The Hecla-Kilmer property is located in the Moose River basin in northern Ontario, Canada. It is approximately 35 kilometres southwest of the Company’s Ranoke property, and only 23 km to the west of the Ontario hydro-electric facility at Otter Rapids, which also serves as the northern terminus of Highway 634 which links the region to the towns of Cochrane and Kapuskasing situated on the northern Trans-Canada Highway located some 100 km to the south.

The town of Moosonee located on tidewater at James Bay is located about 125 km to the northeast of the property. The Ontario Northern railway connects Moosonee with the mainline at Cochrane along the Trans Canada Highway, and runs through Otter Rapids 23 km east of the property.

Hecla-Kilmer is a large property. It comprises 224 mineral claims in one contiguous block covering 4,618 hectares in an area approximately 6 x 7 km in size.

The property is located on provincial crown land, with mineral rights administered by the provincial Ontario Ministry of Like the Ranoke property, H-K is located on provincial crown land, with mineral rights administered by the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry (“MNDM”). There are no annual lease payments, but the MNDM requires certain annual exploration expenditures and reporting (ie. mineral assessment reports) in order to maintain a mineral claim in good standing. The property falls within the traditional territories of the Moose Cree and Taykwa Tagamou First Nations.

The property is owned 100% by VR. There are no underlying annual lease payments to previous owners, nor are there any joint venture or back-in interests. There is an industry-standard royalty attached to the property, including a buy-back provision to VR.

Hecla-Kilmer is amenable for the effective use of modern exploration technologies for base and precious metal deposits. Near-by towns with road access facilitate cost-effective exploration. Subdued topography is optimal for airborne geophysical surveys such as EM and magnetics. Historic drilling demonstrates that overburden thickness is in the range of 40 – 70 m, average for the region and easily penetrated by modern drilling technology. Historic and recent drilling also demonstrates that the hydrothermal breccia system comes to surface, that is, to the base of overburden and till, making the use of geophysics effective for basement targets.

VR completed the compilation, synthesis and interpretation of all available federal and provincial government regional data, and archived provincial mineral exploration assessment data in the Hecla-Kilmer area, and integrated it with the Ranoke project database.

The Company completed the first-ever airborne EM survey ever over the H-K complex in June, 2020, using the state-of-the-art VTEM+ system of Geotech Ltd. Flown at 100 m line spacing over a 6 x 7 km survey block for a total of 450 line-km, the data provide a high resolution of detail. The Company also had an independent, 3-D inversion of both magnetic and EM data completed for improved modeling for a potential magnetite-fluorite hydrothermal breccia body within the multiphase carbonatite complex. The Company also utilized a pre-existing, high-resolution, fixed wing airborne magnetic survey completed in 1993 by High Sense Ltd. as part of a regional diamond exploration program to improve the magnetic modeling.

There are two prominent, high contrast and deeply rooted MVI anomalies (magnetic vectorization peaks) in the northern and central part of the Hecla-Kilmer complex. The northern MVI anomaly correlates with the largest and strongest basement conductor identified in the VTEM+ survey; the central MVI anomaly correlates with the strongest overall magnetic signature in the Analytic Signal product.

A detailed, ground-based gravity geophysical survey was completed in March, 2021. It covers an area of approximately 1.5 x 3.5 km, with 597 stations completed in total; 573 on an equant grid station spacing of 100 metres, and 24 done on a 50 m infill pattern covering the main anomaly after it had been outlined by completion of the main grid.

Overall, the survey was designed to: 1. cover the main RTP magnetic boundaries within the large and concentrically zoned multi-phase carbonatite complex at H-K, and; 2. cover the main MVI anomaly derived from the 3-D inversion completed by VR in 2020 using the 1993 airborne magnetic data. The goal is to identify high-density centers of mineralization based on the high density XRF profiles of mineralization obtained from the scanning of the 2020 drill holes HK20-002 and 004.

The survey produced a large and high contrast anomaly in the northwest part of the complex, as summarized in the news release dated May 5, 2021. Anomaly attributes include:

Large:	400 x 800m in size;
High amplitude:	3.5 mGal contrast to surrounding rock of the H-K complex;
Robust:	55 stations with no gaps within high density anomaly;
Structural Control:	Sharp boundaries define a dilational Riedel structure.

