Metalero Initiates Fieldwork on the Benson Project

Rhea-AI Summary

Metalero Mining Corp. (CRTTF) has commenced fieldwork at its Benson Project in British Columbia's Quesnel Trough. The exploration program focuses on the Cantin and Sundberg copper-gold porphyry targets within the 166 km² property. The Cantin target, spanning 9+ kilometers, features historical drilling results with notable gold intercepts, including 0.53 g/t Au over 14m and 1.4 g/t Au over 11m. The Sundberg target, previously undrilled, shows promising soil samples up to 1 g/t gold and 647 ppm Cu. The project benefits from excellent infrastructure access via Highway 26 and logging roads, and is situated in the mineral-rich Quesnel Trough, home to over 360 copper-gold porphyry occurrences and major mines like Highland Valley and Mt Milligan.

Positive

• Property is located in the prolific Quesnel Trough region with over 360 known porphyry copper-gold occurrences
• Excellent infrastructure access via Highway 26 and extensive logging road network, enabling cost-efficient exploration
• Historical drilling at Cantin target showed promising gold intercepts including 1.4 g/t Au over 11m
• Sundberg target shows encouraging surface samples up to 1 g/t gold and 647 ppm Cu

Negative

• No systematic exploration conducted on the property for 35 years
• Historical drilling focused primarily on gold, with limited copper analysis (<10% of core samples)
• Sundberg target remains untested by drilling
• Historical drill results show relatively low-grade gold mineralization

Edmonton, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - June 9, 2025) - Metalero Mining Corp. (TSXV: MLO) (OTC Pink: CRTTF) (the "Company" or "Metalero") is pleased to announce initiation of fieldwork at the Benson Project located in the Quesnel Trough of central British Columbia (Figure 1). This maiden exploration program will include rock and soil sampling and ground geophysical surveys surrounding the Cantin and Sundberg copper-gold porphyry targets. As announced January 18, 2025, Metalero has signed a binding Letter of Intent ("LOI") to acquire a 100% interest in the 166 km² Benson Property.

President and CEO, Rob L'Heureux, stated, "We are excited to start our maiden exploration program at Benson which has seen very little systematic exploration for 35 years. In this first pass, we'll be conducting sampling to confirm and refine historical copper and gold anomalism in soils and rocks at the Cantin and Sundberg prospects, which are currently the most advanced on the Property and are similar in size to established copper-gold mines located elsewhere in the Quesnel Trough, like Mt Polley and Mt Milligan. At the Cantin Prospect, we have historical drilling which identified porphyry and epithermal styles of mineralization but there has been very little follow-up work since the 1990s and so we're excited to restart exploration work at the Property."

Figure 1. Map of British Columbia and the Benson Project showing examples of major mines and projects hosted in Quesnel Trough rocks (brown) with >360 known porphyry copper-gold occurrences (orange dots). Benson is host to known mineralization associated with porphyry systems which have not been systematically explored since the early 1990s.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
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Cantin and Sundberg Prospects

The 9+ kilometre long Cantin target lies central to the Benson Property and is easily accessed by modern forestry roads (Figure 2). Historical exploration was carried out in search of gold skarn mineralization, similar to the nearby QR Mine, and included soil and limited rock sampling, geophysics, and ~6,000 metres of drilling largely completed pre-1992. The historical Cantin drilling returned anomalous gold assay values over significant lengths and observations made at the time included the recognition of porphyry-style alteration with copper-bearing minerals, although copper analyses were rare (<10% of the core) as the historical work was primarily focused on the precious metal potential (Table 1).

Figure 2. Map of the Cantin Target on the Benson Project showing two magnetic anomalies identified by Geoscience BC's Artificial Intelligence work. The area also contains historically mapped intrusive rocks, gold-in-soil and rock anomalies, and drilling from the 1990's. The background imagery is vertical derivative magnetics from a historical airborne geophysical survey.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
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DRILL HOLE	From	To	GOLD INTERCEPTS
G-10	40	54	0.53 g/t Au over 14m
G-10	121	152.4 (EOH)	0.5 g/t Au over 31.4m (end of hole)
G-14	177	216.4 (EOH)	0.4 g/t Au over 39.4m (end of hole)
G-21	129	140	1.4 g/t Au over 11m
G-25	38	154	0.15 g/t Au over 116m
G-34	53	88	0.38 g/t Au over 35m
G-34	110	158	0.22 g/t Au over 48m
CC-03-01	161.2	257	0.21 g/t Au over 95.8m

  
Table 1. Select drill hole highlights from historical exploration drilling at Cantin.

