Callinex shares jump on strong copper intervals at Rainbow

Shares in Callinex Mines (TSXV: CNX) rose more than 15% today after the Vancouver-based company reported drilling results from its Pine Bay copper, gold, silver and zinc project in Manitoba. 

Drilling at the Rainbow deposit at Pine Bay, near Flin Flon, cut 33.7 metres of 4.29% copper, 0.22 gram gold per tonne, 4.63 grams silver per tonne and 0.31% zinc (or 4.6% copper equivalent) from 636.3 metres depth. The delineation drill hole at the deposit’s Orange zone included shorter sections of 10.5 metres of 5.9% copper, 14.4 metres of 5% copper and 7 metres of 6.38% copper. 

Callinex shares advanced to $2.79 in afternoon trading. The company, which is also working on two silver discoveries near the Nash Creek Deposit in New Brunswick, has a market valuation of $41.2 million. 

A step-out hole expanding the Yellow zone at Rainbow returned 11 metres of 2.43% copper, 0.24 gram gold per tonne, 5 grams silver and 0.89% zinc, or 2.98% copper equivalent. The same hole then intersected the Orange zone, returning 11.7 metres of 2.44% copper, 0.22 gram gold, 4.36 grams silver and 0.36% zinc, or 2.76% copper equivalent. 

Drill hole PBM-138 intersected the Orange Zone and returned 37 metres of 6% copper. Credit: Callinex Mines

“Drill results outlined today continue to deliver some of the widest intervals and highest copper grades intersected at the Rainbow Deposit,” Callinex president and CEO Max Porterfield said in a press release. 

“We are incredibly pleased with the success of our step out drill holes to date, which has expanded the Rainbow Deposit in multiple areas.” 

Copper is in high demand for electrical components from construction to electrical vehicles as pandemic constraints recede and the push for zero-emission power and renewable energy storage accelerates. Annual demand for the metal is expected to double by 2035 to 50 million tonnes, according to a recent report by S&P Global. That’s almost the total amount of copper consumed globally from 1900 through last year. 

Rainbow is located amid a trove of existing infrastructure to help the project, the company noted. It’s less than 250 metres from a high-voltage hydroelectric power-line, half a kilometre from an existing shaft and on road access to processing facilities. 

Callinex is preparing its first resource estimate for Rainbow after completing drilling outlining the deposit within 800 metres of the surface. It conducted 42,000 metres of drilling in the area since discovering the deposit two years ago. 

“Additional drilling into the Rainbow horizons has further defined the three massive sulphide lenses with widths and grades similar to previous neighbour holes, suggesting good correlation within the mineralized horizons,” Callinex exploration manager J.J. O’Donnell said. 

The company said it is completing the exploration to test Target Area Odin, which is located between the Rainbow and Alchemist deposits at Pine Bay.