A.I.S. Resources Drills Eight Holes Across Three New Brunswick Targets

A.I.S. Resources Limited (TSX-V: AIS; OTC PINK: AISSF) said it has completed part of its Phase 1 diamond drilling program in southwestern New Brunswick with eight NQ holes across the Pocologan, Little Lepreau and Prince of Wales areas, with visual disseminated sulphides logged at Pocologan and assay results still pending.

A.I.S. Resources Limited (OTC PINK: AISSF), which also trades as AIS on the TSX Venture Exchange and 5YH in Frankfurt, has completed part of the first phase of a diamond drilling program on its permitted ground in southwestern New Brunswick. Eight NQ diamond drill holes were sunk across three separate target areas — Pocologan, Little Lepreau and Prince of Wales — using Penobsquis-based contractor ICor Drilling Services.

The headline observation, and the one that will draw the most attention from shareholders, is at Pocologan. There, the drill cut structurally deformed, mylonitized gabbro of the Early Silurian Andy Ponds Gabbro Formation, itself cut by felsic dykes, with visual disseminated sulphides logged across multiple intervals. The company was careful to frame that as a geological vector rather than a discovery: its copper-gold-silver and IOCG-style models for the property remain unconfirmed pending laboratory results.

What eight holes can and cannot settle

Phase 1 programs at this scale are not designed to define anything. Eight holes spread across three distinct target areas works out to a handful of holes per area — enough to test whether the geological model that surface prospecting suggested actually persists at depth, and not remotely enough to outline a body of mineralization. The value of the work is in what it rules out as much as what it confirms.

At Pocologan, the sequence described — deformed mafic intrusive rock intruded by later felsic dykes, with sulphides distributed through it — is the kind of setting that can host copper-bearing systems, which is why the company flags it as an additional vector for follow-up. But "visual disseminated sulphides" is a logging observation made by eye on core. Pyrite, pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite all look like sulphides in a core box; only one of them carries copper in economic quantity. This is the single most common gap between a drill update and an assay release in junior exploration, and it is why the company's own language stops short of claiming a result.

At Little Lepreau, the drilling tested the Talbot Road Granodiorite — a different host rock and, functionally, a different test. Prince of Wales rounds out the three permitted areas covered in this tranche. The company described the work as completing *part* of the Phase 1 program, which implies further holes on the remaining permitted ground once conditions and permitting allow.

The share price is already pricing uncertainty

A.I.S. shares on the OTC Pink market last changed hands at 0.09 as of the close on Friday, 18 September 2026, down 2.37% from the prior close of 0.09. The quote currency is not specified in the market data feed. More instructive than the small daily move is the intraday range: the stock traded between 0.07 and 0.12 in that session — a spread that, at a sub-dime share price, reflects thin liquidity rather than a considered repricing of the asset. Small orders move quotes like this a long way.

That backdrop matters for how investors should read the update. A stock in this price band has essentially no cushion of institutional ownership to absorb news, which cuts both ways: an assay set that confirms the copper model can move the equity violently, and one that comes back barren can do the same in reverse. The broader tape offered no particular tailwind into the weekend either. The S&P 500 proxy SPY closed at $761.69, off 0.12%, the Dow 30 tracker DIA at $515.88, down 0.48%, with only the Nasdaq 100 fund QQQ higher at $721.45, up 0.63%. None of that is a risk-on setup for microcap exploration names.

Why New Brunswick, and why now

Southwestern New Brunswick sits in an Appalachian belt that has drawn intermittent attention for base and precious metals for decades, and the province's mineral tenure and permitting regime is comparatively navigable for a company of A.I.S.'s size. Hiring a local contractor out of Penobsquis rather than mobilizing a rig from farther afield is a cost decision as much as a logistical one — mobilization and demobilization charges are a meaningful line item when the total program is measured in single-digit hole counts.

The IOCG label the company uses — iron oxide copper-gold — refers to a deposit style that can carry copper, gold and silver together in large tonnages, and which has produced some of the world's most valuable copper mines. It is also a term that gets applied liberally in exploration releases because the geological criteria are broad. The company's own caveat that the model is unconfirmed is the operative sentence in the update, and readers should treat it as such. The full announcement was carried by INN Battery Metals.