The gravity anomaly is co-spatial with, but offset from, the northern MVI magnetic anomaly.

An ultra – high resolution, state-of-the-art drone magnetic survey was flown in the fall of 2021, and expanded in March of 2022. The objective of the survey is to: 1. clearly define the external boundaries of the overall complex, and; 2. identify internal magnetic contacts and gradients that are discordant to the magnetic zonation related to the primary igneous emplacement history of the multiphase complex, and are therefore potential targets for secondary hydrothermal veins and breccia with critical metals.

The final survey now covers an area of approximately 3.4 x 4.5 km and comprises 121 survey lines at both 25 and 50 m line-spacing for a total of 410 line-km. The survey produces a very high resolution of data because of the tight line spacing, the low “tree-top” flight altitude of just 30 metres above ground, and a computerized flight control paired with a new, very high sensitivity potassium-vapour magnetometer.

Summary of drilling

Fall, 2020 . Target: Magnetic anomalies in 3-D MVI inversion model of regional data

• 1,971 m completed in 4 drill holes ranging from 351 – 609 m each

Fall, 2021 . Target: 3.4 mGal gravity anomaly, co-spatial with MVI magnetic anomaly

• 2,604 m completed in 5 drill holes ranging from 468 – 561 m each

Spring, 2022 . Target: new AS magnetic anomalies from high resolution drone survey

• 2,751 m completed in 8 drill holes ranging from 249 – 378 m each

Fall, 2022 . Target: delineate extensions of mineralization around Holes 13 and 15, respectively

• 1,437 m completed in 5 drill holes ranging from 147 – 396 m each

Spring, 2023 . Test structures around Holes 1, 2 and 13 at Pike Zone for extensions to known mineralization.

• 1,035 m completed in 3 drill holes ranging from 309 – 381 m each

A summary map and summary table with data for the key intersections of critical metals from the first 21 holes from the first four drill programs at Hecla-Kilmer are provided in the list of maps, figures and core photos on this Project Page. The geochemical data were obtained from a sodium peroxide fusion analytical technique designed to optimize the analytical detection for all of the rare earth elements.

First drill program, November, 2020 . Four drill holes on the northern MVI magnetic inversion anomaly, for a total of 1,971m. As announced on December 17^th, 2020, VR intersected a fluorite-carbonate hydrothermal breccia body and high temperature, potassic alteration system with sulfide which comes to bedrock surface, and has more than 500 m of vertical extent in two drill holes, HK20-002 and 004. Data from discovery Hole 004 were announced in NR-21-20 on October 26, 2021:

• 58 m @ 0.38% TREO, incl. 1.44 % TREO over 3.21 m, starting at 40m, the bedrock surface at the base of till.

Second drill program, November, 2021 . Five holes were completed for a total of 2,604 m, targeting the 3.4 mGal gravity anomaly located on the western flank of the MVI magnetic anomaly that was targeted in 2020. Zones in the hydrothermal breccia with critical metals have high density profiles in XRF drill core scans, and thus provide a direct link between the gravity anomaly and prospective mineralization. A 299 m intersection of rare earth elements and niobium (REE + Nb) in Hole 5 was reported on Nov. 16^th in NR-21-22:

• 299.5 m @ 0.47 % TREO, starting near surface at 52 m depth, and including up to 1.70 % TREO over 3 m from 156 m, within 28 m of 0.80 % TREO from 152 m;

Third drill program, April of 2022 . A total of 2,751 m were completed in 8 drill holes ranging from 249 – 378 m each, to follow-up on the broad, polymetallic intersections of critical metals in 2020 and 2021 by using the analytic signal (“AS”) magnetic anomalies derived from the new, ultra – high resolution airborne drone survey as an indication of higher concentrations of hydrothermal magnetite. Assays were reported for Holes 10 and 11 in NR-22-07:

• 80 metres at 0.67% TREO within 131 metres at 0.41% TREO in Hole HK22-010;
• 13 metres at 0.94% TREO within 88 metres at 0.50% TREO in Hole HK22-011.

