Guardian Metal progresses work at Pilot Mountain

(Sharecast News) - Guardian Metal Resources said on Wednesday that work on the pre-feasibility study for its wholly-owned Pilot Mountain tungsten project in Nevada was progressing as planned, with key engineering, resource, permitting and exploration workstreams advancing.

The AIM-traded company said the study was being supported by a $6.2m Defense Production Act Title III investment from the US Department of War into its Golden Metal Resources USA subsidiary.

It said the PFS was being led by Guardian Metal's in-house team alongside Samuel Engineering and specialist engineering and environmental firms.

Chief executive Oliver Friesen said the company was "very pleased" with progress at Pilot Mountain.

"Key PFS workstreams are advancing very well, and upon completion, the Company will move swiftly into both the mine permitting phase and commence workstreams to support the definitive feasibility study, marking the next significant step in the project's development," he said.

Guardian Metal said all drilling needed to support ongoing resource evaluation work at the Desert Scheelite and Garnet zones had been completed.

The final PFS is expected to include the results of resource evaluation work from both target areas.

The project is being assessed as a conventional open-pit operation, with feed sourced from Desert Scheelite and Garnet.

Mine design and optimisation are progressing in line with the PFS timetable.#

The mine plan of operations, which will start the National Environmental Policy Act process once submitted to the Bureau of Land Management, is being prepared alongside the PFS.

Guardian Metal said it was currently targeting submission in August 2026.

Metallurgical flowsheet development is well advanced, with preliminary test work suggesting a conventional flotation circuit could produce a scheelite concentrate.

Work on potential by-product recovery of silver and zinc is also ongoing.

The company said siting studies had been completed, while engineering teams were progressing plant layout design, open-pit mine plans and site infrastructure layouts.

The process plant was currently expected to comprise a conventional flotation facility, with temporary onsite power generation for initial operations and a grid connection to follow.

Hydrogeology work was also advancing.

Phase one drilling and monitoring well installation has been completed, while phase two, including additional monitoring wells, piezometers and a production well, had started.

Guardian Metal said the work would provide groundwater modelling data required for mine permitting.

Exploration work continued alongside the PFS. Infill drilling at the Garnet Zone had been completed, with several drillholes returning encouraging visual scheelite intersections consistent with the tungsten mineralisation typically seen at Desert Scheelite.

At Good Hope, initial holes GH26-01 and GH26-02 have been completed and returned encouraging visual scheelite mineralised intersections, with assay results pending.

Several drill sites at the Gunmetal Zone had now been permitted and drill pad preparation is nearing completion.

Drilling was expected to begin before the end of June, marking Guardian Metal's first drilling at the target, which was being assessed for additional tungsten resources.

At Desert Scheelite East, the eastern strike extension is being tested through ongoing exploration and condemnation drilling.

The company said drillhole PMR26-077, collared about 300 metres east of the expected eastern open-pit limit, intersected visual scheelite mineralisation.

Further drilling was planned in the short term.

Guardian Metal said the main Desert Scheelite deposit remained open to the east, west and down dip, with further exploration drilling planned during the second and third quarters.

"Alongside the strong engineering progress presented herein, encouraging visual results from the Garnet Zone, Desert Scheelite Zone East, and the commencement of drilling at the Good Hope Zone continue to support the project's largely unrealised exploration potential," Friesen said.

He added that the company was continuing to make progress towards delivering "the first new hard-rock mined source of tungsten on US soil in more than a decade".

Guardian Metal said it intended to publish a comprehensive exploration update after the PFS was completed, incorporating results from all active target areas and showing the potential for further resource growth across the broader Pilot Mountain land package.

At 1440 BST, shares in Guardian Metal Resources were down 2.33% at 210p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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