Volta drills 214m of rare earths, gallium at Springer

High-grade rare earth and gallium results at Volta Metals’ (CSE: VLTA) Springer project in northern Ontario have opened up newly prospective mineralized areas and expanded the geological footprint of the system, one of Ontario’s most advanced rare earths projects. Shares surged.

Highlight hole SL26-28 cut 214.5 metres grading 0.8% total rare earth oxides (TREO) and 63.8 grams gallium per tonne from 103.5 metres depth, including 75 metres at 1.02% TREO and 76.6 grams gallium, Volta reported Tuesday. A particularly strong interval in that hole returned 13.5 metres grading 1.63% TREO and 85.5 grams gallium.

“These results confirm two important aspects of Springer,” Volta CEO Kerem Usenmez said in a release. “First, gallium mineralization in this part of the deposit is richer than we expected. Second, the deposit remains open for expansion, demonstrating significant growth potential.

“Continuing to expand both the scale and grade of this system strengthens the foundation for our upcoming resource update.”

Among continent’s largest

The results from Volta’s winter 2026 drill program further underscore Springer’s value as one of the largest rare earths projects in North America as momentum continues to grow for developing critical metal supply chains outside China’s influence. Springer’s size and road access – just 70 km east of Sudbury – particularly stand out in Canada, where there are no producing rare earth mines and most large deposits are remote and hard to access.  

Its gallium content further sets it apart because the metal – used in semiconductors and defence applications – is usually recovered as a by-product of aluminum and zinc smelting. Canada has no gallium mines and few primary gallium projects.

Volta shares jumped almost 15% to 34¢ apiece on Tuesday morning in Toronto, valuing the company at $47.5 million. The stock has traded in a 12-month window of 11¢ to 40¢.

Update next year

The current drill program is aimed at a 2027 resource update for Springer, which hosts 56.6 million indicated tonnes of TREO grading 0.7% TREO and 119.5 million inferred tonnes at 0.58% TREO, according to the initial resource released in April. Gallium wasn’t included in the resource.

Hole SL26-28’s heavy rare earths content comprised 6% of the TREO from for 417 of the interval.

Heavy rare earths

Another noteworthy hole – SL26-34 – returned 345 metres grading 0.41% TREO and 39.5 grams gallium from 6 metres depth, including 115.5 metres at 0.54% TREO and 44 grams gallium. Heavy rare earths made up 19.5% of the interval’s TREO, Volta said.

Hole SL26-36 cut 296 metres grading 0.36% TREO and 31.3 grams gallium from 4 metres depth, including 5.5 metres at 1.04% TREO and 32.4 grams gallium. Heavy rare earths content averaged about 5.5%.

Springer currently ranks as the seventh largest rare earths project in North America by resource tonnage, behind Mont Royal Resources’ (TSXV: MRZL; ASX: MRZ) Ashram in Quebec and ahead of Vital Metals (ASX: VML; US-OTC: VTMXF) Nechalacho deposit in the Northwest Territories, according to S&P Global data cited by Volta. Nechalacho was briefly Canada’s only producing rare earths mine from 2021 to 2023, though on a demonstration basis.