Fireweed Metals (FWZ.V) announced Thursday the launch of its 2026 Field Program, with planned activities across its Mactung, Macpass, and regional infrastructure improvement planning projects.
The 2026 program includes approximately 9,500 m of combined diamond and sonic drilling across the two critical metals projects, including up to 7,500 m at Macpass and up to 2,000 m at Mactung, said the company.
Drilling is now underway at Macpass, with work at Mactung expected to follow, it stated.
Additionally, the company plans to continue baseline environmental work across the Mactung project throughout the summer, said the company, and added that the Feasibility Study remains on schedule for completion in early 2027 with metallurgical and geometallurgical programs advancing in addition to designs for the mine, processing facilities, and infrastructure.
At Macpass, the company has initiated an exploration and resource expansion drilling program targeting step-outs around known zinc-lead-silver-gallium-germanium mineralization at Tom South and Tom East, it said.
It also plans to conduct near-deposit and regional gravity and soil sampling at the Tom and Amax areas in the southeast of the property, the company added.
Fireweed plans to continue regional exploration efforts on its "vast underexplored" (~948 square kilometres) land package. Ground gravity surveys, soil sampling and prospecting will target zinc-lead-silver and intrusion related gold targets, it further added.
"Fireweed continues to advance key planning activities associated with the Planning for North Canol Infrastructure Improvements project ("PNCII"), supported by funding through Natural Resources Canada's First and Last Mile Fund, formerly the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund, announced in August 2025," said the company. "The Company is leading development of preliminary engineering designs for road and transmission infrastructure within the existing North Canol Road corridor, alongside required environmental and socio-economic baseline studies."
In 2025, Fireweed completed surveying, LiDAR acquisition, and substantially advanced preliminary engineering design for road upgrades, water crossings, and transmission line infrastructure within the North Canol corridor to Mactung, the company stated.
The company also initiated a comprehensive program of surface water, aquatic, and wildlife baseline studies, with fisheries, heritage, and borrow source geotechnical investigations ongoing into 2026.
Continued engagement with federal, territorial and Indigenous governments is ongoing, with a focus on advancing technical design, refining cost estimates, and preparing for regulatory documents in support of submissions targeted for later in 2026, further stated the company.
"We are very excited to have commenced field operations across multiple critical metals projects," said Ian Gibbs, President and Chief Executive Officer. "The 2026 Mactung Field program and ongoing engineering studies will continue to inform the updated Mactung Feasibility Study, which is ongoing and scheduled for completion early in 2027. Exploration drilling at Macpass will continue where it left off at the end of the 2025 field season, with the continuation of hole TS25-003, a ~300 m step-out down dip of the inferred resource at Tom South that was suspended in laminated sulphide mineralization at the end of the 2025 field season. We are confident in the prospectivity of the areas surrounding Tom South and Tom East for the discovery of additional high-grade mineralization."