Surge Copper outlines drilling plans for B.C. project
Surge Copper Corp. [SURG-TSXV] has launched its 2026 field program at the company’s 100%-owned Berg Copper Project in central British Columbia.
The field program is designed to support the next stage of technical advancement of the project following completion of the company’s recent prefeasibility study (PFS) work. In a June 15, 2026, press release, the company said the PFS envisages a 28-year mine life with total production of 8.6 billion pounds of copper equivalent (CuEq), including 4.9 billion pounds (2.2 million tonnes) of copper, 602 million pounds of molybdenum, and 89 million ounces of silver.
Life of mine average annual production is estimated at 308 million pounds (140,000 tonnes) of copper equivalent, including 176 million pounds (80,000 tonnes) of copper, 21 million pounds of molybdenum and 3.0 million ounces of silver.
The initial capital cost is pegged at $4.7 billion, with sustaining capital of $1.7 billion. A selected development case is based on a 120,000-tonne-per-day concentrator and a new 230 Kv transmission line connecting the project to the BC Hydro grid and downhill overland conveyor to transport ore to the process plant.
The PFS outlines a simple, stand-along development case, based on a single-phase build conventional open pit mining, and processing with no reliance on phased expansion or third-party major infrastructure.
The study is based on maiden proven and probable mineral reserves of 1.2 billion tonnes, grading 0.22% copper, 0.026% molybdenum, 4.1 g/t silver, and 0.02 g/t gold, containing 5.8 billion pounds of copper, 687 million pounds of molybdenum, 160,000 ounces of silver and 0.8 million ounces of gold.
On Wednesday, Surge Copper shares eased 1.9% or $0.01 to 51 cents. The shares trade in a 52-week range of 92 cents and 14 cents.
The Berg deposit is a calc-alkaline copper-molybdenum porphyry system. The PFS confirms Berg as a significant emerging critical minerals development project, located 28 kilometres northwest of the company’s 100%-owned Ootsa gold-molybdenum-silver project.
On Wednesday, the company said the planned field program includes up to 46 drill holes, covering 6,330 metres of drilling. An additional four lower-priority pit geological drill holes cover 1,650 metres may also be completed, in whole or in part, depending on the seasonal capacity and field conditions.
The company said the program is part of Surge’s broader plan to advance the Berg Copper Project through the next stage of technical, environmental, and regulatory readiness. The data collected through the program is expected to inform future feasibility level engineering, including pit design, infrastructure siting, rock storage planning, groundwater modelling, geochemical characterization, and water management planning.
The program has also been designed to support the company’s understanding of key environmental and land-use consideration associated with potential future project development.