The First Assay
Tuesday Drill Digest
TSX · TSX-V · CSE · NYSE-A · Nasdaq · September 22, 2026
18 companies
276 qualifying intercepts
6 jurisdictions
Twenty-four releases screened, 18 companies through, 276 qualifying intercepts (sub-intervals included) across six countries — the busiest sheet since Sept 11. Two stories ran in parallel: bonanza-grade narrow gold from underground programs on established systems (West Red Lake's 5.3 m @ 176.04 g/t at Madsen; Cambria's 3.1 m @ 166.2 g/t Au + 3,383 g/t Ag at Premier), against kilometre-scale bulk tonnage from the porphyry and sediment-hosted names — Copper Giant's 804 m @ 0.56% CuEq at Mocoa (~), Koryx's 18-hole Haib batch, i-80's 225.6 m @ 1.33 g/t step-out at Mineral Point, and 300–400 m sub-gram runs from Tiger (~) and Thunder Gold. Silver was the second story: Kootenay's 84 m @ 94 g/t at 615 m vertical, Viscount's 1-km step-out discovery hole (7.9 m @ 473 g/t Ag + 2.92 g/t Au), Kingsmen, Aya and A2Gold — the last on a 🔥 2-day streak and carrying the day's only antimony. Power Metallic's 5.7 m @ 14% CuEq at 845 m is the best single Ni-Cu-PGE hit. Five releases were not screened (details below); nothing went unread.
⚑ Hole of the Day
▾ Deep · From 63.3m downhole (14 Level, ~650 m) Infill · Resource Canada · Stable Orogenic
West Red Lake Gold Mines WRLG TSX-V · C$323M
Madsen Mine, Austin 904 Complex, Red Lake, Canada
MM26D-14-4929-025: 5.3m of 176.04 g/t Au* from 63.3m
incl. 1.0m of 925.52 g/t Au from 64.3m
GT
933 g/t·m
ExceptionalAuEq·m
933.0
Au basis
GT/MCap
2.89×
(Au)
30-day Au rank
#6 of 581
MM26D-14-4929-025 returned 5.3 m at 176.04 g/t Au from 63.3 m downhole in a definition hole drilled off the 14 Level into the Austin 904 panel — roughly 650 m below surface, so the ◉ shallow flag does not apply and the sheet carries it as deep. Read the composition before the headline: a single 1.0 m sample at 925.52 g/t (a visible-gold clot in a biotite-altered QFP dyke at 64.6 m) carries about 99% of the metal, so the other 4.3 m run near 2 g/t. That is classic Red Lake nugget behaviour, reported uncapped in a mine whose resource cut-off is 3.38 g/t. It is a mine-planning input, not a discovery: infill on a known panel, true width not calculated (WRLG expects ≥70% of downhole). Sister hole -013 (4.5 m @ 128.32 g/t, South Austin) has the same one-metre structure (566.81 g/t). GT/MCap 2.89× on C$323M is the best clean gold ratio on the sheet; the hole ranks #6 of 581 Au intercepts in the 30-day archive, behind only DPM's Sept-21 Brestovac composites. What to watch is reconciliation — whether the 955/904 panels deliver these grades at the mill against the block model, which is what the market should actually price.
* Drilled widths — true width not calculated; WRLG expects ≥70% of downhole length.
GT/MCap Spotlight — Top 5
Au, Ag and Cu metrics are on different unit and price bases — not directly comparable across metals.
KTN CDH-26-254 Ag ✓63.81×
VML K26-08 (incl.) Ag ◉54.34×
AUAU TAR-004 Ag ◉37.53×
KNG LC-26-020 AgEq ◉36.05×
WRLG MM26D-14-4929-025 Au ★ HOTD2.89×
Kootenay's CDH-26-254 (84.45 m @ 94 g/t Ag, Lupe, ~615 m vertical) tops the sheet at 63.8× — a silver-unit ratio that is not comparable to the gold and copper names, and the same caveat covers Viscount (54.3×), A2Gold's Taylor silver (37.5×) and Kingsmen (36.1×). The best clean ratio is West Red Lake at 2.89×, then Thunder Gold 2.34× (496 m @ 0.271 g/t on a C$57M cap), Tiger 2.18× (Colombia ~), Westhaven 1.93× and Formation 1.92×. Copper Giant's 804 m hole is 1.37× on CuEq; i-80's 300 g/t·m step-out is only 0.14× on a C$2.2B cap.
