Base Case Outlines M&I Resources of 1.83 Billion tonnes at 0.27% Cu and Inferred Resources of 0.24 Billion tonnes at 0.41% Cu
2026 Drill Program to Commence at Month End to Further Infill and Expand Resource
DPEX Drill Program to Commence in May
MONTREAL, April 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Osisko Metals Incorporated (the “Company” or “Osisko Metals”) (TSX: OM; OTCQX: OMZNF) is pleased to announce an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (“MRE”) for the Gaspé Copper Project, located in Eastern Quebec, following 118,000 metres of drilling completed in 2025.
The updated MRE (Table 1) includes base case, pit-constrained resources comprising 1,834 million tonnes averaging 0.27% Cu (0.32% CuEq) of Measured and Indicated categories (M&I), and 239 million tonnes averaging 0.41% Cu (0.46% CuEq) of Inferred category. The updated M&I Resource represents a 119% increase in copper metal content over the previously reported Indicated Resource (see November 14, 2024 news release). This pit-constrained M&I Resource outlines one of the largest undeveloped copper-molybdenum deposits in North America:10.8 billion pounds (4.88 million tonnes) of contained copper, as well as significant molybdenum (673 million pounds), and silver (93 million ounces). Inferred resources outline the potential for an additional 2.2 billion pounds (0.98 million tonnes) of contained copper, 83 million pounds of molybdenum, and 14 million ounces of silver.
Osisko Metals Chief Executive Officer Robert Wares commented: “We are very proud to announce this updated mineral resource estimate for Gaspé Copper. The 2025 drill program successfully converted and expanded the 2024 MRE to the Measured and Indicated resource categories and has added new significant higher-grade Inferred resources to the south. An additional 50,000 metre drill program will commence at the end of this month, with the objective of upgrading the remaining Inferred Resource to the Indicated category and expanding the boundaries of the deposit to the southwest towards the former Needle Mountain open pit. Additionally, the Deep Porphyry Exploration (DPEX) program will be testing the depths of the Porphyry Mountain deposit, in preparation for an Inferred MRE on that deposit to be included in the next MRE update on Gaspé Copper. With additional drilling, there is also excellent potential for conversion of currently categorized in-pit waste rock to mineralized material in the direction of Needle Mountain. The planned 2026 drill programs present a strong opportunity for continued resource growth of the overall Gaspé Copper project.”
Mr. Wares continued: “Gaspé Copper demonstrates all the characteristics of a potential generational mine, as a major Canadian copper development project located in one of the world’s safest mining jurisdictions. This deposit may once again become the main economic driver for the Gaspé Peninsula for decades to come. This important asset has the potential to become a core component of Québec’s critical mineral development strategy that aims to provide essential metals for advanced technologies and global decarbonization initiatives.”
Table 1: MRE Base Case at CuEq = 0.16% cut-off. See Table 2 for broader range of sensitivities.
| Category | Cut-off | Cut-off | Tonnes | CuEq | Cu | Mo | Ag | Cu | Cu | Mo | Mo | Ag | |
| CuEq %1 | NSR2 | Mt | % | % | % | g/t | M lbs | kt | M lbs | kt | Moz | ||
| Measured | 0.16 | $11.71 | 136.5 | 0.42 | 0.37 | 0.014 | 1.98 | 1,128 | 512 | 41.9 | 19.0 | 8.7 | |
| Indicated | 0.16 | $11.71 | 1,697.7 | 0.32 | 0.26 | 0.017 | 1.54 | 9,639 | 4373 | 631.3 | 286.4 | 84.1 | |
| M&I | 0.16 | $11.71 | 1,834.2 | 0.32 | 0.27 | 0.017 | 1.57 | 10,766 | 4,883 | 673.2 | 305.4 | 92.8 | |
| Inferred | 0.16 | $11.71 | 238.8 | 0.46 | 0.41 | 0.016 | 1.88 | 2,158 | 979 | 82.9 | 37.6 | 14.5 | |
This MRE from the Gaspé Copper project continues to expand the resource and is the result of:
Potential for resource expansion
This updated MRE does not currently include any previously known mineralization in the area of the historic Needle Mountain Open Pit, and its underlying B & C Zone skarns. Building upon the information released in this updated MRE and on Porphyry Mountain, a minimum 50,000 metre drill program is planned to commence in May 2026 that will aim to 1) convert remaining Inferred resources to Indicated category; 2) extend up-dip, shallower B-Zone and C-Zone skarn mineralization towards Needle Mountain, which will comprise both infill drilling in the updated pit shell and testing of additional mineralization beyond current pit boundaries to the south and southwest, and 3) test for depth extensions to the Porphyry Mountain deposit, located at depth to the northeast of the Copper Mountain pit.
