Highlights

• Recent drilling significantly expands the high-grade Vega Zone at CV13:
  • 31.2 m at 3.35% Li₂O, including 4.7 m at 5.37% Li₂O (CV24-747).
  • 31.8 m at 2.07% Li₂O, including 11.7 m at 3.47% Li₂O (CV24-773).
    • Includes a 0.9 m sample at 7.11% Li₂O, the highest-grade core sample collected from the Property to date.
  • 35.7 m at 1.65% Li₂O, including 28.3 m at 2.05% Li₂O (CV24-582).
  • 33.0 m at 2.02% Li₂O, including 4.6 m at 4.19% Li₂O (CV24-754).
  • 29.2 m at 2.05% Li₂O, including 14.3 m at 3.09% Li₂O (CV24-761).
• Vega Zone remains open in multiple directions.
• The Vega Zone is coincident with an interpreted structural corridor extending for approximately 3.3 km along strike to the CV12 Spodumene Pegmatite – a highly prospective corridor that remains to be drill tested.
  • This association significantly enhances the prospectivity between CV13 and CV12.
• Mineralization continues to be characterized by very large spodumene crystals.
• Results for all drill holes completed at the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite during the 2024 winter program are reported in this announcement – 33 holes totaling 9,950 m – with all holes completed outside the 2024 Mineral Resource Estimate or at its margin.

Darren L. Smith, Patriot Executive and Vice President of Exploration, comments: “The summer-fall drilling at CV13 achieved its key objectives of significantly expanding the high-grade Vega Zone as well as identifying some potential primary controls on its emplacement. The interpreted coincident structure suggests it may be a primary control on mineralization and extends for approximately 3.3 km towards the CV12 Spodumene Pegmatite. This discovery has increased the prospectivity of this corridor considerably and will be a key area of focus in follow-up drilling in 2025.

“The mineralization at the Vega Zone continues to show many similarities to that of the high-grade Nova Zone at CV5. The intensity of the spodumene mineralization – with samples commonly exceeding 2% Li₂O and including two core samples now over 7% Li₂O – is nothing less than remarkable and clearly reinforces the world-class nature of the lithium pegmatites at Shaakichiuwaanaan,” Mr. Smith added.

Patriot Battery Metals Inc.  (TSX: PMET) (ASX: PMT) (OTCQX: PMETF) (FSE: R9GA) is pleased to announce core assay results for all holes completed at the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite, which forms part of the Company’s wholly owned Shaakichiuwaanaan Property  located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec, during the 2024 summer-fall drill program.

The Property hosts a consolidated (CV5 & CV13) Mineral Resource Estimate[1] of 80.1 Mt at 1.44% Li₂O Indicated and 62.5 Mt at 1.31% Li₂O Inferred, with the CV13 Pegmatite accounting for approximately 15% of the contained overall lithium content. The CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite is located within 3 km of the CV5 Spodumene Pegmatite, which is accessible year-round by all-season road and is situated approximately 14 km from a major hydroelectric powerline corridor.

The summer-fall drill program at the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite targeted the high-grade Vega Zone, located along its eastern flank. The objectives were to expand this high-grade zone as well as to identify some primary controls on its emplacement. A total of 33 NQ size drill holes (9,950 m) were completed. Highlights are listed below and expanded upon in Figure 1:

• 31.2 m at 3.35% Li₂O, including 4.7 m at 5.37% Li₂O (CV24-747).
• 31.8 m at 2.07% Li₂O, including 11.7 m at 3.47% Li₂O (CV24-773).
• 35.7 m at 1.65% Li₂O, including 28.3 m at 2.05% Li₂O (CV24-582).
• 33.0 m at 2.02% Li₂O, including 4.6 m at 4.19% Li₂O (CV24-754).
• 29.2 m at 2.05% Li₂O, including 14.3 m at 3.09% Li₂O (CV24-761).

The program also returned the highest-grade individual core sample collected to date from the entire Shaakichiuwaanaan Property – 0.9 m at 7.11% Li₂O in drill hole CV24-773 (Figure 2). This is the second core sample collected at the Property (both at CV13) to exceed 7% Li₂O. To put this further into perspective, the targeted grade of spodumene concentrate post concentration in a processing facility – the base case marketable product in the industry – is 5.5% Li₂O.

Additionally, the mineralization at Vega continues to be characterized by very large spodumene crystals of decimetre to metre scale (Figure 2 and Figure 3). Based on the large spodumene crystal sizes and prior beneficiation testwork on the CV13 Pegmatite, a dense media separation (“DMS”) only flowsheet is considered probable (see news release dated July 4, 2023).

All mineralised pegmatite intersections from the summer-fall drill program at CV13 are located outside of the MRE’s block model, or at its margins, and therefore represent a significant expansion of the Vega Zone.

This expansion of the Vega Zone highlights considerable potential for continued high-grade resource growth at CV13 – where the current MRE of 1.5 Mt at 1.62% Li₂O Indicated and 19.1 Mt at 1.46% Li₂O Inferred forms part of the larger Shaakichiuwaanaan MRE¹ (see news release dated August 5, 2024).

The Vega Zone remains open in multiple directions and covers an area of at least ~0.7 km x 0.4 km with a true thickness of <10 m to 30+ m, hosted within a wider mineralized pegmatite body. Geological modelling (Figure 4) indicates the Vega Zone to be relatively flat-lying to shallow dipping and near-surface (starting at ~100 m vertical depth from surface). The CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite, which hosts the Vega Zone, has now been traced over a strike length of ~2.5 km, down-dip over more than 500 m and remains open in multiple directions.