Individual one metre samples from the 13 metre intersection in Hole 11 contain up to 2.3% TREO, up to 39.1% Fe₂O₃, and up to 11.2% P₂O₅.

Assays were reported for Hole 13 in NR-22-08 on July 21^st:

• 243 metres @ 1.01 % TREO, of which 19% are PMREO, within 290 metres @ 0.91 % TREO starting at surface and continuous from top to bottom in Hole HK22-013, and including:
  • 65 metres at 1.66 % TREO, starting at 155 metres, and including:
    • 39 metres @ 2.01 % TREO starting at 155 metres.

1. The 65 metre interval of 1.66% TREO is made up of 24% Magnet REO (Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb);

2. The 15 metre interval with 2.14 % TREO contains 15.71% P₂O₅ and 13% Fe₂0₃.

In addition to the afore-mentioned mineralization, VR discovered two new areas with Critical Metals located 1.5 and 2.5 km to the south of Pike Zone, respectively, in the central core and south rim of the complex, as announced in NR22-10 on August 18, 2022. For example, on the south rim of the complex:

• 25.5 metres @ 1.131% TREO with 18% as Magnet REO^*, within 55.2 metres @ 0.70% TREO starting less than 30 metres from bedrock surface in Hole HK22-015.
• ^* % Magnet REO: is PMREO divided by TREO (total rare earth oxide) and expressed as a percent. PMREO is the sum of the high-value rare earth oxides Pr₂O₃ + Nd₂0₃ + Tb₂O₃ + Dy₂O₃ used in permanent magnets for wind turbines and electric vehicles.

Fourth drill program, November, 2022 . Five drill holes were completed for 1,437m. The goal of the fourth program was to complete additional drill holes into the two main areas with known higher grade critical metal mineralization around Hole 13 at Pike Zone and Hole 15 at South Rim in order to begin the assessment of their potential for mineral volume.

Hole 13 in the third drill program was extended to 504 m at the start of the fourth drill program. It is worth repeating the Hole 13 intersection announced in NR22-18 on January 17, 2023.

• Drill Hole HK22-013: 361 m @ 0.96 % TREO ⁽¹⁾, of which 20% are PMREO⁽²⁾ within 461 m @ 0.85 % TREO + 0.13% Nb₂O₅, starting at surface, and including:
  • 39 m @ 2.01 % TREO within 66.6 m @ 1.57 % TREO with 20% as PMREO.
  • The hole ends at 504 m with 2 m @ 2.84 % TREO and 1.1 g/t gold.
    Gold increases with TREO grades, and is associated with REE mineralization in monazite.

Salient features of the 461 m intersection of continuous REE mineralization in Hole 13 include:

• Mineralization starts at the bedrock surface, below an overburden of glacial till;
• Mineralization is continuous in nature, from bedrock surface to the end-of-hole at 504m;
• The REE mineralization remains open to depth, and is as strong as any REE interval higher in the 461 m intersection; there are no systematic changes down the hole in geology, density of carbonatite dykes and veins or intensity of potassic alteration;
• There are 49 one metre samples with > 2% TREO, and they span the entire 504m hole;
• The proportion of the high value PMREO does not vary from the range of 17-22% of TREO;
• Gold mineralization at the bottom of the hole correlates with a corresponding increase in REE mineralization, and is part of the same polymetallic fluid system.

High grade mineralization at the South Rim zone located some 2.5 km to the south of the Pike Zone was also confirmed and extended, as reported in NR23-002 on January 23, 2023.

• Drill Hole HK22-020: 212 m of continuous mineralization at 0.7% TREO with17 % PMREO, with one metre samples up to 2.7% TREO⁽¹⁾ with 28.5% PMREO⁽²⁾, and including 48 m @ 1.0 % TREO with 19% PMREO at the end of the hole, and open to depth.

Fifth drill program, May, 2023 . Three drill holes were completed for 1,035 metres in three different areas of REE critical metal mineralization at Pike Zone, around Holes 001, 002 and Hole 13 respectively. Geochemical data are expected in the fall of 2023. The objective of the drilling is to assess the structural controls for REE mineralization, and by extension, the parameters for mineral volume at the Pike Zone.

