Formation Metals (CSE: FOMO; FSE: VF1; OTCQB: FOMTF) reports further encouraging developments from its flagship, the N2 Gold Project in the Canadian province of Québec. Three new boreholes in the so-called “A” zone have each intersected over 100 meters of near-surface target mineralization – an important building block for Formation’s targeted concept of a large-volume open-pit deposit.
The current results come from the ongoing, fully funded 30,000-meter drilling campaign. In phase 1, the drilling is primarily focused on the first 300 meters of vertical depth in order to systematically test the potential for a large-scale, near-surface gold system.
Formation Metals is pursuing a large-volume open-pit model in the A zone
Formation Metals’ N2 Gold Project is located approximately 25 kilometers south of Matagami in the Abitibi Belt in Québec, one of the world’s most productive gold districts. The project comprises 87 claims totaling approximately 4,400 hectares and hosts several historical gold zones. The current work is based on a global historical resource of approximately 871,000 ounces of gold in several zones (A, East, RJ-East, Central and RJ). This estimate has not been verified to today’s NI 43-101 standard and is therefore used by the company for guidance only.
The current drilling is focused on the A zone, a shallow deposit historically described as continuous and geologically not very variable – a major advantage – with approximately 522,900 ounces of gold at 1.52 g/t gold. Historically, approximately 15,000 meters of drilling have been completed here over a strike length of 1.65 kilometers; more than 3.1 kilometers of the known structure have not yet been tested. Formation Metals aims to develop this zone into a potential open-pit scenario with large tonnage potential.
In total, Formation Metals is planning a drilling program of over 30,000 meters, of which Phase 1 comprises approximately 10,000 meters. The campaign started on September 25, 2025. In parallel, the company has short-term financial flexibility of approximately CAD 13.4 million without financial debt. Including the tax incentives for exploration in the province of Québec, the exploration budget planned for 2025/2026 is approximately CAD 8.1 million.
Formation Metals reports >100 meter mineralized sections in three boreholes
The focus of the current update is on three new boreholes in the A zone: N2-25-006, N2-25-009 and N2-25-011. In all three holes, long sections with visible target mineralization were observed, which start near the surface and extend over sometimes significantly more than 100 meters.
- N2-25-006 intercepted a total of 102.6 meters of target mineralization, starting at a drilling depth of just 15.3 meters. Within this total zone, several intervals of more than 10 meters were observed, the longest being 23.4 meters.
- N2-25-009 shows 135.7 meters of target mineralization from 23.3 meters drilling depth. Several sub-sections exceed 30 meters, including a core interval of 43.4 meters.
- N2-25-011 delivered 166.8 meters of target mineralization from 60.0 meters drilling depth, including a particularly long interval of 70.6 meters between 303.0 and 373.6 meters.
The observations are consistent with the nature of zones in which historical drilling had already delivered long gold-bearing intervals – such as borehole 245-91-151 with 1.7 g/t Au over 35 meters.
According to Formation Metals, the new boreholes in the A zone correlate both geologically and structurally with earlier holes in the current campaign, including N2-25-001, N2-25-003, N2-25-008 and N2-25-013, in which extensive, shallow zones with target mineralization were also described. This continuity along the strike and to depth supports the company’s internal working hypothesis of a large-volume deposit suitable for open-pit mining.
It is important to emphasize that these are visual observations of target mineralization to date; analytical gold grades (assays) for the new holes are still pending. In this context, Formation Metals expressly points out that the Phase 1 drilling serves to review and refine a conceptual model, which is to be substantiated in further steps by resource estimates and technical studies.
N2 Gold Project: Historical resource and expansion potential
In addition to the A zone, Formation Metals’ N2 Gold Project comprises a total of six primary mineralized zones that are open along the strike and to depth. The historical resource of approximately 871,000 ounces of gold consists of approximately 18 million tons with 1.4 g/t gold (approximately 810,000 ounces) in zones A, East, RJ-East and Central, as well as approximately 243,000 tons with 7.82 g/t gold (approximately 61,000 ounces) in the high-grade RJ zone.
The RJ zone is considered a high-grade deposit with historical individual sections of up to 51 g/t gold over 0.8 meters and 16.5 g/t gold over 3.5 meters. So far, only about 900 meters of strike length have been tested there; more than 4.75 kilometers have not yet been drilled. The most recently documented drilling was carried out by Agnico Eagle in 2008, when the gold price was more than 400% lower than today.
Formation Metals’ current 30,000-meter program pursues two goals: Firstly, discovery drilling on new target structures, defined only geophysically to date, along the known zones A, RJ and Central in the northern part of the project, in order to open up additional gold-bearing trends. Secondly, prioritized determination and expansion drilling will be carried out in the existing zones in order to better define the continuity of the known gold mineralization and to sound out the potential for a later resource expansion.
The previous results of the Phase 1 work indicate that the A zone is mineralized over significant thicknesses and lengths and could therefore be fundamentally suitable for a bulk tonnage open-pit concept. Whether and to what extent an economically viable deposit can be developed from this will be a question of the still outstanding analysis data, future resource estimates and technical-economic studies in the coming months and years.
Formation Metals has announced that it will publish further drilling results from the N2 Gold Project in a timely manner after the laboratory analyses are available. We are excited.