Implications of larger open pit at Gaspé Copper
The current modelled Whittle pit shell extends from the current flooded Copper Mountain pit towards the base of Needle East Mountain to the south. Further drilling, geological modelling and pit optimization will be required to refine pit boundaries. There is excellent potential for reducing strip ratio by optimizing the pit shell model and converting currently categorized in-pit waste rock to mineralized material in the direction of Needle Mountain. The Company will evaluate future pit limits and the possibility of reconfiguring the current layout of the site to minimize disturbance and ensure the protection and safety of the residents of Murdochville and the surrounding environment.
General parameters of the updated MRE and Mineral Resource Sensitivity
This pit-constrained MRE uses a mathematical lower cut-off of 0.09% CuEq for pit shell optimization and a reporting cut-off grade of 0.16% CuEq for base case in-pit resource estimation (see Table 2 below). The base case resource, emphasized to disregard lower-grade marginal material, reflects a conservative higher cut-off grade of 0.16% CuEq. The mathematical lower cut-off grade of 0.09% CuEq is based on estimated production costs, NSRs and consensus long-term metal prices of US$4.50/lb copper, US$20 molybdenum, and US$45/oz silver (see Table 3 for detailed parameters). The resource was estimated using data from historical drilling completed between the 1950s and 2019, and 160,000 metres of drilling completed by the Company from 2022 to 2025, and on additional 2025 metallurgical and comminution test results.
Table 2: Mineral Resource Estimates at Variable Cut-Off Grades
| Class | CuEq Cut-off (%) | NSRCut-off (US$) | Tonnage (Mt) | Strip Ratio | Grade | Copper Metal Resource | ||
| Cu (%) | Mo (%) | M lbs | kt | |||||
| M&I | 0.09 | 5.95 | 2,342 | 1.03 | 0.23 | 0.014 | 12,000 | 5,444 |
| Inferred | 0.09 | 5.95 | 287 | 0.36 | 0.014 | 2,264 | 1,027 | |
| M&I | 0.10 | 6.77 | 2,283 | 1.08 | 0.24 | 0.014 | 11,893 | 5,396 |
| Inferred | 0.10 | 6.77 | 280 | 0.36 | 0.015 | 2,252 | 1,022 | |
| M&I | 0.11 | 7.59 | 2,218 | 1.14 | 0.24 | 0.015 | 11,759 | 5,335 |
| Inferred | 0.11 | 7.59 | 273 | 0.37 | 0.015 | 2,238 | 1,015 | |
| M&I | 0.12 | 8.42 | 2,147 | 1.21 | 0.25 | 0.015 | 11,600 | 5,263 |
| Inferred | 0.12 | 8.42 | 265 | 0.38 | 0.015 | 2,222 | 1,008 | |
| M&I | 0.13 | 9.24 | 2,070 | 1.29 | 0.25 | 0.015 | 11,416 | 5,180 |
| Inferred | 0.13 | 9.24 | 259 | 0.39 | 0.015 | 2,208 | 1,002 | |
| M&I | 0.14 | 10.06 | 1,993 | 1.37 | 0.26 | 0.016 | 11,216 | 5,089 |
| Inferred | 0.14 | 10.06 | 253 | 0.39 | 0.015 | 2,194 | 995 | |
| M&I | 0.15 | 10.89 | 1,912 | 1.47 | 0.26 | 0.016 | 10,995 | 4,989 |
| Inferred | 0.15 | 10.89 | 246 | 0.40 | 0.016 | 2,177 | 988 | |
| M&I | 0.16 | 11.71 | 1,834 | 1.57 | 0.27 | 0.017 | 10,766 | 4,885 |
| Inferred | 0.16 | 11.71 | 239 | 0.41 | 0.016 | 2,158 | 979.3 | |
| M&I | 0.17 | 12.53 | 1,755 | 1.69 | 0.27 | 0.017 | 10,522 | 4,774 |
| Inferred | 0.17 | 12.53 | 231 | 0.42 | 0.016 | 2,136 | 969 | |
| M&I | 0.18 | 13.36 | 1,676 | 1.81 | 0.28 | 0.017 | 10,266 | 4,658 |
| Inferred | 0.18 | 13.36 | 224 | 0.43 | 0.016 | 2,116 | 960 | |
| M&I | 0.19 | 14.18 | 1,597 | 1.94 | 0.28 | 0.018 | 9,997 | 4,536 |
| Inferred | 0.19 | 14.18 | 217 | 0.44 | 0.016 | 2,094 | 950 | |
| M&I | 0.20 | 15.00 | 1,517 | 2.09 | 0.29 | 0.018 | 9,715 | 4,408 |
| Inferred | 0.20 | 15.00 | 208 | 0.45 | 0.016 | 2,068 | 938 | |
Same footnotes as Table 1 apply to this table.
