Highlights

• Drill hole CV23-345 hits approximately 100 m of near-continuous spodumene-bearing pegmatite at CV9.
• Three drill holes have returned continuous pegmatite intersections of 60+ m.
• Patriot has defined a pegmatite strike length of approximately 450 m by drilling and outcrop at CV9, which remains open.
• CV9 is located approximately 14 km west of the CV5 mineral resource.
• Preliminary geological modelling indicates the CV9 Pegmatite significantly thickens to at least 80 m width at one location and remains open in multiple directions.
• The magnitude of this variably mineralized pegmatite blow-out is significant, sharing similarities to those present at the CV5 Pegmatite in terms of depth and scale.
• Eighteen (18) core holes (~4,000 m) have been completed in the inaugural drill program at the CV9 Pegmatite – sample assays are pending.
• While it is early stage, the work done to date has resulted in an improvement in the understanding of the CV9 Pegmatite as the program went on, with a number of high priority targets now identified.

Darren L. Smith, Company Vice President of Exploration, comments: “This is a very strong start to the drill exploration at the CV9 Pegmatite. Although no core assays have been received yet, the presence of spodumene and the length of pegmatite encountered in multiple holes, highlighted by an approximate 100 m near-continuous spodumene-bearing hit in the final hole of the program, are very positive in terms of potential of this pegmatite to hold significant scale.”  

Patriot Battery Metals Inc. (TSX-V: PMET) (ASX: PMT) (OTCQX: PMETF) (FSE: R9GA) is pleased to announce preliminary results of its inaugural drill program at the CV9 Spodumene Pegmatite at its wholly owned Corvette Property, located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec. The CV9 Spodumene Pegmatite is located approximately 14 km west of the CV5 Spodumene Pegmatite (109.2 Mt at 1.42% Li₂O inferred¹), 9.5 km west-northwest of the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite, and 11 km south of the Trans-Taiga Road and powerline infrastructure.

A total of eighteen holes, for approximately 4,000 m of NQ coring, were completed this summer-fall in the inaugural drill program at the CV9 Spodumene Pegmatite (Figure 1 and Figure 2). The Company is pleased to report that wide intervals of pegmatite, dominantly spodumene-bearing, have been returned from multiple drill holes at CV9, including:

• 100 m in drill hole CV23-345 (includes ~1 m of non-pegmatite dilution),
• 76 m in drill hole CV23-315,
• 70 m and 27 m in drill hole CV23-333,
• 37 m in drill hole CV23-326, and
• 23 m in drill hole CV23-304

Table A: Spodumene-bearing pegmatite with respect to intervals for drill holes CV23-304, 315, 326, 333, and 345 as listed above.

Visual estimates of mineral abundance should never be considered a proxy or substitute for laboratory analyses where concentrations or grades are the factor of principal economic interest. Visual estimates also potentially provide no information regarding impurities or deleterious physical properties relevant to valuations. The pegmatite drill logs for all eighteen (18) holes will be formally and fully logged over the next two weeks and core sample assays for the entire pegmatite interval are anticipated to be received from the lab, and reported by the Company, in late Q1 2024.

Although the Company does not comment on the grade of the pegmatite intervals reported, several drill holes are noted as having pegmatite intervals that are spodumene-bearing based on preliminary geological logging. Readers are cautioned that the potential content and quantities of spodumene are conceptual in nature; there has been insufficient exploration by the Company or its qualified person at the Property to define a mineral resource; and it is uncertain whether further exploration will result in these targets being delineated as a mineral resource. Spodumene-bearing pegmatite refers to the visually identified presence of the mineral spodumene at a minimum trace level (i.e., 0.1 to 5%), within the respective interval, which occurs as discrete mineral crystals of varying size, abundance, and orientation hosted within a quartz-feldspar pegmatite with accessory muscovite and occasional tourmaline. For the relevant drill holes, the abundance of spodumene may vary widely over the interval and, where present, has been preliminarily logged at a trace level or higher. However, the Company notes these are preliminary logs, which are primarily used for an initial assessment of the drill hole to guide the immediate future drill targetting. Preliminary estimates of spodumene content may change on final logging; however, the determination as to the presence of spodumene within an interval is unlikely to change. The Company makes no assertions as to spodumene contents beyond spodumene being identified as present within the interval (i.e., greater than 0.1 – 5%) and therefore should not be relied upon as an indication of grade. The presence of spodumene is a determining factor in indicating if the pegmatite is spodumene-bearing and, in turn, its presence is a positive indicator of potential for the CV9 Pegmatite target.

Preliminary logs for all pegmatite drill intercepts >2 m are presented in Table 1, and drill hole attributes in Table 2. Drill core from holes completed at the CV9 Pegmatite is currently being processed at site and no core sample assays have been received yet.

A primary objective of the inaugural drill program at CV9 was to determine the geometry and orientation of the pegmatite system. Therefore, drill holes were completed at a variety of orientations from multiple collar locations (Figure 1) with results consistently improving over the course of the program as understanding of the pegmatite geometry improved. The last eight (8) holes all returned continuous core-length pegmatite intercepts >10 m, including three  intersections of 60+ m (see Figure 1 and Table 1).

