Copper Intelligence (OTC: CUAI), a US-listed exploration company, published on 1 July 2026 the first drilling results from its Butembo Copper Project in North Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo — a location geographically and geologically distinct from the DRC's traditional Copperbelt provinces of Lualaba and Haut-Katanga.
The company completed two drill holes. The first, designated BCDD001, intersected copper mineralisation from surface over 7.55 metres with a preliminary average grade of approximately 5.96% copper based on combined channel and core sampling. The second hole, BCDD002, drilled approximately 100 metres along strike from the first, intersected two separate mineralised intervals: 3 metres at approximately 0.24% copper from 8 to 11 metres depth, and 3 metres at approximately 1.89% copper from 19.7 to 22.7 metres depth. A third hole is underway and targeting at least 100 metres depth.
Both sets of results are explicitly preliminary. All reported figures are based on on-site handheld XRF analysis of pulverised half-cores. Samples have been submitted to accredited laboratories for confirmatory assay. XRF portable measurement is a standard tool for rapid on-site orientation during drilling but is not a substitute for accredited laboratory analysis, and XRF results can differ materially from certified assay grades. The company has acknowledged this explicitly in its press release.
The Butembo licence covers approximately 70 to 80 square kilometres in North Kivu, near the Ruwenzori mountain region, 50 kilometres from the Ugandan border. The project sits adjacent to Virunga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site and Congo Basin biodiversity reserve. The licence was acquired by Copper Intelligence — formerly African Discovery Group — through a reverse takeover transaction finalised in February 2026. The company describes Butembo as a near-surface, low-strip opportunity discovered after artisanal gold miners exposed shallow oxidised copper mineralisation. Prior surface and channel sampling returned grades of up to 18–24.9% copper from accredited laboratory analysis, figures that attracted attention but which, as the company has noted, reflect point samples from surface outcrops and artisanal pits rather than drilled continuity at depth.
