Ontario opens door to nearly 3 million oz century-old silver

News Provided by USA News Group on behalf of Nord Precious Metals Mining Inc.

On August 5, 2026, Nord Precious Metals confirmed it has entered pre-submission consultation with Ontario's environment ministry on the permitting pathway for its Gowganda silver tailings recovery program — a site holding a historical estimate of roughly 2.96 million ounces of silver sitting at surface, requiring no blasting or underground development to access. The update lands one week after Nord converted a $3 million receivable from a related company into a 3% royalty on a Quebec gold property, and as the Company prepares to present live to investors at the OTCQB Virtual Investor Conference.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- USA News Group News Commentary - Ontario's Cobalt Camp has more than a century of silver mining behind it, and also more than a century of tailings sitting on the surface from mills that recovered a fraction of what they now could. Nord Precious Metals Mining Inc. (TSXV: NTH) (OTCQB: NPMMF) (FSE: QN3) has spent the past six months consolidating that opportunity — leases, historical tailings and the only permitted high-grade mill in the district — and its three most recent disclosures show a company now working to convert that consolidated position into a regulatory pathway, a cleaner balance sheet, and investor visibility. On August 5, 2026, the Company confirmed it has opened pre-submission consultation with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (“MECP”) on the environmental permissions needed for its Gowganda tailings recovery program. On July 30, 2026, it announced a debt-to-royalty conversion with a related company, Granada Gold Mine Inc., that extinguishes a $3 million receivable in exchange for a royalty on a producing-district Quebec gold property. And on August 4, 2026, it confirmed CEO Frank J. Basa would present live to investors at the OTCQB Virtual Investor Conference. Taken together, the three releases describe a company moving in parallel on regulatory, balance sheet and visibility fronts toward the same goal: near-term silver production from ground it already controls.

Companies mentioned: Nord Precious Metals Mining Inc. (TSXV: NTH) (OTCQB: NPMMF) (FSE: QN3), Granada Gold Mine Inc. (TSXV: GGM), Electra Battery Materials Corporation (TSXV: ELBM) (NASDAQ: ELBM), Pan American Silver Corp. (NYSE: PAAS) (TSX: PAAS), Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL), First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE: AG) (TSX: AG)

Key Takeaways

Nord's technical team met Ontario's MECP North Bay District Office and Northern Region Technical Support Section on July 21, 2026 to scope the environmental submissions needed for a Mineral Recovery Permit application under Ontario Regulation 463/24, with a consolidated submission package requested in writing on July 22, 2026.

The Gowganda tailings carry a historical, non-current estimate of approximately 1.94 million tonnes grading 47.5 g/t Ag for roughly 2.96 million contained ounces of silver (GeoVector Management, 2011, based on 764 drill holes); an updated NI 43-101 resource estimate is being prepared by GeoVector and expected in the second half of 2026.

The material sits at surface and was mined roughly a century ago — recovery is contemplated through modular gravity concentration requiring no blasting, hoisting or underground development.

On July 30, 2026, Nord entered a Debt Conversion Agreement with Granada Gold Mine Inc. extinguishing a $3 million receivable in exchange for a 3% net smelter return royalty on Granada's gold property near Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, repurchasable by Granada for $3 million; the deal involves three common directors and requires TSX Venture Exchange approval.

A fully funded 5,000-metre drill phase is underway at the Castle East silver discovery, part of a broader planned 30,000-metre program across the Company's 63 sq. km Castle property.

CEO Frank J. Basa presented live at the OTCQB Virtual Investor Conference on August 5, 2026, with 1x1 investor meetings available August 6 and 10-11.

From Capacity to Capability: The Gowganda Permitting Pathway

Nord's argument, in management's own words, is that consolidating ground is only half the job. “It is not enough to expand capacity; you must expand capability,” said Frank J. Basa, P.Eng., Chairman and CEO, in the August 5 release. Six months ago, on March 31, 2026, Nord's acquisition of four mining leases consolidated the historical silver tailings and the most productive past-producing ground in the Gowganda Camp, alongside TTL Laboratories — the only permitted high-grade milling facility in the historic Cobalt Camp. The August 5 release shows the capability side of that equation now being built out: a dedicated permitting team led by Alex Kuhnert, P.Eng. of ERNESCO Technical & Advisory Services as Owner's Representative; T Engineering Inc. (retained April 8, 2026) handling process and mechanical engineering, including the preliminary process flow sheet presented to MECP; Okane Consultants leading geotechnical and geochemical characterization; GeoVector Management preparing the updated NI 43-101 resource estimate; and Pathway Group, led by former Ontario minister Bill Mauro, coordinating government and stakeholder relations.

Ontario's Recovery of Minerals regime under Regulation 463/24 has been in force since July 2025 and is designed to streamline tailings recovery from historical mine sites. The Ontario Ministry of Energy and Mines has outlined an approximately 80-day review pathway for a complete Recovery Permit application, and the first permit under the framework was issued in February 2026 to STLLR Gold Inc.'s Hollinger Tailings Project in Timmins — a direct precedent for what Nord is now pursuing at Gowganda. MECP's environmental track runs in parallel: at the July 21 session, the ministry designated a district contact and advised that, depending on final design, the project may require a site-specific Environmental Compliance Approval and a Permit to Take Water. In written follow-up received July 22, 2026, MECP requested a single consolidated submission covering a project description, site maps, baseline data, water requirements, timelines and Indigenous consultation records.

