Visionary Copper & Gold Targets Resource Growth with 20,000-Metre Kraken-Focused Drill Campaign

• Visionary Copper & Gold is advancing the Point Leamington deposit in Newfoundland, a 43-101 compliant 20-million-ton VMS asset containing approximately 500,000 oz of gold and 170 million lbs of copper within the first 400 metres of surface.
• The company's Kraken discovery - a copper footwall stringer zone immediately adjacent to the existing resource - has returned wide intersections including 75 metres of 0.45% copper and 25 metres of 0.43% copper, with continuity confirmed over a 275-metre strike extent.
• A ~20,000-metre Phase Two drilling campaign is planned for summer 2026, with approximately 80–90% of metres directed at resource upgrading and Kraken definition, and the remainder testing five new regional targets across a recently expanded ~30,000-hectare land package.
• Strategic investor Ross Jennings of the Quaternary Group has accumulated over 11% of the company through financings, warrant exercise, and open-market purchases - a notable endorsement of the asset and management team.
• Favourable infrastructure - including a government-built resource road, hydroelectric power, and a nearby deep-water port at Botwood - supports relatively low capital development costs compared with more remote exploration-stage peers.

Visionary Copper & Gold is a Canadian junior exploration company working to grow and de-risk a meaningful copper-gold asset in Newfoundland. In a recent interview, President and CEO Max Porterfield outlined the company's geological thesis, near-term drilling plans, and the emerging Kraken discovery - which the company believes could substantially increase the resource base at its flagship Point Leamington project. For investors assessing exposure to copper and gold through early-stage exploration, the following provides a structured overview of the company's current position and stated strategy.

The Point Leamington Deposit: A Significant Starting Point

Point Leamington is a volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit in Newfoundland that Visionary acquired in 2016 near the bottom of the commodity cycle. The asset is already 43-101 compliant at approximately 20 million tonnes, a scale that places it among more substantive VMS discoveries in eastern Canada. Within a pit-constrained resource envelope, the deposit hosts approximately 500,000 ounces of gold and 170 million pounds of copper within 400 metres of surface.

Since acquisition, the company's Phase One exploration extended the strike extent of the deposit area to over one kilometre - a geologically meaningful expansion for a VMS system. The current resource sits within 600 metres of that strike, leaving room for future additions along the southern extension.

The Kraken Discovery: A New Copper Endowment in the Footwall

The most significant recent development at Point Leamington is the identification of what the company calls the Kraken zone - a copper stringer system in the footwall of the main massive sulphide lens. In many VMS systems globally, the footwall copper zone can be as large or larger than the mass sulphide lens above it.

Porterfield pointed to analogous assets to illustrate the potential scale: 

"If you look at Ming deposit (owned by Firefly Metals) as well, the bulk of the resource at Ming sits in the footwall - that's in their footwall stringer zone. And that's what we're identifying and testing at Kraken at Point Leamington."

The first hole into the Kraken zone returned two wide intersections: 75 metres grading 0.45% copper and 25 metres of 0.43% copper. Subsequent holes have stepped out along a 275-metre strike extent and tested the zone both above and below the initial intersection, each returning what the company describes as wide intervals of base metal mineralisation.

Phase Two Drilling: Resource Upgrading and Regional Exploration

The company is planning a roughly 20,000-metre drilling programme commencing in the second half of 2026, deploying two rigs. Approximately 80–90% of the metres will be directed at the Point Leamington deposit - both upgrading existing resources from the inferred and indicated categories toward higher-confidence indicated status, and delineating the extent of the Kraken discovery. The balance, approximately 1,500 metres, will test five separate regional target areas identified within the expanded 30,000-hectare land package.

Porterfield explained the capital allocation rationale clearly: 

"Kraken's a new discovery - so once you've discovered Kraken, you now need to define Kraken. So that is going to be really 80% plus of our capital being spent on drilling: defining the extent of the Kraken zone and simultaneously upgrading the current resource."