Table 3 – Whittle optimization parameters used for the Mineral Resource Estimate (all monetary values in US$; based on average mill throughput of 160,000 tonnes per day)
| Economic Parameters | ||
| U.S./Canada Exchange rate | 1.35 | |
| Discount rate | % | 8.0% |
| Cu Price | $/lb | $4.50 |
| Mo Price | $/lb | $20.00 |
| Ag Price | $/oz | $45.00 |
| Refining Cu 'RC' | $/lb | $0.08 |
| Refining Mo | $/lb | $0.00 |
| Refining Ag | $/oz | $0.00 |
| Royalty rate | % NSR | 2.40% |
| Concentrate Costs | ||
| Transport and loading costs (CAD$29.70) | $/wmt | $22.00 |
| Shipping cost (CAD$89.44) | $/wmt | $66.25 |
| Insurance and other costs (CAD$16.20) | $/wmt | $12.00 |
| Smelter Treatment Cost Cu 'TC' | $/dmt | $80.00 |
| Smelter Treatment Cost Cu 'TC' | $/lb | $0.34 |
| Smelter Treatment Cost Mo 'TC' | $/dmt | $1,690.00 |
| Smelter Treatment Cost Mo 'TC' | $/lb | $1.41 |
| Concentrate Feed | ||
| Concentrate Grade Cu | % | 25% |
| Concentrate Moisture Cont. | % | 8% |
| Concentrate Grade Mo | % | 58% |
| Concentrate Moisture Cont. | % | 8% |
| Payables | ||
| Payable Cu | % | 96.5% |
| Payable Mo | % | 98.0% |
| Payable Ag | % | 75.0% |
| Recovery and Dilution Factors | ||
| Avg. Cu Recovery* (variable with grade) | % | 91% |
| Avg. Mo Recovery | % | 72% |
| Avg. Ag Recovery | % | 65% |
| Mining Dilution (Whittle) | % | 0% |
| Mining Recovery (Whittle) | % | 100% |
| Mineralized Material Base Costs | ||
| Processing Cost | $/milled | $4.15 |
| % of rehandling | % | 10.00% |
| Stockpile Rehandle | $/milled | $0.16 |
| G&A | $/milled | $0.90 |
| Total | $/milled | $5.21 |
| Mining Costs | ||
| Mined rock centre of gravity cost | $/mined | $2.00 |
| Dump mining | $1.30 | |
| Incremental mining cost | $/mined/15m | $0.05 |
| NSR Calculations (before royalties) | ||
| NSR Cu | $/t | $21.42 |
| NSR Mo | $/t | $4.88 |
| NSR Ag | $/t | $1.14 |
| Total NSR | $/t | $27.44 |
| Copper Cut-Off grades | ||
| Mineralized material base cost | $/t | $5.21 |
| Mining cost | $/mined | $2.00 |
| Transport and Smelt cost | $/t | $1.87 |
| Royalties cost | $/t | $0.66 |
| Total cost | $/t | $9.74 |
| Cu Break-Even Cut-Off Grade | % Cu | 0.111% |
| Mill Cut-Off value | $/t | $7.74 |
| Cu Mill Cut-Off Grade | % Cu | 0.088% |
| Geotechnical Parameters | ||
| IRA slope in rock | degrees | 48 |
| Net Payability | ||
| Net payability Cu | % | 87.1% |
| Net payability Mo | % | 91.0% |
| Net payability Ag | % | 75.0% |
*The mill cut-off decreases to approximately $5.95/t at lower grades (e.g., 0.09% Cu and 0.008% Mo), as lower recoveries and payable metal reduce the effective transport and smelting costs per tonne, resulting in a lower cut-off value. Results presented above are with average grades of 0.27% Cu and 0.017% Mo.
Other parameters used for the Mineral Resource Estimate include:
Cautionary Statement Regarding Mineral Resources
The mineral resources disclosed in this news release conform to standards and guidelines in National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”) and were prepared by independent qualified persons for purposes of NI 43-101. The above-mentioned mineral resources are not mineral reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic viability. The quantity and grade of the reported Inferred Mineral Resources are conceptual in nature and are estimated based on limited geological evidence and sampling. Geological data is sufficient to imply but not verify geological grade and/or quality of continuity. An Inferred Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence relative to a Measured or Indicated Mineral Resource and constitutes an insufficient level of confidence to allow conversion to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected, but not guaranteed, that the majority of Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Measured or Indicated Mineral Resources with additional drilling. The technical report prepared in accordance with NI 43-101, including the mineral resources for the Gaspé Copper Project contained in this news release, will be delivered and filed on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) under Osisko Metals’ issuer profile within 45 days of the date of this news release.
