Analysis
A drilling result needs more than a length and a grade. Identify the hole, depth endpoints, unit, sampling support and whether a width was measured along the hole or estimated perpendicular to the mineralized body. Measured depth, vertical depth and mineralized thickness describe different quantities. Converting between them requires the appropriate survey and geological geometry; an unspecified reference must remain unknown.
NorthWest Copper’s 29 October 2026 Kwanika table reports 73.9 metres downhole in K-26-260 and an estimated true width of 49.4 metres. Orvana’s same-day OroValle table reports 26BX1094 from 99.90 to 104.90 metres, a calculated downhole interval of 5.00 metres, but approximate true width of 4.17 metres. These are source-specific estimates, not interchangeable measurements or universal conversion factors.
Gladiator reports 36.0 metres at 2.63% copper in CPG-176, including 20.0 metres at 3.61%. The included interval is already inside the larger one: adding the lengths to obtain 56.0 metres would double-count part of the sample. Its disclosure says complex skarn geometry prevents a reliable true-width estimate. No angle or missing width should be manufactured.
For the chart, assume a fictional straight 20-metre interval crossing an ideal planar layer. Let α be the angle between the borehole and that plane, not the angle to the ground surface. Perpendicular thickness is t = L × sin(α): 10.00 metres at 30°, 14.14 metres at 45° and 20.00 metres at 90°. Values are rounded to two decimals. This geometric illustration does not estimate any cited deposit; folds, variable geometry and uncertain orientation require a different interpretation.
Grade also needs a basis. NorthWest’s 1.39% CuEq accompanies an actual copper assay of 0.51%; the equivalent combines metals using the issuer’s price and recovery assumptions. It is not a 1.39% copper assay or measured commercial recovery. Amaroq’s separate 62.2% zinc rock-chip result is selective and does not represent the average deposit or mine feed.
The practical reading sequence is identity and date, length definition, assay unit, nested intervals, geometry, then economic assumptions. Exploration assays and illustrative arithmetic do not establish mineable tonnage, reserves or a production forecast. The cited reports were read; this guide is not an independent resource audit, and no confidence interval for the source width estimates was supplied here.