Mineralogy . VR reported positive results for REE mineralogy at Hecla-Kilmer on February 14, 2023, in NR23-004:

• Scanning electron microprobe (SEM) confirms PMREO minerals hosted in monazite and parisite, phosphate and fluorocarbonate minerals, respectively.
• The REE mineralogy is consistent. It does not change through the 461 m vertical intersection of continuous mineralization starting at surface at Pike Zone, and it is the same 2.5 km away at the South Rim Zone.
• Monazite has proven REE extraction, and it is the focus of new REE facilities in Canada.

The new mineralogy data are from an electron microprobe (EMPA) equipped with an Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS). The work was completed by Renaud Geological Consulting Ltd. (RGC) based in London, Ontario, who have extensive experience on REE deposits in Canada. The six samples submitted for this study were designed to span the 500 metres of vertical extent of REE mineralization at Pike Zone, and mineralization 2.5 km away at the South Rim.

The new SEM results are entirely consistent with results obtained from all of the state-of-the-art technologies which VR has utilized from the very beginning of its exploration at H-K in order to better understand the REE mineralization. The new SEM data on monazite are not surprising:

1. QEMSCAN analyses in 2020 by SGS Canada, Lakefield, which determined the styles of mineralization and alteration, and confirmed the role of monazite and apatite, a phosphate mineral, for hosting PMREO;
2. Whole-core XRF scanning on site in 2021 by GeologicAI of Calgary, which improved real-time decision making for drilling, and confirmed the correlation between TREO and P₂O₅;
3. Lithium-borate fusion to optimize REE detection in drill core geochemical samples;
4. Electron microprobe analyses (EMPA-EDS) in 2023 by RGC in London and reported in this news release to confirm monazite and parisite as the host minerals for the individual Permanent Magnet REO’s, both in apatite veins and in carbonatite breccia cement: Figure 5, Figure 6.

The monazite mineralogy is important. Canada is plagued with REE discoveries made during the past 60 years that have never been developed because of the difficulty in extracting and recovering REEs contained in silicate and/or refractory minerals. REE beneficiation from the sulfate mineral monazite is proven however, so the two new REE processing facilities that have been recently built in Saskatoon and in Utah in order to bolster domestic raw material supply for the EV industry in North America are both designed around REE concentrates with monazite mineralogy. As such, it is a significant milestone for the Hecla-Kilmer project that the new EMPA-EDS data confirm that the Permanent Magnet REO minerals are hosted in monazite and parisite.

Next Steps . VR has initiated a full metallurgy and beneficiation study using a bulk sample obtained from the entire 461 m intersection of continuous REE mineralization in drill hole HK22-013, starting at surface in the Pike Zone. Sample material was sent to SGS Lakefield in Ontario in June, 2023; results are expected by the early fall. SGS is a recognized world leader in REE metallurgy and extraction research, and this work on Hole 13 will benefit from their REE mineralogy studies of mineralized samples of drill core from H-K during the past two years.

Summary of Key Attributes of REE mineralization at H-K

The discovery process at Hecla-Kilmer began with REE mineralization discovered at surface in Hole 4 of the first program in the fall of 2020. VR has now intersected high grade critical metal mineralization with > 1% TREO with a proportion of PMREO from 18-21 % in 16 of 21 drill holes completed to date. Drilling is still at a very early stage at H-K, yet the 21 holes demonstrate the lateral and vertical breadth of the hydrothermal breccia and alteration system with critical metals at Hecla-Kilmer. For example, in just the Pike Zone alone in the northwest part of the complex:

• Continuous mineralization of 1.01% TREO for 243m in Hole 13, starting at surface;
• Mineralization in Holes 002 and 004 spans more than 500 vertical metres;
• Mineralization in Hole 005 spans 299 m length;
• Mineralization in Holes 008 and 009 spans 1,000 m along the long axis of the controlling north-south fault.
• Mineralization in Holes 5 and 11 spans a width of more than 500 metres on either side of the controlling north-south fault
• There is mineral potential along more than 1,200 m of strike on the offsetting, east-west fault which focuses veins, dykes, breccia and mineralization in Holes 11, 14, and 17.

