Exploration and development firm FireFly Metals has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past 18 months, with MD Darren Stralow describing the acquisition of the Green Bay copper/gold project in Newfoundland, Canada, as a “generational opportunity” that has reshaped the company into a leading high-grade North American copper developer.

Speaking at the Diggers and Dealers conference on Wednesday, Stralow said the company acquired the Green Bay asset in October 2023 for A$65-million, at a time when FireFly’s market capitalisation was only A$70-million. “At the end of July, we were up to A$720-million,” he said. “Less than two years, we have gone from A$70-million to A$720-million. I can assure our investors there is still a long way to go in that share price with what we've got.”

Shares went up from A$0.37 at the time of the Green Bay transaction to A$1.90 a share at the end of last month. On Wednesday, the stock traded at A$189.80 apiece.

Stralow, a former Northern Star executive, likened the acquisition to the kind of counter-cyclical opportunity that had previously underpinned the rise of that company. “This is one of those opportunities, and it is a generational opportunity that we never thought we would see again — and I do not think we will in the copper space.”

Since the acquisition, FireFly has ramped up drilling to expand and define the Ming deposit at Green Bay. The company has drilled 100 000 m in just over a year, expanding the resource by 20-million tonnes while maintaining the grade. The current resource stands at 60-million tonnes at about 3% copper equivalent.

“Our key mantra is: you don’t drill, you don’t find. And the way we generate value is through the drill bit,” said Stralow. “There is a direct correlation between creating value and the number of drill rigs.”

Eight rigs – six underground and two on surface – are currently in operation, with plans to add a third surface rig. The company is also targeting new discoveries across its now 346 km² landholding, up from a “postage stamp-sized” holding of just 56 km² at the time of the deal.

“These volcanogenic massive sulphides deposits rarely occur as orphans — they happen in clusters,” said Stralow, pointing to historic mines along strike from Ming and a string of new geophysical anomalies that look “exactly the same as the known mineralisation”.

FireFly is fully funded beyond final investment decision (FID), with A$145-million in cash and liquid investments, no debt, no streams, and no offtake agreements in place. “That is going to be critical in terms of building this project,” said Stralow.

Infrastructure is another de-risking factor. The site has decline shaft access, surface facilities, power, water treatment, and underground drilling platforms. “That is dollars we do not have to spend,” he said.

The company is planning a resource update for later this year, followed by study results in early 2026 and an FID mid-year. Permitting is advancing, with FireFly receiving environmental release for a 1.8-million-tonne-a-year plant just 45 days after application.

“When we went into Canada, people were telling us, ‘Oh, that’s a hard place to get permitted’. It is not — when you have a willing government, you do the right things, engage with the communities, and show that you are corporately responsible.”

With increasing global demand for copper and few large-scale development options in Tier-1 jurisdictions, FireFly sees itself as uniquely positioned. “There’s not enough copper in the world to go around,” said Stralow. “Even without fully achieving net zero, we are going to need a lot more copper in the world – for data centres, for transmission of electricity, to replace ageing infrastructure.”

“This is not a zinc orebody pretending to be a copper orebody – this is genuinely copper and gold. And there is very few of them like this in Tier-1 jurisdictions.”