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OLYMPIO METALS LTD (OLY) - Mining for Treasure in Canada's Golden Corridor

• Andrew Musgrave

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Striking gold on your first drill hole is the stuff of mining dreams, and that's exactly what happened for Olympio Metals (ASX: OLY). Managing Director Sean Delaney joins us to share this exciting development from their Paquin prospect within the Bousquet Gold Project in Quebec, Canada.

The story gets even more compelling when you understand the location. Situated along the legendary Cadillac Break—a geological feature responsible for over 100 million ounces of historical gold production—Olympio's projects benefit from both world-class mineral potential and exceptional infrastructure. With the Trans-Canada Highway running through the property and proximity to operating mines and processing facilities, they're strategically positioned in what Delaney describes as "absolutely brilliant" real estate.

Beyond their golden aspirations, Olympio has made significant copper discoveries at their Dufay Project. Recent drilling revealed multiple thick mineralized zones extending across 850 meters of strike length, with indications that grades improve at depth. This unusual find has geologists working to understand its full potential, adding another dimension to Olympio's exploration portfolio. With strong financial support following a recent capital raise and the advantages of operating in mining-friendly Quebec, Olympio Metals represents a compelling exploration story where geology, geography, and timing have aligned favorably. Whether you're a resource investor or simply fascinated by discovery stories, this conversation offers valuable insights into the modern mineral exploration landscape.

Subscribe to hear more stories of innovation and opportunity across Australia's listed companies as we continue to bring you compelling conversations from the frontlines of resource development.

Andrew Musgrave Host

Welcome back to ASX Briefs, the podcast where we spotlight innovation, strategy and opportunity across Australia's listed companies. And today we're speaking with Sean Delaney, the Managing Director of Olympio Metals Limited, a company making impressive strides in exploration across two highly prospective gold and copper projects in Quebec, Canada. Sean, thanks for joining me today and welcome to the ASX Briefs podcast. 

Sean Delaney Guest

Thank you very much, Andrew, for having me on. 

Andrew Musgrave Host

Now Sean, for investors that may be unfamiliar with Olympio Metals, can you just provide a brief overview of the company? 

Sean Delaney Guest

Yeah, sure, look, we're ASX listed. OLY is the code. Our main focus is in Quebec in Canada right now for gold and copper. We've been listed for close to three years and you know we started off in Western Australia but have ended up in Quebec and you know we think that's a great opportunity in Canada. So, you know, great opportunity for exploration sort of success. We're focused on gold and copper, you know, which we think is the place to be right now. So that's you know sort of. You know we're relatively sort of tight shareholder register. We have 104 million shares on issue after raising a bit of money last week. So yeah, we just we think we're nicely positioned, I guess, for success with the project we've got and a nice sort of tight shareholder register. 

Andrew Musgrave Host

Okay, and just looking at the project progress. So, seeing visible gold in the first drill hole at Paquin is a major confidence boost. So, can you walk us through what this means geologically and strategically for the project? 

Sean Delaney Guest

Yeah, well, look, I'm not a geologist, andrew, I'm actually an accountant. But I've been in the gold exploration industry for all my career. I started out in the gold fields at WA as a sort of driller's off-sider, so I've been around the industry. But I won't go too deep into the geology. 

But the Bousquet Gold Project, which we have an option to go to 80% on that with Bullion Gold Resources, a TSX-V listed company. We acquired that option at the beginning of the year and look at the, you know, absolutely loved the project when I saw it first, just because of the location. I mean, this is on the Cadillac break, which is sort of a major structure that runs from, you know, Val d'Or, you know, down through the town of Rue de Miranda and out sort of into the border between Quebec and Ontario. But it's absolutely incredible. There's multiple 10 million plus ounce gold resources along there. There's more than 100 million ounces of gold has been mined from that area over the last, you know, 100 years. So, it's just incredible. And particularly then the Bousquet project is, you know, it's got multi-million-ounce resources to the east and to the west. It's 7km away from the operating gold mine and processing plant 15km away from Agnico Eagles, LaRonde huge deposit. It's got the Trans-Canada Highway running through it, so the location is absolutely brilliant and the other thing about it was that it already had gold in drilling in structures. 

