The playbook — copper · October 14, 2026
Copper Giant's Mocoa grows to 1.6 Bt — and earns its first Indicated tonnes
The updated resource adds a near-surface core the company can build a study on. The headline 50% copper jump needs a second read.
On October 14, 2026, Copper Giant Resources published an updated resource for its Mocoa copper-molybdenum project in Putumayo, southern Colombia. The Inferred base — the lowest-confidence category — grew to 1.60 billion tonnes grading 0.40% copper-equivalent, a blended figure that folds two metals into one grade. More important, 290 million tonnes at 0.54% copper-equivalent were classified Indicated for the first time, a higher-confidence tier that sits in the near-surface core. When we last covered Mocoa in September, our open item was exactly this: the updated resource that feeds the planned economic study. That resource has now landed.
Here is why the upgrade matters more than the raw tonnage. For a porphyry — a large, low-grade body spread over a wide area — the game is scale, not a flashy vein. But Inferred rock cannot legally underpin a Mineral Reserve, so moving 290 million tonnes into the Indicated column gives the company material it can actually build an economic study on. The Indicated core carries 2.13 billion pounds of copper plus 240 million pounds of molybdenum; the Inferred shell adds 9.36 billion pounds of copper. The stock held a sharp re-rating over the three-month window, up 37.7% against copper’s 5.7% and a 4.5% move in the copper-miner ETF — roughly seven times the sector, a company-specific move rather than a rising tide. The August financing brought in about C$31 million, led by Denarius Metals with Frank Giustra participating, alongside a 10-year Trafigura offtake on 20% of future concentrate.
Now read the fine print. This is a resource estimate, not drill results, and the grade is low — 0.27% copper Inferred, 0.33% copper Indicated. The headline ‘~50% increase in contained copper’ is not apples-to-apples: it blends a lower reporting cut-off (0.15% versus 2025’s 0.25%), a larger conceptual pit shell, a diluted basis, bigger blocks and different metal prices. At a common 0.25% cut-off the Inferred copper rose a more modest 23%, and the Inferred grade actually fell to 0.45% from 0.51% copper-equivalent. The copper-equivalent math leans on US$4.75/lb copper and US$25/lb molybdenum, aggressive against recent spot. A 120-million-tonne slice below the pit shell rests on a conceptual block-caving scenario, a mining assumption rather than demonstrated viability. About 10,000 metres drilled after the cut-off are not in these numbers. Permitting in Putumayo is explicitly flagged; the company says the pit lies outside forestry reserves and communities, but social licence is not yet established. The Qualified Person on the resource, Warren Black, is independent; VP Edwin Naranjo Sierra, who also signs disclosure, is not. Our fourth-rig and PEA items stay open: watch for the supporting technical report within 45 days and the Preliminary Economic Assessment — Mocoa’s first economic case — which the company says is on plan for Q4 2026.