◉ From depth ≤200m (shallow) · ⚠ High jurisdiction risk · ~ Moderate jurisdiction risk · ✓ True width stated · ★ HOTD
Today's Qualifying Intercepts — Best hole per company, 19 of 276
| Rating | Company | Metal | Hole | m | Grade | GT | AuEq·m | GT/MCap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exceptional ★ | West Red Lake Gold MinesWRLG | AuOrogenic | MM26D-14-4929-025* | 5.3 | 176.04 g/t | 933 | 933 | 2.89 |
| Exceptional | Cambria Gold MinesCAMB | AuEpith-LS | P26U-0095 ✓ | 3.1 ◉ | 166.22 g/t +Ag | 515 | 623.4 | 1.42 |
| Exceptional | i-80 GoldIAU | AuCarlin | iMP26-07 ✓ | 225.6 | 1.33 g/t +Ag | 300 | 391.2 | 0.14 |
| Exceptional | Westhaven GoldWHN | AuEpith-LS | SNR26-108 ✓ | 37.89 ◉ | 5.29 g/t +Ag | 200 | 212.9 | 1.93 |
| Great | Tiger GoldTIGR | AuPorphyry-Au | TSDH-95 ✓ ~ | 342 ◉ | 0.5 g/t | 171 | 171 | 2.18 |
| Great | Thunder GoldTGOL | AuPorphyry-Au | TM26-214 ✓ | 496 ◉ | 0.271 g/t | 134 | 134.4 | 2.35 |
| Great | K2 GoldKTO | AuCarlin | DF26-028* | 53.34 ◉ | 2 g/t | 107 | 106.7 | 0.48 |
| Great | Formation MetalsFOMO | AuOrogenic | N2-26-033 ✓ | 95.6 ◉ | 0.98 g/t | 93.7 | 93.7 | 1.92 |
| Great | A2GoldAUAU | AuEqSb-Au | TAR-009* | 13.7 ◉ | 4.09 g/t | 56 | 56 | 0.67 (AuEq) |
| Good | GreenLight MetalsGRL | AuVMS | B26-012 ✓ | 55.9 | 0.88 g/t +Cu/Ag | 49.2 | 52.6 | 1.76 |
| Good | Revival GoldRVG | AuCarlin | RM26-213 ✓ | 33.5 ◉ | 0.92 g/t | 30.8 | 30.8 | 0.11 |
| Great | Aya Gold & SilverAYA | AgEqEpithermal | BOU-DD26-848* | 24.3 | 392 g/t | 9,526 | 98.2 | 1.64 (AgEq) |
| Great | Kootenay SilverKTN | AgEpithermal | CDH-26-254 ✓ | 84.45 | 94 g/t +Pb/Zn | 7,938 | 88.4 | 63.81 (Ag) |
| Great | Viscount MiningVML | AgEpithermal | K26-08 (incl.)* | 7.9 ◉ | 473.2 g/t +Au/Pb/Zn | 3,738 | 62.1 | 54.34 (Ag) |
| Great | A2GoldAUAU | AgSb-Au | TAR-004* | 39.6 ◉ | 79.9 g/t | 3,164 | 32.6 | 37.53 (Ag) |
| Good | Kingsmen ResourcesKNG | AgEqEpithermal | LC-26-020* | 6.45 ◉ | 218 g/t | 1,406 | 14.5 | 36.05 (AgEq) |
| Exceptional | Copper Giant ResourcesCGNT | CuEqPorphyry-Cu | MD-073 ✓ ~ | 804 ◉ | 0.56 % | 450 | 599.7 | 1.37 (CuEq) |
| Exceptional | Koryx CopperKRY | CuEqPorphyry-Cu | HM193* | 681 ◉ | 0.34 % | 232 | 308.4 | 0.53 (CuEq) |
| Great | Power Metallic MinesPNPN | CuEqNi-Cu-PGE | PML-26-125 ✓ | 5.7 | 14 % | 79.8 | 106.3 | 0.24 (CuEq) |
