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Snow Queen gives Austral a warm hug with 15.9% copper, and the drilling is just beginning

JMM

Key Facts:

1. World-class grade in the very first hole 

2. Snow Queen is just one of 35 in a pipeline ready to drill

3. Infrastructure-ready 60km from processing, 2km from the highway

4. A fully funded producer not your typical junior explorer

6 May 2026 | BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND

Austral Resources Australia Ltd (ASX: AR1) has delivered one of Australia's most eye-catching copper drill results of 2026, intersecting 10 metres at 7.52% copper, including a stunning 4 metres at 15.98% copper, at its Snow Queen Prospect in Queensland's Mount Isa, Cloncurry district. 

The result, from the very first drillhole ever sunk at Snow Queen, signals that Austral's systematic regional exploration strategy is starting to fire, with significant implications for the company's ambitious long term target of 50,000 tonnes perannum of copper production.

Austral’s Chief Operating Officer, Shane O'Connell, says:

“This result is a clear demonstration of Austral’s ability to generate and drill high-quality copper targets within our tenure. Snow Queen sits within a broader portfolio of satellite opportunities that underpin our strategy of building regional scale around the Rocklands Processing Facility.

As an established copper producer, Austral is focused not only on discovery but on converting these opportunities into mineable inventory that can be efficiently integrated into our existing production and processing infrastructure. This producer mindset ensures that exploration success is aligned with practical development pathways and near-term value realisation.

We see significant value in systematically testing these targets, with the aim of identifying additional sources of copper mineralisation that could complement and sustain our current operations. Follow-up drilling is underway, and we look forward to updating shareholders as results are received.”

The result

The very first drillhole 26SQRC001 intersected 10m @ 7.52% copper from just 35 metres depth, including a high-grade core of 4m @ 15.98% copper, grades that would be considered exceptional in any copper jurisdiction globally. 

The average grade of copper deposits currently in production worldwide sits below 1%. Snow Queen has delivered more than seven times that in its opening at-bat, and the geochemical anomaly remains open to the west-north-west, suggesting the story is far from over.

The prospect

Snow Queen represents just one of 35 highly encouraging historical copper workings the Company aims to drill test over the coming 12–18 months. Surface sampling across nearby workings has already returned bonanza grades including 10.55% copper and 5.43 g/t gold at an unnamed adjacent working. 

The location

Unlike many exploration discoveries that exist in logistical isolation, Snow Queen sits just 60 kilometres from Austral's Rocklands Processing Facility and 2 kilometres from the sealed Barkly Highway. This is the engine of Austral's hub-and-spoke strategy: advancing a pipeline of satellite copper opportunities capable of leveraging existing infrastructure, compressing timelines from discovery to production and keeping development capital modest.

The multi-element

The Snow Queen announcement covers copper grades only. Gold, silver and multi-element assays for drillhole 26SQRC001 are expected imminently, while results from follow-up hole 26SQRC002 are due within 2–4 weeks. 

The plan

More than 20,000 metres of drilling is planned for 2026, targeting resource expansion at Rocklands and high-priority regional prospects.  

 

About us:

Austral Resources Australia Ltd is an ASX listed copper cathode producer operating in the Mt Isa region, Queensland, Australia. Its Mt Kelly copper oxide heap leach and solvent extraction electrowinning (SX-EW) plant has a nameplate capacity of 30,000tpa of copper cathode. The recent acquisition of the Rocklands Facility enables the dual processing capabilities for copper sulphides and copper oxides, as well as an increased exposure to gold. Austral has recently embarked on an aggressive growth and consolidation strategy across the World Class Mount Isa Region, which includes the Rocklands Deposit. Austral now owns a significant copper inventory with a JORC compliant Mineral Resource Estimate standing at 64 Mt @ 0.73% Cu (468,414t of contained copper)(comprising of 52.8Mt @ 0.74% Cu at the Lady Annie Project – 8.8Mt at 0.75% Cu Measured MRE, 33.0Mt at 0.76% Cu Indicated MRE and 11.0Mt at 0.69% Cu Inferred MRE and 11.26Mt at 0.69% Cu at the Rocklands Project – 9.12Mt at 0.72% Cu Indicated MRE and 2.14Mt at 0.55% Cu Inferred MRE), two processing facilities, as well as 2,101km2 of highly prospective exploration tenure in the heart of the Mt Isa district, a world class copper and base metals province. The Company intends to implement an intensive exploration and development program designed to extend the life of mine, increase its resource base and continually review options to commercialise its copper resources. Equivalent material properties and microstructure for a variety of alloys. PM-HIP manufacturing is helping alleviate the strained domestic supply chain for large scale castings and forgings.

Contact details:

Investor & Media Relations | Jane Morgan M: +61 405 555 618 E: [email protected]