Metallic Minerals Announces Filing of NI 43-101 Technical Report for the La Plata Project Mineral Resource Estimate, Colorado, USA
Metallic Minerals transforms La Plata into a multi-asset critical minerals powerhouse with 99.9% copper recovery and expanded PGE-rich resource.
The most recent news (March 16, 2026) confirms the filing of an NI 43-101 Technical Report for the La Plata project in Colorado. This follows the January 26, 2026, announcement of a 23% increase in the Inferred Resource to 181.4 Mt at 0.36% CuEq. Crucially, the report includes platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), and gold (Au) for the first time. A high-grade subset of 45.4 Mt was identified containing 272,000 oz of combined PGE+Au. Additionally, the February 26, 2026, news reported a major metallurgical breakthrough: 99.9% pure copper metal was recovered from sulphide mineralization using a low-temperature electrochemical process, with 70% solubility achieved in just four hours.
The impact is Material - Positive. - Resource Validation: The filing of the 43-101 formalizes the transition of La Plata from a simple copper-silver play to one of only three PGE-bearing development-stage resources in the USA. The 23% tonnage increase and the inclusion of precious metals significantly enhance the project's potential valuation. - Metallurgical De-risking: The 99.9% copper recovery via electrochemical methods is a potential "game-changer" for project economics. If scalable, this allows for direct metal production on-site, bypassing expensive smelting and refining stages, and aligns with U.S. domestic "critical mineral" supply chain initiatives. - Strategic Positioning: The project now hosts a massive suite of 55 identified critical minerals (REEs, Gallium, Scandium, etc.), making it a prime candidate for U.S. government grants or further strategic investment from majors like Newmont.
Metallic Minerals is a "dual-track" explorer. - Flagship: The La Plata Project (Colorado, USA) is a large-scale alkalic copper-silver-PGE porphyry system. It currently hosts an inferred resource of 1.3 billion lbs of copper and 17 million oz of silver, now bolstered by PGE and gold. - Secondary: The Keno Silver Project (Yukon) is adjacent to Hecla Mining and hosts 18.2 Moz AgEq. - Cash Flow: The company owns a portfolio of alluvial gold royalties in the Klondike, providing recurring revenue to fund hard-rock exploration.