“ The Ministry told us what it needs first: a project description, a site plan, a preliminary water balance, and the baseline characterization program. Each workstream has an assigned owner and each is in motion,” said Alex Kuhnert, Owner's Representative.

What's Actually in the Tailings

The Gowganda tailings carry a historical NI 43-101 indicated estimate of approximately 1.94 million tonnes grading 47.5 g/t Ag for roughly 2.96 million contained ounces of silver, prepared by GeoVector Management in 2011 from 764 drill holes totalling 3,012 metres, at a 10 g/t cut-off. Nord characterizes this as a historical estimate only — a qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify it as a current mineral resource, and the Company is not treating it as one. An updated NI 43-101 resource estimate incorporating subsequent work is being prepared by GeoVector and expected in the second half of 2026, to be followed by a technical report on reprocessing economics.

The appeal of tailings recovery as a starting point is capital intensity: the material was mined roughly a century ago and sits at surface, so recovery requires no blasting, hoisting or underground development. The first phase contemplates on-site physical separation through modular gravity concentration, producing a silver-bearing concentrate and a cleaned tailings fraction potentially suitable as engineered backfill, with the processing installation designed to be modular, mobile and redeployable across the Company's other district tailings holdings.

The Granada Transaction: Turning a Receivable Into a Royalty

On July 30, 2026, Nord announced it had entered a Debt Conversion Agreement and related Net Smelter Return Royalty Agreement with Granada Gold Mine Inc. (TSXV: GGM). Under the agreement, $3 million owed by Granada to Nord will be extinguished in exchange for a 3% net smelter return royalty on the Granada gold property near Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. Granada retains the option to repurchase the royalty for $3 million, either as a lump sum or in $1 million tranches, each representing 1% of the NSR.

The transaction is disclosed as a related-party matter: Frank J. Basa, Matthew Halliday and Daniel Barrette are directors of both Nord and Granada, declared their interest, and did not vote on the board resolution approving it. Closing is conditional on TSX Venture Exchange approval, and Nord has indicated it will file a material change report fewer than 21 days before closing in order to proceed on a timely basis. The structure converts a receivable that was sitting on Nord's balance sheet into a royalty on a producing-district gold asset — exposure to a different commodity and a different jurisdiction than Nord's core Ontario silver assets, without a further cash outlay.

Visibility: OTCQB Conference and the Broader Portfolio

On August 4, 2026, Nord confirmed that CEO Frank J. Basa would present live at the OTCQB Virtual Investor Conference on August 5, with 1x1 investor meetings available August 6 and August 10-11. The release's company backgrounder is also where Nord discloses the edges of its portfolio beyond Gowganda and Castle: a 35% ownership interest in Coniagas Battery Metals Inc. (TSXV: COS), which holds nickel-copper-cobalt exploration ground in northern Quebec, and the St. Denis-Sangster lithium project, 32 square kilometres of prospective ground near Cochrane, Ontario. Nord also continues to reference its Re-2Ox hydrometallurgical process, validated at pilot scale through SGS Lakefield, designed to address arsenic in complex silver-cobalt ores while producing technical-grade cobalt sulphate — a process the Company positions within Ontario's broader critical-minerals supply chain, alongside neighbouring cobalt refiner Electra Battery Materials Corporation.

Electra Battery Materials Corporation (TSXV: ELBM) (NASDAQ: ELBM)

Electra, formerly First Cobalt Corp., is building North America's only cobalt sulfate refinery in Temiskaming Shores, Ontario — in the same historic Cobalt Camp district where Nord operates. In May 2026, Electra signed a binding $20 million investment agreement with the Government of Canada's Strategic Response Fund to support completion of the refinery, targeting mechanical completion in Q2 2027 with initial capacity of roughly 5,120 tonnes of battery-grade cobalt, much of it already committed under an offtake deal with LG Energy Solution. Electra illustrates the downstream critical-minerals infrastructure building out in the same district Nord's Re-2Ox cobalt sulphate ambitions are aimed at.

Pan American Silver Corp. (NYSE: PAAS) (TSX: PAAS)

Pan American is one of the world's largest primary silver producers and completed its acquisition of MAG Silver Corp. in September 2025, adding a 44% interest in the high-grade Juanicipio mine in Mexico. The deal, structured as $500 million in cash plus approximately 60.2 million Pan American shares, is a reminder of how consolidation plays out at the senior end of the silver sector once a junior's resource is de-risked — the trajectory a project like Gowganda would need to travel to attract that kind of attention.

