Metallic Minerals Announces Drill Results and New Drill Targets at the La Plata Project, Colorado, USA

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 16, 2024 / Metallic Minerals Corp. (TSXV:MMG)(OTCQB:MMNGF) ("Metallic Minerals" or the "Company") is pleased to announce final results from the 2023 drill campaign at the Company's La Plata copper-silver-gold-Platinum Group Element ("Cu-Ag-Au-PGE") project in southwestern Colorado, which finished in December. The exploration program included 4,530 meters ("m") in four diamond drill holes with the dual objectives of expanding on the 1.21-billion-pound copper and 17.6-million-ounce silver inferred mineral resource¹, and defining the controls to higher-grade mineralization as seen in drill hole LAP22-04. As announced in February 2023, LAP22-04 was a continuously mineralized discovery drill hole that intercepted 816 m grading 0.41% recovered copper equivalent¹ ("CuEq"), with significant widths exceeding 0.5% to 0.7% Cu. The intersection also included higher grade zones exceeding 1% Cu with precious metals grades of up to 11.5 g/t Au+PGE and 47 g/t Ag (see Table 2).

The 2023 field campaign was funded by a May 2023, 9.5% strategic equity investment by Newmont Corporation ("Newmont") with the goal of accelerating the advancement of the La Plata project. Newmont provided technical support and expertise to the project through the technical committee which has included multiple site visits and assistance with geologic and geophysical interpretations and hyperspectral data acquisition. These contributions are expected to continue in 2024 and may include Newmont providing experienced personnel to the project for enhancing surface data acquisition, geologic mapping, and geophysics.

Highlight Results

• All four 2023 holes intersected porphyry-style mineralization starting from surface and continuing over their entire lengths (up to 1,350 m).
• Three of four holes intercepted continuous porphyry style Cu-Ag-Au-PGE mineralization over 500 m in width at 0.3% Cu including significant intervals exceeding 0.5% to 0.7% CuEq with associated Ag, Au and PGEs. Drill hole LAP23-05 intersected 909 m of continuous mineralization from surface grading 0.26% CuEq over the entire hole length, with a 550 m wide higher-grade zone (see Tables 1-2, Figures 1-3).
• Intensity of mineralization in all drill holes varies within the individual porphyry intrusive units based on the density of veining and concentration of associated sulphides that carry the copper, silver, gold, platinum, and palladium.
• Higher grades relate to specific intrusive phases of the porphyritic host rocks with intense potassic alteration and in zones of intense high-temperature argillic alteration, particularly with increased bornite content.
• The deposit remains open to expansion at depth and along trend. Defining the geometry of these higher-grade porphyry units and alteration zones is an important focus of follow up drilling at the Allard resource area in 2024.
• Drilling has extended mineralization vertically from surface to more than 1.5 kilometers (‘km") and 1 km along trend and is anticipated to allow for inclusion of both gold and platinum group elements in future mineral resource estimates along with copper and silver.
• Scanning of 3,848 meters of drill core was completed by GeologicAI providing high-resolution RGB digital photography, laser profilometry using LIDAR, visible and near-infrared ("VNIR") and short-wave infrared ("SWIR") hyperspectral imagery and x-ray fluorescence, allowing for detailed characterization of mineralization and alteration within the Allard deposit.
• An advanced airborne hyperspectral survey covering 157 square kilometers (453-line km) was also completed by SpecTIR in the VNIR, SWIR and long-wave infrared spectra allowing for detailed mineral and alteration mapping across the entire district for comparison with the hyperspectral scanning of mineralization from drill core.
• The U.S. Geologic Survey ("USGS") has identified the La Plata mining district as a potential critical minerals resource area under the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative program. The USGS completed detailed airborne radiometric and magnetic surveys in 2023 along with other studies that will complement surveys completed by the Company.
• An important objective in 2023 was to identify, advance and refine new priority targets outside of the Allard resource area to bring them to a drill testing stage in 2024. Significant high-grade results were received in surface rock samples taken from more than 20 different target areas during the 2023 field season as part of a district-scale surface mapping initiative (see Table 3 and Figure 4). Three of these areas have advanced to a drill testing stage.

Metallic Minerals President, Scott Petsel, stated, "The 2023 exploration program was a major step forward in our understanding of the higher-grade controls to mineralization in the Allard resource area and in the advancement of several exciting surface target zones that demonstrate percent level copper with precious metals that have never been drill tested. Our emerging vision for the La Plata project is that we have the potential for a district-scale system with multiple porphyry centers in addition to the Allard resource area. This is supported by the multi-kilometer scale metal-in-soil values that extend well beyond the area of drilling and correspond with strong alteration responses in our detailed district-scale airborne hyperspectral survey. Our drill results indicate a significant opportunity for resource expansion and have continued to return both broad zones of mineralization and internal higher-grade zones with considerable precious metal associations showing elevated gold, platinum, and palladium values. We look forward to providing further updates on La Plata and our high-grade Keno Silver project in the Yukon as we initiate the 2024 exploration programs."

Table 1 - La Plata Project 2023 Drill Results