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Pilot Mountain Exploration Update

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Golden Metal Resources plc (LON:GMET, OTCQB: GMTLF), a mineral exploration and development company focused on tungsten, gold, copper, lithium and silver within Nevada, USA, is pleased to announce an exploration update on the 100% owned Pilot Mountain project ("Pilot Mountain" or the "Project").

On 11 March 2024 the Company announced that it had completed a strategic fundraise for a total of £750,000. These funds are being used to facilitate the exploration steps outlined below.1

Pilot Mountain Resource and Exploration Highlights:

  • Pilot Mountain hosts a Mineral Resource estimate ("MRE") of 12.53Mt at 0.27% tungsten trioxide (WO3) with significant copper ('Cu') - silver ('Ag') - zinc ('Zn') credits (see Table 1)3. This in-ground resource is believed to be the largest and most advanced undeveloped tungsten resource located in the USA.
  • Exploration targets identified in 2018 outline additional resource potential ranging from 11.0 - 23.0Mt with expected grades from 0.3 - 0.5 % WO3 (see Table 2).4
  • Golden Metal carried out a high-resolution induced polarisation geophysical survey in 2022/2023 which identified an additional five priority targets, further highlighting the significant exploration upside that exists at Pilot Mountain.
  • As a result, the Company is embarking on its first ever drilling campaign which will include the drilling of multiple of these previously untested targets. Drilling permits are expected in approximately six weeks' time. Programme specifics and expected start date will be released to the market in the coming weeks.
  • One of the key targets of interest is the untested Porphyry South target as it may represent the porphyritic intrusive body (causative porphyry) that could be responsible for the skarn-type mineralisation found at Pilot Mountain (see Figure 1 and 2).
  • The copper potential will also be further investigated during the upcoming programme which is highlighted by two historical drillholes which returned 17.5m of 1.8% copper (Desert Scheelite) as well as 26.6m of 1.0% copper (Good Hope).5
  • The Company is finalising the contract with a Nevada based drilling contractor and expects this to be signed before the end of March.
  • Alongside the exploration potential which will be tested during the upcoming programme, the development and extraction of the currently defined Mineral Resources at Pilot Mountain is a key focus, given the USA's need for a domestic tungsten supply. As a result, the Company is rapidly advancing plans to commence key permitting studies which will be required for next stage Project development. Further updates on this will be released to the market in due course.

Oliver Friesen, CEO of Golden Metal, commented:

"Since Golden Metal's admission to AIM in May 2023 we have put many important building blocks in place across our exciting Nevada focussed portfolio. With many of these important steps now completed, we move into what I believe will be a potentially transformational period for the Company. This will involve undertaking high impact drilling and project development studies aimed at unlocking significant value at Pilot Mountain in tandem with further exploration across multiple other Golden Metal assets.

"The need for the USA to reshore its critical, battery and defence metal supply chains is approaching all-time highs, and the Company is perfectly positioned to be part of the solution. I encourage everyone to watch Golden Metal closely as we enter what should be a very exciting news-rich period."

Media

Figure 1 - Pilot Mountain Project overview map showing the location of existing known mineralised bodies (Desert Scheelite, Gunmetal, Garnet Mine, Goodhope) and the outline of the five newly delineated exploration targets including the two new targets (Porphyry South and Good Hope West).

Figure 2 (Porphyry South) - Historical digitised ground magnetic geophysics data (Zonge, 2013) showing location of magnetic high. See figure 3 for outline of resistivity anomaly which is coincident with magnetic high feature. Scale, legend and north arrow located bottom left of image.

Table 1: Pilot Mountain Project Updated Mineral Resource Estimate, dated 13 December 20183

ResourceTungsten Tri-OxideSilverCopperZinc
MtGrade (%)Contained metal (t)Grade (g/t)Cont. metal (t)Grade (%)Cont. metal (t)Grade (%)Cont. metal (t)
Desert ScheeliteInd.9.010.2623,40020.731870.1513,2000.4137,100
Inf.1.690.254,30012.24210.162,8000.193,200
Total10.70.2627,70019.382070.1516,0000.3840,300
GarnetInd.000
Inf.1.830.366,590
Total1.830.366,590
SummaryInd.9.010.2623,400
Inf.3.530.3110,890
Total12.530.2734,290

The Pilot Mountain tungsten-copper-silver-zinc Project is located approximately 200km southeast of Reno, in Nevada, USA. Nevada is ranked first in overall mining investment attractiveness in the Fraser Institute 2023 annual survey2. The Project is located entirely on United States Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") land - allowing for efficient and cost-effective permitting. The Project covers 3,656-acres (14.8km2) and is centred around four existing mineral deposits, including Garnet, Good Hope, Gunmetal and Desert Scheelite, all of which possess significant skarn-style tungsten ('W') - copper ('Cu') - silver ('Ag') - zinc ('Zn') mineralisation.

Project Development

There is currently no domestic United States mined tungsten production, and tungsten is classified as a strategic mineral by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)6. Set against this backdrop, the Pilot Mountain Project hosts a key energy and defense metal deposit located on US soil during a time of increasing need for resource domestication.

Potential production viability was reinforced with a scoping study7 commissioned in 2018 on the Project which indicated the potential for an initial 12-year operational life based on processing ore from an open pit at Desert Scheelite supplemented by potential production from Garnet.

