REG - First Class Metals - Exploration Progress 2024 Season

FIRST CLASS METALSAnnouncement

20/01/2025 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20250120:nRST9244Ta&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 9244T  First Class Metals PLC  20 January 2025

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute
inside information as stipulated under the retained EU law version of the
Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 (the "UK MAR") which is part of UK
law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The information is
disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of the
UK MAR. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is
now considered to be in the public domain.

 

 

 

FIRST CLASS METALS PLC

20 January 2025

Exploration Progress 2024 Season

 

First Class Metals PLC ("First Class Metals" "FCM" or the "Company") the UK
listed company focused on the discovery of economic metal deposits across its
exploration properties in Ontario, Canada is pleased to provide an exploration
update for the work conducted in 2024 field season.

 

Exploration Programme Highlights

 

·    Gold (Au) results from the stripping channel samples, combined with
the completion of the soil sampling programme at North Hemlo, have increased
the potential width of gold anomalism along the Dead Otter trend (DOT) to
approximately 30m, reinforcing its significance along its >3km strike
length. Notably, high-grade grab samples include 19.6 g/t Au and 13.6 g/t Au.

 

·    A review of historical drill core from the Sunbeam property,
including TerraX (former claim owner) core, supports the gold anomalism in the
host porphyry theory as reported in the 1 February 2024 RNS.
https://firstclassmetalsplc.com/announcements/6183576
(https://firstclassmetalsplc.com/announcements/6183576) The analysis
highlights a significant 10m+ alteration halo surrounding high-grade
intersections, expanding the target zone. Notable historical drill results
include Hole 57751, which returned 19.4 g/t Au over 0.63m from 5.33m and 15.17
g/t Au over 1.37m from 21.44m.

 

·    Patterson Grant Watson (PGW) has been commissioned to interpret the
magnetic geophysical survey flown in late summer 2024 at the Kerrs Gold
Project. The interpretation aims to develop drill targets for the potential
expansion of the historical NI 43-101 resource, which currently stands at 7.04
Mt at 1.71 g/t Au for 386,467 oz Au (Inferred, using a 0.5 g/t cut-off grade).

 

 

·    Building on the success of the 2024 exploration program, a winter
work program announced on 23 December 2024 has commenced, featuring lake
sediment sampling at the North Hemlo and the extended Sunbeam property, along
with a Very Low Frequency (VLF) survey at North Hemlo, aimed at identifying /
refining exploration targets and unlocking further potential.

 

·    GT Resources (TSXV: GT1) has applied for exploration permits over
their Tyko block, which includes the West Pickle Lake JV, a high-grade nickel
sulphide discovery.

 

Marc J. Sale CEO First Class Metals Commented:

 

"The 2024 field season was very much a year of consolidation for FCM in which
we advanced both North Hemlo and Sunbeam as well as acquiring the Kerrs gold
project. The potential of both the former is still considered significant and
work conducted forms a firm basis for further work. The advance of North Hemlo
and Sunbeam will be the focus of this year's field work. With assured funding
secured from the Seventy Ninth Group and an enhanced understanding of the
geology at our flagship properties, FCM is poised to launch a comprehensive
and targeted exploration programme on these key assets in 2025. This robust
foundation also enables us to advance satellite projects like Esa and Kerrs,
driving our growth and unlocking their full potential"

 

North Hemlo Exploration geochemistry update:

 

·    Soil sampling at North Hemlo has increased the potential width of the
gold anomalism of the Dead Otter trend.

 

·    Strong support from pathfinder elements, particularly molybdenum,
similar to that found at the Barrick Hemlo Gold Mine, highlighting the
expanding potential of the trend.

 

·    Structural review of the Dead Otter trend planned.

 

·    Winter field work - Lake sediment sampling and Very Low Frequency
(VLF) survey over targets in North Hemlo initiated

 

·    GT Resources (TSXV: GT1) has applied for exploration permits over
their Tyko block, which includes the West Pickle Lake JV, a high-grade nickel
sulphide discovery.

Exploration of the Dead Otter trend was the focus of activities in 2024 on the
North Hemlo block of claims. Work included the stripping at three locations
(one area subsequently extended) soil sampling in the vicinity of the three
stripped areas as well a further prospecting around the 2.3ppm Au sample (a
stripped locality).

Gold assay results from the channel samples, as well as the base metal values,
including additional channels cut at the Dead Otter and 19 grammer showing,
have all been received. It is encouraging that most samples are anomalous to
highly anomalous in gold, though no values exceeded one ppm (1 g/t). Given the
high grades in previous grab samples (see figure 1) and the fact that the
Photon assay results validated those grabs it further emphasises the 'spotty'
nature of the gold reporting and therefore the requirement to fully understand
the geochemical distribution of the gold. From the stripping and other field
work it is also now believed that a strong structural component exists
controlling the gold emplacement, as such a firm structural understanding will
greatly enhance the potential success of any drill programme targeting the
Dead Otter trend.

