Phase III Drilling Program Commences At Hercules Silver Property

TORONTO - Hercules Silver Corp. reported that three core drilling rigs are now fully mobilized and drilling the first three holes of an extensive 20,000m drill program at the Hercules Silver Property in western Idaho. Timberline Drilling of Hayden, Idaho has returned to carry out the program, which will consist of drilling 200m centers along NW-SE fences, starting west of the 2023 discovery area, and testing new magnetic anomalies and conductivity and chargeability anomalies identified by a 2023 deep-seeking 3D induced polarization (IP) survey (2023 IP survey).

Core drilling commenced at Hercules with two Atlas Copco CS14 rigs that have an effective depth capacity of 1,000m and one Atlas Copco CS3001 rig with an effective depth capacity of 2,000m in Hercules ground conditions. Both drills are track-mounted for enhanced maneuverability. The first two CS-14 rigs arrived and began coring HER-24-01 and HER-24-02 ahead of schedule to get a head start on challenging drilling conditions that were anticipated in the Upper Plate in that area. The actual number of holes drilled will depend on the depth of holes, which is to be determined based on visual logging of mineralization. Drilling will operate 24/7 on two 12-hour shifts (day and night).

The phase III drill program will focus on multiple targets, including: 1) Drilling on 200m centers along NW-SE fences, starting with three holes to the west, northwest and north from HER-23-05, which had the best copper intercept in 2023 of 185.29m of 0.84% Cu and 111 ppm Mo from 246m to 431.2m, including 45.33m of 1.94% Cu in an upper enrichment blanket. 2) A conductivity anomaly at the Belmont Zone identified by the 2023 IP survey. Prospecting of historical waste dumps at Belmont recently uncovered strong chalcocite mineralization, potentially sourced from an underlying enrichment blanket. 3) Two magnetic high anomalies below the Belmont and Grade Creek Zones, potentially representative of magnetite alteration, commonly associated with a central potassic zone. 4) Near surface chargeability anomaly at the Big Cut Skarn, situated at the edge of the IP survey.  

A road upgrade project has now been completed with safety berms and 3-inch crushed rock emplaced over the existing dirt surface and subsequently graded to allow for safe vehicle travel in inclement weather conditions. This is expected to reduce standby time at the drills and potentially further extend the drilling season.

Chris Paul, CEO and Director, said, "Our much-anticipated Phase III drill program is officially underway, with all three drill rigs mobilized and turning. This is the largest program we have had to date and is backed by an immense amount of planning and interpretation supported by our largest shareholder, Barrick Gold Corporation. The team has been on site since April 14, further re-logging the 2023 drill core and developing new insights into the porphyry controls and targets. Important vein controls are now being recognized which appear to contribute a large portion of the copper endowment at Leviathan.

In addition, our road upgrade project is now complete, preventing a significant amount of what would have been standby time for the drills, after a late season snow event occurred at the end of April. Our roads are now expected to be safe for vehicle and equipment access even in poor weather conditions. We look forward to sharing further updates as we enter a very exciting chapter of the Company's history."