Olympio Metals has begun field exploration across its Jacknife and Raven silver projects in the United States, with drilling at Jacknife expected to start imminently. A replacement announcement also strengthens the company’s description of a historical foreign estimate, while making clear that the estimate remains non-JORC and requires fresh verification.
- Drill pad preparation underway at Jacknife’s Conjecture Mine
- Maiden diamond drilling expected imminently
- Rock-chip and soil sampling launched across Jacknife and Raven
- Historical foreign estimate described as reliable but not JORC-compliant
- Olympio plans new drilling to support a future JORC resource estimate
Jacknife Drilling Moves From Plan to Preparation
Olympio Metals Limited (ASX:OLY) has moved its US silver strategy into the field, beginning earthworks for diamond drill pads at the Jacknife Project in Idaho. The company expects its maiden drill program to commence imminently, targeting the historical Conjecture Mine, the Conjecture Shear Zone and other high-priority targets.
The speed of the campaign is being helped by 335 acres of patented mining claims within Jacknife, which Olympio says has allowed it to advance rapidly to drilling. The project contains six historically significant mines and more than 8km of underground workings, including a shaft at Conjecture extending beyond 610 metres.
Surface Sampling to Test Silver Structures
Alongside drill-pad preparation, Olympio has started preliminary rock-chip sampling and a trial soil program across Jacknife and the Raven Project in Montana. The company says these will be the first assays from both project areas to assess a broad suite of elements, rather than the selective base-metal results reported in historical records.
At Jacknife, the work will test whether four mapped shear zones have a detectable geochemical expression beyond their currently identified combined strike length of about 7km. Raven, roughly 100km southeast of Jacknife and 45km from the USAC antimony smelter in Thompson Falls, contains the historic Raven Silver and Silver King mines. Olympio intends to use the sampling results to shape a future Raven drilling program.
Replacement Filing Adds Reliability Disclosure
The replacement announcement updates Olympio’s 3 September release after the original document referred to a foreign mineral resource estimate without the additional disclosure now included under ASX Listing Rule 5.12. The company states that it believes the historical estimate is reliable and has added analysis against relevant JORC Table 1 criteria.
That statement does not convert the estimate into a JORC resource. Olympio explicitly says the estimate predates modern reporting codes, has not been classified by a Competent Person under JORC 2012 and may not ultimately be reportable as a JORC-compliant mineral resource or ore reserve. Historical sampling, assay, drilling, recovery and quality-control records are incomplete or unavailable, with no original samples or drill core apparently preserved.
Fresh Data Must Carry the Investment Case
The company’s proposed solution is to re-drill the Conjecture target, resample prospects using modern practices and verify the historical database before seeking a JORC-compliant resource estimate. No new exploration results are reported in this announcement, so the immediate significance lies in the start of the verification process rather than a change to the project’s quantified mineral inventory.
Olympio’s US portfolio is being positioned around silver and antimony, both listed on the 2025 United States Geological Survey critical minerals list. The next meaningful evidence will come from the practical sequence now underway: rig mobilisation, drilling, multi-element assays and the extent to which modern results support or weaken the historical interpretation.
Bottom Line?
The field program has started, but the historical estimate remains a guide only; drilling and assays will determine whether it can support a JORC-compliant resource.
Questions in the middle?
- When will the diamond rig be mobilised and how many holes will the maiden Jacknife program include?
- Will modern drilling and sampling reproduce the grades and continuity suggested by the historical Conjecture estimate?
- Can Raven’s surface geochemistry identify targets strong enough to justify a maiden drill program?