FireFly Metals Secures Environmental Approval and Reports 98% Copper Recovery

Environmental Milestone Achieved

FireFly Metals Ltd (ASX – FFM, TSX – FFM) has marked a significant step forward at its Green Bay Copper-Gold Project in Newfoundland, Canada, by securing environmental approval for the construction of a new processing plant. This approval clears a major regulatory hurdle, allowing the company to proceed with construction permitting and early site preparation scheduled for late 2025. The environmental release supports a plant throughput capacity of up to 1.8 million tonnes per annum, although production forecasts will be detailed in the upcoming economic studies.

Outstanding Metallurgical Results

Complementing the regulatory progress, FireFly announced exceptional metallurgical testwork results from bulk samples of mineralisation sourced from the Ming Mine, the core of the Green Bay project. Conducted at SGS Canada’s Lakefield facility with technical oversight from Ausenco Engineering, the tests revealed copper recoveries exceeding 98% and gold recoveries surpassing 85%. These results indicate that the ore is amenable to conventional, low-cost processing methods involving crushing, grinding, flotation, and leaching.

Importantly, the improved gold recovery represents a substantial enhancement over historical processing at the nearby Nugget Pond plant, which achieved only 66% gold recovery. Given the current Mineral Resource Estimate contains approximately 550,000 ounces of gold, this improvement could significantly boost the project’s future cash flow potential.

Economic Studies and Project Development

FireFly is advancing a suite of economic and technical studies to underpin an upscaled production restart. The first major deliverable will be a Scoping Study, expected in the March quarter of 2026, which will integrate metallurgical data, mine design, scheduling, geotechnical assessments, power supply analysis, and tailings management plans. The company has engaged leading consultants, including Paterson & Cooke for paste fill system design and Knight Piesold for tailings storage facility planning.

Mining methods have been selected to optimize extraction, with Transverse Long Hole Open Stoping (TLHOS) favored for the broad Footwall Zone and Conventional Long Hole Open Stoping (LHOS) for the high-grade VMS lenses. These methods support production flexibility and large-scale extraction while incorporating backfill to manage tailings underground, enhancing environmental outcomes.

Aggressive Drilling and Resource Growth

To support the economic studies and future feasibility work, FireFly is conducting an extensive drilling campaign with eight rigs operating at Green Bay. Four rigs focus on infill drilling to upgrade the Mineral Resource classification, increasing the proportion of Measured and Indicated resources eligible for reserve conversion. Two rigs are stepping out to test extensions beyond known mineralisation, while two surface rigs target regional discoveries within trucking distance of the proposed processing plant.

A Mineral Resource update is planned for Q4 2025, anticipated to reflect a significant increase in higher-confidence resources. This will form a critical input for the Scoping Study and subsequent development decisions.

Strong Financial Position

FireFly’s progress is underpinned by a robust financial position, with cash, receivables, and liquid investments totaling approximately A$145 million as of June 30, 2025. This includes proceeds from a recently completed Share Purchase Plan and a multi-tranche capital raising, with one final tranche pending shareholder approval. The strong balance sheet provides the company with the flexibility to advance exploration, studies, and construction activities without immediate funding constraints.

Managing Director Steve Parsons highlighted the importance of the metallurgical results and environmental approvals, emphasizing that these achievements validate the project’s potential as a world-scale copper-gold asset in a tier-one jurisdiction.