Interview with Deepak Varshney, President & CEO of Formation Metals

Recording date: 8th April 2026

Formation Metals is a junior gold explorer advancing the N2 project in Quebec's Abitibi greenstone belt, a district historically responsible for over 200 million ounces of gold production. Despite sitting on an 870,000-ounce historical resource, the company currently trades at roughly $10 per ounce — a valuation gap that CEO Deepak Varshney, a geologist with deep capital markets experience, believes will close sharply once a modern resource estimate is delivered.

The existing resource was calculated in the 1990s using a $200 gold pit shell and a 0.5 g/t cutoff, making it technically historical and limiting market recognition. Previous operators — including Agnico Eagle, Cyprus Canada, and Minnova — treated N2 as an underground target, drilling for narrow, high-grade veins rather than the wide bulk-tonnage zones Formation Metals is now systematically proving. With gold now trading above $4,500/oz — more than five times the 2008 price when Agnico last drilled the site — the economic case has fundamentally changed.

The N2 project spans 8 kilometres of strike across 87 claims (~4,400 hectares) in northwestern Quebec. Formation Metals' drilling has consistently returned wide, shallow intercepts: 42.3 metres at 0.91 g/t starting just 12 metres from surface, and intercepts exceeding 150 metres of continuous mineralisation in some holes. The mineralisation begins as shallow as 9 metres vertical depth with minimal overburden, a rarity in the region. Grades of 1–2 g/t across 30-metre-thick zones are consistent across the A-zone, the primary focus, while a high-grade core delivers up to 4 g/t over 11 metres.

The company is executing a fully funded 30,000-metre drill program in 2026, backed by approximately $11 million in working capital. Rather than twinning historical holes drilled by majors, Formation Metals is targeting gaps in the geological model with infill and step-out drilling at 50–100 metre intervals — a capital-efficient approach that validates continuity without redundant work. With 39 holes awaiting assay results, the company expects a steady flow of news through the year.

The core 1.5-kilometre A-zone alone is internally modelled to support 1.5–2 million ounces using a lower 0.25 g/t cutoff, with a maiden NI 43-101-compliant resource targeted for Q3/Q4 2026. An additional 3 kilometres of drilled strike and 3 kilometres of untested extension to the west point toward a 3+ million ounce potential across the full property. Toll milling options at Matagami (20 km north) and Casa Berardi (50 km west) provide a low-capital path to production, while proximity to Maple Gold Mines — 20% owned by Agnico Eagle and holding a 3 million ounce resource — positions N2 as a natural acquisition candidate for regional consolidators.

The company's roadmap runs from a maiden resource in late 2026 to a Preliminary Economic Assessment in 2028, either as an independent developer or as an acquired asset. With estimated production costs below $2,000/oz at a 4:1 strip ratio against current gold prices, the project's margin profile is compelling. As Varshney put it, the shallow, near-surface nature of N2's gold makes it a genuine anomaly in the Abitibi: "There isn't a lot of gold this shallow available in the area".

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