Interview with Patrick Cruickshank, Director & CEO of Nine Mile Metals
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/nine-mile-metals-csenine-234m-of-visual-copper-and-a-horizon-never-seen-in-historic-records-10758
Recording date: 24th September 2026
Nine Mile Metals Ltd. (CSE:NINE) is a Canadian junior explorer focused on copper-rich volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits in the Bathurst Mining Camp of New Brunswick. Its lead asset is the Wedge, a deposit that Cominco mined in the 1960s. According to the company's presentation, historic production was approximately 1.5 million tonnes at 2.88% copper.
The company is midway through a 10,000-metre Phase 3 programme, its largest to date. CEO and Director Patrick J. Cruickshank said 22 holes and roughly 5,500 metres had been completed at the time of the interview, with only five holes reported. Assay turnaround of about a month, and the need to rebuild each hole from anonymously numbered samples, explains the gap. Certified results to date includes 24.55 metres of 3.49% copper equivalent over true width and another 14.15 metres at 5.09% copper equivalent.
The geological picture has become more complex and potentially more valuable. Drilling has identified three lenses rather than one. One is a polymetallic lens with lead, zinc, silver, copper and gold. Another, to the east, carries high-grade copper and gold over roughly 40 metres. The lenses dip steeply, so reported intercept widths reflect drill angle rather than true lens size.
The next step is methodical rather than aggressive. Because the upper third of the deposit has collapsed and historic plans of the workings are unavailable, Nine Mile is running a borehole electromagnetic survey across eight holes. The survey should produce a 3D map of old workings and remaining conductors. The company will then complete the programme by drilling to depth on the northwest side of a fault that cuts the deposit. Historic mining did not test below about 150 to 300 metres.
Apex Geoscience is consolidating historic and modern data into a live model. An updated NI 43-101 technical report is expected in the first quarter, followed by a maiden mineral resource estimate. Management's stated mandate is to demonstrate a footprint of up to 10 million tonnes. That target remains untested until the resource estimate is published.
Beyond the Wedge, a new rig is heading to Tribag, four kilometres west along the same trend, to test six targets at 350 to 400 metres depth over about 3,000 metres. At Nine Mile Brook, where the company drilled 10.12% copper over 15.10 metres, a second rhyolite cap found this summer will be drilled next spring.
Financially, the company is in its strongest position in several years. It holds about C$5 million in cash and says it is funded for two to almost three years without needing to raise. Management reports inbound interest from companies about joint ventures and acquisitions, although no agreement has been announced.
The principal risks are typical of pre-resource exploration. These include laboratory delays, unverified historic data, copper equivalent figures that differ in methodology between holes and the absence of any defined resource. Investors should watch pending Phase 3 assays, the borehole survey results, the Tribag programme and the first-quarter technical report as the key near-term markers.
View Nine Mile Metals' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/nine-mile-metals
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