Key Highlights

  • Five reconnaissance grab samples were taken from historical waste dumps at the Raven and Silver King mines.
  • The project comprises 27 mineral claims near Thompson Falls in Montana.
  • The historical records come from secondary sources, and the original logs and assays have not been located.
  • Olympio intends to apply for drilling permits as it works towards a maiden programme.

Olympio Metals (ASX:OLY) has reported results from five reconnaissance grab samples taken from historical waste dumps at the Raven and Silver King mines, part of its Raven project near Thompson Falls in Montana, United States. The project comprises 27 mineral claims.

The best silver result was 1,509 grams per tonne in sample SK-26-002. Sample RN-26-001 returned 16.41% antimony, SK-26-003 returned 1.62% copper, 6.33% lead and 1.33% zinc, SK-26-001 returned 13.9 g/t indium and RN-26-002 returned about 1,037 parts per million tungsten. Olympio notes that all of these metals appear on the 2025 US Critical Minerals List.

Why caution is needed

Every one of these numbers comes from a selected grab sample of material that was mined historically and dumped. Such samples indicate which metals are present, but they say nothing reliable about grade, width or continuity in the ground. Olympio states this clearly, and investors should treat the results as early indicators.

Olympio reports all five samples, including the low ones, which helps provide context. RN-26-001, for example, was rich in antimony but returned only 4.44 g/t silver and negligible base metals, while its massive stibnite was identified visually. The variety across just five samples suggests a complex, multi-metal vein system.

The historical record

Old production records support the idea of high-grade veins, but on a very small scale. The Raven mine recorded average grades of 2,084 g/t silver and 19.51% copper from just 85 tonnes, and Silver King averaged 996 g/t silver, 1.38% copper, 11.6% lead and 1.9% zinc from 477 tonnes. These records covered only silver and base metals, so the new multi-element assays add antimony, indium and tungsten to the picture.

Samples consisted of fresh and weathered quartzite with brecciated fissure veins, with copper minerals such as malachite and chrysocolla and sparse sphalerite, galena and tetrahedrite.

The porphyry idea

Managing director Sean Delaney said historical records of the nearby Liver Peak porphyry system added a new dimension to the company's targeting, and that Olympio was assessing whether Raven's veins could be linked to a deeper mineralised system.

Liver Peak lies about two kilometres north-west of Raven and outside Olympio's claims. Historical reports describe about 6,600 metres of drilling by three companies between 1967 and 1981, a 2.7 by 2.1 kilometre zone of strong alteration and quartz veining, and stockwork veinlets in quartz-eye porphyry.

Those details come from secondary sources, namely a 2013 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and a 2007 Idaho Geological Survey report. Original logs, assays and collar data have not been located, and the information has not been reported under the JORC Code. Olympio itself says there is no certainty that Liver Peak mineralisation extends onto its ground or that Raven's veins are related to a porphyry.

Why it still matters

Narrow high-grade veins are rarely large enough on their own to support a modern mine. A buried porphyry source, if one existed, would change the scale of the opportunity. That hypothesis is untested, but it gives the company a clear exploration question to pursue.

The geophysical context is also suggestive. Historical reports associate Liver Peak with a magnetic high along the same regional structural trend that passes through Raven, and regional gravity data show a broad low nearby. In principle, Raven's mineralisation, like many epithermal vein systems, could represent the upper levels of a larger hydrothermal system, although that remains a hypothesis that only deep drilling can test.

Next steps

Olympio will continue reviewing Liver Peak data and regional geophysics, plans field mapping at Raven and intends to apply for drilling permits as it works towards a maiden programme. No dates were given. Given its small size, funding and permitting will shape how quickly drilling can begin.