White Cliff Minerals (ASX: WCN) Unlocks World-Class, High-Grade Copper Discovery at Rae Project

Key Highlights

• White Cliff Minerals reports 19.81m at 6.64% copper from the Danvers prospect in Nunavut, Canada

• High-grade zone includes 3.05m at 17.68% copper and 1.52m at 21.1% copper

• Copper mineralisation now confirmed across 2.6km of strike and remains open in all directions

• Second diamond drilling rig mobilised to accelerate exploration

• Discovery comes as global demand for copper rises alongside electrification, AI infrastructure and renewable energy growth

Copper discoveries are becoming harder to find, and high-grade discoveries rarer still.

That is why White Cliff Minerals (ASX: WCN) attracted market attention on Wednesday after unveiling what could become one of the most significant copper discoveries made by an ASX junior in recent years.

The company reported exceptional assay results from the Danvers prospect within its 100%-owned Rae Copper Project in Nunavut, Canada, highlighted by a broad intercept of 19.81 metres grading 6.64% copper from 152.4 metres downhole.

Inside that interval sat even richer zones, including 7.62 metres at 11.38% copper, 3.05 metres at 17.68% copper and an extraordinary 1.52 metres at 21.1% copper.

For context, most operating copper mines globally work with average grades below 0.6% copper, according to industry data from S&P Global and the International Energy Agency. Intersections exceeding 5% copper are increasingly uncommon in modern exploration programs.

The latest drilling campaign has also delivered encouraging results from neighbouring holes, including 19.82 metres at 1.03% copper in hole DAN26010 and 7.62 metres at 1.92% copper in hole DAN26011.

A growing copper corridor

The discovery is beginning to reveal a much larger system than initially understood.

Laboratory results from the 2026 drilling program have now confirmed copper mineralisation across 2.6 kilometres of strike along the Teshierpi Fault Zone. Geological logging from more recent step-out holes suggests the prospective corridor may already extend beyond 4.1 kilometres.

Importantly, the system remains open along strike, toward surface and at depth.

The standout discovery hole, DAN26012, sits more than 2.7 kilometres away from the historical Danvers 1 zone, supporting the company’s view that multiple high-grade copper accumulations may exist along the same fault structure.

Managing Director Troy Whittaker said the results continue to strengthen the company’s geological model.

“The exceptional results from DAN26012 validate Danvers’ emergence as a major high-grade copper discovery, representing the highest-grade copper interval returned from the project to date. These results rank among the highest-grade intercepts returned from Danvers and highlight the extraordinary potential of this rapidly growing mineralised system.”

Whittaker added that the company is moving quickly to define the scale of the discovery.

“Assay results from the 2026 program have now confirmed copper mineralisation over 2.6km of strike along the Teshierpi Fault Zone, with the system remaining open in both directions and untested towards surface and at depth. The combination of exceptional grades, growing strike extent and open-ended mineralisation strongly supports our thesis that the Teshierpi Fault Zone has the potential to host a significant, high-grade copper system.”

Copper’s strategic moment

The timing of the discovery is notable.

Copper has become one of the world’s most sought-after commodities as demand grows from electric vehicles, renewable energy infrastructure, power grids and increasingly power-hungry artificial intelligence data centres.

The International Energy Agency estimates global copper demand could more than double by 2040 under energy transition scenarios, while new large-scale discoveries remain scarce.

That backdrop has increased interest in mining jurisdictions such as Canada, where stable regulatory frameworks and secure supply chains are becoming increasingly valuable to Western manufacturers.

The Rae Project already hosts historical non-JORC copper resources and previous drilling intersections including 175 metres grading 2.5% copper. The latest results significantly strengthen the case for a larger district-scale system.

White Cliff shares rose 16.67% to $0.018 in morning trade, giving the company a market capitalisation of approximately $46.7 million.

Source: MarketIndex 

With a second diamond drill rig arriving on site and several kilometres of prospective strike yet to be tested, the coming months may determine whether Danvers evolves from a high-grade discovery into one of the most significant new copper systems emerging in North America.