The assay clock is the only thing that matters next

From here the sequence is mechanical: core is cut, sampled and shipped to a laboratory, and results come back in batches. Turnaround times at commercial assay labs have been a chronic bottleneck across the junior sector, and a company with eight holes of core competing for queue space against larger clients has limited leverage over scheduling. A.I.S. has not given a date for results.

Three things are worth watching:

• Which sulphides they are. The Pocologan assays will either put copper, gold and silver grades against those disseminated intervals or they will not. There is no middle outcome that sustains the current narrative.
• Whether the remaining Phase 1 holes get drilled. The update explicitly covers part of the program. Completing the balance requires either cash on hand or a financing — and at a share price in this range, any equity raise is dilutive on terms that existing holders will feel.
• Follow-up at Little Lepreau and Prince of Wales. The company put drill time into three areas rather than concentrating it. If one target pulls ahead on assays, the next program should narrow rather than broaden.

For now this is an operational update, not a result. The company has demonstrated it can permit ground, contract a rig locally and complete holes — real milestones for an exploration company, and ones a surprising number of juniors fail to clear. What it has not yet demonstrated is whether there is copper, gold or silver in the rock at grades and widths that justify a Phase 2. That answer arrives in a laboratory report, and until it does, the visual logging is exactly what the company called it: a vector for follow-up.

Key facts

• Ticker and last price: OTC PINK: AISSF — 0.09 at the close on 18 Sep 2026, down 2.37%
• Holes drilled: Eight NQ diamond drill holes, Phase 1 (partial)
• Target areas: Pocologan, Little Lepreau, Prince of Wales — southwestern New Brunswick
• Status of results: Copper-gold-silver and IOCG models unconfirmed pending laboratory assays

Frequently asked questions

What did A.I.S. Resources actually announce?

A.I.S. Resources Limited said it has completed part of its Phase 1 diamond drilling program on permitted ground in southwestern New Brunswick. Eight NQ diamond drill holes were drilled across the Pocologan, Little Lepreau and Prince of Wales areas by contractor ICor Drilling Services of Penobsquis, New Brunswick. Assay results have not yet been reported.

Does 'visual disseminated sulphides' mean copper was found?

No. Visual sulphides are an observation made by eye on drill core during logging. Several sulphide minerals look similar in core but carry very different metal content — pyrite, for instance, carries no copper. Only laboratory assays establish grade. A.I.S. explicitly stated its copper-gold-silver and IOCG-style models remain unconfirmed pending those results.

Where is AISSF stock trading?

A.I.S. Resources shares last traded at 0.09 on the OTC Pink market as of the close on Friday, 18 September 2026, down 2.37% from the previous close. The session range ran from 0.07 to 0.12, a wide spread typical of thinly traded microcaps. The company also lists on the TSX Venture Exchange as AIS and in Frankfurt as 5YH.

What is an IOCG deposit?

IOCG stands for iron oxide copper-gold, a deposit style in which copper, gold and often silver occur alongside abundant iron oxide minerals. Some of the world's largest copper mines are IOCG systems, which is why the label attracts attention. The geological criteria are broad, however, and applying the model to a property is a working hypothesis, not a finding.

What rocks did the drilling intersect?

At Pocologan, the holes cut structurally deformed, mylonitized gabbro of the Early Silurian Andy Ponds Gabbro Formation, intruded by felsic dykes, with disseminated sulphides logged across several intervals. At Little Lepreau, the drilling tested the Talbot Road Granodiorite. Prince of Wales was the third area covered in this tranche of Phase 1 work.

When will assay results be released?

A.I.S. Resources has not published a date for assay results. Core must be cut, sampled and shipped to a commercial laboratory, and turnaround times across the junior exploration sector have been a persistent bottleneck. Small programs competing for laboratory queue space typically have limited influence over scheduling, so timing should be treated as uncertain.

Sources

• A.I.S. Resources Updates on Phase 1 Drill Program in Saint John, New Brunswick — INN Battery Metals