The importance of the high proportion of the four PMREOs in REE mineralization at Hecla-Kilmer is worth re-emphasizing. This ratio is important because of the high price of the PMREOs, such as neodymium and terbium, in response to the demand for permanent magnets in electric vehicles and wind turbines. That demand-based value is amplified by scarcity; that is, they are absent from most REE carbonatite deposits globally. For comparison, published resources for most Canadian LREE deposits in carbonatite typically contain between 12-15% PMREO of TREO, which is roughly 40% lower than the 19-22% proportion on average at H-K, and up to 24% in Hole 13.

The polymetallic nature of mineralization at H-K is also important. The intersection of 0.27% Nb over 80 metres in Hole 10 compliments the 237 metres @ 0.2% Nb in Hole 5 from last year, with TREO of 0.5 - 0.67 % on average across both of the broad intersections, and up to 2.3% locally. The value of the Niobec deposit in Quebec, the worlds’ largest, provides an analogue for the value-potential at Hecla-Kilmer for niobium alone, given the sheer volume of calc-potassic and potassic alteration facies along structures with Nb + REE mineralization.

Finally: grade comparison to global deposits. The 0.91 – 2.14 % range in TREO content in the various intervals in the 290 metre intersection in Hole 13 is comparable to the range of 0.4 – 1.73 % TREO reported for the average resource grades of eight of the top ten REE deposits globally. Just as important, the proportion of the four PMREO’s in the REE mineralization at Hecla-Kilmer matches, or exceeds best of breed global REE mines at Bayan Obo in China and Mtn. Pass in California.

To summarize, the upside potential of the REE mineralization at H-K relates to:

1. The breadth of the intersections made to date, the sheer scale of the host hydrothermal breccia system both laterally and vertically, and the discovery of three different areas of mineralization now, all starting at surface, and located across 2.5 km of the complex, from the northwest quadrant to the south rim;
2. The polymetallic nature of the critical metal mineralization, including both the light and heavy rare earths, niobium, phosphorous and iron;
3. The composition of the REE mineralization; it contains a high proportion of the four, high value rare earth elements used in permanent magnets and essential for the manufacturing of EV’s and wind energy turbines – this REE distribution drives an unusually high in-situ basket value of the mineralization at H-K;
4. Depth and location: the mineralization comes to bedrock surface at the base of till, and the project is located less than 25 km from Ontario grid power and active rail and highway infrastructure.

Geological Summary of REE Mineralization in Drill Core

VR has discovered critical metals mineralization within a large fluorite-apatite-magnetite hydrothermal breccia and carbonatite vein and dyke system hosted within a ultra-high temperature, calc-potassic and potassic alteration system with sulfide which comes to surface, and has more than 500 m of vertical extent.

Drill core photographs with examples of the style of mineralization and alteration which hosts the REE’s are shown at the end of the list of maps and photographs which follow this text summary.

Key geological attributes in drill core to date include:

• High temperature alteration assemblages completely overprint and/or replace original, alkaline and ultrabasic rocks ranging from essexite and ijolite in the outer ring to very coarse nepheline syenite at the core. The coarse grained alkaline intrusive system is subsequently cut by a myriad of dyke phases with various fine grained and porphyritic textures of mafic ijolite and more evolved nepheline syenite, and hydrothermal veins and breccia infill of sovite (calcite rich) and phoscorite (apatite-REE rich) carbonatite compositions;
• Critical metal mineralization is most commonly associated with sulfide-bearing carbonatite dykes, fluorite-carbonate-apatite veins and magnetite-rich hydrothermal breccia. The key minerals which host the REE’s include monazite, bastnaesite, fluorapatite and apatite, with the niobium contained in pyrochlore;
• Several locally extensional faults control hydrothermal fluids and separates calc-potassic and potassic alteration mineral assemblages. Calc-potassic alteration is dominated by amphibole and pyroxene and includes pyrochlore and sulfide, and potassic alteration is dominated by magnetite, biotite, apatite and carbonate. Both alteration facies come to surface.
• Porphyritic ijolite dykes are abundant and appear to be correlated with phoscorite (apatite-REE rich carbonatite) veins and vein breccias. The intrusions are intensely altered and are commonly elevated in gold, with 15-184 ppb gold over several + 40 metre intervals in drill hole HK20-002 located on the north-south fault which controls hydrothermal fluids and separates different alteration facies.

