US Hycroft Drills 82.7 Meters Grading 87.52 g/t Silver in 2026

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation (Nasdaq: HYMC) released the latest results from its 2025–2026 exploration drilling program at the Hycroft Mine in northern Nevada on August 18, 2026. The program commenced in August 2025, with approximately 15,585 meters of the planned ~26,000-meter core drilling completed to date. At Brimstone, one of the high-grade silver systems, drilling has extended mineralization closer to surface, returning an 82.7-meter interval grading 87.52 g/t silver and 0.77 g/t gold from a depth of 122.2 meters; at Vortex, another high-grade silver system, high-grade silver has been extended approximately 150 meters to the west, including a 12.5-meter interval grading 375.41 g/t silver.

Five drill holes at Brimstone have expanded the shallower portion of the system. One hole confirmed high-grade continuity at its widest point, with the intersected interval containing a 19.4-meter sample grading 108.19 g/t silver and 2.10 g/t gold, plus a 0.7-meter interval grading 14.35 g/t gold. Two of the five holes carried mineralization from surface, intersecting 153.0-meter intervals (9.87 g/t silver and 0.44 g/t gold) and 142.2-meter intervals (17.66 g/t silver and 0.37 g/t gold), respectively; a third hole returned a 149.4-meter interval grading 33.32 g/t silver and 0.42 g/t gold, including 8.5 meters grading 148.12 g/t silver and 1.37 g/t gold; a fourth hole returned a 147.8-meter interval grading 32.34 g/t silver and 0.44 g/t gold, including 4.4 meters grading 546.83 g/t silver. These grade conditions make both open-pit and underground mining feasible, leaving the mining method selection open. The Brimstone system currently measures approximately 300 meters north-south and 500 meters east-west (measured along the dip direction of the system), and remains open in all directions and at depth; these dimensions only represent the extent of drilling to date.

The same program is also testing deeper targets beyond the reach of shallower drilling. Geophysical anomalies identified in 2025 suggest a possible deep feeder system beneath the known mineralization. Two drill holes, extended approximately 90 meters down-dip from the initial 2025 holes, both returned alteration and geochemical anomalies but no intervals of comparable grade. Such anomalies are mineral and chemical changes left in rocks by fluid flow, consistent with Brimstone fluid pathways. One hole intersected an 18-meter-wide zone of stockwork veining (many small veins cutting the rock from multiple directions), with the only reported interval within the zone being a 1.5-meter sample from 645.9 meters depth grading 120.00 g/t silver; the same hole also returned a 2.7-meter interval at 664.8 meters depth grading 44.63 g/t silver and 0.10 g/t gold. On the cross-section released with the results, both deep holes lie below and outside the shaded zone of mineralization defined at silver grades above 68.5 g/t, within the stockwork veining zone labeled "open at depth." These alteration, geochemical, and veining characteristics are consistent with the interpretation of a deep feeder system, but drilling remains in the upper portion of the system and will continue advancing toward the target.

Hycroft noted that the mine was historically developed as a leach project using reverse circulation (RC) drills, with numerous shallow RC holes across the property; current work focuses on the area beneath most of what early drilling defined. The difference between the two depths lies in the type of evidence: near-surface ore bodies are measured in meters and grams per tonne, while the deep zone is traced through changes left behind as fluids flowed through the rock. The exploration team looks for the right alteration types, vein density, increased silicification, and evidence of rock destruction in each drill hole. Structural modeling has identified an east-west structural control at Brimstone, and fluid movement is governed by this structure, so the team uses directional drilling to understand how fluids migrated through the rock. Holes are drilled one at a time rather than in batches: if a hole is promising, the rig is offset for the next hole; if less promising, the rig moves to another area of the vein system and returns once the hole has been integrated into the model. Alex Davidson, Vice President of Exploration, stated that the near-surface high-grade ore body has been well defined, and the next phase will shift to deeper zones, which is critical for the company. Justin Davenport, Exploration Manager, noted that the north side of the Brimstone high-grade mineralization is the primary target, and because the east-west controlling structure is known to exist, the holes are actually drilled more toward the south to cross these east-west structures and attempt to understand the large-scale mineralization at depth. Each hole must first confirm the location of the controlling structure before the next hole location is determined, which dictates the pace of the deep program.

The high-grade silver at Brimstone and Vortex is contained within a much larger low-grade resource. The 2026 mineral resource estimate (at gold price of $3,100/oz and silver price of $36/oz) reports combined measured and indicated resources for heap leach and mill feed of 16,414 thousand ounces of gold and 562,575 thousand ounces of silver, within a computer-generated optimized pit shell containing 4.92 billion tonnes of total material. The effective date of this estimate is January 21, 2026, predating all holes reported in August; the data represents resources, not reserves, and no modifying factors for mine and process design have been applied. Within this resource, high-grade silver domains are defined at a silver cut-off grade of 68.57 g/t. Brimstone hosts measured and indicated resources of 3,198 thousand tonnes grading 0.368 g/t gold and 269.54 g/t silver, containing 27,711 thousand ounces of silver; Vortex hosts 14,940 thousand tonnes grading 0.543 g/t gold and 130.14 g/t silver, containing 62,507 thousand ounces of silver.

Commenting on the future workload at the two systems, Davidson said it will require substantial drilling and time to gain full understanding, but very interesting things are emerging at Vortex. Three mining options remain open: a large open pit, high-grade underground extraction, or a hybrid combining high-grade underground mining with an open pit; engineering analysis for a ramp is advancing. The technical report supporting the current plan presents an after-tax net present value (at a 5% discount rate, NPV5%) of $4.3 billion and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 16.9% over a 51-year mine life under a base-case scenario of $3,600/oz gold and $48.00/oz silver; the report does not support a development decision.

Follow-up drilling has been allocated between the two systems: approximately 7,200 meters of core at Brimstone and approximately 3,000 meters at Vortex. Drilling at Vortex will cover the width of the ore body, targeting northern, southern, and eastern extensions in addition to the western zone. The program initially uses 2 core rigs and 1 RC rig, with 2 additional core rigs to be added in the second half of 2026, totaling 5 rigs; management stated that drilling operates 24 hours a day, year-round. An evaluation plan to restart heap leach operations is underway during the same period. The company has not disclosed the allocation of Brimstone drill meters between deep feeder testing and shallow step-out holes, nor has it provided a target depth or date for reaching the feeder itself, nor what will ultimately resolve the question beyond continued advancement. To date, no holes beneath the known system have returned intervals with significant width and grade, and the deep half of Brimstone remains at the interpretation stage supported by alteration, geochemistry, and veining.