Drilling Starts at Pacific Ridge's Kliyul Copper-Gold Project; Two Drill Programs Underway
Pacific Ridge begins drilling at the Kliyul M39 target as part of its announced 2026 exploration plan.
Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd. has initiated a approximately 2,500-metre drill program at its 100% owned Kliyul copper-gold project, focusing on the previously undrilled M39 area. This effort runs concurrently with a separate approximately 3,000-metre drill program at the RDP copper-gold project, which is already in progress.
M39 is identified as the highest priority target at Kliyul, situated within a six-kilometre porphyry copper-gold trend. The area features monzonite dykes, magnetite skarn, sodic alteration, chalcopyrite mineralized quartz veins, and circular magnetic/IP anomalies.
The company’s release reiterates the July 31, 2025 Inferred Mineral Resource estimate for the Kliyul Main Zone (KMZ): 334.1 million tonnes at 0.33% CuEq, containing 2.42 billion pounds CuEq. Technical assumptions for this estimate rely on Mount Milligan recovery rates of 80% for copper, 65% for gold, and 65% for silver, alongside base-case metal prices of $4.60/lb for copper, $2,600/oz for gold, and $30.00/oz for silver.
CEO Blaine Monaghan noted that porphyry deposits frequently occur in clusters and expressed hope for a new deposit discovery at Kliyul.
Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd. (PEX) released operational updates on August 17, 2026, following its July 16, 2026 announcement regarding 2026 drilling plans for the Kliyul and RDP projects. The company confirmed the commencement of drilling at M39 and RDP, aligning with its stated exploration timeline. This release serves as a confirmation of execution rather than providing new assay results, resource upgrades, or financial updates. Historically, PEX has demonstrated consistent operational follow-through by progressing from plan announcements in July to mobilization and drilling in August.
Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd. is a pre-revenue exploration-stage junior focused on copper-gold and gold projects in British Columbia and Yukon. Its flagship asset is the 100%-owned Kliyul Copper-Gold Project, which covers approximately 92 km² in the Quesnel Terrane, BC. The project hosts an Inferred Mineral Resource at the Main Zone (KMZ) of 334.1 Mt at 0.33% CuEq (2.42B lbs CuEq), with the deposit open for expansion in multiple directions.
Infrastructure at Kliyul includes proximity to the Omineca Resource Road, located approximately 8 km away, and adjacency to a 230-kV transmission line.
The company also owns the RDP Copper-Gold Project in the Golden Horseshoe region of BC. Drilling conducted in 2025 returned strong intercepts, including 112.2m @ 1.35% CuEq at the Day target, confirming a tabular porphyry geometry.
In Yukon, the Mariposa and Eureka Dome gold projects are currently under option to Labrador Gold Corp., allowing Pacific Ridge to focus capital on its BC copper projects.