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL)

Hecla, the largest primary silver producer in the United States, posted a strong second quarter in 2026: cash flow from operations rose 61% year-over-year to $175 million, with silver output up 8% quarter-over-quarter to 4.2 million ounces and record production at its Lucky Friday mine. Hecla's results illustrate the operating leverage a well-run, high-grade silver producer can generate in the current price environment — the kind of leverage Nord's tailings-first, low-capital path to production is designed to reach without the years of underground development Hecla's assets required.

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE: AG) (TSX: AG)

First Majestic, a primary silver producer with operations across Mexico and the United States, reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $415.5 million, up 57% year-over-year, with net income of $109.4 million and a cash position of $1.09 billion. The company's shares are up over 111% over the past year. First Majestic's scale and cash generation represent the far end of the spectrum from where Nord sits today — a useful marker of what sustained silver-price strength can do for a producer once a project reaches production.

These companies are referenced to illustrate the silver and critical minerals sector only and do not imply any partnership, endorsement, affiliation, or comparable financial performance with Nord Precious Metals Mining Inc.

What to Watch

The Gowganda permitting process is the most consequential near-term thread. A site visit from MECP district staff is expected once scheduled, and the pace at which Nord's consolidated submission package — project description, site maps, water balance, geochemical recommendations — moves through MECP's review, alongside MEM's roughly 80-day Recovery Permit pathway, will show whether Nord can match the timeline STLLR Gold set at Hollinger. The updated NI 43-101 resource estimate for Gowganda, expected from GeoVector Management in the second half of 2026, is the second catalyst: it will determine whether the 2011 historical estimate of roughly 2.96 million ounces holds, grows, or needs to be scaled back once verified to current standards. Closing of the Granada transaction is conditional on TSX Venture Exchange approval and is not yet complete. And the ongoing 5,000-metre drill phase at Castle East, within the broader 30,000-metre program, will continue to generate assay results that test whether mineralization extends across historic property boundaries, as outlined in the Company's July 13, 2026 release.

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Article Sources

[1] Nord Precious Metals Mining Inc. — “MECP Pre-Submission Consultation for Gowganda Silver Tailings Recovery Program” (August 5, 2026; MECP meeting July 21, 2026; written follow-up July 22, 2026; Ontario Regulation 463/24; historical Gowganda tailings estimate ~1.94 Mt at 47.5 g/t Ag for ~2.96 Moz Ag, GeoVector Management 2011; updated NI 43-101 estimate expected H2 2026; TSXV: NTH, OTCQB: NPMMF, FSE: QN3).

[2] Nord Precious Metals Mining Inc. — “Debt Conversion Agreement entered into with Granada Gold Mine Inc.” (July 30, 2026; $3M debt extinguished for 3% NSR on Granada gold property, Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec; repurchase terms; related-party disclosure).

[3] Nord Precious Metals Mining Inc. — “Presentation at the OTCQB Virtual Investor Conference on August 5-6th” (August 4, 2026; Coniagas Battery Metals 35% interest; St. Denis-Sangster lithium project).

[4] Electra Battery Materials Corporation — $20 million Government of Canada Strategic Response Fund investment agreement for its Temiskaming Shores, Ontario cobalt sulfate refinery (May 2026); TSXV: ELBM, NASDAQ: ELBM.

[5] Pan American Silver Corp. — Completion of MAG Silver Corp. acquisition (September 4, 2025; Juanicipio mine interest); NYSE: PAAS, TSX: PAAS.

[6] Hecla Mining Company — Q2 2026 results (cash flow from operations $175M, up 61% YoY; silver output 4.2 Moz); NYSE: HL.

[7] First Majestic Silver Corp. — Q2 2026 results (revenue $415.5M, up 57% YoY; net income $109.4M; cash position $1.09B); NYSE: AG, TSX: AG.

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The gold results cited in this article are historical exploration results and do not constitute a current mineral resource estimate. Also, because events and circumstances frequently do not occur as expected, there will likely be differences between any predictions and actual results. Always consult a licensed investment professional before making any investment decision. Be extremely careful, investing in securities carries a high degree of risk; you may likely lose some or all of the investment.

Cautionary Note on Historical Results and Mineral Resources. The gold intersections, grades, boulder-train results, channel samples, and stripping results described in this article are historical exploration results reported by Nord Precious Metals Mining Inc. and do not constitute, and should not be interpreted as, a current mineral resource or mineral reserve estimate. The Castle East silver resource and the tailings resource referenced are described by the company as historical estimates; a qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify them as current mineral resources or mineral reserves, the company is not treating them as current, and they should not be relied upon. Historical estimates prepared prior to, or otherwise not current under, National Instrument 43-101 are not compliant with current standards. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability, and inferred mineral resources are too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them. Exploration targets, structural interpretations regarding the Ridout-Tyrrell Deformation Zone, and any suggestion of continuity at depth are conceptual; there is no assurance that exploration will result in the delineation of any mineral resource. Statements regarding the 30,000-metre drill program, the tailings recovery program, the Re-2Ox process, and potential future production are forward-looking and subject to exploration, permitting, metallurgical, financing, and commodity-price risks.

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August 17, 2026 - 6:15 AM PDT

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