So, like everything about it, you know ticked the box from, you know the sort of, you know just the vibe, if I can say that Andrew, like The Castle, yeah, and then when I went, then when our geology team, you know, looked at the data, they were sort of super impressed about the opportunities for follow-up work. Yeah, so the so, yeah, we got, we got sort of to work and started drilling, you know, last month and, yeah, we hit visible gold in the first hole at Pacquin, when, which, which that sort of zone that we hit, is a western extension of you know previous, you know nine previous nine metres at 17 grams per tonne gold that the vendors had drilled. So, yeah, look, it's super exciting, it's a super encouraging start. So, yeah, the whole thing has just got us pumped right now about the possibility there, Andrew. 

Andrew Musgrave Host

Okay, and with assays from BO-25-27 expected shortly, what are the key indicators or results you'll be watching for to shape the next phase of drilling? 

Sean Delaney Guest

Well, yeah, look, I mean the drilling is continuing right now. We've completed three holes just in Pacquin. We've moved the rig over to this other prospect called Amadei, which is a long strike. So, yeah, look, I mean you know the assay results. You know we're obviously expecting grade. You know grade through that visible gold section, and you know we have some other sections of interest sort of throughout the hole, and you know the other holes, looking at the core, so that that will just sort of help us to plan the next holes that we do at Pacquin, and also you know the holes in the sort of other targets that we've got there. But you know there's, there's, there's, yeah, we think there's sort of huge opportunity because we have, you know, we, we know that this thing is dipping to the North. You know that there's one sort of deeper hole, historical hole, that's got, you know, a very good grade intercept. So, you know, we think that's either that sort of the deeper extension of Pacquin, you know, which hasn't been drilled, and then obviously there's the shallower stuff. So, there's a surface expression of Pacquin that's just further south, that requires drilling. 

So, yeah, we're just waiting for those assays and then we'll plan, you know we'll plan, you know, the next phase of drilling, which will go on, you know, into the winter. They're very adept at drilling through winter in Quebec. They're incredible, those, you know those drillers there. They're hardy, hardy fellows. They can work in, you know, super cold conditions. So, yeah, we'll continue drilling on, you know, into the end of this year and into next year. So, yeah, we're excited about the possibilities and obviously waiting for the assays. 

Andrew Musgrave Host

Yeah, okay. And now looking at copper, your recent results from the Dasserat project have outlined multiple thick mineralized zones across 850 meters. So how significant is this find in the context of the broader Dufay project? 

Sean Delaney Guest

Yeah, it's interesting, the Dufay project that we picked up at the end of last year. It's also on the Cadillac break a bit further to the west, so it's close to the Ontario border, it's to the south of the break. So, we did some, we had an IP anomaly and we did some EM work at that Dasserat prospect and then we drilled sort of some holes there in March and yeah, we got the results. There was multiple sort of 20 meter plus intercepts of you know, 0.2 percent copper. So, the copper grade, the copper grade was low. 

So individually when you looked at, you know, when I looked at the holes, I was probably, oh, it's a bit low, but then there's 850 meters of strike of that of this zone right which has got you know multiple 20 meter intercepts, which is really sort of a very extensive you know zone, if you like. And then you know, when we looked at hole 9 and 10, they were from the same location but hole 9 was drilled. You know, hole 10 was a flatter angle. We're targeting a different EM plate, and the grade was improving in the zones of copper as we went deeper, which is obviously encouraging. So yeah, look at our, our geology team are, they're trying to figure it out Andrew; to be honest, there's a bit of an anomaly in that region. You know, you often get narrow high-grade sort of copper veins, you know which, which we had a couple of one. 1.6% copper results in in in those holes. But you, you know, you often get sort of narrow high grade but to get this, this sort of larger zones is unusual. So yeah, we're just, we're just sort of getting to work trying to figure it out at the same time and we'll be doing some more work there before the end of the year. But, yes, certainly interesting Nice. 

Andrew Musgrave Host

Okay, and the drilling done there at Dasserat revealed a potential trend of increasing copper grade, so could this suggest a porphyry style system?

