お知らせ • May 16
Lode Gold Resources Inc Announces New Mineral Resource Estimate for Fremont Gold Mine
Lode Gold Resources Inc. announced the results of a new Mineral Resource Estimate for its 100% owned Fremont Gold Mine in Mariposa County, California. Using stricter parameters for Reasonable Prospects for Eventual Expectations of Extractions ("RPEEE") including underground mine design, Fremont has further derisked the project by upgrading resources into the Measured & Indicated ("M&I") category. This higher-confidence resource reflects the Company's approach to pivot to an optimized underground mining operation. In the previous 2025 MRE when the price of gold was USD 1,800/oz Au, a 3 g/t cutoff was used, resulting in 133,000 oz of M&I resource. At current gold prices, it is economically astute to use 1 g/t cutoff, resulting in a significant increase to 1.11 million oz gold (M&I). At a 1 g/t Au cut-off, the updated MRE defines: 1.11 million oz of gold (Moz Au) - 18.7 Mt at a grade of 1.84 g/t Au (Indicated), 1.98 million oz of gold (Moz Au) - 33.1 Mt at a grade of 1.86 g/t Au (Inferred). This MRE is based only on three of the seven deposits: Pine Tree-Josephine, Queen Specimen, and Chicken Gulch. Exploration upsides exist on strike and at depth – there are a total of seven deposits and an additional nine AI defined targets. Additionally, potential upside exists from the sampling of coarse gold via Metallic Screen Fire Assay ("MSFA"), silver recovery and upgrade of uncategorized resources to inferred or indicated upon further drilling. The updated resource is supported by the integration of more than 7,000 new underground channel samples and drill holes (for a total of over 38,000 samples), which have significantly strengthened the geological and block models. These additional data points have confirmed the continuity of mineralization in areas that were previously based largely on extrapolation, improving both the confidence and the spatial definition of the mineralized system. Fremont is a historical gold mine with a past production of 125,000 ounces of gold, mined at 10.7 g/t Au between 1849 and 1942 when price of gold was $35/oz. Production was halted during gold mining prohibition in WWII. The mine has 23 km of underground workings; 43,000m of drilling; 14 adits and 2 shafts with potential for early access to mineralized areas. Of note, according to the 2025 MRE report, there are still 92% of the total mineral resources left in the ground. As a result of applying these RPEEE constraints and mining dilution factors, the average reported gold grades are lower than those generated in earlier purely geological models. However, the Company believes the updated estimate provides a more realistic representation of the deposit's potential economic extraction characteristics and establishes a stronger technical foundation for future engineering studies, including mine planning, reserve conversion and the advancement toward a Preliminary Feasibility Study. The classification of Mineral Resources reflects the QP's opinion regarding the level of confidence in geological and grade continuity, as well as the quality and quantity of the available information. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the Inferred Mineral Resources will be converted into higher-confidence categories or ultimately into Mineral Reserves. The current dataset is also subject to certain limitations that support the conservative nature of the estimate. In many areas, the full width of the mineralized structures has not been completely sampled, as historical underground development was largely restricted to linear drifts with limited cross cutting. As a result, portions of the mineralized envelope may remain underrepresented in the current block model. Furthermore, the resource estimate is based on conventional fire assay methodologies and does not incorporate Metallic Screen Fire Assay analysis unless the results were extraordinarily high. This implies that the potential contribution of coarse gold – that represents a 30% of the recoverable gold based on 2014 metallurgical tests - has not been fully quantified and may represent additional upside. The Company also notes that silver has not been included in the present resource model, despite its known occurrence within the mineralized system. The incorporation of silver credits in future studies could have a positive impact on the overall project economics. Finally, several areas of mineralization that demonstrate geological continuity but currently lack sufficient data density have not yet been classified within the resource categories. These zones represent additional exploration targets with potential to expand the resource base. A previous mineral resource estimation in 2025 was developed on a vein-hosted geological model, applying a base-case cut-off grade of 3.0 g/t Au and focusing solely on narrow, high-grade vein extraction scenarios. The price of gold in early 2025 was $1,800/oz. The updated MRE reflects a fundamental shift in approach, with the deposit now modeled as a continuous mineralized body. This revised interpretation supports the strategic pivot to evaluate bulk underground mining methods, driven by improved geological continuity and the current higher gold price environment. This approach allows for the consideration of lower cut-off grades and larger mining volumes, significantly increasing the overall resource base. The Company believes that the current Mineral Resource Estimate represents a conservative baseline for the Fremont Gold Mine, with significant upside potential through both exploration and technical refinement. Opportunities for resource expansion include the systematic drilling of underexplored areas both laterally and at depth, where geological continuity of mineralization remains open. In addition, several zones within the current model - particularly between sublevels - are considered as inferred resources and could be upgraded to M&I by digitizing the shafts samples from the old stopes. The Fremont Gold Mine demonstrates significant district-scale potential, anchored by historical production mined at an average grade of 10.7 g/t Au. This concentration of high-grade output suggests there is a considerable remaining upside within the existing mineralized trends. To optimize further discovery, the company deployed VRIFY AI and were successful in identifying nine additional exploration targets; Rosy Jane and Drunken Gulch being of the highest potential. Using a systematic, data-driven framework for resource expansion across the property, Lode Gold plans to advance these opportunities through targeted drilling, enhanced sampling methodologies, including the application of MSFA -- and continued refinement of the geological model as part of its ongoing development strategy.
