Eager to expand on 18.2 million oz maiden resource announced earlier this year.

Metallic Minerals Corp. June 13 announced the start of the 2024 exploration program at both its Keno Silver project in the Yukon and the La Plata copper-silver-gold-platinum group elements project in southwest Colorado.

Metallic's properties in the Yukon's historic Keno Hill Silver District cover 171 square kilometers (66 square miles) of promising targets adjacent to Hecla Mining Company's Keno Hill silver mine.

Covering the eastern portion of the district, along with sections on the western and southern sides, Metallic Minerals' land package hosts eight of the 35 historical silver mines that have returned some of the highest grades in the district – with five averaging production grades above 5,000 grams per metric ton silver.

Metallic Minerals Corp.

Last year, Metallic conducted a program comprised of 1,112 meters of drilling focused on expanding its Formo target in the West Keno area. This drilling was incorporated into an inaugural NI 43-101-compliant resource estimate, which the company originally intended for fourth-quarter 2023.

According to the 2024 calculation, Keno Silver hosts 2.5 million metric tons averaging 233 grams per metric ton (18.16 million ounces) silver-equivalent (the value of all metals expressed through silver), split between four deposits – Formo, Fox, Caribou, and Homestake.

The Formo deposit itself hosts 1.08 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 206 g/t (7.11 million oz) silver, 0.08 g/t (3,000 oz) gold, 1.52% (36 million pounds) of lead, and 2.79% (66.1 million lb) zinc for a total of 12.77 million oz of silver-equivalent.

The Caribou, Fox, and Homestake deposits host a combined 1.46 million metric tons of in-pit inferred resource averaging 58 g/t (2.7 million oz) silver, 0.12 g/t (5,500 oz) gold, 0.28% (8.86 million lb) lead, and 1.02% (32.95 million lb) zinc.

With a maiden resource under its belt showing the depth of the mineral endowment still remaining in this historic region, Metallic says it is in the final stages of preparation for a diamond drilling program set to begin in July.

This drilling initiative aims to expand existing resources and test the potential to define new resources at the highest priority drill-ready targets.

"We are excited to initiate our exploration activities at both Keno Silver and La Plata for 2024," said Metallic Minerals President Scott Petsel. "Our team is eager to apply the knowledge gained from previous programs to this year's drilling at targets selected to maximize opportunity for success."

Much like last year, the company says an important focus of the upcoming program will be on resource expansion at Formo, which is the current largest resource at Keno Silver. Either way, all four deposits comprising the existing mineral resource, including Formo, start at surface and remain open for further expansion.

"At Keno Silver, there is a clear opportunity to rapidly grow high-grade silver ounces once initial resources are established in such a productive structural setting, as has been repeatedly demonstrated through the long and productive history of the district," said Petsel. "With 40 plus promising target areas across our prospective Keno Silver District holdings, we see excellent potential to significantly grow our current resources, as well as to make new discoveries."

You can read the full release here to learn more about Metallic's planned work at La Plata.