Hercules Metals Provides Further Positive Update On Its 2025 Drilling Campaign

2025-07-16 08:08:26

(MENAFN- Newsfile Corp) Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 16, 2025) - Hercules Metals Corp. (TSXV: BIG) (OTCQB: BADEF) (FSE: C0X) ( " Hercules " or the " Company " ) is pleased to provide an additional update on its ongoing 2025 drilling campaign at its Hercules Property in western Idaho (the " Property ") including its flagship Leviathan porphyry copper discovery. Seven (7) holes are now complete, with another five (5) in progress, equating to more than 5,500 metres drilled so far this season (Figure 1). Drilling continues to validate the new 3D geological model announced in April of this year, which was the primary objective of the campaign. As a result, the Company ramped up from three to five drill rigs, all of which are focused on the following targeted approach:

Define grade and width along an initial 1.3-kilometre strike length , with systematically spaced drill fences testing both main stage porphyry mineralization, and an overlapping zone of higher-grade enrichment.

Extend the system in both directions (northeast and south) , where surface mapping, sampling, chargeability, magnetics, and preliminary MT geophysics all suggest Leviathan's potential strike length could extend upwards of 3.5 kilometres.

Test for thicker zones of hypogene enrichment along strike . Post-mineral tilting may lead to greater preservation of the higher-grade enrichment zone down-tilt to the northeast, within the Grade Creek Zone.

Highlights

Seven completed drill holes have validated all key elements of the Company's predictive geological model, consistent with the classical porphyry copper model (Figures 2, 3, and 4).

The first completed drill hole of the season, HER-25-02, has demonstrated potential for both main stage porphyry mineralization and hypogene enrichment to extend northeast into the Grade Creek Zone.

The Leviathan chargeability anomaly extends 1.1 kilometres northeast from hole HER-25-02 to the limit of the 2023 DC-IP survey, highlighting significant expansion potential (Figure 1).

Soil and rock chip sampling above the northeastern extension of the chargeability anomaly reveals strongly elevated copper and molybdenum values where Grade Creek cuts deeply into the Jurassic cover sequence.

A hematized red conglomerate (interpreted as a paleo-river channel) occurs 1.5 kilometres northeast of HER-25-02, at the base of the Jurassic cover, containing significant porphyry-altered and veined boulders of leach cap, consistent with an underlying porphyry system, adding further support for a potentially large northeast extension (Photos 1 and 2).

Two drill holes are currently stepped-out from HER-25-02, testing the northeast (Grade Creek Zone) extension (Photo 3).

Drill hole 25-06, an 800-metre step-out to the south of drill hole 24-19, is now the first hole to successfully drill below Jurassic cover and intersect the porphyry system beneath the Southern Flats Zone. The hole is currently in progress within what is interpreted to be the hanging wall pyrite halo (see Figure 3 for reference to alteration zonation). The hole is targeting the centre of a new MT conductivity anomaly which shows a strong correlation with the Leviathan Porphyry mineralization (Figures 5 and 6).

The new MT conductivity anomaly extends through the entire Southern Flats Zone, over 4 kilometres to the southeast of the known mineralization, indicating potential for a major southern extension, on land which the Company holds surface mining rights.

Chris Paul, CEO and Director of Hercules Metals, commented, "2025 has been the most exciting start to a drilling season we've had at the Hercules Property. We've been able to start the campaign positively by hitting porphyry mineralization from the first completed hole. The new model not only increases the success rate, it allows us to ramp up our exploration program with systematic grid-based fence drilling. We're also seeing potential to significantly expand the system in both directions, while simultaneously better defining 1.3 kilometres of known strike at a significantly more optimal orientation, across the centre of the porphyry."

Mr. Paul concluded, "Core from several of the completed holes have now been shipped to the lab for assaying and we hope to receive assay results in the next 6-8 weeks. We look forward to updating the market as soon as results become available."

Figure 1: Plan view showing 2025 drill holes completed and in progress (labelled with hole ID and dip), relative to a 450-metre depth slice of chargeability. Potential drill fences illustrated by the white dashed lines, show the potential for testing up to 3.5 kilometres of strike length to the system over the 2025-2026 operating seasons. Section line A-A' for Figures 2-4 is shown in orange.