Olympio Metals Kicks Off Maiden Drill Campaign at US Silver Projects
Key Takeaways
- Drill pad earthworks are underway at the Jacknife Project in Idaho, with diamond rig mobilisation expected imminently — marking Olympio's first boots-on-ground drilling in the US.
- The Conjecture Mine carries a historical foreign estimate of 8.22Moz Ag (1975/1981), which Olympio intends to upgrade toward a JORC-compliant resource through the current drill program.
- Jacknife's 335 acres of patented mining claims eliminate permitting barriers for most exploration activities, allowing Olympio to move directly to drilling without regulatory delays.
- Both silver and antimony — the critical minerals targeted across Jacknife and Raven — appear on the 2025 USGS Critical Minerals List, with the US Government backing a US$12 billion strategic mineral stockpile initiative.
- The Raven Project in Montana sits just 45km from the USAC Antimony smelter in Thompson Falls, with historical production grades of 2,084 g/t Ag and 19.51% Cu at the Raven Mine.
Olympio kicks off maiden US drilling campaign at historic Silver Valley projects
Olympio Metals (ASX: OLY) has commenced boots-on-ground exploration at two historically significant silver projects in the US Pacific Northwest. Drill pad earthworks are underway at the Jacknife Project in Idaho, with mobilisation of a diamond rig expected imminently, while surface sampling campaigns are also getting underway at both Jacknife and the Raven Project in Montana.
Both silver and antimony are the critical minerals in focus, and both appear on the 2025 United States Geological Survey (USGS) Critical Minerals List. This announcement is a replacement for the original release dated 3 September 2026; the substance is unchanged, with a positive reliability assessment and additional JORC Table 1 disclosure added for the foreign estimate at the Conjecture Mine.
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Jacknife and Raven projects at a glance
The two projects sit roughly 100km apart in the US Pacific Northwest, with Jacknife located in Idaho’s Lakeview Mining District and Raven positioned in Montana’s Thompson River mining district.
Jacknife Project — key facts:
- 335 acres of patented mining claims, enabling rapid advancement to drilling with no permitting barriers for most exploration activities
- Six historically significant mines with over 8km of underground workings
- +610m vertical shaft at the Conjecture Mine
- Approximately 7km of combined strike length across four shear zones: Conjecture, Weber, Bellville, and Hewer
- Historical foreign estimate of 8.22Moz Ag at the Conjecture Mine (1975/1981) — see cautionary statement below
- 80% interest held by Olympio, acquired from Scout Discoveries Corp (per 20 July 2026 ASX release)
⚠️ Cautionary Statement: The resource estimate is a foreign estimate and is not reported in accordance with the JORC Code (2012). A competent person has not done sufficient work to classify the foreign estimate as mineral resources or ore reserves in accordance with the JORC Code (2012). It is uncertain that following evaluation and/or further exploration work the foreign estimate will be able to be reported as mineral resources or ore reserves in accordance with the JORC Code (2012).
Raven Project — key facts:
- 27 mineral claims in the Thompson River mining district, Montana
- Hosts the historic Raven Silver Mine and Silver King Mine
- Only 45km from the USAC Antimony smelter in Thompson Falls, Montana
- Historical production average grades: Raven Mine 2,084 g/t Ag, 19.51% Cu; Silver King Mine 996 g/t Ag, 1.38% Cu, 11.6% Pb
| Project | Location | Key Target | Tenure Type | Distance to Infrastructure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacknife | Lakeview Mining District, Idaho | High-grade silver (Conjecture Shear Zone) | 335 acres patented mining claims | ~35km northeast of Coeur d’Alene |
| Raven | Thompson River district, Montana | Silver and antimony | 27 mineral claims | 45km from USAC Antimony smelter, Thompson Falls |
The patented claim status at Jacknife is a material operational advantage. On patented mining claims, there are no permitting requirements from regulating authorities for most exploration activities, and land ownership is included with the mineral rights. This removes the permitting friction that typically delays US exploration projects, allowing Olympio to move directly to drilling.
What is the Silver Valley — and why does it matter for investors?
The Silver Valley district in Idaho is one of the most historically productive silver-mining regions on earth, having produced over 1.2 billion ounces of silver. It is home to some of the largest silver operations in the world, which gives you a sense of the district’s geological endowment and the peer company scale active in the region.
Established Silver Valley operators and their reported figures include:
- Sunshine Silver Mining & Refining — US market cap US$1.93B, total silver endowment 624Moz
- Hecla Mining Corp (Lucky Friday Mine) — market cap >US$12B, total silver endowment 304.4Moz
- Bunker Hill Mining — market cap US$187M, total silver endowment 180.5Moz
- Americas Gold and Silver Corporation (Galena Mine Complex) — market cap US$1.9B, total silver endowment 248.5Moz
Olympio is at a far earlier stage than these peers, but its projects sit within the same geological setting, hosted in the same Belt Supergroup formations that underpin these major deposits.
The critical minerals angle adds another layer of strategic context. Silver is essential for solar panels and electronics; antimony is a strategic input for defence applications and energy storage. The US Government has backed a US$12 billion strategic mineral stockpile initiative as part of a broader push to secure domestic critical mineral supply. That policy backdrop does not directly guarantee outcomes for Olympio, but it does reflect the elevated strategic priority placed on exactly the minerals these projects target.
A quick note on tenure for newer investors: patented mining claims (like those at Jacknife) give the holder full private ownership of both the surface and the mineral rights, whereas unpatented claims grant only the right to mine, subject to ongoing permitting requirements from regulators.
Maiden drill program — what happens next
Two parallel work streams are now underway. The first is drill pad preparation at Jacknife’s Conjecture Mine, targeting the high-grade Conjecture Shear Zone, with diamond rig mobilisation expected imminently. The second is a preliminary rock chip and soil sampling campaign across both Jacknife and Raven.
These surface samples will be the first multi-element assay results for both project areas. Historical assays only reported selective base metals, so results from the current programme will provide a much broader picture of the mineralised systems and will determine the most effective method for broader project-scale surface exploration.
Scout Discoveries Corp, Olympio’s in-country technical and operational partner, is managing the drill pad clearing and is also collecting preliminary rock chip and soil samples across key structures at both projects. Following the surface results at Raven, the Company plans to define a maiden drill programme at that project.
Sean Delaney, Managing Director
“We are extremely excited to be kicking off our maiden exploration programs in our key US based projects. These programs will focus on drill testing at the Conjecture Mine and key brownfields targets, while defining our surface exploration strategy for the Jacknife and Raven projects.”
Near-term catalysts for investors include first assay results from the rock chip and soil campaigns at both projects, followed by maiden drill results from the Conjecture Mine. Both represent potential re-rating opportunities from the current pre-resource exploration stage.
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Foreign estimate — understanding the Conjecture Mine resource context
This replacement announcement adds a positive reliability assessment and additional JORC Table 1 disclosure regarding the 1975/1981 historical foreign estimate of 8.22Moz Ag at the Conjecture Mine. Investors should understand what this means precisely.
The figure is a historical foreign estimate and is not reported in accordance with the JORC Code (2012). A competent person has not done sufficient work to classify it as a mineral resource or ore reserve under JORC. It is uncertain whether further exploration will allow it to be reported as a JORC-compliant resource. The Company has stated the foreign estimate is reliable. However, given the age of the historical underground sampling and the lack of preserved samples, the Company intends to re-drill the Conjecture Mine target area in order to seek to define a JORC-compliant Mineral Resource estimate. The historical figure should be treated as a guide to the existence of mineralisation, not as a confirmed resource.
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