Announcement • Jul 20
XXIX Metal Corp. Commences Drill Program At Thierry K1 Deposit
XXIX Metal Corp. has commenced its planned large-scale drill program at the Thierry Copper Project, focused on the near-surface K1 deposit. The planned 20,000-metre, two-phased program is designed to test grade, scale and continuity under XXIX Metal Corp.'s updated bulk-tonnage interpretation and support a future mineral resource update. The program represents the first systematic, large-scale drilling on the Thierry property in over 40 years. Thierry is 100%-owned, royalty-free, and pairs the near-surface K1 zone with the high-grade, past-producing K2 zone. XXIX Metal Corp. has rebuilt and reinterpreted more than 210,000 metres of historical diamond-drilling data into a modern, validated geological database. Historically modelled as sub-parallel tabular veins, K1 is now interpreted by XXIX Metal Corp. as a near-surface, disseminated bulk-tonnage copper-PGE system with mineralization open at depth. XXIX Metal Corp. holds over $19 million in cash and approximately $24 million in working capital. Drilling has commenced at its 100%-owned Thierry Copper Project near Pickle Lake, Ontario. The maiden drill program is focused on the K1 deposit and represents the first systematic, large-scale drilling on the Thierry property in over 40 years. The program follows receipt of XXIX Metal Corp.'s exploration permit from the Province of Ontario and continued consultation with local and Indigenous communities. With the permit in hand and field activities underway, the Company's focus is on executing a methodical program designed to validate the scale, continuity and grade potential of the K1 deposit. Thierry is a past-producing copper system near the town of Pickle Lake in northwestern Ontario, spanning 7,907 hectares across 27 mineral leases, 163 contiguous cell claims and 16 boundary claims. It is 100%-owned by XXIX Metal Corp. and carries no royalties. Thierry hosts two complementary deposits: K1, a near-surface, bulk-tonnage zone, and K2, the higher-grade, past-producing zone mined in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Between 1976 and 1982, UMEX Inc. produced 5.8 million tonnes grading 1.13% copper. Thierry is a brownfield site with infrastructure already in place. Supported by the Town of Pickle Lake, the project enjoys all-season road access, power and water, an airport within roughly 20 km by road, a provincial power grid within roughly 8 km, and nearby rail. Over the past two years, XXIX Metal Corp.'s technical team has done the high-value work of tearing down and rebuilding Thierry's entire historical dataset, more than 210,000 metres of historical diamond drilling, plus extensive historical geological and geophysical surveys, into a single, modern, validated geological database. That work produced a materially new interpretation of K1. Incorporating data previously set aside, including unassayed drill core, and re-examining the geology and mining options, XXIX Metal Corp. now interprets K1 as a single, near-surface, disseminated bulk-tonnage copper-PGE system suited to open-pit development. At its present scale K1 measures approximately 1.4 km of strike by 250 m wide to a depth of 400 m, grade is believed to increase with depth, where the deposit remains open. XXIX Metal Corp. considers the earlier K1 estimate historical and incomplete and is advancing toward an updated estimate under its new bulk-tonnage interpretation. XXIX Metal Corp. believes Thierry is poised to grow on multiple fronts. K1 remains open at depth, where grades are observed to improve. The Company's first systematic, 73.5 line-kilometre induced polarization (IP) survey identified a 75-125 metre wide anomaly extending more than 2.5 km between K1 and K2, supporting the position of the host rock continuity and a potential mineralized corridor between the two deposits, a substantial, largely untested target. Broad conductive corridors east of K1 and west of K2 point to district-scale potential. The 2021 estimates were prepared at a copper price of USD 3.75 per pound. A higher copper price lowers potential cut-off grades, bringing mineralization once considered uneconomic into scope and providing room to expand the resource base as the Company advances drilling. XXIX Metal Corp.'s 20,000-metre drill program at K1 is designed to test and validate grade, scale and continuity under the new bulk-tonnage interpretation and to serve as the foundation for an updated mineral resource estimate at K1. XXIX Metal Corp. is well positioned to execute. Following its $17.2 million financing, the Company holds over $19 million in cash and approximately $24 million in working capital and is fully funded through 2026 to advance both Thierry and its Opemiska copper project in Quebec. The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Denis McNichols, P.Geo and géo., Vice President Exploration for XXIX Metal Corp, a Qualified Person, as defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. The mineral resource estimates for the K1 and K2 zones referenced in this news release were prepared in 2021 and have not been updated to current standards in connection with this news release. XXIX Metal Corp. considers the earlier K1 estimate to be historical and incomplete and is advancing toward an updated mineral resource estimate; a qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify these estimates as current mineral resources, and XXIX Metal Corp. is not treating them as current. The Company's new bulk-tonnage interpretation of the K1 zone is conceptual in nature. Statements regarding the potential to expand or grow the resource, possible mineralized continuity between K1 and K2, district-scale targets, and the effect of higher metal prices describe exploration potential only; there has been insufficient exploration to define a current mineral resource in these areas, and it is uncertain whether further exploration will result in any deposit being delineated as a mineral resource. Past production figures and other historical results have not been independently verified and are not necessarily indicative of future results.
