---
title: "Is This the Best Copper Play Right Now? A Deep Dive on Midnight Sun Mining."
url: "https://www.readplaza.com/articles/is-this-the-best-copper-play-right-now-a-deep-dive-on-midnight-sun-mining"
type: "article"
publisher: "GoingToADollar"
category: "Stock Picks"
published: "2025-10-29T13:15:00+00:00"
updated: "2026-06-22T22:31:23.145952+00:00"
reading_time_minutes: 11
tags: ["Short"]
---

# Is This the Best Copper Play Right Now? A Deep Dive on Midnight Sun Mining.
_Why this junior sits near the front of my copper list right now._

I first heard of Midnight Sun Mining in December 2024. I was scanning gainers and saw chatter about a copper company that finally got its license renewed, and the company had not even announced it yet. I nibbled after a bit of research and looked at it as more of a trade. Little did I know it would go on to be one of my top performers of the past year and one of the most discussed names on GoingToADollar.

The more research I did on $MMA.V, the more my conviction grew. Learning about the potential oxide deal with First Quantum at their Kazhiba project, and then the potential jackpot they were sitting on with Dumbwa, it felt like the market did not care enough or properly appreciate the story, which excited me.

I spent most of the year covering each update and pinging the timeline on every move and each dip, like mid June when it retested $0.50. Then the unreal staircase to heaven began, running as high as $2.00 near the end of September, a 4x in a few months.

I am writing this now because after the crazy run, $MMA.V has taken a breather. They did a bought deal LIFE offering, initially looking for $10M, and due to huge demand just closed at $30.4M at $1.35. Of course there is going to be some churn for a bit, but that kind of demand exists for a reason. Now that the deal is closed, we should be able to get back to the fun part soon.

So here is what you need to know about Midnight Sun Mining, in a quick, digestible read.

The Dumbwa Target - Hunting a Tier-One Copper Discovery
If Midnight Sun ever turns into a billion dollar company, there is a good chance it will be because of the Dumbwa Target. It sits in northwestern Zambia in the Domes Region, the same neighborhood as Barrick’s Lumwana and First Quantum’s Kansanshi. Dumbwa is a near surface, low strip, bulk tonnage copper target that runs for about 20 kilometers. The copper in soil is what jumps out first. It is roughly a kilometer wide and carries samples up to 0.73% copper, which is very high for soils. You even see copper clearings where vegetation thins out because the ground is loaded with copper. These bright green copper salts in the soil literally inhibit plant growth, serving as a neon sign that something big lurks beneath the surface.

Taken from page 15 of Midnight Sun's Investor Deck. Find link in Sources.

What could that “something” be? The team at Midnight Sun believes Dumbwa could be a direct analog to Barrick’s Lumwana Mine, a tier one copper deposit of roughly 1.6 billion tonnes at about 0.5% Cu located about 60 km to the west. The geological similarities are striking. Both Dumbwa and Lumwana are basement hosted systems with multiple stacked mineralized horizons, oriented north to south with a gentle ~15° eastward dip. Both deposits are shallow, with copper starting at surface to less than 150 meters depth, and both show the same “copper clearing” effect in soils. Dr. Kevin Bonel, Midnight Sun’s Chief Operating Officer and lead geologist on the ground, knows Lumwana’s geology well. He previously led the exploration team at Lumwana and helped grow the deposit from about 900 million tonnes to 1.62 billion tonnes of ore in roughly two years, turning it into one of Zambia’s largest mines. 

When he first saw Dumbwa, “what initially struck me was the remarkable similarity to Lumwana. They are both north south trending, schist hosted mineralised zones with multiple stacked horizons… but Dumbwa’s geochemical anomaly has a higher copper tenor at surface and is more laterally extensive than Lumwana’s,” Bonel noted. In other words, Dumbwa shows all the hallmarks of a tier one Copperbelt discovery, possibly even larger or richer at surface than Lumwana was.

There are only three basement hosted copper systems across the Zambia DRC Copperbelt. Kamoa Kakula. Lumwana. And now Dumbwa. The first two are already multi billion tonne, world class deposits. Dumbwa is now being talked about in that same breath, which would have sounded unrealistic a couple of years ago.

Historical work already hinted this was real. One old hole hit 16 meters of 1.24% copper right from surface. The real shift came in 2025 when the team stopped poking at it and built a proper model. Step one was tightening the soils to pin down the trend. Step two was running dipole dipole IP across the southern 11.5 kilometers to light up the chargeable horizon and map the folds and breaks. Step three is drilling across those IP lines so every hole tests the stacked layers the same way. That is the playbook Dr. Kevin Bonel used at Lumwana, and he is running it here. The logic is simple: measure twice, cut once - build a robust model of the target, then drill with precision to maximize discoveries per dollar.

