Arctic Minerals has increased the resource at its Hennes Bay copper-silver project in southwestern Sweden by 72% in contained copper-equivalent metal, reaching 90.7 million tonnes grading 1.03% copper equivalent.
The updated JORC-compliant estimate contains approximately 682,000 tonnes of copper and 60.9 million ounces of silver, equivalent to 936,000 tonnes of copper-equivalent metal.
The project now includes six deposits across the Dalsland region, with 27 million tonnes classified as Indicated resources and the remaining 63.7 million tonnes as Inferred.
Six Deposits Expand Mineral Resources
The updated estimate covers Dingelvik, Asslebyn, Henneviken, Baldersnäs, Åsnebo and Härserud Norra.
Dingelvik remains the largest deposit, containing 65.9 million tonnes grading 1.04% copper equivalent, including approximately 500,000 tonnes of copper and 44.5 million ounces of silver.
The five additional deposits contribute 24.8 million tonnes grading 1.01% copper equivalent, containing approximately 183,000 tonnes of copper and 16.3 million ounces of silver. Henneviken has the highest reported grade among the satellite deposits, with 5.7 million tonnes grading 1.41% copper equivalent.
Drilling Supports Resource Expansion
The estimate incorporates 135 diamond drill holes covering 17,549 metres, including ten new holes totalling 3,459 metres from the latest exploration programme. At Henneviken, drill hole 2608 intersected 46.87 metres grading 1.36% copper and 28 g/t silver, including 36.13 metres grading 1.62% copper and 31 g/t silver.
At Dingelvik, drilling extended identified mineralisation by up to 465 metres down dip. Approximately 70% of the total resource remains Inferred, meaning additional drilling will be required to improve geological confidence.
Exploration and Economic Studies
The 414-square-kilometre Hennes Bay licence package contains additional exploration potential, with less than 5% of the prospective geological horizon tested through drilling.
The latest resource calculation uses copper at US$12,000 per tonne, silver at US$60 per ounce, copper recovery of 90% and silver recovery of 75%. Changes to commodity prices, recovery assumptions and geological modelling also contributed to the reported resource increase. Arctic Minerals is preparing a preliminary economic assessment, alongside environmental studies and work towards an exploitation-concession application.
Further studies will examine mining methods, processing capacity, metallurgical recoveries, infrastructure requirements, capital expenditure and operating costs. No mineral reserves, construction approval or committed project financing have been announced.
