FireFly Metals Ltd has struck high-grade polymetallic mineralisation during first pass drilling at the historical Rambler Main Mine, part of the Green Bay Copper-Gold Project in Newfoundland, Canada.
This early success has given the company confidence that underexplored area, just 2 kilometres from the company’s flagship Ming Mine, is shaping up to deliver surface riches.
Another Ming Mine on way
“To generate such outstanding results from our first two holes in this area shows we could have another Ming Mine on our hands,” FireFly managing director Steve Parsons said.
“It is already clear that Rambler Main shares many key similarities with Ming, including being part of the same VMS system, and the mineralisation remains open down plunge.
“The results also support our view of the camp-scale potential at Green Bay and therefore the scope to keep growing the Mineral Resource through resource extensions and discoveries.”
The two initial drill holes returned standout results including:
- 10.0 metres at 6.4% copper equivalent (CuEq) consisting of 5.7 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, 1.3% copper, 1.7% zinc and 20.9 g/t silver; and
- 12.9 metres at 4.3% CuEq with 4.2 g/t gold, 0.5% copper, 1.5% zinc and 10.9 g/t silver.
Core photograph of FFR25-001 showing the gold-bearing zone ~100m down plunge of historical workings at the Rambler Main Mine. Gold occurs within the alteration zone beneath the semi-massive sulphide horizon.
These intersections extend mineralisation more than 200 metres beyond the limit of historical mining, confirming it remains open down plunge and shares strong geological similarities with the adjacent Ming deposit.
Strategic value in untapped zones
The Rambler Main system is hosted within the same rhyolite-basalt contact as the Ming deposit and forms part of a broader Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) camp.
Historically mined to 200 metres depth in the 1960s, the Rambler Main Mine produced 440,000 tonnes at 1.3% copper, 4.7 g/t gold and 2.2% zinc.
FireFly’s drilling confirms the mineralisation extends well beyond these workings.
With the Green Bay Mineral Resource currently standing at 24.4 million tonnes (Mt) at 1.9% CuEq (Measured and Indicated) and 34.5Mt at 2.0% CuEq (Inferred), the company is targeting near-term mineral resource additions from Rambler Main and other regional prospects.
The surface rig has now returned to Rambler Main to pursue deeper step-out targets, while a similar program at the nearby East Mine has already been completed with assay results pending.
FireFly is operating six drill rigs at Green Bay, including five underground and one on surface, and is expanding underground development to facilitate down plunge and discovery drilling at Ming and nearby targets.
Added to that, airborne and ground-based geophysics, mapping and sampling are underway across FireFly’s 311 square kilometre landholding, which includes eight former mining operations.
High-priority targets will be systematically tested throughout 2025.
Strong balance sheet
FireFly reported A$68.5 million in cash, receivables and liquid investments as at 31 March 2025, positioning it to deliver further resource growth and advance feasibility work on a potential upscaled restart of operations at Green Bay later this year.