Nine Mile Metals Ltd. announced that it has engaged EarthEx Geophysical Solutions Inc. to conduct two Borehole Electromagnetic (BHEM) surveys, one at California Lake (CL-23-10-01) and a second at the Wedge (WD-24-01). Permit applications have been submitted and received from the Department of Natural Resources in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The EarthEx crew is scheduled to mobilize the first week of June from their Headquarters in Manitoba.

Borehole EM surveying is a High-Resolution Time Domain EM technology that involves the laying of a transmitting loop to the side of the projected drill hole, followed by dropping a survey probe down the hole to detect the electrical conductivity of the adjacent rocks. Many factors are taken into consideration in the survey design including the depth of the hole, its position relative to the target, the geology of the country rock, and the specified target. At the California Lake DDH (CL-23-10-01), EarthEx has proposed an 800 x 800-meter loop.

With the depth of the drill hole, the possible search radius of the survey may be near 500 - 700+ meters, covering all the intended targets and adjacent converging Late Time Strong Conductive Responses (Red - Yellow & Blue Line Axis) anomalies. The California Lake drill hole (CL-23-10-01) was drilled at an azimuth of 203 degrees and a dip of -75 and was terminated above target depth due to inclement weather and access restrictions in December. After reviewing the drill logs, discussing with geologists from the Department of Mines, and a follow up review with EarthEx, a borehole electromagnetic survey was designed by the Technical Team to test both the original target at California Lake DDH (CL-23-10-01), as well as adjacent, strong, and late time electromagnetic conductors previously defined by EarthEx.

The BHEM Survey will allow Nine Mile to see the conductivity deeper and in all directions from the probe. This is very cost effective, especially when dealing with a deep drill hole where continued drilling is both time consuming and expensive. As previously released, the drilling was in a mix of Flat Landing Brook felsic volcanics that displayed intense hydrothermal alteration, high temperature mineralogy, and sulphide mineralization, with the extremely siliceous host rocks making drilling at depth challenging.

In addition to burning drill bits, drilling was slow, at times cutting only a meter per hour. At the Wedge, the DDH (WD-24-01) was collared approximately 30 meters below the footings of the old headframe and drilled at an azimuth of 330 degrees and a dip of -45 degrees to a depth of 165 meters. EarthEx has proposed utilizing a 300 x 300-meter loop.

Although the drill hole does not have benefit of depth, it was collared on the strong conductor identified by EarthEx. This survey should provide information on the adjacent rocks, including mineralization below the Wedge mine where there is no evidence of mining. The survey will also provide information on the structural complexity of the deposit and the location of any offset mineralization/lenses.

The company has also applied for the New Brunswick Junior Mining Assistance Grant Program (NBJMAP), specifically to address priority targets to the northwest of the Wedge mine site. Exploration plans include close spaced UAV (Drone) magnetics to assist in defining structural and stratigraphic boundaries followed by ground-based Time Domain Electromagnetic (TDEM) surveying and 3D plate modeling to identify future high priority drill targets for the Phase 2 Wedge Drill Program. The NBJMAP Panel awards the 2024 Grant Recipients by end of May 2024.

Last year, Nine Mile Metals was awarded a $50,000 Grant for its California Lake VMS Project, which was utilized for drilling the California Lake DDH (CL-23-10-01).