↗ View all 276 intercepts in Google Sheets+257 not shown: KRY ×33; AYA ×33; WRLG ×32; IAU ×26; KTN ×24; CAMB ×23; CGNT ×13; TIGR ×12; TGOL ×10; WHN ×10; AUAU ×9; KTO ×8; RVG ×6; FOMO ×5; VML ×5; PNPN ×4; GRL ×2; KNG ×2
Near-Miss — top 5 of 35 by GT/MCap
| Near-miss | Viscount MiningVML | AgEpithermal | K26-07* | 15.9 ◉ | 28.1 g/t | 447 | 4.6 | 6.49 (Ag) |
| Near-miss | Viscount MiningVML | AgEpithermal | K26-05* | 6.1 ◉ | 46.3 g/t | 282 | 2.9 | 4.11 (Ag) |
| Near-miss | Viscount MiningVML | AgEpithermal | K26-07 (incl.)* | 1.2 ◉ | 212 g/t +Au/Pb/Zn | 254 | 3.4 | 3.70 (Ag) |
| Near-miss | Kootenay SilverKTN | AgEpithermal | CDH-26-262 ✓ | 3 | 138 g/t +Zn | 414 | 4.4 | 3.33 (Ag) |
| Near-miss | Ashley GoldASHL | AuOrogenic | TAK-26-09* | 30.5 ◉ | 0.304 g/t | 9.3 | 9.3 | 1.52 |
Viscount's Ben West and Defender holes (K26-07/05) are ~1 km from the Kate resource on separate structural targets; Ashley's TAK-26-09 is the low-grade halo of the 67Z. Remaining near-misses (Revival, Thunder Gold, K2, Westhaven, Koryx, Copper Giant sub-intervals) are in the sheet.
✓ True width stated in PR · * Drilled width — TW not determined · ◉ From ≤200m (shallow)
⚠ High jurisdiction risk · ~ Moderate jurisdiction risk
GT thresholds — Au: Good >10, Great >50, Exceptional >200 g/t·m · Ag/AgEq: Good >500, Great >2,000, Exceptional >10,000 g/t·m · Cu/CuEq: Good >20, Great >40, Exceptional >150 %·m · WO₃: Good >1, Great >5, Exceptional >20 %·m
AuEq: Au $3,200/oz · Ag $33/oz · Cu $13,700/t · Sb $30,000/t · GT/MCap uses C$ mkt cap at September 22, 2026 (JMN sidebar where available; i-80, Westhaven, Formation, Aya approximate). Issuer-reported CuEq/AgEq/AuEq used where given (issuer price decks in Notes). Deposit type shown under metal symbol.
⚠ High jurisdiction risk · ~ Moderate jurisdiction risk
GT thresholds — Au: Good >10, Great >50, Exceptional >200 g/t·m · Ag/AgEq: Good >500, Great >2,000, Exceptional >10,000 g/t·m · Cu/CuEq: Good >20, Great >40, Exceptional >150 %·m · WO₃: Good >1, Great >5, Exceptional >20 %·m
AuEq: Au $3,200/oz · Ag $33/oz · Cu $13,700/t · Sb $30,000/t · GT/MCap uses C$ mkt cap at September 22, 2026 (JMN sidebar where available; i-80, Westhaven, Formation, Aya approximate). Issuer-reported CuEq/AgEq/AuEq used where given (issuer price decks in Notes). Deposit type shown under metal symbol.
