Mineral Sorting High-Value-Add Work Program At Gunnison Copper Project

PHOENIX, AZ – Gunnison Copper Corp. reported on its initial mineralized material sorting test program at the flagship Gunnison Copper Project in southeast Arizona. The initial results are extremely encouraging, showing the potential to significantly reduce acid consumption while maintaining copper recovery.
Roland Goodgame, SVP of Business Development, said, “This type of high-value-add program can materially improve the Project’s already robust economics and feed directly into our upcoming update to our preliminary economic assessment and planned pre-feasibility study. These results support Gunnison’s vision of producing cost-effective, sustainable, and 100% Made-in-America copper.”
A half-ton sample consisting of 2″ to 6″ pieces of PQ drill core from the Martin Formation, collected as part of Gunnison’s recently completed metallurgical drilling program. The Martin Formation is the highest acid consuming rock type in the deposit and makes up ~44% of the resource base. The sample was comprised of ~54% mineralized material and ~46% internal waste, consistent with the overall Martin Formation.
Over 90% of the internal acid-consuming waste was successfully removed from the mineralized material using optical mineral sorting equipment at a commercial scale. Due to the removal of the high-acid-consuming waste, the sorted material is expected to require up to 4x lower acid consumption. Less than 1% of total copper was lost to waste, ensuring strong copper recovery and protecting revenue. Initial sorting tests were conducted at Steinert’s facilities in Kentucky in August 2025.
Should further test work remain consistent with the initial testing results, it suggests approximately 40% of the mined Martin Formation can be removed as internal waste by optical mineral sorting prior to processing on the leach pad. This would result in a near doubling of the process head grade, and significantly reduced process operating costs.