Hayasa Metals drills 4.1 m of 2.98 g/t Au at Urasar

The most recent news release, dated November 12, 2025, at 17:29:00, details the second batch of drill results from Hayasa Metals Inc.'s Phase 2 drill program at the Urasar project in Armenia. The highlight is an intercept in hole UDD-017 of 4.1 meters grading 2.98 g/t gold with 0.25% copper, from 51.9 meters depth. Other reported intervals include 9.0 meters of 0.22 g/t gold with 139 ppm molybdenum (UDD-017), 4.0 meters of 0.076 g/t gold with 0.34% copper (UDD-020), and 8.1 meters of 0.032 g/t gold with 0.27% copper (UDD-015).

President and Qualified Person, Dennis Moore, stated that these results confirm "short but well-mineralized intervals" within the Black River and Oxide Basin prospects. He noted that all holes intersected broad zones of strongly to intensely altered volcanics and breccias, along with pervasive sulphide mineralization, including a 25-meter interval of massive sulphide in UDD-017. CEO Joel Sutherland mentioned that the final Urasar drill hole of 2025 is a deeper hole designed to target an anomaly identified in the AMT survey completed mid-summer 2025 (note: the news states 2026, which is a likely typo for 2025, given the context). He emphasized that the company has significantly more data on Urasar than a year ago and will continue drilling until weather conditions impede operations. The company also indicated it is evaluating other greenfield and brownfield properties for additional opportunities in 2026, with an application process underway for a newly identified gold-mineralized area.

This batch of drill results from Urasar's Phase 2 program presents some encouraging signs but falls short of being a "game-changer" for Hayasa Metals. The intercept of 4.1 meters at 2.98 g/t gold with 0.25% copper in UDD-017 is a notable high-grade gold hit, particularly when compared to the largely subeconomic gold results (e.g., 0.03-0.18 ppm Au over hundreds of meters) reported from the 2024 Urasar drilling campaign. This demonstrates that higher-grade mineralization exists within the Urasar system, which is a positive development for an early-stage exploration project.

However, the other reported intercepts in this same news release are of significantly lower grade, indicating that the high-grade intercept might be localized. The company's aspiration for a "Tier 1 porphyry copper-molybdenum-gold deposit" (as expressed in earlier news releases) typically implies broader zones of consistent, economic mineralization. While the presence of pervasive sulfide mineralization and altered volcanics are favorable indicators for a large system, an isolated narrow high-grade gold intercept does not definitively confirm a large-scale porphyry.

It is critical to note a discrepancy: the JSON metadata for the 2025-11-12 (06:31:00) news release, which contains the identical drill results, was internally rated by the company as "Material - Neutral," with a comment that "Drill results show mineralization but not as extensive as initially anticipated." The later headline (17:29:00) for the exact same data carried a "Material - Positive" rating in its metadata. This inconsistency suggests a selective emphasis on the most positive aspect of the data, and as a critical analyst, it flags the need for caution. While the high-grade gold is an improvement over past low-grade assays, it does not fundamentally alter the overall risk profile or definitively advance the project towards a major discovery given the broader context of exploration and the relatively modest other intercepts. Therefore, the impact is a routine positive, demonstrating progress in understanding the mineralization but not a material breakthrough at this stage.

Hayasa Metals Inc. is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company primarily focused on identifying and developing copper-gold deposits in Armenia. The company operates two key projects:

• Urasar Copper-Gold Project: Located in northern Armenia, this project covers 3392 hectares within a 15-kilometer mineralized corridor. Hayasa acquired the exploration permit directly from the Armenian government in 2023. The project has a history of Soviet-era exploration and minor copper production. Hayasa has conducted multiple exploration campaigns, including soil sampling, ground magnetics, IP, and AMT surveys, alongside diamond drilling. Initial 2024 drilling yielded subeconomic results, but subsequent reinterpretation of geophysical data and refined targeting led to improved intercepts in the 2025 Phase 2 program. The company aims to identify a "Tier 1 epithermal gold and/or copper porphyry deposit" at Urasar. A 1.25% Net Smelter Return (NSR) royalty on Urasar was sold to Franco-Nevada Corp. and EMX Royalty Corp.
• Vardenis Copper-Gold Project: Situated in central Armenia, this 9399-hectare project lies along the same Tethyan belt as the Amulsar gold mine. It boasts a history of exploration by Dundee Precious Metals (2015-2018), which delineated extensive porphyry-epithermal alteration and mineralization zones. Hayasa initiated its Phase 1 drilling in 2023, encountering porphyry-style mineralization. The project is under an option and joint venture agreement with Teck Resources Ltd., a major mining company, which can earn up to an 80% interest by funding significant exploration expenditures and completing a prefeasibility study. The Phase 2 drill program at Vardenis concluded in November 2025, with assay results anticipated in Q1 2026.