Revisiting the Black Hills: A Modern Look at the Volney Project

In South Dakota’s Black Hills, Lion Rock is revisiting a historic mining district with modern exploration methods. At the Volney Project, recent drilling has begun to test a system associated with both gold and critical minerals, offering a new perspective on a long-known geological setting.

1. 1. For readers new to Lion Rock, how would you describe the Volney Project and its importance within the Black Hills today?

The Volney Project is a rare multi-commodity exploration asset in the heart of South Dakota’s Black Hills, a district that has produced over 40 million ounces of gold historically, anchored by the legendary Homestake Mine.

The district remains active today, with Coeur Mining operating the Wharf gold mine nearby. Volney is a pastproducing property situated on 142 hectares of private land with both surface and mineral rights, enabling a streamlined permitting pathway from exploration through to production.

Phase 1 drilling has confirmed gold alongside multiple US critical minerals, including lithium, tin, and tantalum, within a single project. That combination places Volney directly in the conversation around domestic critical mineral supply while offering meaningful gold exposure during a period of sustained high gold prices.

2. 2. Volney sits in a historic mining region, but the Company has described this as the first modern drill testing along the trend. What changes when a project like this is revisited with modern exploration methods?

The historic operators at Volney worked with the tools available to them and focused primarily on what was visible at surface. What Lion Rock has done is apply a modern, systematic approach before collaring a single drill hole.

That started with a high-resolution drone magnetic survey and 3D inversion modelling that identified structural controls on gold mineralization and mapped pegmatite extensions across the property. This work defined a mineralized system spanning over 1.6 km of interpreted strike length.

Phase 1 was then designed to test both gold-bearing shear structures and lithium-bearing pegmatites simultaneously, something that would not have been attempted under the historic approach. The result is a three-dimensional geological model that did not exist before, built from modern data, and now validated by drill results.

3. 3. Volney brings together gold, lithium, tin, and other critical minerals in one system. How should readers think about this combination?

The gold and critical minerals at Volney occur in two geologically distinct systems: gold is hosted in sulphidebearing shear zones within mafic volcanics and metasediments, while lithium, tin, and tantalum sit within LCT-type pegmatites. These are separate targets that can be explored and developed without conflict.

For investors, this means exposure to the two dominant themes in the mining market today: the push to reshore critical mineral supply chains in North America and sustained strength in gold. Both can be advanced in parallel within one early-stage project that, thanks to its private land position, has the permitting flexibility to move quickly on either front.

4. 4. Phase 1 drilling marked an important step for the project. What did that initial program reveal about the geological potential at Volney?

Phase 1 comprised approximately 3,600 metres across 15 diamond drill holes. On the gold side, all nine holes targeting gold-bearing structures returned mineralization, defining a system approximately 500 metres along strike, 400 metres wide, and 200 metres deep, open in all directions.

Highlight intercepts include 24.8 m at 0.8 g/t Au (including 10.9 m at 2.0 g/t Au) and 36.5 m at 0.5 g/t Au (including 4.6 m at 2.1 g/t Au), with near-surface geometry pointing toward bulk-tonnage potential. On the critical minerals side, drilling returned lithium grades up to 2.3% Li2O alongside confirmed tin and tantalum mineralization.

Importantly, Phase 1 tested only one portion of the interpreted 1.6 km strike, leaving significant room for expansion in Phase 2.

5. 5. Initial results from the Giant Volney target highlighted lithium-tin-tantalum mineralization. How do you interpret those results in the context of the wider project?

The critical mineral results confirmed what surface sampling had indicated: a fractionated, evolved LCT pegmatite system with meaningful scale and multi-element enrichment. Drilling returned intercepts including 0.8% Li2O over 25.4 m and 1.5% Li2O over 10.3 m, with tin values up to 0.3% Sn and tantalum up to 301 ppm, along with other elevated critical minerals.

What stands out is that every one of these elements sits on the US Critical Minerals List. The US currently imports the vast majority of its tin and tantalum and has minimal domestic lithium production. A project that can demonstrate all three in a single system, on private land with a streamlined permitting pathway, speaks directly to the supply chain independence conversation happening at the federal level. These results position Volney as more than a single-commodity story; they point to a project with relevance across multiple policy-driven demand themes.

6. 6. Brownfields projects can appear compelling, but they also come with technical and interpretive challenges. What are the main challenges in building a modern exploration story around historic workings like Volney?

The most common challenge is that historic data, while valuable, was collected under different standards and requires verification before it can be relied upon in a modern geological model. Lion Rock has addressed this head-on through systematic sampling, geophysics, and now drilling. The upside of Volney’s brownfield status is substantial: this is a past-producing asset on private lands rather than navigating lengthy federal permitting. The community in the Black Hills has a deep connection to its mining heritage, and there is genuine local pride in seeing the site brought back to life responsibly. Lion Rock is building on that legacy with modern science while respecting the district’s history.

7. As further results are received and interpreted, what are the key milestones readers should watch over the next 12 to 18 months?

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The Company has just announced its gold discovery results from Phase 1, confirming a large-scale, near-surface gold system open for expansion. The immediate next catalyst is the release of remaining critical mineral assays, which will further define the lithium, tin, and tantalum potential.

From there, the focus shifts to Phase 2 drill planning, where the geological model from Phase 1 will guide targeting of both gold and critical mineral extensions along the 1.6 km interpreted strike.

Initiation of Phase 2 drilling follows, with the objective of expanding the footprint on both fronts. Each milestone represents a potential inflection point for the project.

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