So far the data is lining up. The IP correlates with the soil anomaly and with the older hits, which gives confidence that they are tracking the same copper horizon along strike. Early holes have matched the model. DBW-25-007 cut 39.7 meters of 0.51% copper near surface, including 7.0 meters of 1.13%. DBW-25-003 hit 25.9 meters of 0.48%. These are not splashy grades on a headline, but they are exactly what you want for a Lumwana style system if the widths and continuity keep holding.

Taken from page 24 of Midnight Sun's investor deck. Find link in Sources section.

Geometry matters too. Mineralization starts at surface and stays shallow, which points to a low strip profile if this builds into a resource. More meters are planned on that 11.5 kilometer corridor with step outs to the north, roughly 6,000 meters in this phase. The job now is simple to say and hard to do. Keep proving thickness and continuity line by line, and show that the same horizon repeats up the broader 20 kilometer trend.

At this juncture, Dumbwa already checks many boxes: huge anomaly, encouraging initial assays, a proven exploration model guiding the work, and geological legitimacy (thanks to the Lumwana comparison and Bonel’s expertise). Naturally, it’s still early days in drilling the full 20 km strike, and much work remains to determine if Dumbwa hosts a truly economic deposit. But few junior projects of late have shown this kind of tier-one scale potential. If Dumbwa continues to deliver, Midnight Sun could very well be onto one of the largest new copper discoveries in Zambia since the Kamoa-Kakula find across the border in the DRC.

The Kazhiba Oxide Project - High-Grade Copper & Near-Term Potential
While Dumbwa offers a shot at a giant sulphide copper deposit, Midnight Sun’s Kazhiba Project provides a more immediate and totally different opportunity: near-surface, high-grade oxide copper that could translate into early production and cash flow. In essence, Kazhiba is the “quick win” counterpart to Dumbwa’s big prize.

Kazhiba sits on the same Solwezi property, about 20 km northwest of the main dome and under 10 km from the western gate of First Quantum’s Kansanshi complex. That proximity matters because FQM’s Kansanshi mine next door already has an SX/EW processing circuit for oxide copper and a haul road that comes within 6 km of Kazhiba. If Midnight Sun can outline a sizable heap-leachable oxide deposit, Kansanshi could potentially process that material, providing near-term production and cash flow without the junior having to build its own plant. It’s a win-win scenario: First Quantum sources additional high-grade oxide feed for its under-utilized facilities, and Midnight Sun monetizes a discovery much faster than is typical for a greenfield project.

Taken from page 31 of Midnight Sun's investor deck. Find link in Sources section

The geology fits too. Kazhiba lies on a basement dome like the ones that host Kansanshi. Old work a decade ago already clipped strong copper at surface, including 11.3 m at 5.71% Cu. It sat quiet until April 2024 when Midnight Sun signed a co-operative exploration deal with FQM to zero in on oxides across the ground. FQM wants high-grade oxide feed. Midnight Sun wants a clean, de-risked route to revenue.

Drilling at Kazhiba Main in 2024 hit what you want to see for an oxide blanket near surface: 21.0 m at 10.69% Cu, 26.0 m at 5.60% Cu, 15.0 m at 3.01% Cu, and 7.0 m at 4.66% Cu. Flat-lying, shallow, and thick enough to matter. IP and partial-leach geochem pushed the footprint beyond the first zone, and only about 40% of the main area has seen holes so far. 

Taken from page 28 of Midnight Sun's investor deck. Find link in Sources section.

There is sulphide upside below and beside the oxides. Geophysics outlines a 4 km by 2 km target that looks like a feeder. A few holes went into a second sulphide target in late 2024 and set up follow-up work, but near-term focus stays on proving the oxides to a mineable inventory.

The plan is straightforward. Use Kazhiba oxides to build a trucking arrangement with FQM and create a cash bridge. Use that bridge to fund the bigger drill grid at Dumbwa. If both legs work, you get a two-track story that pays its own way.

Final Thoughts
Welp, hopefully this gave you a clear look at why I’m excited about Midnight Sun. It’s still an explorer, so the rule applies: live by the drill, die by the drill. As good as things look, nothing is guaranteed. 

Near term, there’s likely some churn as the LIFE deal clears. The stock sits below the $1.35 financing price, which helps the setup. The treasury is loaded after the raise. They’re now trading on the OTCQX, which should make it easier for U.S. money to get involved. 4 Rigs are turning at Dumbwa to grow the footprint, and the Kazhiba oxide work with First Quantum is moving toward a maiden resource. Expect steady assays over the coming months.

