08:20 AM EDT, 07/10/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Ero Copper ( ERO ) traded 1.1% higher at last look Thursday in NYSE pre-market trading as the company completed the phase-one drill program comprising 28,000 meters at the Furnas copper-gold project in Brazil.

Results include 105 meters at 1.54% copper equivalent, including 63 meters at 1.84% copper equivalent.

"The results from our phase 1 drill program at Furnas are highly encouraging and reinforce the potential for Furnas to be a significant large-scale, high-grade underground mining operation," said Makko DeFilippo, Ero's president and CEO. "Extending high-grade mineralization to a down-dip depth of approximately 730 meters, while demonstrating strong high-grade continuity, is an important step in allowing us to evaluate the potential scale of a future mining operation alongside our partners at Vale Base Metals."

Ero's phase two drill program is underway, targeting at least 17,000 meters of drilling. Eight drill rigs are active on the project, the company said.

The company will use the results from the phase one drill program in an updated resource estimate and a preliminary economic assessment, which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026.