Hycroft Mining’s Flexible Mine Design Moves Toward Defined Pathways

• Hycroft Mining engaged RESPEC to evaluate underground mining methods for the Brimstone and Vortex high-grade silver systems, shifting from exploration optionality to defined development pathways.
• The company is evaluating a dual-purpose exploration decline through Brimstone, starting 30 metres beneath the existing pit, designed for both drilling efficiency and future production capability.
• Hycroft is targeting a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for Brimstone and Vortex by early 2027, prioritising phased development of higher-grade material over integrated large-scale operation.
• Operational approach targets 3,500 to 5,000 tonnes per day throughput to produce high-quality concentrate for direct sale, eliminating downstream refining infrastructure and leveraging an operational rail line for offtake logistics.
• First Quarter 2026 results showed 55% resource increase to 16.4 million ounces of gold and 562.6 million ounces of silver, US$189.0 million cash with no debt, plus GDXJ inclusion and MSCI Small Cap Index promotion for expanded institutional coverage.

From Conceptual Flexibility to Engineering Definition

Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation (Nasdaq: HYMC) has engaged RESPEC to evaluate underground mining methods for the Brimstone and Vortex high-grade silver systems at the Hycroft Mine in northern Nevada, signalling a shift from broad exploration optionality to defined development pathways. The announcement preceded First Quarter 2026 results showing a 55% increase in measured and indicated gold and silver resources and a balance sheet holding US$189.0 million in cash with no debt, providing the financial capacity to advance engineering assessments without near-term capital constraints. RESPEC's scope of work includes evaluation of mining methods, conceptual mine design, and schedule development, with findings to be delivered in an internal report to the company. The engagement represents the first external engineering assessment of underground extraction methods for the high-grade silver systems discovered in 2023.

In parallel with RESPEC's work, Hycroft is evaluating the development of an exploration decline to enable underground drill access, which the company expects to maximise drilling efficiencies while delivering savings in both time and cost. President and Chief Executive Officer Diane Garrett stated that the Brimstone system starts from only 30 metres beneath the existing open pit, positioning a decline as both an exploration access point and a potential early production pathway:

"Looking at putting in a decline for exploration purposes on this high-grade area through Brimstone, you just come simply right through to put a decline in from the bottom of the Brimstone pit, and if we do that for exploration, then we can also use it for production."

The dual-purpose infrastructure approach reflects a transition from conceptual optionality to engineering specificity, with physical access and mine design now anchored to the spatial constraints of the Brimstone deposit.

High-Grade Targets as Near-Term Production Priority

The Initial Assessment Technical Report filed February 18, 2026, established an initial high-grade silver resource at Brimstone and Vortex of 90.2 million ounces of measured and indicated silver and an additional 13.4 million ounces of inferred, along with 299 thousand ounces of measured and indicated gold and an additional 51 thousand ounces of inferred. The 2025-2026 exploration drill programme has extended high-grade mineralisation at Vortex to the west with opportunity north and south and down dip, recording the highest grades yet for both silver and gold. At Brimstone, drilling has extended high-grade mineralisation approximately 150 metres down-dip.

The company is targeting completion of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for both Brimstone and Vortex by early 2027, establishing a defined timeline for economic evaluation of the high-grade systems. This timeline is separate from the pressure oxidation PEA planned for completion in 2026, which addresses milling of sulfide ore across the larger Hycroft deposit. 

Phased Development Over Integrated Scale

The prioritisation of phased development over an integrated large-scale operation reflects a strategic resequencing, where capital deployment and technical risk are concentrated on near-term, higher-grade material rather than distributed across the full deposit scale. 

Garrett stated the company’s focus:

"We are not focused on building the big project. This is where we need to start mining. The big project will encompass these high-grade areas, but because they're deeper, they'll come in later in the mine life. We want to grab the best grade upfront in this highest commodity price environment and develop that, so that is the objective of the drilling." 

The company's operational focus targets production from the high-grade systems, with additional discoveries to be addressed sequentially rather than integrated into an initial development plan.

Processing Flexibility at Smaller Scale

The throughput range of 3,500 to 5,000 tonnes per day positions a concentrate-based operation as economically viable without downstream refining infrastructure, reducing initial capital expenditure and permitting complexity relative to a full mill circuit. 

Garrett stated that focusing on the high-grade systems introduces processing optionality unavailable at larger throughput rates:

"Because it would be a smaller operation, 3,500-5,000 tonnes a day, we could produce a high-quality concentrate and then sell that concentrate and not have to build the back end of the plant. That gives us a lot of optionality to look at, or maybe it could be trucked or railed. We've got a rail line running right through our property that's fully operational today." 

The presence of an operational rail line on the property provides logistical access for concentrate offtake without additional road haulage infrastructure.

Technical Report Progression & Index Inclusion

WSP Global Inc. (WSP) has completed the engineering work associated with the additional lifts on the tailings storage facility, with WestLand Engineering & Environmental Services, Inc. completing the relevant environmental studies. With this work now complete, Ausenco Engineering South USA, Inc. can complete the Initial Assessment Technical Report with economics, which the company is anticipating will be finalised during the Second Quarter of 2026.

Hycroft was added to the VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ) on March 20, 2026, and was promoted from the MSCI Micro-Cap Index to the MSCI Small Cap Index, both effective February 27, 2026. The GDXJ inclusion provides passive capital inflows from the exchange-traded fund, while the MSCI reclassification expands institutional index coverage.

Exploration Programme & Resource Growth

The company plans to add two core drill rigs in 2026, bringing the total to four core rigs, to accelerate exploration drilling and expand the two high-grade silver systems. Step-out drilling will test new potential high-grade exploration targets identified within the permitted boundary. The company has completed more than 9,000 metres of drilling under the 2025-2026 exploration drill programme to date.

Measured and indicated gold resources increased to 16.4 million ounces with an additional 5.0 million ounces of inferred, while measured and indicated silver resources reached 562.6 million ounces with an additional 132.8 million ounces of inferred, as reported in the Initial Assessment Technical Report filed February 18, 2026. The First Quarter 2026 safety record showed zero lost-time incidents, a 0.00 total recordable injury frequency rate, and more than 1.4 million work hours without a lost-time incident.

The Hycroft Mine is located in northern Nevada. Additional 2026 planned activities include completion and publication of a PEA for milling sulfide ore and recovering gold and silver through pressure oxidation process, completion of a trade-off analysis for pressure oxidation and a roasting process, and completion of in-fill reverse circulation drilling and metallurgical test work for potential re-start of a heap leach operation.

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