 

Figure 1 shows the original grab samples and the locations of the stripped
areas.

Subsequent to the initial stripping and trenching a further short extension
and sampling programme was completed at two locations. These results further
validate the robust gold anomalous characteristics of the trend. In
conjunction with this follow-up programme and prior to the soils sampling
orientation survey, prospecting was undertaken in the vicinity of the 2.3ppm
sample / trenches. This resulted in further anomalous but sub 1ppm Au results.
However, the pathfinder element molybdenum (characteristically associated with
the gold at the Hemlo mine) reported high (2290ppb) in the grab samples to the
north of the Dead Otter trench, where some of the higher gold in soils were
also reported. Additionally, there were anomalous gold in soil samples from
the end of the line to the south of the 19 grammer.

Figure 2 showing historic high-grade samples, location of two soil sample
orientation areas, with results, indicating a far wider anomaly that
originally defined.

Furthermore, the prospecting in the vicinity of the stripped area reported a
0.5ppm (0.5g/t) in a grab sample 30 metres north of the 2.3pppm showing /
stripped area and also reported up to 0.43% copper, whilst a second sample
anomalous in gold reported 7g/t Ag and 0.33% Cu.

This indicates that the Dead Otter trend as originally targeted could have a
greater width or be comprised of more than one sub parallel structures.
Irrespective there is mounting evidence that the (gold) anomalism is far wider
than originally factored and the potential greater than previously
anticipated. The variable locations of the reporting of the gold, copper and
molybdenum also suggests metal zonation, again a common factor in mineral
deposits.

In order to better understand the structural controls FCM will now finalise
discussions with a leading structural geologist to undertake a detailed study
of the geological exposure at the stripped areas with the aim of increasing
the structural understanding of the mineralisation. This will preface the
field work and will allow a focussed exploration of the trend once ground
conditions allow access.

In parallel FCM is conducting an 'in-house' review of the LiDAR (Light
Detection and Ranging) covering the Dead Otter trend to identify any prominent
cross structure which might be loci for the gold mineralisation. Integrating
the LiDAR with the hi-res. mag. previously flown, the geochemistry and the
structural study is expected to help focus the exploration push in the spring.

The work planned will give a better understanding of the geology, structure
and mineralisation and will optimise any proposed drilling. This focussed
approach will overall save time and costs.

Winter work programme is now underway on the North Hemlo claim block. Emerald
Geological Services (EGS) are undertaking a combined lake sediment sampling
programme as a follow-up and expansion of a previous programme. In conjunction
a Very Low Frequency (VLF) geophysics and magnetic survey will being conducted
at up to seven location where anomalous gold in lake sediments returned values
up to 103 ppb Au from sampling in 2022 and 2023.

VLF and Magnetic surveying are also planned along the Dead Otter Trend.

The Company, after consultation with Bruce MacLachlan of EGS decided to
conduct a Very Low-Frequency (VLF) and magnetic survey, as this would be
conducive to mapping out conductors related to faults, alteration and sulphide
mineralisation in the area of the anomalous gold in Lake sediments and add
important information relating to the structures at the Dead Otter trend.

As VLF surveying can be carried out during the winter on the ice, costs are
significantly reduced.

Bruce, CEO of EGS commented: "We look forward to over laying the geophysical
results on the anomalous lake sediments and the Dead Otter trend geochemistry
to guide the next steps for follow up work".

 

Sunbeam Property

 

·    Results from the review of the TerraX core from the Sunbeam property
support the gold anomalism in the host porphyry reported in the RNS 1 February
2024 https://firstclassmetalsplc.com/announcements/6183576
(https://firstclassmetalsplc.com/announcements/6183576)

 

·    Soil sampling orientation survey at the Roy and Pettigrew and other
locations completed

 

·    Winter work will commence next month, including lake sediment
sampling on the original Sunbeam property and its extended areas, to refine
targets and unlock potential.

Sunbeam property extending over 70km contains three historic development
sites: Sunbeam, the most exploited, Roy and Pettigrew. However, along the
three known mineralised structures a number of other significant gold bearing
sites have been identified, such as Road zone and Rubble. The historic
developments as well as the widespread occurrence of gold (along the
structures) emphasise the gold endowment of the property and the potential for
a major discovery.

