Formation Metals Inc. (CSE: FOMO; FSE: VF1) presents new results from its ongoing drilling program on the N2 Gold project in the Canadian province of Quebec. Wide sections of the targeted mineralization were intersected in two drill holes near the surface, which further support the conceptual open-pit model, it was said.
The N2 Gold Project is located approximately 25 kilometers south of Matagami in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt and is considered Formation Metals’ flagship project. The company is currently conducting its first drilling program there since 2008, when the previous project operator Agnico-Eagle last drilled in the RJ Zone.
The current report focuses on drill holes N2-25-003 and N2-25-008, which were drilled in the RJ and A zones, respectively. A total of 152.9 meters of the targeted mineralization was identified in N2-25-003 from a drill hole depth of 23.1 meters. N2-25-008 intersected 208.8 meters of target mineralization from a drill hole depth of 28.6 meters. According to Formation Metals, both boreholes ended in mineralized sections.
The visually observed quartz-carbonate veins, silicification, and sulfide mineralization (primarily pyrite and arsenopyrite) are compared by the company with the rocks from which previous drill holes yielded long gold intervals – including a historical section of 1.7 g/t gold over 35 meters in drill hole 245-91-151. Analytical gold grades for the new drill holes are not yet available and will be published after evaluation and interpretation.
The results now reported build on the N2-25-001 and N2-25-013 drill holes published in November, in which Formation Metals had reported visible gold in the drill cores for the first time.
N2 Gold Project: A and RJ Zones at the center of current drilling
Formation Metals is focusing the current program primarily on the A Zone and the RJ Zone in the northern part of the N2 Gold Project. According to the company, the goal is to examine a multi-million-ounce scenario in a combination of conceptual open-pit mining and potential underground development. The current Phase 1 of the program primarily examines the first approximately 300 meters of vertical depth.
Drill hole N2-25-003 in the RJ Zone has several contiguous mineralized sections, including intervals of 32.6 meters, 37.9 meters, and 28.2 meters, each supplemented by shorter mineralized zones. Overall, 67.95% of the 225-meter-long drilln hole is attributable to the defined target mineralization.
According to the company announcement, the mineralization in N2-25-003 is anchored in sheared and deformed, fine- to medium-grained graphitic clastics (especially mudstone and wacke) and intermediate volcanic rocks. The rocks are traversed by quartz and quartz-carbonate veins and veinlets, partly as stockworks, accompanied by alteration products such as sericitization, carbonatization, and silicification. The sulfides occur primarily as pyrite, with subordinate arsenopyrite and sphalerite, in disseminated, stringer, and partly massive form.
Drill hole N2-25-008 in the A Zone also shows long mineralized sections. A 70.0-meter-long interval between 81.0 and 151.0 meters drill hole depth is particularly emphasized, flanked by several other sections between 16.5 and 55.6 meters. Overall, 69.6% of the 300-meter drill hole length is considered target mineralization.
In N2-25-008, the mineralization is bound to sheared, intermediate to mafic volcanic rocks and less graphitic clastics. Here, too, quartz and quartz-carbonate veins and alteration in the form of chloritization, sericitization, carbonatization, and silicification are dominant. The sulfide mineralization consists predominantly of pyrite and arsenopyrite, accompanied by smaller amounts of pyrrhotite.
Formation Metals emphasizes that N2-25-003 and N2-25-008 show a strong correspondence with nearby historical drill holes – both in terms of the sequence of rock units and the alteration and mineralization styles.
Formation Metals’ historical resource estimate for N2
Formation Metals’ N2 Gold Project comprises 87 claims covering an area of approximately 4,400 hectares in the Abitibi Subprovince of northwestern Quebec. According to company information, the project has a global historical resource estimate of approximately 871,000 ounces of gold. This is composed of approximately 18 million tonnes with 1.4 g/t gold (~810,000 ounces) in four zones (A, East, RJ-East, and Central) and approximately 243,000 tonnes with 7.82 g/t gold (~61,000 ounces) in the RJ Zone.
A total of six primary gold-bearing zones have been identified, which are open downwards and along strike. Historical work, including by Balmoral Resources (now Wallbridge Mining), has identified additional exploration targets between 2010 and 2018 that have not yet been tested with core drilling.
Formation Metals also points to a base metal potential of the N2 area. A re-evaluation of historical drill cores with known gold grades above 1 g/t showed significant copper and zinc grades in the range of several hundred to several thousand ppm, especially in zones A and RJ. The regional geology is characterized by volcanic and sedimentary units lying in anticlinal and synclinal structures. Several deformation zones with northwest-southeast to west-northwest-east-southeast orientation are described as central structural controls of the mineralization.
Exploration strategy, budget, and next steps at Formation Metals
Formation Metals is conducting a fully funded drilling program totaling 30,000 meters on the N2 Gold Project. Phase 1, with 10,000 meters, started on September 25, 2025, and focuses on the A, RJ, and Central zones in the northern part of the project. According to the company, the goal of the current campaign is to discover new gold-bearing trends, expand already delineated zones, and prepare a future NI 43-101-compliant resource estimate.
In addition to the drilling, Formation Metals plans geophysical IP measurements and further detailed work to refine the modeling of the mineralized zones. At the same time, historical base metal analyses are to be further evaluated and additional investigations into copper and zinc potentials on the property are to be prepared.
Financially, Formation Metals considers itself well-positioned with a working capital of approximately CAD 13.5 million and no interest-bearing debt. Including tax exploration incentives from the provincial government of Quebec, the planned exploration budget for 2025/2026 is approximately CAD 8.1 million.
All technical and geological information on Formation Metals and the N2 Gold Project is based on the current company announcement. Assay results for the now reported drill sections are to be published after completion of the evaluations.