The regional targets include areas previously explored by BHP subsidiary Billiton in the early 2000s. According to Porterfield, that earlier work was shallow and was not followed up, creating what the company views as an opportunity to advance exploration where others left off.

Interview with Max Porterfield, President and CEO, Visionary Copper & Gold

Metallurgy and Development Pathway

On the question of metallurgy, Porterfield indicated that a two-phase programme is being designed by two metallurgists on the team, to refine the flow sheet as drilling progresses. He noted that in most VMS systems, the copper stringer footwall zone does not typically exhibit substantially different metallurgical behaviour from the main lens, though formal testing will be conducted to confirm this.

In terms of mine design, the current pit-constrained resource supports an open pit scenario. Kraken sits immediately adjacent to that constrained envelope. Porterfield noted the analogy with historic VMS producers that began as open pits before transitioning underground, suggesting the near-surface focus is deliberate and economically driven.

_{Corporate Developments and Investor Support}

Alongside the exploration results, Visionary recently expanded its land position to nearly 30,000 hectares and secured a significant new strategic shareholder. Ross Jennings, of the Coordinary Group, has accumulated over 11% of the company through a combination of private placement, warrant exercise, and open-market purchases - an unusual level of conviction for an investor at this stage of exploration. Porterfield described the significance: 

"These types of shareholders are hard to come by, but they can have profound impacts in multiple ways on your business - and I am really grateful for his support coming in."

The share price has also seen recent movement, which the company attributes to the Kraken news flow and the land package expansion, rather than any change in fundamental corporate structure.

The Investment Thesis for Visionary Copper & Gold

• Existing resource base: Point Leamington is already a 43-101 compliant 20 million tonne VMS deposit with approximately 500,000 oz Au and 170 million lbs Cu within the top 400 metres, providing a material starting point for resource growth.
• Kraken upside: The footwall copper stringer zone (Kraken) has returned wide, high-grade intercepts and has been confirmed over a 275-metre strike - analogous to the footwall zones that constitute the bulk of the resource at peers such as Firefly Metals' Ming deposit (currently ~60 million tonnes).
• Near-surface focus: The company's emphasis on shallow, open-pit-amenable mineralisation reduces capital intensity versus deep underground development scenarios.
• Infrastructure: Existing road access, proximate hydroelectric power, and an established concentrate export port at Botwood lower development cost estimates compared to remote Canadian projects.
• Established jurisdiction: Newfoundland is a well-understood, mine-friendly Canadian province with existing regulatory frameworks relevant to VMS-style development.
• Copper demand tailwinds: The broader macro case for copper supply shortfalls into the energy transition period supports valuation of development-stage copper assets with genuine scale potential.

Macro Thematic Analysis

The global copper market faces a well-documented structural deficit driven by electrification, grid infrastructure buildout, and the energy transition. New copper supply is increasingly difficult to bring online - projects are deeper, in more remote jurisdictions, or face protracted permitting timelines. Near-surface, infrastructure-proximate copper deposits in stable mining jurisdictions have, as a result, attracted growing investor and strategic interest. Visionary Copper & Gold operates directly within this thematic. Its Newfoundland asset - near-surface, road-accessible, with established export logistics - is precisely the type of project that benefits from the re-rating of copper exploration in the current environment. As Porterfield noted: 

"It costs a lot less to drill shorter holes than to drill holes very, very deep - and we certainly have experience drilling things at depth, but it's not necessary when you look at the overall mine development at the start of this operation."

TL;DR

Visionary Copper & Gold holds a 43-101 compliant 20-million-tonne copper-gold VMS deposit in Newfoundland, with a newly identified footwall copper zone (Kraken) that could materially expand the resource. A ~20,000-metre drill campaign beginning in H2 2026 will focus on resource upgrading and Kraken definition, supported by strong infrastructure and a strategic investor holding over 11%. The key near-term catalyst is drill results confirming the scale of the Kraken zone.

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