First Quantum Files NI 43-101 Technical Report for La Granja

On May 11, 2026, First Quantum Minerals filed a NI 43‑101 Technical Report for the La Granja copper project in northern Peru, updating the Mineral Resource estimate. Highlights: - La Granja is a 55 %/45% joint venture between First Quantum and Rio Tinto. - Measured & Indicated resources: 4.83 billion tonnes @ 0.48% Cu (23.0 Mt contained copper). - Inferred resources: 5.21 billion tonnes @ 0.40% Cu (20.7 Mt contained copper). - Total contained copper (all categories) approximates 43.7 Mt, with silver, gold and molybdenum credits. - The estimate is based on ~46 km of oriented diamond drilling conducted 2023‑2025, atop an 833‑hole (368 km) database. - A conceptual pit optimization assumed $4.00/lb Cu, returning a 0.16% Cu breakeven cut‑off; no Mineral Reserves yet declared. - Mining concept: large open pit, desalinated seawater, slurry pipeline to a coastal processing plant. - Both CEOs expressed confidence in the asset’s Tier 1 potential, but emphasized that it remains at an early stage.

The filing is the formal documentation of a resource model that was materially unchanged from earlier company descriptions; no reserves, no economic study, and no construction decision are attached.

The news is routine and positive but not market‑moving. The La Granja project has long been known as a massive copper endowment, and the resource update does not change the in‑situ scale by a significant degree relative to previous disclosures. Moreover, the lack of an economic study or a mine plan means that the project is years away from potential production, limiting near‑term cash‑flow impact. The stock has recently been under pressure from elevated costs, realized hedge losses, and a net loss in Q1 2026 – factors that outweigh a long‑dated exploration‑stage resource filing. While the confirmation of such a large resource is positive for the long‑term growth narrative, it provides no immediate catalyst, has no direct effect on First Quantum’s liquidity or earnings, and therefore does not constitute a material game‑changer.

First Quantum Minerals is a global copper producer with mines in Zambia (Kansanshi, Sentinel), Turkey (Çayeli – being sold), Mauritania (Guelb Moghrein), and the suspended Cobre Panamá operation in Panama. Nickel comes from the Enterprise mine in Zambia; the Ravensthorpe nickel operation in Australia is on care‑and‑maintenance. Flagship project: Kansanshi, a large open‑pit copper‑gold mine, where the $1.25 B S3 expansion reached commercial production in December 2025, adding ~25 kt of copper in FY 2025. Cobre Panamá, once a Tier 1 asset, has been in preservation since late 2023; processing of stockpiled ore was approved in April 2026, potentially adding ~70 kt of copper. Greenfield growth is centered on Taca Taca (100%, Argentina, P&P reserves 1,990 Mt, NPV $5.9 B) and the La Granja JV (55%, Peru), with a PEA‑stage Haquira deposit also in Peru.