More generally:

• Pyrite, pyrrhotite, marcasite and lesser chalcopyrite occur as seams and clots in fluorite-calcite veins and poly-lithic hydrothermal breccia, and as disseminated grains in carbonatite dykes. There are assays in 1m samples of up to 0.12% Cu (1240 ppm) in zones of intense fenitization (potassic alteration);
• Dark, commonly red-hued polylithic magmatic-hydrothermal breccia is throughout most of the drill holes. It overprints all rock types. The groundmass contains carbonate, fluorite, biotite, magnetite and chlorite. It both disaggregates and digests carbonatite dykes with sulfide, and is itself cut by carbonatite dykes and fluorite-carbonate veinlets with sulfide and pyrochlore;
• Alkaline, nepheline syenite porphyry dykes and sovite/phoscorite carbonatite dykes with variable fluorapatite, apatite and carbonate veins occur throughout all of the drill holes, and are believed to be the overall driver of the intense hydrothermal alteration, brecciation and mineralization at H-K.

Drilling is still in the very early stages at Hecla-Kilmer, yet it is already clear that the REE + critical metals component of the hydrothermal vein and breccia system has significant value potential, based on:

1. The breadth of the intersections made to date, and the sheer vertical and lateral scale of the hydrothermal breccia and high temperature alteration system;
2. Discovery of three different areas of mineralization in the northwestern quadrant, central core and south rim of the complex respectively, spanning a distance of some 2.5 km;
3. The polymetallic signature of mineralization, including both the light and heavy rare earth elements, niobium, phosphorous and iron, and anomalous copper and gold locally;
4. The REE mineralization contains a high proportion of the four, high value rare earth elements used in permanent magnets and essential for the manufacturing of EV’s and wind energy turbines – this REE distribution drives an unusually high in-situ basket value of the mineralization at H-K;
5. TREO’s and Nb maintain average grades over broad intersections which are comparable to the average grades reported for REE deposits globally, and the proportion of the high value PMREO’s in the TREO mineralization a H-K matches or exceeds that in global best of breed REE mines;
6. Depth and location: mineralization comes to bedrock surface at the base of till, and the project is located less than 25 km from active rail, grid power and highway infrastructure.

The Hecla-Kilmer property is centered on a large magnetic anomaly co-spatial with regional gravity features which occur along the western margin of the Kapuskasing Structural Zone (“KSZ”), a Proterozoic failed rift and a long-lived, crustal-scale fault zone with bisects the Archean Superior craton between James Bay and Lake Superior in a complex, northeast-southwest trending failed rift zone of uplifted, high grade metamorphic rocks. There is believed to be more than 20 kilometres of vertical crustal displacement along the KSZ.

The KSZ hosts numerous alkaline, ultrabasic and carbonatite intrusions, kimberlite and lamprophyre which span more than 1.7 billion years of activity, to as recently as 128 million years ago. This tectonic setting is prospective for the development of a large IOCG – IOA, and/or carbonatite-hosted hydrothermal breccia systems with critical metals, copper and gold.

Importantly, H-K was emplaced along the KSZ where it intersects a regional-scale tectonic suture between two sub-provinces of the Archean Superior Craton; the volcanic-dominated Wabigoon province to the north, and the sediment-dominated Quetico province to the south. North of the Wabigoon, the gneissic crystalline basement of metamorphosed sedimentary assemblages and lesser volcano-plutonic complexes of the English River sub-Province is believed to be the thickest part of the Archean Superior craton.

Hecla-Kilmer is a large, roughly circular and concentrically zoned multiphase alkaline intrusive complex with carbonatite approximately 4 – 6 km across. Magnetic boundaries within the complex are sharply defined on RTP, 1VD and 2VD products from both regional and property-scale airborne surveys. In general, exterior magnetic highs rim a central magnetic low in the core of the complex that is coarse, unaltered nepheline syenite. The concentric magnetic patterns evident within the complex are disrupted by northwesterly and northeasterly trending lineaments and/or structures.

