Teck-Hughes Gold tailings sampling programme

Start of Teck-Hughes Gold tailings sampling programme - first phase testing and study agreement with Extrakt Processing Solutions

Fulcrum Metals plc (LON: FMET), a company focused on mineral exploration and development in Canada, is pleased to announce the start of a strategic sampling programme at the Teck-Hughes gold tailings project ("Teck-Hughes"), Canada. This milestone marks a significant step forward as the Company enters the first phase of a testing and study agreement with Extrakt Process Solutions LLC ("Extrakt"), which moves the Company closer to agreeing a licencing agreement with Extract. Extrakt is a sustainable technology company using separation technology to extract metals from tailings without the use of cyanide.

The tailing's sampling programme is designed to evaluate the efficiency of Extrakt's processing technology in recovering gold and other by-products from the tailings at Teck-Hughes, estimated to be approximately 6,531,300 tonnes at 0.66g/tonne Au for 138,460 ounces contained Au.

As announced by the Company on 30 November 2023, Fulcrum has an option in place to acquire a 100% interest in the Teck-Hughes gold tailings project. In line with the terms of the grant of the option agreement, Fulcrum made the initial payment of CDN$15,000 within 10 days of the date of signing the agreement. In addition, the Company is in dialogue with the Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines pertaining to the award of the mineral recovery permit for Teck-Hughes and will update the market in due course. Please refer to the 30 November 2023 announcement to view the full terms of the mining option agreement.

Highlights

• Start of hand auger sampling programme planned across five sites of the project to obtain representative samples

o Sampling programme is expected to be completed within a week of the starting date

• Composite samples of at least 5kg in tailing material from each of the five sites to be sent to the Extrakt testing facility in Kentucky, USA

o Test work is expected to take approximately 8-12 weeks from the delivery date

• Historical tailing gold grades at Teck-Hughes average 0.66g/t ranging up to 1.73g/t
• Extrakt test work incorporates a full suite of metallurgical characterisation including ICP (minimum 40 elements, including gold), XRD mineralogical analysis and batch leach testing
• Potential to recover multi-commodities from the tailings. The Teck-Hughes project has historically only been assayed for gold
• Phase 1 results will feed into a Phase 2 conceptual study
• Four-phased testing agreement with Extrakt is the first step to a licencing technology agreement

Ryan Mee, Chief Executive Office of Fulcrum, commented:

"This marks an exciting and important first phase in advancing the Teck-Hughes gold tailings project, which Fulcrum currently has an option to acquire, towards a cash generative opportunity and cementing our relationship with Extrakt.

"Fulcrum is a dynamic exploration company committed to responsible and sustainable mining practices. We are delighted to be working with Extrakt and using their innovative technology which recovers metals from tailings without the use of cyanide.

The Teck-Hughes project is reported to contain over 100,000 ounces of gold in the tailings which offers potential for considerable return on investment and perhaps more significantly, further opportunity in the extracting industry, which is effectively metals extraction without the risks of mining."

Phased development program

Phase 1 - High-Level Gold Recovery Investigation

Initial high-level gold recovery investigation will serve as the primary evaluation of the enhanced gold recovery achievable through Extrakt technology. The data collected in this phase will validate and refine the technology and support the planned Phase 2.

Phase 2 - Conceptual Study

The conceptual study will provide Fulcrum with a first insight into the project viability using the information developed during Phase 1. According to the information available, the accuracy level of the study is approximately ± 50%.

Phase 3 - Laboratory Test Work

More detailed test work is required to optimize some of the leach parameters as well as develop necessary scale-up parameters for all the major equipment of the operation.

Phase 4 - Economic Assessment Study

Teck-Hughes Gold Tailings Project Background

On 30 November 2023, the Company announced that it had entered into an option to acquire 100% of the Teck-Hughes Gold Tailings project. Concurrently, it also entered advanced discussions with Extrakt to test its proprietary sustainable processing technology on the tailings found at the project. Historic sampling and auger drilling campaigns were conducted at the project, the first in 1980 and the most recent between 2018 and 2022 which produced a non-complaint resource estimation.

As part of the most recent campaign a total of 95 auger samples were collected and assayed at Actlabs in Timmins. The highest sample assayed 1.73g/tonne Au with 72 of the 95 samples assaying between 0.5 to 0.8 g/tonne Au, the average being 0.66g/tonne Au.

Based on the data from this sampling along with that of the drill programme from 1980 an estimate of the tonnage was calculated over the north, west and northeast arm of the tailings totalling 6,531,300 tonnes of material at 0.66g/tonne Au for 138,460 ounces contained Au.

Technical Glossary