MFD Investment Holdings SA Enters the Options Review Phase for Near-Term Production with Ocean Partners at Thunder Mountain Gold`s South Mountain Mine

On December 8, 2025, Thunder Mountain Gold announced that its strategic partner, MFD Investment Holdings SA, has engaged Ocean Partners USA, Inc. to conduct an "Options Review" for the South Mountain Mine in Idaho. This review will evaluate various pathways to near-term production, including toll milling, direct shipping of ore, and on-site concentrate production. The objective is to gather "decision-quality data" to select the most economically viable and executable plan. The company is targeting a potential start of operations in 2026, contingent on metallurgical results, favorable commercial terms, permitting, and internal approvals.

This announcement is a logical and positive execution step, but it is not a material game-changer. It directly follows the small-scale production agreement signed with MFD in September 2025, where MFD agreed to finance 100% of qualifying capital expenditures. Engaging a reputable off-take and trading group like Ocean Partners adds technical and commercial credibility to the process of evaluating production scenarios.

Looking at the progression of news over the last year, the company has methodically de-risked its flagship South Mountain project: - Q1 2025: Secured a strategic partnership with MFD for $1M in project funding and restarted technical work. - Q2 2025: Successfully raised $1.2M at $0.12/share. - Q3 2025: Initiated a comprehensive Phase 2 exploration program and, most critically, signed the small-scale production agreement with MFD, providing a non-dilutive path to potential cash flow. - Q4 2025: Substantially strengthened its financial position with a $2.5M financing at a much higher price of $0.25/share.

The latest news is the direct implementation of the September production agreement. While positive, it introduces no new fundamental information but rather confirms the company is proceeding as planned. The stock has appreciated nearly tenfold over the past year, from a low of $0.11 to a high of $1.30. This massive re-rating suggests the market has already priced in a significant amount of success regarding the MFD partnership and the path to production.

Therefore, this "Options Review" is a routine, albeit important, step in the development process. The outcome of the review, particularly the metallurgical results and the resulting economic study, will be the true material catalyst. For now, this is simply progress as expected.

Thunder Mountain Gold is a junior mining company focused on base and precious metals in the Western USA. Its flagship asset is the South Mountain Project, a high-grade, polymetallic (zinc, silver, gold, copper, lead) development project located on private land in Idaho. The project is a historic producer, previously operated by Anaconda Copper, and the company has rehabilitated over 4,000 feet of underground workings. The company is pursuing a dual strategy of advancing the known high-grade resource toward near-term, small-scale production while also exploring for a much larger, deeper copper porphyry system on the property.