The inferred age of Hecla-Kilmer is Proterozoic, based on both early and late Proterozoic age dates for other alkaline intrusions on the KSZ.

The Ontario Geological Survey published cursory petrographic and whole rock geochemical data for the complex in 1988 based on pieces of core obtained from historic drilling in 1970, as described below in the following section. Overall, the H-K complex is cored by a large body of coarse-grained nepheline syenite which intrudes a myriad of ultrabasic marginal phases including olivine gabbro, essexite, ijolite and pyroxenite, with an abundance of more evolved carbonatite dykes of sovite and phoscorite composition, nepheline syenite porphyry dykes, and late phonolite and lamprophyre dykes.

The Hecla-Kilmer complex forms the bedrock surface at the base of the overlying overburden of glacial till. It occurs immediately south of the Paleozoic Hudson Platform, a warm and shallow marine carbonate shelf succession deposited in Silurian through Devonian time on the predominantly Archean basement of the northern Superior Craton. In-turn, the Moose River successor basin formed within the KSZ in Cretaceous time, covering Paleozoic rocks along the southern margin of the shelf in a shallow basin less than 50 kilometres across.

Regional Exploration History

Prior to VR, there has been no modern, systematic exploration or drilling of the multiphase alkaline igneous complex with carbonatite at Hecla-Kilmer for a fluorite-magnetite hydrothermal vein and breccia system. The opportunity for VR is to be the first to apply modern IOCG-IOA and carbonatite mineral deposit models to H-K, and the first to use modern exploration technologies to improve the explore for REE’s, critical metals, and copper and gold.

Hecla-Kilmer is at the southeastern margin of the mid-Paleozoic Hudson shelf, a shallow marine carbonate shelf success from Ordovician to Devonian age, with local sandstone and evaporate facies. The shelf formed directly on crystalline basement rock. The Moose River sub-basin developed on the southeastern-most margin of the shelf where Devonian strata. It is a small successor basin less than 50 kilometres across and preserved as finely laminated and poorly indurated mudstone and siltstone which formed in the area of the present day Moose River, immediately to the north of Hecla-Kilmer. These Devonian and Cretaceous strata in the Moose River area were deposited on a gneissic crystalline basement of metamorphosed sedimentary assemblages and lesser volcano-plutonic complexes of the Archean English River domain in what is believed to be the thickest part of the Superior craton in northern Canada.

Historic exploration in the Moose River Basin region has been hindered by limited access, and a complete lack of outcrop in the lowland terrain that is covered by a regional blanket of glacial till. Archean VMS and Proterozoic orogenic gold deposits occur in the surrounding sub-provinces of the Superior craton, but there are no historic or currently active base metal or precious metal mines in the Moose River Basin.

The Moose River region has a long and varied, if not sporadic checkerboard history of mineral exploration during the past 100 years.

Overall, Cretaceous coal seams were the focus at the turn of the previous century, the basement unconformity at the base of the Paleozoic shelf was the focus for base metal exploration in the 1970’s, and there was active diamond exploration through the 1980’s and 90’s, extending and eventually focusing in the region west of James Bay at Attawapiskat located some 350 km to the north of Hecla-Kilmer, off the western shores of Hudson Bay.

There are lignite occurrences exposed in the banks of the Abitibi River north of Coral Rapids. The coal seams were first studied in detail by the Geological Survey between 1871 and 1912. They extend westward from the Abitibi River within the confines the Cretaceous Moose River Basin. More than one hundred shallow drill holes were completed by the Ontario Department of Mines between 1926 and 1930 to evaluate the resource, leading ultimately to the completion of two shafts and some 389 metres of interconnecting drifts. Drilling resumed in the early 1950’s with the completion of an additional 182 holes. In 1981, the Ontario Energy Corporation re-visited the potential of the coal and evaluated lignite stratigraphy farther to the west. Hundreds of shallow drill holes were completed on a lease which exceeded 1 million acres.

