공시 • Jun 24
Thunder Mountain Gold Launches 2026 Exploration Drilling Campaign At South Mountain Project
Thunder Mountain Gold, Inc. had announced the launch of its 2026 exploration drilling campaign at the South Mountain Project in southern Idaho. The Company's initial 10,000-foot program is designed to expand the established carbonate replacement deposit (CRD) silver, zinc, copper, lead and gold massive sulfide resource, while also advancing the first drill tests of compelling district-scale copper-gold targets. The initial 10,000-foot program is now underway and is designed to accelerate expansion of the CRD massive sulfide resource along strike, representing approximately twice the surface core drilling completed to date at South Mountain. The program will also test compelling magnetotelluric (MT) and induced polarization (IP) geophysical anomalies that are spatially associated with the known resource and supported by surface geological mapping, highlighting a strong opportunity to expand the mineralized footprint and advance the knowledge across the Project. In 2025, the Company began an ambitious district-wide exploration program aimed at identifying the potential source or sources of the polymetallic massive sulfide mineralization and additional mineralized zones within the Laxey Marble. Integrated modeling of MT and surface geological data outlined several highly prospective anomalies including anomalies below the Gold Breccia target, further supported by historic IP data and more recent pulse electromagnetic (PEM) and ground magnetic surveys. Further geophysical work, including airborne magnetics and additional MT surveys, is planned later in the season. These programs are expected to sharpen target definition and could support additional step-out drilling across the district, providing the Company with multiple opportunities to build exploration momentum. In 2009, the Company identified a new discovery in the Gold Breccia which documented a gold-bearing heterolithic breccia of about 1,000 meters in strike length by 800 meters wide. In 2010, reverse circulation drilling returned results including 84 meters grading 0.221 g/t Au and 81 meters grading 0.289 g/t Au. Big Sky Exploration, based in Eureka, Nevada, has mobilized a Boart Longyear LF™90D heavy-duty track-mounted surface coring drill rig with telescoping dump mast, providing the capability and flexibility to operate efficiently and safely across varying site conditions. The LF 90 has a depth capacity of up to 3,000 feet (~1,000 meters), positioning the Company to test both resource expansion opportunities and deeper district-scale targets with H-size core drilling from surface. The South Mountain Mine is a polymetallic development project containing high-grade zinc, silver, gold, and copper, located on private land approximately 70 miles southwest of Boise, Idaho. Historic mining at South Mountain began in the 1860s. Modern mining was done as part of the World War II effort and operated intermittently from the late 1940s through the late 1960s, most notably by Anaconda Copper, and includes more than 8,000 feet of drifts, shafts, raises and stopes. The Company acquired the mine in 2007 and rehabilitated approximately 4,000 feet of underground workings that is MSHA compliant. Underground core drilling along newly developed drift blocked out significant massive sulfide ore associated with the ore chutes. Historic test mining and processing focused primarily on high-grade Carbonate Replacement Deposit (CRD) zones that remain open at depth and along strike. Thunder Mountain's exploration and development drilling at South Mountain has defined a broad silver, zinc, copper and gold footprint with compelling district-scale potential, supporting the Company's ongoing strategy to consolidate and expand its land position. The Company recently announced the purchase of 113 acres of private land contiguous with the main historic mine area. This acquisition includes strategic exploration ground associated with the Gold Breccia target and supports continued advancement of the South Mountain Project. In addition, the Company has staked 423 mineral lode claims on adjoining BLM lands totaling approximately 8,200 acres and secured a lease on an additional 1,073 acres of private land in and around the project area. Including the State of Idaho lease, these transactions have expanded the Company's property position by a total of 13,061 acres, or roughly twenty square miles, significantly enhancing the scale of the exploration opportunity. According to historical smelter records, approximately 53,642 tons of mineralized material were mined and direct shipped to the smelter at average realized grades of 14.5% Zn, 10.6 o.p.t. Ag (363.42 g/t Ag), 0.058 o.p.t. Au (1.98 g/t Au), 1.4% Cu, and 2.4% Pb. South Mountain mineral resource estimate: Measured: 69,000 tons, 3.84 ounces/ton silver, 264,000 ounces silver, 0.058 ounces/ton gold, 4,000 ounces gold, 9.18% zinc, 0.6% copper, 0.67% lead. Indicated: 154,000 tons, 4.47 ounces/ton silver, 688,000 ounces silver, 0.06 ounces/ton gold, 9,300 ounces gold, 8.95% zinc, 0.66% copper, 1.06% lead. Measured + Indicated: 223,000 tons, 4.27 ounces/ton silver, 953,000 ounces silver, 0.059 ounces/ton gold, 13,300 ounces gold, 9.02% zinc, 0.64% copper, 0.94% lead. Inferred: 959,000 tons, 5.67 ounces/ton silver, 5,438,000 ounces silver, 0.037 ounces/ton gold, 35,200 ounces gold, 7.56% zinc, 0.8% copper, 1.06% lead.