The playbook — zinc · September 16, 2026
Fireweed hits 64 m of 8.35% ZnEq in a Tom South step-out
One deep hole steps 180 m down-dip and east of prior drilling, entirely outside the current resource — a thick, high-grade sulphide slab.
Fireweed Metals drilled a single deep hole at its Macpass project in the Yukon and cut 64 metres of true-width massive sulphide grading 8.35% zinc-equivalent — a combined measure that rolls zinc, lead and silver into one number. Inside that run sat a 43-metre stretch at 10.53% ZnEq (6.63% zinc, 4.28% lead, 22.39 grams of silver per tonne) and a 27-metre core at 12.85% ZnEq. In plain terms, that is a thick, rich slab of ore-grade rock — 64 metres times 8.35% works out to roughly 534 percent-metres, one of the biggest sediment-hosted zinc intercepts a junior is likely to report this year. The hole, TS26-003, runs near-vertical between 982.34 and 1093.97 metres below surface.
Here is why the depth matters. This hole steps 180 metres down-dip and east from earlier drilling at Tom South, and it lands entirely outside the current NI 43-101 resource boundary — so it extends the deposit rather than filling gaps inside it. The company says the zone is thickening and grade is trending higher toward the east, where it stays open. Fireweed did the disclosure homework: true widths are modeled in 3D from oriented core, the full QA/QC and lab methods are laid out, and the zinc-equivalent formula is spelled in the release. The company sits in the Lundin orbit — CEO Ian Gibbs was CFO of Filo Corp through its BHP and Lundin Mining buyout, and Adam Lundin chairs the board. The stock fell 12.4% over three months against a 9.8% drop in the base-metals peer index, so this looks like sector tide, not company-specific reward.
Now the caveats, and they are real. One hole does not make a zone: the continuity across that 180-metre gap to prior hole TS25-001D1 is inferred, not drilled, and isolation risk stays until infill holes confirm it. The main 64-metre interval and the 43-metre sub-interval both carry an asterisk for core recovery below 85%, which can inflate reported grades in dense sulphide. The company calls its folded interpretation preliminary and says more drilling is needed to nail down the structure. The Qualified Person, Ian Carr, is named but not independent of the company. Watch for more assays from Tom South, Tom East and Mactung as they come in, and the Mactung feasibility study due early 2027.