 

Review of Nuinsco and TerraX core

In 2023 stripping and associated grab sampling in the areas of the Roy and
Pettigrew developments on the Sunbeam property identified anomalous (4.98 g/t
Au over 0.5m) in the 'host' / wall rock porphyry. This discovery was an
important development in the exploration on the Sunbeam property. Whilst it is
known that the quartz veining variously hosted by sheared mafic volcanics
contains significant gold (one Nuinsco drillhole sample reported 93.3g/t over
0.44m), the gold bearing potential of the porphyry was not documented.

Through dedicated efforts, a majority of the modern core drilled by TerraX at
the Sunbeam property from multiple sites was successfully located. All the
core has now been (re)logged, photographed and is now securely stored under
FCM control. This asset will be invaluable as we advance the property's
exploration.

During the review of the Nuinsco and TerraX core samples were collected from
Nuinsco holes, as the TerraX holes were more thoroughly sampled in the past.
Including standards and blanks 80 samples were collected of intervals deemed
to be significantly altered and mineralized, or adjacent to intervals which
returned anomalous historical gold results, (>50 ppb Au generally
considered to be anomalous).

A combination of new and historic results highlights the presence of
relatively wide zones of low-grade gold.

Roy zone

·    From 38m 0.71g/t Au over 13.8m

·    From 41.0m 0.43g/t Au over12.3m

WN2 zone

·    From 28.8m 0.33g/t Au over 11.8m

AL198 Zone

·    From 63.3m 0.30g/t Au over 10.3m @63.3m.

Rubble Zone

·    From 20.3m 0.61g/t Au over 12.3m.

Pettigrew

No new samples were taken from Pettigrew, (Nuinsco did not undertake any
drilling there) however historic results by TerraX confirm that there are high
grade intersections:

·    Hole 57751: 19.4 g/t Au over 0.63m at 5.33m and 15.17 g/t Au over
1.37m at 21.44m

 

The 'new' and historic zones when considered with the known high grade gold
intersections both in drill hole and in the stripping, combined with the
robust nature of the three mineralised structures makes the Sunbeam property a
significant district scale target.

 

Sunbeam Soil Sampling

Late in the 2024 season, a soil sample orientation programme was complete over
several of the historic gold developments. The rationale was, based on the
gold identified in the host porphyry, to see whether assaying soil samples in
lines orthogonal to the trends would highlight wider areas of increased
anomalism which could then be explored by ground prospecting and stripping
where permitted, see Figure 3 for the location of the soil survey areas and
results. Considering this was an orientation survey the results indicated
areas of Au anomalism not previously identified as well as indicating that
some of the classic pathfinder elements, such as arsenic (As) copper and lead
(Pb) require further modelling.

Figure 3 showing the major mineralised structural trends, historic
developments, as well as the locations of the mini grid orientation soil
sample lines, note the cohesive anomaly at Roy.

 

A property / trend wide soil sampling programme is planned, this will increase
the geochemical understanding, potentially identify further zones along the
trends warranting invasive exploration, possibly drilling. Certainly, it will
be a far more cost effective method of exploration than premature drilling.

However, the soil results from the area around the Roy development already
support further drilling between the historic drill holes of the 80's

 

Winter work programme:

FCM has commissioned EGS to undertake a lake sediment sampling programme this
winter.

It is anticipated to commence next month and be completed with results
returned for designing additional exploration work later this season.

The impetus of the exploration on the Sunbeam property will be the follow up
of the soil survey, but the lake sediment programme will be the first sampling
conducted by FCM on the extension claims on the property. To date data review
has not revealed much if any historic work in this area. Figure 4 shows the
proposed locations of the lake sediment samples. A number of 'reference'
samples are also proposed around the historic developments in order to gauge
the levels of anomalism from the new work.

Figure 4 showing the mineralised trends on the Sunbeam property and with the
locations of the proposed lake sediment samples.

 

Advances on other properties

·    FCM has contracted PGW of Toronto to undertake the interpretation of
the recently flown low level hi-resolution geophysical data over Kerrs Gold
Property. This work is anticipated to take several weeks.

·    FCM is also in discussion with the owners of the Kerrs Gold drill
database that would allow a review of the NI 43-101 resource.

·    FCM understands that GT Resources, the owner of the vast Tyko
property and 80% Joint Venture partner on West Pickle Lake is involved in
'negotiations between themselves, the relevant First Nations and the Ontario
government'. Meanwhile FCM understands that several Exploration permit
applications across the block have also been lodged.

·    The Esa soil anomaly will be further appraised with infill lines
intended to identify sites for stripping. In the north around the 'Hemlo look
alike sample' of 0.7ppm and extending further north it is proposed a 'glacial
till' sampling programme is undertaken.