The CV9 Pegmatite is currently interpreted to be a single principal dyke, which outcrops at surface, has a steep northerly dip, and is moderately plunging to the east-southeast. A strike length of approximately 450 m has been defined to date by drilling and outcrop, which remains open (Figure 1). The width of the dyke is variable; however, preliminary geological modelling indicates the CV9 Pegmatite significantly thickens to at least 80 m width at one location and remains open in multiple directions. The thickening is delineated by three (3), wide, variably mineralized spodumene-bearing pegmatite intersections at different orientations – 70 m (CV23-333), 76 m (CV23-315), and 100 m (CV23–345), all core length. The magnitude of this variably mineralized pegmatite blow-out is significant, sharing similarities to those present at the CV5 Pegmatite in terms of depth and scale. This is a very positive observation for this early phase of drill exploration at the CV9 Pegmatite and suggests a strong potential for significant scale to be present.

The Company will refine the geological model for CV9 upon the receipt of assays and a follow-up drill program will be developed to expand upon the success discussed herein.

The 2023 summer-fall program included the inaugural drill testing of the CV9 Spodumene Pegmatite, in addition to the continued drill delineation of the CV5 and CV13 spodumene pegmatites. Core sample assays remain to be announced for more than 140 drill holes completed over the program, including all 18 holes completed at CV9. Assays for CV9 drill core samples are not expected to be received (and reported) until Q1 2024.

Core processing is continuing at site with drilling temporarily paused for the onset of winter; drilling will resume in early January with a ramp up to ten (10) drill rigs. Core samples from a large number of drill holes have now arrived at the laboratory with processing underway, and shipments are now back to their regular weekly schedule. Results are anticipated to be reported in batches per pegmatite (CV5, CV13, and CV9) as received.

Although the Company does not comment on the grade of the pegmatite intervals reported, several are noted as spodumene-bearing based on preliminary geological logging. Spodumene-bearing pegmatite refers to the visually identified presence of the mineral spodumene, within the respective interval, as discrete mineral crystals of varying size and orientation hosted within a quartz-feldspar pegmatite. Visual estimates of mineral abundance should never be considered a proxy or substitute for laboratory analyses where concentrations or grades are the factor of principal economic interest. Visual estimates also potentially provide no information regarding impurities or deleterious physical properties relevant to valuations.

About the CV Lithium Trend

The CV Lithium Trend is an emerging spodumene pegmatite district discovered by the Company in 2017 and is interpreted to span more than 50 kilometres across the Corvette Property. The core area includes the approximate 4.35 km long CV5 Spodumene Pegmatite, which hosts a maiden mineral resource estimate of 109.2 Mt at 1.42% Li₂O inferred¹.

To date, seven distinct clusters of lithium pegmatite have been discovered across the Corvette Property – CV4, CV5, CV8, CV9, CV10, CV12, and CV13. Given the proximity of some pegmatite outcrops to each other, as well as the shallow till cover in the area, it is probable that some of the outcrops may reflect a discontinuous surface exposure of a single, larger pegmatite “outcrop” subsurface. Further, the high number of well-mineralized pegmatites along the trend indicate a strong potential for a series of relatively closely spaced/stacked, sub-parallel, and sizable spodumene-bearing pegmatite bodies, with significant lateral and depth extent, to be present.

Qualified/Competent Person

The information in this news release that relates to exploration results for the Corvette 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, 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 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 Corvette Property located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec, Canada, and proximal to regional road and powerline infrastructure. The Corvette Property hosts the CV5 Spodumene Pegmatite with a maiden mineral resource estimate of 109.2 Mt at 1.42% Li₂O inferred¹ and ranks as the largest lithium pegmatite resource in the Americas based on contained lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), and one of the top 10 largest lithium pegmatite resources in the world. Additionally, the Corvette Property hosts multiple other spodumene pegmatite clusters that remain to be drill tested, as well as more than 20 km of prospective trend that remain to be assessed.

Table A: Spodumene-bearing pegmatite with respect to intervals for drill holes CV23-304, 315, 326, 333, and 345 as listed above. (CNW Group/Patriot Battery Metals Inc)

Figure 1: Drill holes completed at the CV9 Spodumene Pegmatite. (CNW Group/Patriot Battery Metals Inc)

Table 1: Preliminary pegmatite logs for drill holes completed at the CV9 Spodumene Pegmatite (CNW Group/Patriot Battery Metals Inc)

Figure 2: Location of the CV9 Spodumene Pegmatite on the Corvette Property. (CNW Group/Patriot Battery Metals Inc)

Figure 3: Spodumene mineralized outcrop at the CV9 Pegmatite (looking west-northwest). (CNW Group/Patriot Battery Metals Inc)

Figure 4: Drill hole CV23-247 at the CV9 Pegmatite (looking northerly). (CNW Group/Patriot Battery Metals Inc)

Table 2: Attributes for drill holes reported herein at the CV9 Spodumene Pegmatite (CNW Group/Patriot Battery Metals Inc)