Greenlight Metals Establishes a Strategic Foothold in Wisconsin’s Emerging Critical Minerals Belt

By Peter Kennedy

Greenlight Metals Inc. [GRL-TSXV] is laying the groundwork in a bid to become the next critical minerals champion in the U.S. State of Wisconsin.

The company has said it intends to use the net proceeds of an $11.5 million bought deal financing for development at the Bend copper-gold project, one of several properties that the company controls along the Penokean Volcanogenic Sulphide Belt (VMS) Belt, one of North America’s most prospective VMS districts.

It is a strategy led by President and CEO Matt Filgate, a Vancouver-based geologist who worked as a vice-president, corporate development at Talisker Resources Ltd. [TSK-TSX, TSKFF-OTCQB] before joining Greenlight. He previously worked as a geologist for Barkerville Gold Mines.

In an interview with Resource World, Filgate said the company hopes to benefit from its first mover status in Wisconsin, a state that was off limits to mining activity before a moratorium imposed in 1997 was lifted in 2017 by the “Mining for America Act.”  “There were a lot of assets and opportunities that we were able to acquire without too much competition,’’ he said.

The Penokean Volcanic Belt is a region that has been compared to the Abitibi and Flin Flon mining belts (albeit 80 years ago) in Canada. Before the moratorium was imposed in Wisconsin, the state attracted major mining industry players including BHP Billiton Ltd. [BHP-NYSE], Tinto Plc [RIO-NYSE] and Noranda.

It is worth noting that the Penokean Volcanic belt hosts high-grade copper/zinc VMS deposits with high concentrations of tellurium, a potentially important byproduct that is a key ingredient in the production of solar panels. “There is a large market for telliurium,’’ Filgate said.

It should also be noted that VMS deposits have the potential for long term production due to their tendency to form in clusters of ore lenses containing polymetallic mineralization.

The company’s key assets on the belt are the Reef gold-copper and Bend copper-gold properties, each of which contain known historical resources with potential for expansion. The company controls two additional properties in Wisconsin –Lobo and Lobo East.

Heading into 2026, Greenlight’s focus will be on the Bend VMS project, which is located about 50 kilometres southeast of the former producing Flambeau copper-zinc-gold mine. The property is partially situated on land owned by the Soo Line Railroad.

The Bend project represents an advanced exploration opportunity. To date, over US$8 million has been invested in the project, including 59 diamond drill holes, totalling 23,849 metres. Historical drilling highlights include 67.69 metres grading 1.01% copper and 0.99 g/t gold, including 27.6 metres at 2.40% copper and 1.43 g/t gold.

Past operators reported a 4.0 million tonne historical resource split between a copper zone (2.8 million tonnes at 2.41% copper, 1.43 g/t gold, 13.70 g/t gold) and a gold zone (1.2 million tonnes of 4.73 g/t gold, 0.31% copper, 2.79 g/t silver). However, the historic resource is not considered to be current under NI 43-101 standards of disclosure.

Greenlight recently completed a phase one drill program (six holes), targeting the eastern extensions of the known Bend deposit. The company said drilling confirms that mineralization extends eastward along a 36-42 degree plunge and remains open at depth and along trend.

Drilling highlights include B25-004 which returned 34.25 metres (drilled thickness) averaging 2.22 g/t gold, 1.35% copper, 15.62 g/t silver, and 193.22 g/t Tellurium (Te) (3.74% CuEq, not including Te) from 275.25 metres. That included 22.24 metres averaging 3.02 g/t gold, 2.03% copper, 23.53 g/t silver and 283.08 g/t Te within massive to semi-massive sulfide (5.27% CuEq) from 276.29 metres.

Drill hole B25-006 was drilled 65 metres down dip from the previously released hole B25-005 (19.32 metres of 2.95% Cu Eq). It returned 43.67 metres (drilled thickness) averaging 1.06 g/t gold, 0.68% copper, 6.12 g/t gold and 109.74 g/t tellurium (1.80% CuEq, not including Te) from 320.33 metres over a broad mineralized zone encompassing the sulfide zone. The program was executed entirely on private mineral lands with existing permits, demonstrating Greenlight’s ability to advance exploration while federal permit applications remain pending.

“The consistency of these results combined with the presence of high-grade copper and gold across multiple holes, reinforces our confidence in the deposit’s expansion potential,’’ said Filgate.

The company is now moving swiftly to plan an expanded winter drill program designed to further define the extent of this growing VMS system and test priority targets both down plunge and along strike. The company said it is planning to complete up to 6,000 metres of winter drilling on two sectors of the project known as the Prospecting Permit (519 acres) and Soo Line Private Mineral Parcel (40 acres).

Filgate said the company has established an exploration budget of $9.5 million for 2026 when it hopes to complete roughly 30,000 metres of drilling. The aim is to establish a NI 43-101 compliant resource by the end of 2026, with an initial target of around 10 million tonnes. “If we can get 10 million tonnes, there will be a lot of eyeballs on the project,’’ he said.

Filgate said the longer-term plan will be to drill the Reef project, however the company may bring in a partner to help fund exploration there.

Reef is a historical resource stage orogenic shear zone hosted vein-type deposit, located in Marathon County, Wisconsin, about 30 kilometres form the city of Wausau. Roughly US$5.2 million has been invested in the project to date with the last drilling occurring in 2011 to 2012.

Key intercepts from the 2011 and 2012 drill program include hole R12-38, which returned 65.2 metres of 2.80 g/t gold and 0.17% copper (from 80.5 metres to 145.73 metres), including 8.9 metres of 13.14 g/t gold and 0.44% copper.

In 2026, the company is also planning for geological modelling on its Lobo East project in a bid to define future drill targets.  Lobo East is an optioned property covering 476 acres with no modern drilling. It hosts two strong geophysical anomalies, including the Northern target which is drill ready and hosts a coincident Mag/EM anomaly suggesting the presence of massive sulfide.

On December 19, 2025, Greenlight Metals shares were trading at 35 cents in a 52-week range of 45 cents and 13 cents.