Qualified Person
The Mineral Resource Estimate and other scientific and technical information in this news release has been prepared and approved by independent qualified persons for purposes of NI 43-101: Pierre-Luc Richard, P.Geo., of PLR Resources Inc. with contributions from François Le Moal, P.Eng., of G-Mining for cut-off grade and Pit Shell optimization and Christian Laroche, P.Eng., from Synectiq, for metallurgical parameters.
Quality Assurance / Quality Control
Osisko Metals adheres to a strict QA/QC program for core handling, sampling, sample transportation and analyses, including insertion of blanks and standards in the sample stream. Drill core is drilled in HQ or NQ diameter and securely transported to its core processing facility on site, where it is logged, cut and sampled. Samples selected for assay are sealed and shipped to ALS Canada Ltd.’s preparation facility in Sudbury. Sample preparation details (code PREP-31DH) are available on the ALS Canada website. Pulps are analyzed at the ALS Canada Ltd. facility in North Vancouver, BC. All samples are analyzed by four acid digestion followed by both ICP-AES and ICP-MS for Cu, Mo, and Ag.
About Osisko Metals
Osisko Metals Incorporated is a Canadian exploration and development company creating value in the critical metals sector, with a focus on copper and zinc. The Company acquired a 100% interest in the past-producing Gaspé Copper mine from Glencore Canada Corporation in July 2023. The Gaspé Copper mine site is located near Murdochville in Québec's Gaspé Peninsula. The Company is currently focused on resource expansion of the Gaspé Copper system, with current Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources of 1.83 Bt averaging 0.32% CuEq and Inferred Mineral Resources of 239 Mt averaging 0.46% CuEq (in compliance with NI 43-101). For more information, see this news release entitled "Osisko Metals Announces Significant Increase in Mineral Resource at Gaspé Copper". Gaspé Copper hosts the largest undeveloped copper resource in eastern North America, strategically located near existing infrastructure in the mining-friendly province of Québec.
In addition to the Gaspé Copper project, the Company is working with Appian Capital Advisory LLP through the Pine Point Mining Limited joint venture to advance one of Canada's largest past-producing zinc mining camps, the Pine Point project, located in the Northwest Territories. The current mineral resource estimate for the Pine Point project consists of Indicated Mineral Resources of 49.5 Mt averaging 5.52% ZnEq and Inferred Mineral Resources of 8.3 Mt averaging 5.64% ZnEq (in compliance with NI 43-101). For more information, see Osisko Metals' June 25, 2024 news release entitled "Osisko Metals releases Pine Point mineral resource estimate: 49.5 million tonnes of indicated resources at 5.52% ZnEq". The Pine Point project is located on the south shore of Great Slave Lake, NWT, close to infrastructure, with paved road access, an electrical substation and 100 kilometres of viable haul roads.
For further information on this news release, visit www.osiskometals.com or contact:
Don Njegovan, PresidentEmail: info@osiskometals.comPhone: (416) 500-4129
Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves predictions, expectations, interpretations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often, but not always, using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "interpreted", “management's view", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "potential", "feasibility", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information and are intended to identify forward-looking information. This news release contains forward-looking information pertaining to, among other things: the tax treatment of the FT Units; the timing of incurring the Qualifying Expenditures and the renunciation of the Qualifying Expenditures; the ability to advance Gaspé Copper to a construction decision (if at all); the ability to increase the Company's trading liquidity and enhance its capital markets presence; the potential re-rating of the Company; the ability for the Company to unlock the full potential of its assets and achieve success; the ability for the Company to create value for its shareholders; the advancement of the Pine Point project; the anticipated resource expansion of the Gaspé Copper system and Gaspé Copper hosting the largest undeveloped copper resource in eastern North America.
Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management, in light of management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, including, without limitation, assumptions about: the ability of exploration results, including drilling, to accurately predict mineralization; errors in geological modelling; insufficient data; equity and debt capital markets; future spot prices of copper and zinc; the timing and results of exploration and drilling programs; the accuracy of mineral resource estimates; production costs; political and regulatory stability; the receipt of governmental and third party approvals; licenses and permits being received on favourable terms; sustained labour stability; stability in financial and capital markets; availability of mining equipment and positive relations with local communities and groups. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information are set out in the Company's public disclosure record on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) under Osisko Metals' issuer profile. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward- looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.