en.Wedoany.com Reported - Thunder Mountain Gold, Inc. (OTCQB: THMG, TSXV: THM) has initiated its 2026 exploration drilling campaign at the South Mountain Project in southern Idaho, with an initial 10,000-foot drill program aimed at expanding the confirmed carbonate replacement deposit (CRD) silver, zinc, copper, lead, and gold massive sulfide resource, and testing a promising district-scale copper-gold target for the first time.
This drilling will focus on accelerating the expansion of the CRD massive sulfide resource along strike, with a scale approximately double the total surface core drilling completed to date at the South Mountain Project. The program also plans to test magnetotelluric (MT) and induced polarization (IP) geophysical anomalies that are spatially associated with known resources and supported by surface geological mapping. In 2025, the company launched a district-wide exploration program to identify potential sources of polymetallic massive sulfide mineralization within the Laxey Marble. Integrated modeling of MT and surface geological data has outlined several highly prospective anomalous zones, including anomalies beneath the Gold Breccia target, with these results further corroborated by historical IP data, pulse electromagnetic (PEM), and ground magnetic surveys. Airborne magnetic surveys and additional MT measurements are planned later in the season to refine target definition.
Regarding the Gold Breccia target, the company discovered new mineralization here in 2009, documenting a gold-bearing heterogeneous breccia with a strike length of approximately 1,000 meters and a width of 800 meters. Reverse circulation drilling in 2010 yielded results of 84 meters grading 0.221 g/t gold and 81 meters grading 0.289 g/t gold.
Eric Jones, President and CEO of Thunder Mountain Gold, stated that the company has partnered with proven contractor Big Sky Exploration to launch this season's drill program. Big Sky Exploration, headquartered in Eureka, Nevada, has deployed a Boart Longyear LF™90D heavy-duty tracked surface core drill rig, equipped with a telescopic mast and capable of drilling to depths of 3,000 feet (approximately 1,000 meters), enabling H-size core drilling to test resource expansion opportunities as well as deeper district-scale targets.
The South Mountain Mine is a polymetallic development project containing high-grade zinc, silver, gold, and copper, located on private land approximately 70 miles southwest of Boise, Idaho. Historical mining at the site began in the 1860s, with modern mining conducted as part of World War II efforts and intermittently operated by Anaconda Copper from the late 1940s to the late 1960s, including over 8,000 feet of drifts, shafts, raises, and stopes. After the company acquired the mine in 2007, it rehabilitated approximately 4,000 feet of underground workings, and underground core drilling along newly developed drifts discovered significant massive sulfide ore associated with ore chutes. Since 2007, the company has invested approximately $25 million in the project. Historical test mining and processing primarily focused on high-grade CRD zones, which remain open at depth and along strike. The company recently purchased 113 acres of private land adjacent to the main historical mine area, which includes strategic exploration areas related to the Gold Breccia target. Additionally, the company staked 423 lode mining claims on adjacent BLM land, totaling approximately 8,200 acres, and leased an additional 1,073 acres of private land within and around the project area. These transactions have expanded the company's property interests to a total of 13,061 acres, approximately twenty square miles.
According to historical smelter records, approximately 53,642 tons of mineralized material were mined and shipped directly to smelters, with average grades of 14.5% zinc, 363.42 g/t silver, 1.98 g/t gold, 1.4% copper, and 2.4% lead. Mineral resource estimates indicate measured resources of 69,000 tons grading 3.84 oz/t silver (totaling 264,000 oz), 0.058 oz/t gold (4,000 oz), 9.18% zinc, 0.6% copper, and 0.67% lead; indicated resources of 154,000 tons grading 4.47 oz/t silver (688,000 oz), 0.06 oz/t gold (9,300 oz), 8.95% zinc, 0.66% copper, and 1.06% lead; combined measured and indicated resources of 223,000 tons grading 4.27 oz/t silver (totaling 953,000 oz), 0.059 oz/t gold (13,300 oz), 9.02% zinc, 0.64% copper, and 0.94% lead; and inferred resources of 959,000 tons grading 5.67 oz/t silver (5,438,000 oz), 0.037 oz/t gold (35,200 oz), 7.56% zinc, 0.80% copper, and 1.06% lead.
The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Steven A. Osterberg, a professional geologist, who is a qualified person as defined under U.S. SEC Regulation S-K 1300 and Canadian National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101). Thunder Mountain Gold Inc., founded in 1935, is a junior exploration company focused on advancing base and precious metal assets in the western United States. The company's primary asset is the South Mountain Mine, and it holds a 100% interest in the Trout Creek Project, a gold exploration asset located in Nevada.
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