The exploration team at Critical One Energy Inc. has disclosed assay results from the company’s flagship Howells Lake Antimony-Gold Project, situated approximately 120 kilometres west of the Ring of Fire access corridor in Ontario. Drilling in hole HWL-2026-006 produced a headline intercept of 4.0 metres grading 70.2% antimony (Sb), found inside a broader 8.0 metre interval averaging 42.2% Sb. A separate deeper interval returned 7.3 metres at 1.62% Sb. These results represent some of the most elevated modern core assays for antimony in North America and provide immediate geological context for follow-up work.
The 4.0 m tranche is notable because it approaches the composition of stibnite in its pure form, which contains about 71.7% Sb. All eight holes drilled to date in the vicinity of the historic Howells Lake East antimony zone have encountered visible stibnite mineralization, reinforcing the continuity of the system. Management has also announced a live investor webinar on May 19, 2026 to discuss the discovery and answer questions. The company highlights potential opportunities to supply Direct Shipping Ore to North American military and industrial users, a route not currently well served by Western producers.
Drill intercepts and core observations
Detailed assay breakdowns for HWL-2026-006 show the high-grade interval between 79.0 m and 87.0 m, with individual one-metre samples returning variable but consistently strong Sb values that composite to 42.2% Sb over 8.0 m. Within this, four consecutive metres grade up to 70.2% Sb. A second zone from 114.7 m to 122.0 m composites to 1.62% Sb over 7.3 m. Reported intervals are drilled lengths and true widths have not yet been estimated due to limited structural information. Assays from 122 m to the end of the hole at 306 m remain pending and will be released as received.
Visual and alteration characteristics
Photographs of the split NQ core display massive, silver-grey stibnite with strong sulphide texture and fractured surfaces, consistent with high-grade antimony mineralization. The drilling area sits inside a broader alteration halo mapped at surface as sericite-fuchsite alteration, which the team associates with both antimony and gold mineralizing events. A collar map supplied by the company highlights the distribution of recent and historical drill positions, suggesting the mineralized corridor remains open along strike and at depth for additional testing.
Sampling, analysis and quality control
Core sampling was conducted at Critical One’s Thunder Bay operations base where NQ diamond core was sawn: one half retained for reference and the other half submitted for assay in intervals of one metre or less. QA/QC protocols included the insertion of blanks, standards and duplicate samples at approximately every 20th sample, with extra blanks added following visually high-grade material. Samples were delivered to AGAT Laboratories in Thunder Bay for crushing and preparation, with analytical work completed in Calgary. Gold was analyzed by fire assay on 50 g charges (method 202-552), while antimony and a suite of elements were tested using sodium peroxide fusion and ICP-OES (method 201-079).
Overlimit handling and laboratory credentials
Where antimony exceeded 5% by peroxide fusion, samples were reanalyzed by pressed-pellet wavelength-dispersive XRF (method 11321). The company notes that WDXRF results above 5% Sb should be treated as semi-quantitative pending supplementary mineralogical and fully calibrated chemical analyses, and that XRF can under-report sulphur which may affect Sb reporting. AGAT Laboratories holds multiple accreditations including ISO/IEC 17025:2017, CALA, ANAB and A2LA, supporting the integrity of the analytical program.
Oversight, interpretation and strategic context
The technical information has been reviewed and approved by Matthew Trenkler, P. Geo., Chief Geological Officer of Critical One, who acted as the Qualified Person under NI 43-101 and verified lab certificates, logs, chain-of-custody and QA/QC records. Company leadership, led by Founder and CEO Duane Parnham, framed Hole 6 as a proof of concept that validates the project’s grade and purity potential. Critical One also acknowledged the partnership and cultural guidance provided by Eabametoong First Nation (EFN), which the company cited as an important collaborator in advancing the program.
Critical One is positioned as a Canadian critical minerals and upstream energy company with direct exposure to antimony, a metal of growing strategic importance for energy, technology and defence supply chains. The company also retains uranium and copper interests in Namibia. Readers should note that forward-looking statements contained in the company’s release involve known and unknown risks that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from expectations.
