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Volta Metals has reported a 688-metre intercept of rare-earth-element and gallium mineralization in the deepest drill hole completed to date at its Springer REE-Ga deposit, about 70 km east of Sudbury near Sturgeon Falls.
Hole SL26-35 returned 0.81% total rare-earth oxides and 68.13 g/t gallium oxide over 688 metres, from 4.6 m to 693.0 m. It is the longest drill hole of Volta's 2026 winter program at Springer and the longest REE-Ga mineralized interval the company has yet drilled there. The hole crosses a carbonatite dyke from west to east, demonstrating strong continuity of the mineralization, and extends the known REE-Ga footprint roughly 180 m laterally and 260 m vertically beyond the current conceptual open-pit shell.
"Gallium and rare earth mineralization extends our deposit footprint well beyond the current pit shell," said president and CEO Kerem Usenmez. "With geopolitical pressure on critical mineral supply chains intensifying, the scale and quality of what we are discovering and advancing at Springer puts Volta in a position we are very proud of."
SL26-35 is part of a 13-hole winter program (SL26-27 to SL26-39) totalling 5,452 m, designed to upgrade the current mineral resource estimate. The hole was also planned to test carbonatite-hosted REE and Ga mineralization below the current conceptual open-pit and to collect geotechnical data for a planned preliminary economic assessment.
The host rock at Springer is hematitized brecciated syenite cross-cut by white vuggy carbonatite veins, with strong correlation between gallium and REE within the dolomite carbonatite. The REEs — and the accompanying gallium — are primarily hosted in synchysite, a calcium-cerium fluorocarbonate mineral that concentrates light rare earths such as cerium, lanthanum, neodymium and praseodymium together with heavy rare earths including dysprosium and terbium. The company describes synchysite as a host mineral amenable to well-established REE recovery processes.
Volta also flagged Springer's low radioactivity profile. Based on 2,234 assays collected from 2025 and 2026 drill core, the deposit averages 74 ppm thorium and 9 ppm uranium. For comparison, Canadian federal transportation licensing for radioactive materials kicks in at thorium concentrations above 17,240 ppm under the Packaging and Transport of Nuclear Substances Regulations. Volta said the low-radioactivity profile may offer significant advantages in permitting, handling, transportation and processing relative to many peer REE projects.
The Springer property sits near Sturgeon Falls in northeastern Ontario, about 70 km east of Sudbury, with direct access via the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 64. The project is supported by paved-road access, on-site power lines from the Crystal Falls hydroelectric dam, a natural gas pipeline and Canadian National Railway in the area. Mineralization remains open in all directions. The company's NI 43-101 technical report supporting the current resource estimate was filed on SEDAR+ on April 9.