Yukon Metals has identified the presence of a porphyry-style hydrothermal system containing copper, gold and molybdenum at the Viper Prospect within its AZ Project, situated 36km south of Beaver Creek in Canada’s Yukon Territory.
The results follow the company’s 2026 exploration programme, which included diamond drilling, drone magnetic surveys, geological mapping, geochemical sampling, ground-induced polarisation (IP) and prospecting.
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Three drill-holes totalling 1,948m provided the first systematic test of the main Viper target.
All holes intersected copper-gold-molybdenum mineralisation, with copper values generally increasing with depth.
Assays returned copper grades of up to 1.85% and gold values of up to 1.97 grams per tonne over 0.6m in hole AZ26-008.
Alteration assemblages observed in core and at surface mirror patterns characteristic of porphyry deposits elsewhere.
At depth, mineralisation sits within calc-potassic zones containing magnetite, actinolite, biotite and K-feldspar, where copper sulphides and molybdenite occur as both disseminations and vein infill. Shallower intervals display quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP) alteration.
Anomalous soil geochemistry, a distinct magnetic trend and an IP chargeability anomaly extend the prospective corridor east-south-east beyond the current drill area.
The 2026 campaign follows initial exploration in 2025, when soil sampling outlined anomalous copper, molybdenum and gold values at what was formerly known as the Southeast Prospect.
A reconnaissance hole drilled in 2025 (AZ25-004), around 200m north of the main 2026 drill area, first indicated porphyry-style mineralisation.
Subsequent drilling provided a cross-section through the mineralised system and the underlying multi-phase diorite-gabbro intrusive complex.
Further mineralogical, petrographic and geochemical studies are in progress, and Yukon Metals plans to use the combined datasets to refine future drilling targets at the Viper Prospect.
Yukon Metals CEO Jim Coates said: “Viper has developed into a strong copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry target at our flagship AZ property.
“All three holes drilled this year encountered hundreds of metres of porphyry-style alteration with locally developed copper-gold-molybdenum mineralisation.
“With QSP alteration at surface, converging magnetic trends and a coincident IP chargeability high, these results define clear targets for our next round of drilling.”
