Zonte Metals provided an update on additional data from the K6 drilling program at its Cross Hills Copper Project in Newfoundland and Labrador and provide notice it has received an exploration grant from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Highlights from technical analysis of the K6 drill core; Mineralization occurred in a number of pulses. Documented changes in the style of mineralization suggest possible extension to depth with better grade.

Target is open at depth and to the west. Zonte Metals has been exploring the Cross Hills Copper project since 2018. The project now has 12 targets, with a number of them at or near the drill ready stage.

Over the past several years the Company has undertaken a program to enhance its understanding of the copper system with the aim of intersecting better copper zones in drill core. Early drill programs yielded copper intersections, with the longest continuous interval measuring 4.6m. This contrasts with the recently drilled K6 target, that availed of much more technical data prior to drilling, where continuous mineralization was intersected in intervals up to 34.5m (refer to the February 29, 2024 press release).

In preparation for the follow-up drill program at the K6 target, Zonte commissioned a thin section (TS) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analyses of select samples from the recent drill core. These analyses were conducted by Hamilton Geoconsulting of Hamilton, Ontario. The objective was to provide additional insights into the mineralizing system, which in conjunction with other findings, could aid in defining possible extensions for the intersected copper intervals.

One significant finding from the TS analysis was the discovery of up to three distinct mineralizing events. Near the surface in C H2 3-06, a sample at 98.62m, which sits in the 34.5m interval that returned 0.11% Cu, recorded at least two phases of mineralization, as evident from chalcopyrite replacing bornite. Chalcocite was also present, but no distinctive relationship to the initial two minerals was observed in TS.

Deeper in C H2 3-05, a sample at 164.85m, which sits in the 11.2m interval that returned 0.42% Cu, showed three pulses of mineralization. The early phase was a high-temperature one carrying chalcopyrite, which was subsequently followed by a bornite phase and then a late hypogene chalcocite phase. Drilling through this portion of the target highlighted an increase in copper grade with depth, as illustrated in the cross-section below, which was previously released on February 29, 2024.

The increasing copper grade with depth is interpreted to be controlled by the fluid system that emplaced the mineralization. In near-surface intervals, such as in C H2 3-06, mineralization was mainly characterized as thin films of chalcocite on hairline fractures. In contrast at depth in C H2 3-05, the mineralization is also comprised well-defined chalcocite grains and veining, penetrating the rock mass.

This observation suggests the mineralization emplaced in C H2 3-06 may have been at the top of the system in the lower pressure portion compared to C H2 3-05 which would have been deeper and further into the copper system. Should this trend persist, it is inferred that more favorable portions of the mineralizing system may lie at greater depths. Based on the observations from the TS and SEM analysis, in concert with drill hole, geochemical and geophysical data, the target appears to be open at depth and to the west.

The next drill program, which is being planned, will test these open directions.