Furthermore, previous independent metallurgical testwork on 694kg of mineralised rock from Pilot Mountain5 highlighted strong metallurgical results including the successful production of two saleable concentrates (scheelite, and copper/silver) from a coarse grind treated by floatation or by flotation and wet high-intensity magnetic separators ("WHIMS").

Shallow mineral resources at the Desert Scheelite and Garnet deposits may be amenable to shallow open-cut mining methods (as modelled in the 2018 scoping study) which would allow for rapid low-cost start-up costs.

Exploration Upside

In 2018 a study was commissioned which looked into exploration potential at Pilot Mountain. Exploration targets were broken into Tier 1 and Tier 2 targets for which a total Exploration Target of 11.0 - 23.0Mt was defined with an expected average grade of 0.3-0.5% WO34 (see Table 2).

Table 2: Pilot Mountain Exploration Targets4

Target TypeSize (Mt)Grade (WO3 %)Description
Tier 1 Targets7-5 - 13.50.3 - 0.5Based on historical drill intersections
Tier 2 Targets3.5 - 9.10.3 - 0.5Based on favourable geology and proximity to known mineralisation
Total Exploration Target*11.0 - 23.00.3 - 0.5Combined Tier 1 & 2

*Exploration Targets are conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define a Mineral Resource. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in the determine of a Mineral Resource.

Considering the current Mineral Resource tonnage equates to 12.53Mt, should the exploration targets postulated be converted to Resources they could deliver a very significant increase to the Pilot Mountain Project value.

Additionally, post the publication of these exploration targets, Golden Metal carried out a high-resolution IP geophysics survey which identified five further exploration targets, multiple of which will be tested during the upcoming drilling campaign. These exciting exploration targets are outlined below at:

References

1: Strategic Fundraise of £750,000, 2024, March 11

(https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/GMET/strategic-fundraise-of-ps750-000/16369924)

2: Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies, 2022, published 4 May 2023

(https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/annual-survey-of-mining-companies-2022 )

3: Thor Mining PLC, regulatory news announcement, 'Increased Mineral Resource Estimate - Pilot Mountain Nevada USA', dated 13 December 2018

( https://wcsecure.weblink.com.au/LSE_news/2018/12/13/Thormining_14158543.pdf )

4: Thor Mining PLC, regulatory news announcement, 'Development Plan Pilot Mountain Tungsten Project - Nevada USA', dated 1 December 2014

( https://wcsecure.weblink.com.au/LSE_news/2014/12/01/Thormining_13057433.pdf )

5: Golden Metal Resources 2023 Admission Document.

( https://www.goldenmetalresources.com/investors/aim-rule-26/ )

6: News announcement: 'The United States Geological Survey has released a new list of 50 mineral commodities critical to the U.S. economy and national security after an extensive multi-agency assessment', 22 February 2022

( https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/us-geological-survey-releases-2022-list-critical-minerals )

7: Thor Mining PLC, regulatory news announcement, 'Twelve Year Open Pit Life for Desert Scheelite

Pilot Mountain Scoping Study', dated 7 September 2018

( https://wcsecure.weblink.com.au/LSE_news/2018/09/07/Thormining_14049369.pdf )

8: Unpublished metallurgical testwork report by Guangzhou Research Institute of Nonferrous Metals commissioned by Black Fire Minerals Ltd: 'The Development of Separation Technology from the Pilot, Mountain Tungsten Project, Nevada, USA: Process Mineralogy Mineral processing Preliminary Testing', dated 31 August 2013.

Property Ownership

Golden Metal holds a 100% interest in Pilot Mountain through its wholly-owned Nevada-based operating subsidiary company's including Pilot Metals Inc and BFM Resources Inc.

The Pilot Mountain project is an advanced exploration and mineral resource definition stage project located in Mineral County in western Nevada. The project covers an area of 14.80 km2 (3,656.1 acres) and is located 200km southeast of Reno and 18km east of Mina, Nevada. It is well situated for the supply of power, water and skilled labour and proximity to transport infrastructure in Mineral County and is centred around four existing mineral deposits: Garnet; Good Hope; Gunmetal and Desert Scheelite, all of which possess significant skarn-style tungsten-copper-silver-zinc mineralisation. The Pilot Mountain project consists of 176 active lode mining claims and 4 filed mill site claims. The four mill site claims filed at the former Dunham mill site have secure access to groundwater supply sufficient for the proposed project.

Garfield Project

The Garfield Project is an exciting copper-gold-silver prospect consisting of 65 lode mining claims covering 5.4 km2 (1,338 acres) located in Mineral County, Nevada, approximately 14km due east of the town of Hawthorne and 120km due west-northwest of Tonopah. Exploration to date has included detailed geochemical sampling and follow up analysis which highlighted the presence of both porphyry and skarn-type mineralisation and alteration at the 'High-Grade Zone'. Further to this, mapping, prospecting and rock sampling was recently completed with results confirming presence of high-grade copper, silver and gold mineralisation as well as leading to the bedrock discovery of the Pamlico Au Zone with individual rock samples up to 18.35g/t Au, 1,225g/t Ag & 1.89% Cu. Following this, geochemical analysis of the full suite of data confirmed the strong presence of porphyry style mineralisation across the Project, as well as potentially overprinting epithermal style mineralisation leading to increased gold-silver prospectivity.

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Stonewall Project

Cleaned text: letterheads, contacts and legal notices removed. View the original announcement ↗ · Company filings. Not investment advice.

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