Sankamap Metals Inc. (CSE: SCU; WKN: A413DA) is pushing ahead with preparations for its first drilling program on the Kuma project in the Solomon Islands. The company reports that key work is being carried out on the approximately 4,500-hectare Kuma concession area – around 37 kilometers southeast of the capital Honiara on the island of Guadalcanal – to prepare for the start of drilling. The focus is on setting up the infrastructure on site, further developing the drilling platforms and taking samples to further narrow down the target area for the planned start of drilling in February 2026.
A field team has already been mobilized to advance the construction of a camp, complete drill pads and take rock samples in parallel. At the same time, existing data is being collated and reassessed in order to prioritize “high-potential” zones within the project area. In doing so, the company is underlining its approach of aligning the upcoming initial drilling with the most consistent geological, geochemical and geophysical evidence possible.
Sankamap Metals: Infrastructure and sampling ahead of drilling start at Kuma
Reliable logistics and safe workflows on site are crucial for an initial drilling program. Sankamap Metals reports that the first phase of drill pad construction at Kuma has been completed. This lays the foundation for the upcoming drilling work. The camp construction is running in parallel and is scheduled to be completed in the coming weeks. In addition, exploration work is taking place in the vicinity of the drill pads: the team aims to sharpen the target definition by means of reconnaissance sampling before drill meters are used on a larger scale.
An important component is the surface samples that have already been taken. Sankamap Metals has collected an initial series of 44 rock samples and sent them to Australia. There, they will be geochemically analyzed and also hyperspectrally characterized. The company emphasizes that this work will supplement historical data sets, improve geological understanding and support the ongoing target selection. Further sampling is also planned in other promising areas of the project area – in particular in the vicinity of additional geophysical anomalies that have been identified in the existing data.
Operationally, the focus is now on the next milestone: According to Sankamap Metals, a drill rig has already been dispatched to Guadalcanal. The schedule still envisages drilling commencing in February 2026. This would be the first time that the company has systematically tested whether the indications previously derived on the surface and indirectly from data can be confirmed at depth.
Geological framework: Porphyry copper-gold as a working hypothesis
Sankamap locates the Kuma project along a geologically extremely promising trend in the southwestern Pacific. The Lihir and Panguna deposits are examples of extremely large gold deposits in the region, some of which, according to the company, have geological parallels to the Kuma area. According to the information, Lihir, for example, has 71 million ounces of gold!
For Kuma itself, the company is working with the interpretation of a porphyry copper-gold system (Cu-Au), i.e. a type of deposit that often shows large-volume mineralization in connection with magmatic intrusions.
To support this working hypothesis, Sankamap refers to historical and more recent exploration results. The historical sampling of rocks, which yielded values of up to 13.5 g/t gold and 11.7% copper, is highlighted. Although such individual values are not automatically representative of a coherent mineralization, in early project phases they serve as an indication that metal-bearing systems may be present in the area – and provide starting points for where targeted sampling and later drilling could begin.
The location of the project is also described as an advantage from an operational point of view. According to Sankamap, Kuma is located around 15 kilometers south of the producing Gold Ridge Mine and therefore benefits from existing infrastructure. For an exploration project in an island region, this can mean, among other things, that access, local services and logistical processes have generally been tested – factors that can facilitate the transition from preliminary exploration to a drilling campaign.
Oceania Project: Kuma and Fauro as parallel exploration focuses
Kuma is part of Sankamap’s Oceania project in the Solomon Islands. In addition to Kuma, the company is also pushing ahead with the Fauro project area. The communication mentions historical trenching for Fauro – in particular for the Meriguna target area – including sections of 8.0 meters with 27.95 g/t gold and 14.0 meters with 8.94 g/t gold. In addition, very high-grade individual samples of up to 173 g/t gold are mentioned. Sankamap Metals also refers to its own, more recent sampling at the Kiovakase target, which showed copper values of up to 4.09%, as well as limited historical shallow drilling, which intersected, among other things, 35.0 meters with 2.08 g/t gold.
Against this background, the company’s current work program aims to discover new mineralization and at the same time create a reliable priority list for further drilling targets. Sankamap names alteration characteristics, copper and gold anomalies in geochemistry and matching geophysical signals as guiding criteria. For Kuma, this means specifically: The field work and analyses currently underway are intended to create the best possible basis so that the planned initial drilling program in February 2026 tests the most promising zones and prepares the next steps in project development in a technically sound manner.
