Metallic Minerals Corp. announced final results from the 2023 drill campaign at the Company's La Plata copper-silver-gold-Platinum Group Element project in southwestern Colorado, which finished in December. The exploration program included 4,530 meters 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, 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. The 2023 field campaign was funded by a May 2023, 9.5% strategic equity investment by Newmont Corporation 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. The La Plata project is centered on the alteration footprint of a 10 km2 precious metal-rich alkaline copper porphyry system that shows multiple centers of Cu-Ag-Au-PGE mineralization occurring over extensive areas as disseminated porphyry-style mineralization.

Surrounding the central porphyry system is an associated high-grade silver and gold-rich epithermal system measuring at least 8 km by 12 km that hosts over 50 identified mineralized veins, replacement, and breccia structures. Historical production from some of these high-grade structures included bonanza grades for silver and gold. The Allard target area-where over 95% of the recent and historic drilling that has occurred to date-is defined by multiple chalcopyrite and bornite-rich porphyritic intrusions over 1 km length by 800 m width and 1,500 m vertically representing just a small fraction of the larger unexplored project area.

Mineralization is hosted in an expansive disseminated chalcopyrite and bornite copper sulphide body that remains open at depth and to the W, NE and SW as defined by drilling. A total of 21,745 m in 63 drill holes have been drilled on the property from the 1950s to present.