Exciting Developments in the Agadir Melloul Copper Project
The British company Critical Mineral Resources has recently provided significant updates regarding its copper project located in Agadir Melloul, situated in the southern region of Morocco. Ongoing drilling campaigns, which commenced in 2025, continue to yield results that surpass the initial expectations set by the company. Charlie Long, the CEO, has indicated that the first official resource estimate is anticipated by the third quarter of 2026, with the potential for production to commence within a three-year timeframe.
In an interview with industry media, Long described Morocco as "one of the most attractive mining jurisdictions in Africa," noting that the country ranks second on the continent behind Botswana according to the Fraser Institute's classifications. He emphasized that despite the significant mineral structures identified over the decades, the territory remains relatively underexplored.
Long pointed out that Morocco possesses "extensive mineralization despite historically limited drilling activity," a situation that, in his words, creates "a genuine window for companies focused on discovering new deposits." He also highlighted the logistical advantages of the Agadir Melloul site, which is accessible in approximately two and a half hours from Agadir and about three hours by plane from major European hubs.
Drilling Results Exceed Initial Objectives
The preliminary results from the 2026 drilling campaign have revealed average copper intercepts measuring five meters in thickness, significantly exceeding the company's initial conservative target of two meters. Long clarified that these findings correspond to the initial drilling returns for the current year, following a previous campaign conducted in 2025 that had already produced widths surpassing two meters.
The CEO explained that the company intentionally maintains conservative assumptions in its geological interpretation while acknowledging that "the mineralization could ultimately prove to be thicker than anticipated." Consequently, the results obtained at Agadir Melloul are interpreted with caution by management, even as the accumulated data fosters a growing confidence in the continuity of the mineralized corridor.
He emphasized that less than 3% of the target area has been drilled so far, indicating that the majority of the perimeter remains unexplored. According to him, this low density of drillings suggests a much broader geological potential than currently documented by field campaigns. Long also reminded stakeholders of a nearby mine containing approximately 100 million tonnes and exhibiting geological characteristics similar to those observed at Critical Mineral Resources' Moroccan project. This geological proximity "continues to enhance management's confidence in the long-term potential of the project," he explained, while stressing that the identified mineralized structures at Agadir Melloul share several analogies with this large-scale regional deposit.
Critical Mineral Resources now estimates that it can achieve a resource target of 25 million tonnes at the Agadir Melloul site in the medium term. Long asserted that the drilling campaigns conducted thus far are already steering the company toward "a significant resource," even though exploration efforts must continue methodically across the entire mineralized corridor.
The publicly traded group on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol CMRS also believes it possesses sufficient internal data to support an initial geological model of the deposit. However, Long noted that an external consultant will need to be engaged to establish a formal estimate in compliance with the Australian Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) code, which is an international benchmark for the assessment of mineral resources.
The company remains committed to publishing its first official resource estimate by the third quarter of 2026. When asked about the credibility of this timeline, Long responded that the firm is "very confident" in its ability to meet this deadline, given the current pace of drilling campaigns and the quality of data already collected on-site.
He added that the results obtained since 2025 consistently exceed the company's cautious assumptions, with the widths observed during successive drillings consistently surpassing internal targets. This situation gradually contributes to increasing management's confidence in the existence of a substantial copper system.
Critical Mineral Resources views Morocco as one of the most promising territories for copper exploration in North Africa. Long reiterated that vast areas of the kingdom remain inadequately drilled, despite the long-standing mining activity in Morocco and the historical presence of numerous metalliferous structures. He believes this situation creates a particularly favorable environment for companies specializing in discovering new deposits. According to him, the contrast between the kingdom's geological potential and the historically low volume of drilling still offers significant opportunities for mining exploration groups operating in the country.
At Agadir Melloul, work is set to continue on several new targets identified within the mineralized corridor. Critical Mineral Resources aims to gradually increase the density of its drilling to refine its geological understanding of the site ahead of publishing its first official resource estimate. Long finally stated that the currently available data is already leading the company to contemplate a potential production start for the project within a three-year horizon, based on the results from successive drilling campaigns, geological analogies established with neighboring deposits, and the apparent continuity of the copper structures identified thus far in the Agadir Melloul region.
As reported by barlamane.com.