·    FCM is also investigating metallurgical (benefaction) studiers on the
core from the Zigzag hard rock lithium discovery.

·    A significant development at the Quinlan Property has occurred, as
four centrally located claims, previously held by a third party, have now
lapsed and been successfully staked. As a result, these claims have been
reintegrated into the terms of the existing option agreement. This development
ensures that exploration activities can proceed without obstruction, as these
claims are no longer under external ownership.

Other field work activities are currently in the planning stage and will be
reported on as appropriate.

 

For Further Information:

Engage with us by asking questions, watching video summaries, and seeing what
other shareholders have to say. Navigate to our Interactive Investor hub here:

https://fcm-l.investorhub.com/link/MP7o0P
(https://fcm-l.investorhub.com/link/MP7o0P)

For further information, please contact:

James Knowles, Executive Chair

Email: JamesK@Firstclassmetalsplc.com (mailto:JamesK@Firstclassmetalsplc.com)

Tel: 07488 362641

Marc J Sale, CEO

Email: MarcS@Firstclassmetalsplc.com (mailto:MarcS@Firstclassmetalsplc.com)

Tel: 07711 093532

Novum Securities Limited (Financial Adviser)

David Coffman / George Duxberry

Website: www.novumsecurities.com (http://www.novumsecurities.com)

Tel: (0)20 7399 9400

Axis Capital Markets (Broker)

Lewis Jones / Ben Tadd

Website: Axcap247.com (http://www.axcap247.com)

Tel: (0)203 026 0449

 

Qualified Person

 

The technical disclosures contained in this announcement have been drafted in
line with the  Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum
standards and guidelines and approved by Marc J. Sale, who has more than
30years in the gold exploration industry and is considered a Qualified person
owing to his status as a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and
Metallurgy.

 

First Class Metals PLC - Background

 

First Class Metals listed on the LSE in July 2022 and is focused on metals
exploration in Ontario, Canada which has a robust and thriving junior mineral
exploration sector. In particular, the Hemlo 'camp' near Marathon, Ontario is
a proven world class address for gold exploration, featuring the Hemlo gold
deposit operated by Barrick Gold (>23M oz gold produced), with the past
producing Geco and Winston Lake base metal deposits also situated in the
region.

FCM currently holds 100% ownership of seven claim blocks covering over 180km²
along a 150km strike of the Hemlo-Schreiber-Dayohessarah greenstone belt,
exploring for gold, base metals, and rare earth element mineralization. In
addition, FCM is carrying out a joint venture with Palladium One on the West
Pickle Lake Property in the region, a drill-proven ultra-high-grade Ni-Cu
project.

The flagship property North Hemlo had a high-definition low level magnetic
Heli-borne survey flown in April 2022, this was followed with ground
prospecting which ultimately defined the 'Dead Otter Trend' which is a
discontinuous 4.5km gold anomalous trend with a 19.6g/t Au peak grab sample.
This sampling being the highest known assay ever recorded on the North Limb of
Hemlo.

In October 2022 FCM completed the option to purchase the historical high-grade
past-producing Sunbeam gold mine near Atikokan, Ontario, ~15 km southeast of
Agnico Eagle's Hammond Reef gold deposit (3.3 Moz of open pit probable gold
reserves).

FCM acquired the Zigzag Project near Armstrong, Ontario in March 2023. The
property features Li-Ta-bearing pegmatites in the same belt as Green
Technology Metals' Seymour Lake Project, which contains a Mineral Resource
estimate of 9.9 Mt @ 1.04% Li2O. Zigzag was drilled prior to Christmas 2023
and results have now been released.

The significant potential of the properties for precious, base and battery
metals relates to 'nearology', since all properties lie in the same districts
as known deposits (Hemlo, Hammond Reef, Seymour Lake), and either contain
known showings, geochemical or geophysical anomalies, or favourable structures
along strike from known showings (e.g. the Esa project, with an inferred
Hemlo-style shear along strike from known gold occurrences).

 

 

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this announcement may contain forward-looking statements
which are based on the Company's expectations, intentions and projections
regarding its future performance, anticipated events or trends and other
matters that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking statements can be
identified by the fact that they do not relate only to historical or current
facts. Forward-looking statements sometimes use words such as 'aim',
'anticipate', 'target', 'expect', 'estimate', 'intend', 'plan', 'goal',
'believe', or other words of similar meaning. These statements are not
guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Given these risks and uncertainties, prospective investors are cautioned not
to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of such statements and, except as
required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or
revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.

 

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  DRLBLMMTMTIBTIA