That’s the story for now. Cheers.

Sources

Midnight Sun Mining — “Midnight Sun Kicks Off Expansion Drilling at Kazhiba‑Main Oxide Target,” news release, Jul 22 2025.
This release announces the start of a 164‑hole RC program at Kazhiba Main, notes that only about 40 % of the geochemical anomaly had been tested, and states that a maiden NI 43‑101 resource will follow upon completion. It also summarizes the 2024 RC highlights (10.69 % Cu over 21 m; 5.60 % over 26 m; etc.)midnightsunmining.commidnightsunmining.com.
https://midnightsunmining.com/2025/midnight-sun-kicks-off-expansion-drilling-at-kazhiba-main-oxide-target/

Midnight Sun Mining — “Midnight Sun Intersects High‑Grade Oxide Copper at Kazhiba Target,” news release, Jan 29 2025.
Reports the 2024 Kazhiba drilling results, including intercepts of 10.69 % Cu over 21 m, 5.60 % over 26 m, 3.01 % over 15 m and 4.66 % over 7 m, and notes that this work forms the basis for a resource study to be completed later in Q1 2025midnightsunmining.commidnightsunmining.com.
https://midnightsunmining.com/2025/midnight-sun-intersects-high-grade-oxide-copper-at-kazhiba-target/

Midnight Sun Mining — “Midnight Sun Confirms Dumbwa System With Initial Copper Intercepts,” news release, Oct 1 2025.
Announces initial diamond‑drill results at Dumbwa (39.7 m at 0.51 % Cu including 7 m at 1.13 % Cu, plus 25.9 m at 0.48 % Cu) and includes COO Kevin Bonel’s remarks comparing Dumbwa to Lumwanamidnightsunmining.commidnightsunmining.com.
https://midnightsunmining.com/2025/midnight-sun-confirms-dumbwa-system-with-initial-copper-intercepts/

Midnight Sun Mining — “Midnight Sun Adds Third Drill Rig At Dumbwa,” news release, Sep 23 2025.
Notes the mobilization of a third diamond drill rig to Dumbwa, with a contract for a minimum of 6 000 m of core drilling on the southern 11.5 km of the 20 km target, and includes CEO Al Fabbro’s comments on accelerating the programmidnightsunmining.commidnightsunmining.com.
https://midnightsunmining.com/2025/midnight-sun-adds-third-drill-rig-at-dumbwa/

Midnight Sun Mining — “Midnight Sun Closes Oversubscribed C$30,475,575 ‘Bought Deal’ LIFE Offering,” news release, Oct 28 2025.
Confirms the closing of the oversubscribed LIFE financing, detailing that 22 574 500 units were sold at C$1.35 and that proceeds will fund exploration and working capitalnewsfilecorp.com.
https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/272212/Midnight-Sun-Closes-Oversubscribed-C30475575-Bought-Deal-LIFE-Offering

Midnight Sun Mining — “Midnight Sun Begins Trading on the OTCQX,” news release, Oct 20 2025.
Announces that Midnight Sun has qualified to trade on the OTCQX Best Market under MDNGF and explains the significance for U.S. investorsmidnightsunmining.com.
https://midnightsunmining.com/2025/midnight-sun-begins-trading-on-the-otcqx/

Midnight Sun Mining — “Midnight Sun Announces Cooperative Oxide‑Copper Exploration Plan,” news release, Apr 23 2024.
Describes the co‑operative exploration plan with First Quantum to test oxide targets across the Solwezi project and highlights earlier high‑grade Kazhiba intercepts (14.2 m of 5.71 % Cu, 24 m of 3.15 % Cu, 8 m of 5.14 % Cu)midnightsunmining.com. It also explains how processing oxides at Kansanshi could provide near‑term cash flowmidnightsunmining.com.
https://midnightsunmining.com/2024/midnight-sun-announces-cooperative-oxide-copper-exploration-plan/

Midnight Sun Mining — Corporate Presentation, Oct 1 2025.
Company slide deck summarizing the Dumbwa and Kazhiba targets, regional geology, drill highlights and financing milestones.
https://midnightsunmining.com/site/assets/files/5829/2025-10-01-midnight-sun-corporate-deck.pdf

Adrian O’Brien — “Midnight Sun Mining: Beaver Creek Precious Metals Summit interview,” YouTube, Sept 2025.
A recorded interview with Midnight Sun’s VP of Business Development discussing Dumbwa, Kazhiba and the company’s exploration plans.
https://youtu.be/rJRowvGcvMo?si=ny73jNUsuhRgAdb3