Sydney, April 27, 2026, 19:29 (AEST)
Carnaby Resources’ shares (ASX: CNB) finished Monday up 6.7% at A$0.555, marking a three-day climb as buyers latched on to the Greater Duchess copper-gold narrative. The stock started the day at A$0.520, touching that A$0.555 peak before the close, according to market data.
This shift stands out, given that no new price-moving filings hit on Monday. The most recent CNB updates still on record: last week’s unquoted securities notice, and—of greater relevance to investors—the April 21 drilling update at Greater Duchess.
The spotlight now shifts to assay results and expanding resources, not adding anything new to the balance sheet. Carnaby last week kicked off a reverse-circulation drilling run at Trekelano—about 3,000 metres, part of Greater Duchess. Reverse-circulation drilling pulls up rock chips with compressed air, a standard method for rapid mineral target testing.
The program zeroes in on areas surrounding Trek 1, Trek 2, and Inheritance, following earlier strong copper equivalent finds. Copper equivalent (CuEq) lumps copper and gold values into a single copper-grade measure. That makes it easier to line up mixed-metal drill results side by side.
Managing Director Rob Watkins described the recent Trekelano results as strong enough to justify “immediate follow-up drilling,” adding that Carnaby’s focus remains on the “delivery of a Feasibility Study” at Greater Duchess. Additional drill results from the finished diamond drilling campaign are still in the queue, the company said.
Carnaby’s top asset, Greater Duchess, sits roughly 70 kilometres southeast of Mount Isa, Queensland. The company pegs the project as a copper-gold system spanning 1,946 square kilometres, with a mineral resource estimate coming in at 29.2 million tonnes grading 1.5% CuEq—translating to 441,000 tonnes copper equivalent.
The March pre-feasibility study—an early engineering and economics check ahead of any final investment call—put the project’s base-case pre-tax net present value at A$472 million, with a post-tax net present value coming in at A$322 million. Internal rate of return? 281%. Carnaby pointed to A$11 million slated for pre-production capital, a feasibility study pencilled in for the second quarter of 2026, and they’re aiming to kick off first production in the back half of 2026.
Watkins described the PFS as a “major milestone,” arguing it lays out a “clear pathway” toward building a low-capital mining operation close to existing Mount Isa infrastructure. That’s really the pitch for CNB shares: a small company aiming to push from drilling toward production fast, betting that copper and gold will stay hot with investors.
Competition in the region is stiff. Hammer Metals is touting over 530,000 tonnes of copper-equivalent JORC inventory at its Mount Isa project. Over in north Queensland, AIC Mines is running the Eloise copper mine not far from Cloncurry, a copper-gold operation. What sets Carnaby apart? Instead of constructing its own processing plant from scratch, the company is banking on tolling and offtake deals tied to Glencore.
Still, the risk looms large. Carnaby’s PFS itself points out the production target relies on material categorized as inferred resources—areas with shaky geological confidence. There’s no guarantee that more drilling will upgrade those to higher-confidence resources, or even that the production target will actually be met.
Execution risks remain: permitting, mine scheduling, toll treatment, contractor expenses, and commodity prices all pose challenges. A steep drop in copper or gold prices—or holdups for the feasibility study or the final investment decision—would undercut the market’s current view of CNB.
Right now, Carnaby’s share action comes down to this: will the company’s fresh Trekelano drilling actually add more mineable tonnes to Greater Duchess? Forget the price chart for the moment. What matters next is what the drill bit turns up.