Not Screened
Blue Moon Metals (MOON · TSX-V / Nasdaq · C$808M) — Springer W project, USA (Nevada). Best intercept: 7.01 m of 1.28% WO₃ (NM-13; 9.0 %·m — would rate Great), 24.25 m of 0.22% WO₃ (NM-44), 8.24 m of 0.64% WO₃ (SU-27). Re-assays of GE-era (1970s–80s) historical core, not new drilling — noted for the tungsten watch; a 67,000 m new campaign was BLM-permitted Sept 10.
Stakeholder Gold (SRC · TSX-V · ~C$46M) — Ballarat, Canada (Yukon). Best intercept: 6 m of 0.32 g/t Au (BA2604), 1 m of 1.20 g/t Au. First bedrock gold in 7 of 9 holes but every interval sub-threshold (best GT 1.9); metallic-screen re-assays pending.
Kincora Copper (KCC · TSX-V / ASX · C$54M) — Nevertire South (AngloGold Ashanti earn-in), Australia (NSW). Best intercept: 19.55 m of 0.198 g/t Au; 33.2 m of 0.059% Cu (NEDD011/014). Vector-level geochemistry under ~250 m cover; sub-threshold.
Galloper Gold (BOOM · CSE · C$8M) — Glover Island, Canada (NL). Best intercept: n/a. Visual mineralization in holes 1–2 of a 30-hole maiden program; assays pending.
Goliath Resources (GOT · TSX-V · ~C$289M) — Golddigger (Surebet), Canada (BC). Best intercept: n/a. Program completion — 48,443 m / 97 holes, assays pending on 83; no new grades.
GreenLight Metals (GRL · TSX-V · C$28M) — Bend, USA (Wisconsin). Best intercept: B26-015 24.5 m and B26-016 31.6 m visual massive sulphide. Visuals only, assays pending (B26-012 gold zone is in the table).
Partial captures: A2Gold Table 1 is an image (several from/to depths N/A); Cambria 26 of 54 intervals, i-80 27 of 41, Koryx main zones only, Aya Table 1 only — remaining rows are all sub-headline. Master archive (7B) rebuild skipped again pending manual merge.
Stakeholder Gold (SRC · TSX-V · ~C$46M) — Ballarat, Canada (Yukon). Best intercept: 6 m of 0.32 g/t Au (BA2604), 1 m of 1.20 g/t Au. First bedrock gold in 7 of 9 holes but every interval sub-threshold (best GT 1.9); metallic-screen re-assays pending.
Kincora Copper (KCC · TSX-V / ASX · C$54M) — Nevertire South (AngloGold Ashanti earn-in), Australia (NSW). Best intercept: 19.55 m of 0.198 g/t Au; 33.2 m of 0.059% Cu (NEDD011/014). Vector-level geochemistry under ~250 m cover; sub-threshold.
Galloper Gold (BOOM · CSE · C$8M) — Glover Island, Canada (NL). Best intercept: n/a. Visual mineralization in holes 1–2 of a 30-hole maiden program; assays pending.
Goliath Resources (GOT · TSX-V · ~C$289M) — Golddigger (Surebet), Canada (BC). Best intercept: n/a. Program completion — 48,443 m / 97 holes, assays pending on 83; no new grades.
GreenLight Metals (GRL · TSX-V · C$28M) — Bend, USA (Wisconsin). Best intercept: B26-015 24.5 m and B26-016 31.6 m visual massive sulphide. Visuals only, assays pending (B26-012 gold zone is in the table).
Partial captures: A2Gold Table 1 is an image (several from/to depths N/A); Cambria 26 of 54 intervals, i-80 27 of 41, Koryx main zones only, Aya Table 1 only — remaining rows are all sub-headline. Master archive (7B) rebuild skipped again pending manual merge.
THE FIRST ASSAY
thefirstassay.com
Au $3,200/oz · Ag $33/oz · Cu $13,700/t · APT $3,300/mtu
Not investment advice.
Not investment advice.
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