Formation Metals Inc. (CSE FOMO / WKN A3D492) has commenced a fully funded 10,000 m drilling program on its N2 gold project (25 km south of Matagami, Québec). The long-awaited start of drilling follows immediately after the granting of regulatory approval!
N2 hosts a global historical resource of ~870,000 ounces of gold – from 18 million tonnes at 1.5 g/t gold (~809,000 ounces) in the A, East, RJ-East and Central zones, and 243,000 tonnes at 7.82 g/t gold (~61,000 ounces) in the RJ zone. Formation is in a good financial position to carry out this work, with ~CAD 5.0 million in working capital and no debt. Including expected tax credits from the Province of Québec, the total exploration budget for 2025–2026 is ~CAD 5.7 million.
Formation Metals is Initially Focusing on the a and RJ Zones
The main target for the drilling phase that has now started is the A zone, in which a historical resource of 522,900 ounces at 1.52 g/t gold has been proven. It is therefore no surprise that Formation is starting here, as the mineralization is close to the surface, is very continuous and exhibits only slight variability, so that the company believes there is great potential to expand the mineralization.
In the past, ~15,000 meters of drilling were drilled over 1.65 kilometers of strike, but more than 3.1 kilometers of additional strike are still open. And as Formation CEO Deepak Varshney emphasizes, in the past 84% of the drill holes intersected gold-bearing intervals, including 1.7 g/t gold over 35 meters.
In addition, the company is dedicating itself to the high-grade RJ zone, which has a historical 61,100 ounces at 7.82 g/t gold. Highlights from historical drilling included 51 g/t gold over 0.8 meters and 16.5 g/t gold over 3.5 meters. Agnico Eagle Mines expanded the zone in 2008 in the last campaign to date. However, only ~900 meters of strike have been tested to date, leaving more than 4.75 kilometers open again. This means that the RJ zone also has considerable expansion potential.
The drilling concept combines discovery drilling on new, high-priority targets along the strike directions of the A, RJ and Central zones (north of the project) with infill and expansion drilling to significantly strengthen the gold-bearing zones identified to date. Balmoral Resources (now Wallbridge) already generated numerous targets in 2010–2018 that have not yet been tested with diamond core drilling.
“The start of drilling at N2 is a huge milestone for Formation,” explains CEO Deepak Varshney. With gold over $3,700 USD – more than four times the level of 2008 – “the timing is perfect” to develop N2 into a near-surface multi-million-ounce project, Varshney continued.
