First Majestic Silver Corp. announced the results of a successful 2025 exploration program at its Jerritt Canyon Gold Mine located in Nevada, USA, including the Mahala, Javelin, and Saval targets within the Smith-SSX-Saval mining area. The 2025 exploration highlights include an extensive drilling campaign at Jerritt Canyon totalling approximately 18,300 metres across 57 drill holes.
The program was strategically designed to explore for new gold mineralized zones beneath non-favourable cover rocks, as well as to assess the continuity of known mineralization beyond the boundaries of existing Inferred Mineral Resources along established geological trends. Targets included areas that have deeper underground and/or near-surface open pit potential. Given the property's history of both open pit and underground mining, the 2025 drilling results highlight the potential for Mineral Resources amenable to both mining methods: significant underground intercepts are defined by a minimum length of 4.6 m and a gold cut-off grade of 1.13 g/t, while significant open pit intercepts require at least 9.1 m and 0.43 g/t gold cut-off grade.
Table 1 presents a selection of drill hole intercepts with significant assay results from the 2025 drill program at Jerritt Canyon. The Mahala and Javelin targets are situated between the Smith and SSX underground mines. Mahala is one of the district's larger known Inferred Mineral Resource areas, and there is modeled geological continuity between Mahala and Javelin.
In 2023, drilling at Javelin produced several significant intercepts including 8.76 g/t gold over 15.2 m (hole SMI-230011) and 7.44 g/t gold over 15.7 m (hole SMI-230013), as reported in 2024. A detailed review completed in early 2025 identified expansion potential for both targets within an area of approximately 600 m by 600 m. The review also highlighted possible increases in the interpreted thickness of the Javelin gold mineralization. A review of the Javelin target revealed that previous drilling, which was carried out from underground, intersected the mineralization at angles that were nearly parallel to the mineralization controls.
Consequently, the true thickness of mineralization was not accurately determined, suggesting the potential for volume upside in resource estimation. The 2025 drill program tested the target from surface, allowing for drill-holes oriented at near sub-perpendicular angles to the interpreted gold mineral trend. Drill-hole MA-25-008, the first hole completed in the program, returned geological and assay results indicating that the gold zone of interest is thicker than previously modeled.
Based on these results, three additional step-out holes were completed to test lateral continuity: MA-25-009 targeted northwesterly continuity, MA-25-010 tested southerly continuity, and MA-25-011 tested southeasterly continuity. All holes, except for MA-25-010, intersected significant intervals of gold mineralization, supporting the interpreted continuity of the system. The review of the Mahala target indicates that the previously defined Area of Interest has the potential to expand along projected gold mineralized trends.
The currently defined Mahala resources are modeled predominantly below the interpreted water table; however, geological modelling identified potential for mineralization to extend eastward where the stratigraphy rises above the known water table. Two drill-holes were completed to test this expansion potential to the east toward the Javelin target and to the north. Drill-hole MA-25-017, collared approximately 200 m east of the known Mahala resource boundary, intersected broad disseminated mineralization of 47.2 m grading 2.75 g/t gold, including two separate high-grade intercepts of 24.4 m at 3.44 g/t gold and 10.7 m at 3.17 g/t gold.
These results indicate that Mahala gold mineralization remains open to the east in the direction of the Javelin target. An additional near-mine Area of Interest focused on shallow mineralization in the vicinity of the historical Saval open pits. The deposit is characterized by structurally controlled, stratigraphically bound Carlin-style mineralization.
This geological setting is associated with broad, low to high-grade, sub-horizontal mineralized zones, which are amenable to near-surface open pit mining methods. A targeted review around the previously mined Saval open pits identified gaps in historical drilling coverage along interpreted mineralized trends. The 2025 drill program tested the potential for near-surface mineralization within these open trends and evaluated opportunities for expansion adjacent to the historical workings.
Several drill-holes completed at the West Saval Historical Open Pit Area of Interest intersected shallow, broad intervals of lower-grade gold mineralization. At the East Saval Historical Open Pit Area of Interest, drill-hole SC-25-003 intersected a significant interval of 51.8 m grading 1.48 g/t gold, including a higher-grade intercept of 12.2 m at 3.23 g/t gold. The geological continuity of this intercept remains uncertain at this stage.
Mineralization may represent a linkage to the underground SSX Gridiron target, or alternatively, an eastward extension of the Saval mineralized trend. Further drilling will be required to better constrain the geometry and continuity of this zone. Table 2 provides a summary of significant underground potential gold drill hole intercepts at Jerritt Canyon.
Table 3 provides a summary of significant open pit potential gold drill hole intercepts at Jerritt Canyon. First Majestic's 2025 drilling programs at Jerritt Canyon followed established Quality Assurance, Quality Control insertion protocols with standards, blanks and duplicates introduced into the sample-stream. All RC drill-hole samples were placed in bags labeled with the hole ID, sample ID, and sample interval, and submitted to Bureau Veritas Minerals Laboratories in Sparks, Nevada.
At Bureau Veritas, samples were dried, crushed to 70% passing a 2 mm mesh and pulverized to 85% passing a 75 µm mesh. Gold was analyzed by lead collection Fire Assay fusion AAS finish. Results above 10 g/t gold were analyzed by 30 g lead collection Fire Assay fusion gravimetric finish.