Sean Delaney Guest

Yeah, look as I said, there’s a porphyry deposit to the north belonging to a company called Focus Mining. Its only 4 km’s to the north and they’ve got a 1.4mil ounce resources there. There deposit is porphyry style next to this cyanide. So, when we've drilled that Dasserat, that Dasserat prospect, yeah, is adjacent to a cyanide as well. So, look, I mean it's possible. It doesn't look, you know it's possible. So yeah, well, I guess you know the next sort of phase of work will determine, you know, whether it is porphyry style or something different. 

Andrew Musgrave Host

Okay, and the company has seen a strong correlation between geophysical modelling and drilling outcomes at both projects. So, what role will these methods play in the broader exploration program? 

Sean Delaney Guest

Yeah, we did. Look, at Bousquet, at the gold project, we haven't, we haven't found any, you know, geophysical, silver, silver bullet there, in terms of discovery, except for the fact,  except for it helps you sort of define some structures. But we're lucky there because we have enough drilling. You know, we have enough drilling, and we also have outcrop, which is which is unusual in that sort of Abitibi region. So, there's quite a bit of outcrop at Bousquet and with the previous drilling, you know, that gives us sort of plenty of indicators of where to go to. 

Yeah, at Dufay, the IP and the EM work definitely picked up the copper disseminated sulphides that we drill. So, yeah, that's certainly another tool that can be used and is used very effectively throughout that region for exploration. So, yeah, look, it certainly gives you some good indicators of what's down there and what sort of depth the target is at. So, it worked well and, yeah, we'll have a look at what we can use next at Dufay in terms of trying to explain this 850 metres of strike of sort of copper zone we've got. 

Andrew Musgrave Host

Okay, and both the projects are in Quebec, which is a mining-friendly jurisdiction. So, what are the advantages you're seeing on the ground in terms of permitting, infrastructure and access to skilled labour? 

Sean Delaney Guest

You know, I think there's often a bit of, you know, I like to say, eye-rolling, you know, about exploration in Canada by the Australians sometimes. But we, you know, since we've been there, there are very remote areas, obviously in Quebec, and I think you know if you're up in a remote area, you know your exploration costs are very high, right, but we're, you know, between the Bousquet Project is between Val d'Or and Rue de Miranda, it's like being sort of 50km out of Kalgoorlie. You know it's a mining town, it's a mining centre, it's well established, you know, there's roads through it, there's skilled labour. You know the drillers we're using are based in Malartic, which is sort of, you know the base is 30 kilometres up the road from where we're drilling, you know. So, the infrastructure is fantastic. It's just an incredible sort of place to explore. 

It's not overly expensive because of the location and just yeah, and just Quebec I mean Quebec in general the state is very pro-exploration and mining. They have, you know, you've got flow-through share scheme which you can use there, which means you can raise money, you know, at a premium as long as you're spending it in the ground. They have, you know, various rebates for, you know, for money that you spend on exploration. So, yeah, very pro mining and we, yeah, as I say, we only acquired that project in. You know the beginning, you know the beginning of the year. We're out there drilling already. So, yeah, we're not seeing any. You know, we're not seeing any sort of hindrance to working there at Quebec. So, it's really, yeah, we like it. 

Andrew Musgrave Host

Okay, Sean, and just to wrap things up from a capital markets perspective, how are you thinking about funding future exploration as you progress from discovery into more advanced stages? 

Sean Delaney Guest

Well, yeah, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves Andrew, we're only just started drilling there. But you know we've just raised a bit of money, you know, last week so we raised 1.5 million, 1.6 million, you know, at 10 cents, which is you know which our share. We're very sort of thankful that our shareholders supported us and new shareholders. But yeah, there are lots of other options I guess with you know, looking at the flow through funding scheme that they've got there. And yeah, look, I mean you know the results. I suppose the results will tell the story. The assay results will be able to get a more detailed sort of drilling plan and funding requirements. But we're funded right now. You know we're drilling away there. You know we've got one diamond rig going, so we'll just work it out, as you know, as the results come in. Andrew. 

Andrew Musgrave Host

Okay, Sean. Well, thanks very much for your time today. It's been great to chat, to get an update on the company and we look forward to the next update from Olympio Metals in the upcoming months. 

Sean Delaney Guest

Thanks, Andrew Super. 

Andrew Musgrave Host

That concludes this episode of ASX Briefs. Don't forget to subscribe. And this concludes this episode of ASX Briefs. Don't forget to subscribe and we look forward to catching you on our next episode.