Morning Briefing: Hercules Metals Intersects 0.58% CuEq over 287 m

Good morning and welcome back to the Mining Stock Daily morning briefing. I am Michael McCrae filling in for Trevor Hall. 

It's Wednesday, September 30th.

Metals are trading in a mixed and narrow range this morning. Gold is essentially flat at $4,188 an ounce, up just a fraction of a percent. Silver is giving back some of yesterday's bounce, down about one and a quarter percent to $60.70, and copper is up slightly at $6.56. After the sharp pullback Monday and the recovery Tuesday, the market appears to be consolidating.

On the corporate front, Barrick Mining CEO Mark Hill flagged a potential delay to the company's planned North American gold IPO during a conference in Colorado Springs on Tuesday. Barrick had been targeting a New York listing of its North American assets by the end of 2026, but Hill said there have been some delays working through formalities ahead of the listing, and the IPO could slide into January. He was quick to add that it remains on track and any delay would not be significant. 

In the energy markets, Wall Street analysts are reporting that oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz are closing in on pre-war levels, meaning a meaningful increase in supply is working its way into the global market. Crude oil is still trading around one hundred dollars a barrel, so the question the market is asking is how quickly that additional supply can move prices lower and whether the recovery in flows holds. For gold investors, easing energy prices would remove one of the inflationary pressures that has kept oil elevated alongside metals this year.

We will get to the news from the miners and explorers in a moment, but first a mention of today's sponsor:

Today's episode of Mining Stock Daily is brought to you by…Equinox Gold.

Equinox Gold is North America's new senior gold producer, with six operating mines and the capacity to produce approximately 1.1 million ounces of gold annually. The portfolio spans three cornerstone Canadian operations, including Greenstone and Musselwhite in Ontario and Valentine in Newfoundland and Labrador, along with Mesquite in California, Camino Rojo in Mexico, and operations in Nicaragua. The company is also advancing four expansion projects that are expected to deliver more than 800,000 ounces of additional annual gold production over the next five years. Equinox Gold trades on the TSX and on the NYSE American, both under the ticker symbol EQX.

Here’s what you need to know today. 

Hercules Metals has released assay results from a 200-metre step-out drill hole at the Southern Flats Zone of its Hercules Project in western Idaho, extending the second copper porphyry centre discovered at the property with 287 metres at 0.58 percent copper equivalent, including 66 metres at 0.80 percent copper equivalent. Three-dimensional modelling now suggests Southern Flats may be an approximate one-kilometre southern extension of the Leviathan copper porphyry system, meaning the two centres could be continuous along the same regional fault structure. Two drill rigs are currently working to fill a one-kilometre gap in drilling between Leviathan and Southern Flats. Hercules Metals trades on the TSX Venture Exchange as BIG and on the OTCQB as BADEF. NEWS RELEASE

Arizona Gold and Silver has reported drill results from two holes testing the down-dip continuation of the Perry Zone beneath Red Hills at its Philadelphia Gold-Silver Project in Mohave County, Arizona. Hole PC26-173 intersected 43.59 metres at 1.48 grams per tonne gold and 7.2 grams per tonne silver, including 21.88 metres at 2.52 grams per tonne gold and a higher-grade core of 7.04 metres at 4.24 grams per tonne gold. Hole PC26-172 intersected a broader 70.41 metres at 1.16 grams per tonne gold with internal zones up to 10.21 metres at 3.27 grams per tonne. The company is using the geometry, grade distribution and silver-to-gold ratios from each hole to refine the projected position of the north-plunging high-grade upflow zone, with additional drilling ongoing. Arizona Gold and Silver trades on the TSX Venture Exchange as AZS and on the OTCQB as AZASF. NEWS RELEASE

ICG Silver and Gold has reported assay results from the first six holes of its 2026 Phase 1 drill program at the Tuscarora District in Elko County, Nevada, with all six intersecting gold and silver mineralization. The standout result is hole T26RC-04 at the newly staked Battle Mountain target, which intersected 24.3 metres at 10.14 grams per tonne gold from 181.4 metres depth, including 4.6 metres at 51.84 grams per tonne gold and 1.5 metres at 137 grams per tonne gold, identifying a new high-grade shoot the company says validates its structural targeting approach at Tuscarora. Results from six additional holes at the King's Vein and East Pediment targets are pending, and an inaugural mineral resource estimate for the district is targeted for the first quarter of 2027. ICG Silver and Gold trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange as ICG. NEWS RELEASE

Cabral Gold has announced the completion of its first gold sale from the Phase 1 mine at the Cuiú Cuiú Gold District in the state of Pará, Brazil, with more than 2,400 ounces sold to a Brazilian refinery at an average net realized price in excess of $4,200 US dollars per ounce. The sale confirms that the full chain from mining and processing through doré shipment and refinery sale is operational. The dry plant has now transitioned to 24-hour operation with two shifts per day, and the company says the operation remains on schedule and on budget to reach commercial production in the fourth quarter of 2026. Cabral Gold trades on the TSX Venture Exchange as CBR and on the OTCQX as CBGZF. NEWS RELEASE

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That's it for today everyone. Have a great day. Stay safe.