The Aquitane Company of Canada Ltd. completed airborne and ground geophysics between 1972 and 1974 to evaluate the hydro-carbon potential of Paleozoic strata, and twelve diamond drill holes to test for base metals at the basement unconformity, and MVT-style mineralization in the overlying limestone. In 1978, Kerr-Addison Mines complete a series of reverse circulation drill holes near Coral Rapids to test exposed basal sandstone at the eastern edge of the Hudson Platform for uranium. These targets were re-visited and re-tested in 2006.

Six diamond drill holes were completed at Hecla-Kilmer by Ashland Oil and Elgin Petroleum in 1970, as part of a regional base metal exploration program. One hole was abandoned, and a scant 854 m were completed in five other holes, all on magnetic highs in the outer zones of the H-K complex. Importantly, this historic drilling showed that the H-K carbonatite complex comes to bedrock surface at the base of till, typically around 40m depth, with no intervening Paleozoic or Cretaceous sedimentary strata.

Diamonds were the focus of modern mineral exploration in the James Bay region. Exploration started in the 1960’s by DeBeers (Monoprose Canada), focused initially in the Attawapiskat River region well to the north of the Moose River Basin, and built on the pioneering regional aeromagnetic program of the Geological Survey of Canada. Ongoing and extensive regional till and alluvium heavy mineral sampling and high-resolution magnetic surveys through the late 1980’s eventually led to the discovery of numerous kimberlite pipes, including Victor.

Selection Trust (later named Selco Exploration Company) began alluvial sampling in the KSZ region in 1962, and were joined by Esso Minerals in 1979. The first composite kimerlite – lamprophyry dyke was drilled in 1967, followed by drilling of the Valentine carbonatite complex in 1969. Between 1979 and 1983, the Selco – Esso partnership completed regional heavy mineral sampling of till and alluvium over an area exceeding 100,000 hectares, and an aeromagnetic program launched in 1980 led to the identification of numerous post-Paleozoic, pipe-like anomalies, of which 45 were drill-tested; most were non- copper-bearing, ultra-basic and alkaline intrusions, and four were kimberlite-facies diatremes.

Selco completed two drill holes on magnetic highs peripheral to Hecla-Kilmer during their regional kimberlite exploration program. The two holes intersected altered, variably magnetic, dark green and dark red breccia with pervasive secondary chlorite and biotite respectively, disseminated sulfide, and mottled pink granitoid clasts with alteration rims. The mafic breccia is pervaded by a chaotic network of carbonate veins and carbonate-lined fractures in both holes.

Regional-scale exploration in the KSZ - Moose River Basin region waned after 1983. Various small-scale airborne magnetic surveys and ground-based EM surveys, and local alluvium sampling programs were completed at the property-scale between 1983 and 2006, with the focus mostly on previously known, ultra-basic and alkaline intrusions and diatremes exposed at surface in and around Coral rapids, but also on limestone for industrial mineral applications.

A regional-scale but high-resolution airborne magnetic survey was flown for diamond exploration in 1993, extending southwest from James Bay. The survey shows clearly that Hecla-Kilmer is a concentrically zoned, high contrast magnetic anomaly 4 – 6 km across. Easterly and northwesterly trending structures disrupt magnetic and gravity patterns within the complex.

The historic drilling at H-K in 1970 was done before the high-resolution magnetic survey was flown for diamond exploration in the early 1990’s, and before the development of IOCG-IOA mineral deposit models. This helps to explain why all five holes at H-K in 1970 were located in the outer concentric zones of the complex, why they were terminated at very shallow depth, and why there is no record of geochemical sampling or geochemical data in hydrothermal breccia with fluorite and sulfide which are documented in the drill logs.

Some 40 years later, VR has taken the opportunity to be the first company to apply new exploration technologies and modern mineral deposit models to explore the region for large footprint mineral systems in the presence of both tectonic suture boundaries related to the amalgamation of the Archean Superior craton, and the Kapuskasing Structural Zone, a Proterozoic failed rift and host to a myriad of intrusions and hydrothermal and volcanic breccia bodies which span some 1.6 billion years of earth history.