First Class Metals PLC (LSE:FCM, FRA:WN9) shares gained around 10%, to 2.1p, after the explorer revealed drilling at its Roy prospect, on the Sunbeam property in Ontario, has returned a bonanza-grade gold hit, with hole SUN-26-05 delivering a provisional photon assay result of 0.3 metres at 45 grams per tonne gold after visible gold was logged.
The early batch of results also showed broader encouragement across the structure. Holes SUN-26-01 to 04 returned provisional fire assays including around 2 metres at 1.3g/t gold, 1.1 metres at 2.3g/t, and roughly a metre at about 0.5g/t in holes three and four. A second visible-gold hole, SUN-26-06, returned 0.6 metres at 2.2g/t gold from two consecutive samples under provisional photon assays.
More importantly for the wider story, the company said all 12 holes intersected the targeted structure, with the potentially mineralised package now confirmed over more than 300 metres of strike and still open in both directions.
First Class Metals also said recent VLF work has identified multiple conductive targets along strike, strengthening its view that Roy sits on a larger gold-bearing system.
Chief executive Marc Sale said the results had “vindicated” the group’s view of Sunbeam’s gold potential. Further assay results are pending, while VLF work is set to begin at the parallel Pettigrew structure in early May.