Abitibi Metals Intersects a New Zinc-Silver Zone 1.5 Kilometres West of B26
Abitibi Metals' first regional drilling at B26 hit a new zinc-silver zone 1.5 km west of the deposit, grading 1.13% zinc and 51.51 g/t silver over 14.25 m.
- Regional drilling about 1.5 kilometres west of the B26 Deposit intersected a new volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) zinc-silver zone grading 1.13% zinc and 51.51 grams per tonne (g/t) silver over 14.25 metres (m) from about 455 metres depth.
- The higher-grade core of that intercept returned 2.82% zinc and 120.64 g/t silver over 3.10 metres, with a separate copper-rich interval of 0.55% copper over 0.60 metres deeper in the same hole.
- The 3,285-metre programme was Abitibi's first systematic test of the B26 Property's regional potential, covering three of seven priority targets with four drill holes.
- A hole about 4.5 kilometres northwest returned a high-grade precious-metals intercept of 332 g/t silver and 0.83 g/t gold over 1.0 metre from 501 metres depth.
- All four holes reached mineralisation at about 400 metres vertical depth, below the upper 200 metres to which historical drilling on the Property was largely limited.
- Abitibi now owns 100% of the B26 Project and is designing a follow-up regional programme for winter 2027.
Company Overview
Abitibi Metals (CSE: AMQ | OTCQB: AMQFF | FSE: FW0) is a Quebec-focused explorer acquiring and advancing high-quality base and precious metal assets. Its flagship B26 polymetallic project is located 7 kilometres southeast of the former Selbaie Mine, providing access to established infrastructure for potential mine development. A National Instrument 43-101 technical report gives B26 an indicated resource of 12.96 million tonnes at 2.08% copper equivalent and an inferred resource of 12.34 million tonnes at 2.20% copper equivalent. The Company's portfolio also includes the Beschefer gold project.
Regional Drilling Steps Out From B26
The 2026 regional programme drilled 3,285 metres (m) across three of the B26 Property's seven priority targets, the first systematic test of ground beyond the immediate deposit footprint. The targets were defined by reinterpreting historical drilling, legacy induced polarization surveys, and a 2025 airborne electromagnetic and magnetic survey. Only four holes have been completed to date, an early-stage effort on a property where historical drilling was largely confined to the upper 200 metres.
Each hole tested its target at about 400 metres vertical depth, a depth no prior drilling had reached outside the B26 Deposit itself. Abitibi now holds 100% of the project after exercising an option to acquire the remaining interest from SOQUEM Inc., a subsidiary of Investissement Québec, in June 2026.
About 5 kilometres west of the deposit, one hole tested a 1.5-kilometre airborne conductor hosted in the same favourable felsic volcanic sequence as B26, where historical drilling had returned broad polymetallic halos of 0.33% zinc, 0.11% copper, and 1.25 grams per tonne (g/t) silver over 21.0 metres. The 2026 hole confirmed the favourable geological setting at a depth of 400 metres and is scheduled for downhole electromagnetic surveying to test for off-hole conductors.
A New Zinc-Silver Lens West of the Deposit
The most encouraging results came from a corridor covering the western extension of the B26 stratigraphic horizon, over about 1.5 kilometres west of the current deposit. A hole roughly 1,500 metres west intersected 1.13% zinc and 51.51 g/t silver over 14.25 metres from a depth of 455.75 metres, with a copper-equivalent grade of 0.74%. Within that interval, drilling returned 2.82% zinc and 120.64 g/t silver over 3.10 metres, and 1.61% zinc and 82.49 g/t silver over 3.50 metres.
The zinc-silver mineralisation sits in pyritised, locally semi-massive felsic ash and lapilli tuffs affected by sericite, silica, and iron carbonate alteration, the same host-rock package and alteration style as the B26 deposit sequence, though more intensely altered and moderately foliated. About 70 metres deeper in the same hole, a separate copper-rich interval graded 0.55% copper over 0.60 metres, associated with chalcopyrite stringers and black chlorite alteration that match the copper stringer style at B26.
That pairing reproduces the metal zonation seen at B26, where a zinc-silver horizon sits adjacent to the main copper-gold horizon. The occurrence remains open in all directions. Historical drilling in this corridor had previously returned 0.33% zinc and 98.1 g/t silver over 4.7 metres within a comparable alteration system that was never followed up.
Precious Metals on the Northern Trend
A fourth hole tested a target about 4.5 kilometres northwest of B26, along a parallel trend running toward the historical Selbaie Mine. Historical drilling there had outlined an open zinc-silver system carrying 0.77% zinc and 33.8 g/t silver over 19.2 metres, associated with a strong geophysical anomaly.
The 2026 hole intersected further sulphide mineralisation at about 400 metres depth and returned a high-grade precious-metals intercept of 332 g/t silver and 0.83 g/t gold over 1.0 metre from 501 metres depth, below a broader interval of 0.68% zinc and 21.21 g/t silver over 8.85 metres. No prior drilling had tested this corridor below 200 metres vertical depth, and the mineralisation remains open in all directions. The precious-metals result adds to a set of historical high-grade intercepts on the Property, one of which returned 8.2 g/t gold, 212.5 g/t silver, and 2.9% zinc over 1.0 metre.
Quality Assurance
Drill core was split in half and analysed by AGAT Laboratories, with sample preparation in Val-d'Or, fire assay in Thunder Bay, and four-acid digestion multi-element analysis in Calgary. Core logging and quality-control protocols were run and supervised by the company's technical team, with blanks, replicates, duplicates, and internal reference materials inserted as part of the laboratory's quality-assurance programme.
Next Steps
Follow-up drilling is being planned on the new western horizon to define the controls on mineralisation and vector toward the copper-gold-rich centre of the lens. On resumption of work, the regional holes are to be pulsed with downhole electromagnetic surveys to investigate larger off-hole targets and extensions, and drilling has resumed at B26 following a temporary wildfire-related suspension.
Only three of the seven priority regional targets have been tested so far, leaving significant untested ground, including a separate volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) corridor defined by targets 5 to 7 that trends toward the former Selbaie Mine. A follow-up regional programme is being designed for execution in winter 2027, when frozen ground conditions allow access to the drill sites.
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