First Class Metals Plc (LON: FCM) has reported final cumulative drill results from the Roy prospect at its Sunbeam Property in Ontario, Canada, confirming bonanza-grade gold and strengthening the company’s confidence in the wider exploration potential of the project.
The UK-listed explorer said double fire assay testing had confirmed bonanza-grade gold in diamond drill hole SUN26-05, validating previously reported photon assay results.
Gold mineralisation has now been confirmed across approximately 300 metres of strike at Roy, with anomalous to potentially ore-grade values remaining open along strike and at depth.
First Class Metals said recent structural interpretation indicates that the Roy prospect forms part of the district-scale Nahanni Shear Zone, which the company considers comparable in geological setting to the Marmion Shear Zone, host to the 3.3 million-ounce Hammond Reef gold deposit.
While the company stressed there can be no assurance that the Nahanni Shear Zone hosts a deposit of similar scale, it said the structural similarities significantly enhance confidence in the wider Sunbeam Property.
Drilling to date has tested around 300 metres of strike, representing approximately 1% of the interpreted Nahanni Shear Zone. First Class Metals said this leaves the vast majority of the prospective structural corridor untested.
The completed programme comprised approximately 1,000 metres of drilling at Roy. Management described it as an outstanding success, with 11 of the 12 holes intersecting the targeted structure. The remaining hole was drilled as a scissor hole to confirm the dip and orientation of the target zone.
Key results included 5.1 metres grading 4.14 grams per tonne gold from 13.9 metres in hole SUN26-05, which contained a visible gold sample previously reported at 45 grams per tonne gold by photon assay. The average of the photon assay and two fire assays for that sample was 40.2 grams per tonne gold.
The results also highlighted the potential for broader lower-grade mineralised zones, including 16.95 metres at 0.45 grams per tonne gold from 5 metres in hole SUN26-05.
Other reported intercepts included 8.5 metres at 0.45 grams per tonne gold from 43.5 metres in hole SUN26-01A, 9.5 metres at 0.49 grams per tonne gold from 16.67 metres in hole SUN26-02, and 5.1 metres at 0.67 grams per tonne gold from 8.9 metres in hole SUN26-11.
Chief executive Marc J. Sale said the final assay results confirmed the company’s belief in the potential of the Roy trend.
“The visible gold presence is supported by both photon and fire assay analysis, giving us further confidence in the high-grade nature of the mineralisation,” he said.
Sale added that First Class Metals is now using the drilling, very low frequency geophysics and soil survey data to refine follow-up drill targets along the trend, as well as around the potential high-grade mineralisation at Roy.
The company said the central higher-grade core zone, extending over around 100 metres, represents a priority target for follow-up drilling.
Exploration work is continuing across the wider Sunbeam Property. The soil and VLF survey grid completed in 2025 has been extended by around 1.5 kilometres to the northeast along strike, while work is also progressing on the parallel Pettigrew trend.
First Class Metals said it is applying the structural model developed at Roy to Pettigrew, where data collation, VLF surveying, soil sampling and structural mapping are being used to generate future drill targets.
The company has also submitted an exploration permit application for winter drilling on the frozen lake adjacent to Roy, which would allow deeper step-back drilling. A quote has also been sought for detailed airborne geophysics over the core area of the property.
First Class Metals said its growing understanding of the structural controls at Roy and Pettigrew will form the basis for future drilling proposals across the Sunbeam Property.