In addition to the significant expansion of the Vega Zone, the program was successful in identifying an interpreted coincident structure, which may be a primary control on the high-grade mineralization (Figure 5 and Figure 6). This structural corridor (referred to in this announcement as the “Vega Structural Corridor”) is supported from local and regional magnetic data (expressed as a linear feature) as well as structural observations in drill core and is interpreted to extend at least 3.3 km north-west along geological trend to the CV12 Spodumene Pegmatite.

Apart from the currently defined extent of the Vega Zone and a single shallow drill hole at CV12, this corridor remains to be drill tested and is, therefore, considered highly prospective. Further, a second structural corridor that is interpreted to extend north-west for approximately 1.9 km from CV13 to the CV8 Spodumene Pegmatite also remains to be drill tested and is considered to be highly prospective.

Core sample assays for drill holes reported in this announcement from the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite are presented in Table 1 for all pegmatite intersections >2 m. Drill hole locations and attributes are presented in Table 2.

Quality Assurance / Quality Control

A Quality Assurance / Quality Control protocol following industry best practices was incorporated into the program and included systematic insertion of quartz blanks and certified reference materials into sample batches at a rate of approximately 5% each. Additionally, analysis of pulp-split sample duplicates was completed to assess analytical precision, and external (secondary) laboratory pulp-split duplicates were prepared at the primary lab for subsequent check analysis and validation.

All core samples collected were shipped to SGS Canada’s laboratory in Val-d’Or, QC, or Radisson, QC, for sample preparation (code PRP90 special) which includes drying at 105°C, crush to 90% passing 2 mm, riffle split 250 g, and pulverize 85% passing 75 microns. The pulps were shipped by air to SGS Canada’s laboratory in Burnaby, BC, where the samples were homogenized and subsequently analyzed for multi-element (including Li and Ta) using sodium peroxide fusion with ICP-AES/MS finish (codes GE_ICP91A50 and GE_IMS91A50).

Qualified/Competent Person

The information in this news release that relates to exploration results for the Shaakichiuwaanaan Property is based on, and fairly represents, information compiled by Mr. Darren L. Smith, M.Sc., P.Geo., who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and member in good standing with the Ordre des Géologues du Québec (Geologist Permit number 01968), and with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (member number 87868). Mr. Smith has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release.

Mr. Smith is an Executive and Vice President of Exploration for Patriot Battery Metals Inc. and holds common shares and options in the Company.

Mr. Smith has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralization, type of deposit under consideration, and to the activities being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as described by the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code). Mr. Smith consents to the inclusion in this news release of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

About Patriot Battery Metals Inc.

Patriot Battery Metals Inc. is a hard-rock lithium exploration company focused on advancing its district-scale 100%-owned Shaakichiuwaanaan Property (formerly known as Corvette) located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec, Canada, which is accessible year-round by all-season road and is proximal to regional powerline infrastructure. The Shaakichiuwaanaan Mineral Resource[2], which includes the CV5 & CV13 spodumene pegmatites, totals 80.1 Mt at 1.44% Li₂O Indicated, and 62.5 Mt at 1.31% Li₂O Inferred, and ranks as the largest lithium pegmatite resource in the Americas, and the 8^th largest lithium pegmatite resource in the world.

A Preliminary Economic Assessment was announced for the CV5 Pegmatite August 21, 2024, and highlights it as a potential North American Lithium Raw Materials Powerhouse. The PEA outlines the potential for a competitive and globally significant high-grade lithium project targeting up to ~800 ktpa spodumene concentrate using a simple Dense Media Separation (“DMS) only process flowsheet.

Figure 1: Drill holes completed to date at CV13. (CNW Group/Patriot Battery Metals Inc.)

Figure 2: Large spodumene crystal(s) (0.9 m core length) grading 7.11% Li2O, the highest-grade drill core sample collected to date at the Property (drill hole CV24-773). (CNW Group/Patriot Battery Metals Inc.)

Figure 3: Very large spodumene crystals in high-grade pegmatite from Vega Zone in drill hole CV24-747. Core grades 12.6 m at 4.64% Li2O from 197.2 to 209.8 m, including 4.3 m at 5.55% Li2O. (CNW Group/Patriot Battery Metals Inc.)

Figure 4: Preliminary cross-section interpretation of the CV13 geological model at the Vega Zone. Results reported herein for CV24-571, 579, 582, 747, 754, 757, and 761. (CNW Group/Patriot Battery Metals Inc.)

Figure 5: Two highly prospective interpreted structural corridors between CV13 and the CV8 and CV12 spodumene pegmatites that remain to be drill tested. Airborne magnetic underlay. (CNW Group/Patriot Battery Metals Inc.)

Figure 6: Highly prospective interpreted structural corridor coincident with the high-grade Vega Zone at the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite. The corridor, as outlined with airborne magnetic data, is interpreted to extend ~3.3 km to the CV12 Spodumene Pegmatite and remains to be drill tested. Core sample assays for drill holes reported in this announcement from the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite are presented in Table 1 for all pegmatite intersections >2 m. Drill hole locations and attributes are presented in Table 2. (CNW Group/Patriot Battery Metals Inc.)

Table 1: Core assay summary for drill holes reported herein at the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite. (CNW Group/Patriot Battery Metals Inc.)

Table 2: Attributes for drill holes reported herein at the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite. (CNW Group/Patriot Battery Metals Inc.)