BOA prepares Neds Creek copper drill program
BOA Resources is preparing to begin a 7,500‑metre reverse‑circulation (RC) drill program at its Neds Creek copper project in Western Australia’s Murchison region, with the first holes slated for early August.
First target: Ricci Lee prospect
The initial phase will focus on the Ricci Lee prospect, a 500‑metre mineralised zone identified through historic work that includes eight RC holes and shallow rotary‑air‑blast (RAB) drilling.
The deepest historic hole intersected two separate structures at roughly 200 metres below surface, returning 5 metres at 3.48 % copper and 10 metres at 5.12 % copper. Those results left the mineralisation open both down‑dip and along strike, prompting the company to test extensions of the known ore body.
Managing director Graeme Purcell said the firm has cleared all prerequisites, including heritage surveys and work‑program approvals. He added that recent acquisitions of the Thaduna and Green Dragon deposits have “substantially strengthened our copper strategy” in the province. The organization also noted it is well funded to carry out the drilling and related exploration.
Broader project context
The Neds Creek tenure now spans about 1,378 km² after the acquisition of the Thaduna and Green Dragon deposits. Those two assets together hold an estimated 5.3 million tonnes at 2.3 % copper, equating to roughly 121,000 tonnes of contained copper.
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Ricci Lee shares geological characteristics with the nearby Thaduna deposit, where a mineral resource estimate of 4.1 million tonnes at 2.5 % copper has been defined.
Beyond the RC program at Ricci Lee, the company plans a parallel 7,500 metre air‑core (AC) drilling campaign aimed at structurally controlled copper mineralisation that mirrors the orientations observed at Thaduna and Green Dragon.
The broader exploration agenda for 2026 includes additional drilling at Ricci Lee, at the Rooney’s prospect, and at four other priority targets across the Neds Creek project.
Rooney’s lies about 3.5 kilometres west of Green Dragon and has previously yielded copper intercepts such as 14 metres at 3.87 % and 7 metres at 3.99 %. Those figures suggest the area could host further high‑grade mineralisation, though no resource estimate has yet been published for that prospect.
The upcoming drill program is positioned as the first step toward a maiden resource estimate for Ricci Lee. The overall strategy mirrors past efforts in the Murchison region where incremental drilling has gradually upgraded several deposits from exploration targets to mine‑ready resources.
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They anticipate testing additional priority targets identified across the Neds Creek project. Statements indicate that the drill holes will be spaced to provide sufficient density for resource modelling, a standard practice in the industry when moving from exploratory drilling to a formal estimate.
Stakeholders will be watching the results closely, as the data could influence the firm’s ability to scale its copper inventory to an economic level.
The drill plan is ambitious.
For further background on the Murchison region’s mining history, see the Wikipedia entry.