The Sundberg target in the southern portion of the Benson Property is readily accessed by modern forestry service roads (Figure 3). It comprises a dual-lobe magnetic anomaly measuring approximately 4 km long, located on the edge of a regional gravity anomaly and includes a gold- and copper-in-soil anomaly offset to the northeast in a down-ice direction. Anomalous soil samples have assayed up to 1 g/t gold and 647 ppm Cu. Sundberg has not been drill tested.

Figure 3. Map of the Sundberg target on the Benson Project showing the dual-lobed magnetic anomaly identified by Geoscience BC's Artificial-Intelligence work. Historical soil sampling in the area defined copper and gold anomalism to the northwest (down-ice) of the geophysical anomaly. The background imagery is residual magnetic intensity from a historical airborne geophysical survey.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/11670/254855_c8eee7a994040a9a_003full.jpg

Quesnel Trough Background

The Quesnel Trough is a Triassic/Jurassic-age belt of volcano-sedimentary and intrusive rocks which hosts >360 alkalic copper-gold porphyry occurrences and deposits. At >1,500 km long, the Quesnel Trough runs through the middle of BC stretching from the US to the Yukon Territory. It hosts numerous major mines which produce copper and gold as well as variable amounts of silver and molybdenum while also hosting several additional types of gold deposits.

High profile and long-lived mines in the Quesnel Trough include Highland Valley, Mt Milligan, New Afton and Kemess which complements more recent exploration work including Woodjam, MPD, Kwanika, and the recent staking by Australian mining giant, the Fortescue Group.

Benson Project Background

The Benson Project lies close to infrastructure and is traversed by Highway 26 and an extensive network of logging roads allowing for ready access to all parts of the Property and capital-efficient exploration. The large land package covers 5 different target areas identified by recent Artificial-Intelligence ("AI") work by Geoscience BC (Mitchinson et al., Geoscience BC Report 2022-07). This AI study incorporated a wide variety of historical datasets including geophysics, geology, sampling information, and drilling data (where present) to identify high potential ("porphyry-like") anomalies with similarities to known porphyry deposits elsewhere in the belt. Limited historical exploration at Benson has identified numerous gold and copper surface geochemical anomalies while modest (historical) drill programs have intersected skarn and epithermal gold and silver mineralization, which are both intrusive-related styles of mineralization and are commonly associated with porphyry systems.

Qualified Person

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Andrew Turner, B.Sc., P.Geol., P.Geo., a consultant to the Company who is a qualified person defined under National Instrument 43-101.

About Metalero Mining Corp.

Metalero Mining Corp. is a Canadian-based junior exploration company based in Edmonton. Metalero has completed a restructuring which included a management change and new project focus, making its drill-ready gold assets in Nevada available for sale or option.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Rob L'Heureux"
Rob L'Heureux, Chief Executive Officer and President
Email: robl@metalsgroup.com
Telephone: +1.780.437.6624

Metalero is part of the Metals Group of Companies, managed by exploration professionals who stand for technical excellence, robust project selection and strong corporate governance, with a proven ability to identify and capitalize on investment opportunities and deliver shareholder returns.

This news release may contain certain "forward looking statements". Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this news release and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Closing of the transaction remains subject to significant risks including obtaining necessary regulatory body approvals including that of the TSX Venture Exchange. Closing also remains subject to the completion of Definitive Agreements in form satisfactory to the parties to the sale transaction and remains subject to satisfactory completion of due diligence by the Company. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing risk factors are not exhaustive. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct or that any of the events anticipated by forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do, what benefits the Company will derive therefrom. Similarly, the risk factors listed above are not exhaustive and other risk factors that have not been anticipated may become apparent as the Company proceeds to Closing. All forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

 

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FAQ

What are the main targets of Metalero's Benson Project exploration program?

The main targets are the Cantin and Sundberg copper-gold porphyry targets, with Cantin spanning 9+ kilometers and Sundberg featuring a dual-lobe magnetic anomaly approximately 4 km long.

What were the best historical drilling results at CRTTF's Cantin target?

The best historical drilling results include 0.53 g/t Au over 14m in hole G-10, 1.4 g/t Au over 11m in hole G-21, and 0.15 g/t Au over 116m in hole G-25.

Where is the Benson Project located and what is its size?

The Benson Project is a 166 km² property located in the Quesnel Trough of central British Columbia, with access via Highway 26.

What are the soil sampling results from CRTTF's Sundberg target?

The Sundberg target has shown anomalous soil samples with values up to 1 g/t gold and 647 ppm copper.

How long has the Benson Project been unexplored?

The Benson Project has not seen systematic exploration for 35 years, with the last significant work conducted in the early 1990s.