective imaging window from shallow features to depths of approximately 1 to 2 km, depending on local geology.

President and Chief Executive Officer of Fitzroy Minerals, Merlin Marr-Johnson, outlined the survey's objectives and the geological rationale for the program:

"We expect the Mobile MT data will provide a three-dimensional image of the Caballos Project area, including under the younger volcanic rocks to the east. We hope the survey will assist us in tracing the outline of the mineralized breccias already intersected through drilling. Further, we hope the survey helps us to vector towards the origin of the mineralized breccias that themselves contain clasts of mineralized porphyry rocks. MobileMT is known for identifying areas of electrically conductive sulphides potentially linked to mineralized porphyry intrusive centres, and resistive bodies representative of intrusions."

Technical Significance: From Surface Indications to Subsurface Vectoring

Porphyry Architecture & Need for Depth Imaging

Porphyry copper systems are large-tonnage, lower-grade deposits with zoned alteration halos extending outward from an intrusive core that often sits several hundred metres to more than one kilometre below surface. Surface breccias or skarns may act as vectors, while structural controls such as faults and lithological contacts govern both emplacement and mineralised geometry. Targeting based solely on surface expressions, therefore, carries elevated geological risk, making depth-capable geophysics a standard progression in porphyry exploration.

MobileMT, Drill Targeting & Capital Efficiency

MobileMT measures natural electromagnetic field variations to model subsurface conductivity and resistivity, where conductive anomalies can indicate sulphide concentrations and resistive bodies may represent intrusive stocks, with structural imaging delineating controlling faults and contacts. Its deeper penetration relative to conventional induced polarization or magnetics supports targeting beyond the effective range of those methods and enables construction of a 3D geological framework for high-confidence drilling. By ranking anomalies before committing drill metres, the approach improves hit rates, lowers exploration cost per pound discovered, and strengthens probability-weighted capital allocation, enhancing the credibility of potential Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) outcomes while preserving flexibility if results are inconclusive.

Project Context: Caballos as the Capital Focus

Caballos is the current centre of Fitzroy Minerals’ capital allocation, following prior drilling that intersected mineralised breccias containing clasts of porphyry rocks and establishing the geological rationale for the MobileMT program as a shift from feature identification to system-scale targeting. While the company holds additional Chilean and Argentine assets, technical and financial resources are concentrated on Caballos, advancing through a standard exploration sequence of geophysics-driven target generation, drill testing, and potential progression to an inferred resource; a successful outcome would support a maiden resource and subsequent scoping study with initial NPV and IRR estimates, a transition that can drive a material valuation re-rating for an exploration-stage company.

Jurisdictional Advantage: Chile’s Infrastructure Premium & Permitting Cycle

Tier-1 Scale, Infrastructure Depth & Policy Direction

Chile produces approximately 5.4Mt of copper annually, around one-quarter of global mine supply, with mining contributing approximately 22% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), underpinning a mature ecosystem of power, water, transport, ports, skilled labour, and specialised supply chains that reduce future development capital intensity and geopolitical discount rates for explorers. Streamlined permitting lowers time-value-of-capital costs and risk premiums applied in NPV modelling by analysts and potential acquirers.

Marr-Johnson emphasised the policy shift:

“Chile is absolutely open for business. The political pendulum is swinging to be more pro-business. Chile is absolutely a mining country: it's over 60% of exports and about 22% of GDP in total.”

Relative Advantage Versus Constrained Jurisdictions and M&A Relevance

Social licence complexity and indigenous rights requirements in Australia, Canada, Peru, and Ecuador, alongside regulatory constraints on US BLM land, limit the pipeline of developable Tier-1 copper assets and concentrate capital in jurisdictions with clearer pathways. In this context, Caballos’ location within a corridor of major-operated Chilean copper assets aligns with producer preferences for acquiring development-stage projects to offset declining grades and rising sustaining capex, supporting its longer-term strategic and M&A relevance.

Marr-Johnson noted:

“My thesis is that new mine supply is going to come principally from Chile and from Congo.” 

Valuation Framework: Discovery Potential & Equity Re-Rating Mechanics

Exploration-stage copper equities are typically valued on EV per pound of copper equivalent, risk-adjusted for resource definition, metallurgy, permitting timelines, infrastructure, and deposit geometry; at the conceptual stage, Caballos carries probabilistic resource potential and corresponding discounts. As projects advance from conceptual to inferred, indicated, and measured resources, risk compresses, EV/lb multiples expand, and institutional participation and liquidity typically improve, meaning a maiden inferred resource of meaningful scale could represent a valuation step-change for Fitzroy.

The March 2026 geophysical interpretation is the near-term catalyst, with a conductive sulphide anomaly at depth supporting drill targeting and subsequent drilling acting as a price-discovery mechanism through incremental intersections and updated resource probabilities. Key risks include geological uncertainty if anomalies lack economic sulphides, financing requirements for deep drilling via equity or partnerships, and copper price volatility affecting risk capital availability, although structurally higher incentive prices above US$20,000/t may underpin longer-term project economics.

The Investment for Fitzroy Minerals

• A structurally tightening copper market, driven by electrification, EVs, and data centre demand, is increasing the strategic value of credible Tier-1 discovery pipelines and supporting the need for higher incentive prices to justify new mine supply.
• The Caballos MobileMT program is a capital-disciplined risk-reduction step that improves probability-weighted drill targeting, lowers exploration cost per pound discovered, and enhances the technical credibility of potential NPV and IRR outcomes.
• Caballos is the company’s primary capital focus, with prior drilling intersecting mineralised breccias containing clasts of porphyry rocks and the current geophysics program advancing the project along a standard pathway toward drill testing and a potential maiden inferred resource, an inflection point that can drive EV/lb re-rating.
• Chile provides infrastructure depth, a skilled workforce, and a more supportive permitting environment, reducing geopolitical discount rates and increasing potential M&A relevance within a corridor of major-operated copper assets.
• The March 2026 geophysical interpretation represents a defined, near-term catalyst with a clear data-delivery timeline, enabling investors to frame risk-adjusted re-rating scenarios around drill targeting outcomes.
• Exploration-stage valuation leverage remains significant, with resource definition compressing risk discounts, broadening the institutional investor base, and improving liquidity as projects progress along the resource growth curve.
• Key risks remain geological, financing, and copper price volatility; however, structurally higher incentive price requirements above US$20,000/t provide a supportive long-term macro backdrop for resource definition and early development timelines.

Fitzroy Minerals sits at the intersection of a structurally tightening copper market and a technically disciplined exploration program in one of the few jurisdictions where new mine supply is realistically expected to emerge. The March 2026 MobileMT interpretation is a defined catalyst, and a favourable result would advance Caballos toward drill testing, maiden resource definition, and the EV/lb re-rating that typically follows, making the upcoming data window a relevant inflection point for investors tracking the copper supply deficit.

TL;DR Summary

Fitzroy Minerals’ Caballos Copper Project in Chile is progressing with a 750 line-km MobileMT survey to trace breccias to their porphyry source, providing high-confidence drill targets. Copper demand growth, constrained supply, and Chile’s infrastructure and permitting advantages combine to support valuation re-rating potential, while the March 2026 geophysical results serve as a near-term catalyst for investors.

FAQs (AI-Generated)