Copper-Gold in the American Heartland

TSX-V: GRL | OTCQB: GRLMF

Reawakening a Forgotten
North American VMS Belt

 District-Scale Copper-Gold in Wisconsin’s Penokean Volcanic Belt

— Shares Currently Below C$0.50 —

Click Here to Read Sponsor Disclosure

First-Mover Critical Metals Drill-Play
in Tier-1 US Jurisdiction

GreenLight Metals Inc. (TSX-V: GRL)(OTCQB: GRLMF) is building what few small-cap explorers ever attempt: a true first-mover, district-scale critical minerals platform in the continental United States.

GreenLight Metals (“GRL”), with a sub-C$50 million market cap, controls two of the most prospective polymetallic exploration assets in Wisconsin’s Penokean Volcanic Belt: Bend and Reef.

The Penokean is a prolific but long-overlooked VMS (Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide) system sharing key geological traits with Canada’s famed Abitibi and Flin Flon belts before major discoveries unlocked their full potential.

Historically, the Penokean belt has demonstrated its ability to host high-grade copper-dominant VMS mineralization, including past-producing deposits — a rich discovery path never fully realized due to regulatory constraints rather than geological limitations.

What distinguishes this moment from those more established Canadian belts is timing — a decisive advantage for GreenLight Metals as 2026 gets underway.

With US policy now prioritizing domestic critical minerals supply, GRL is executing a first-mover strategy to become a central player in America’s critical metals resurgence — and in the process, re-establish Wisconsin as a national leader in critical minerals production.

For two-plus decades, Wisconsin remained closed off to modern non-ferrous mining under a state-level moratorium, effectively blocking exploration, sidelining major discoveries, and freezing capital investment.

That all changed for good in 2017 when the moratorium was lifted, the permitting framework modernized, and the door reopened to responsible exploration and development.

GreenLight Metals — recognizing Wisconsin’s reopening as a once-in-a-generation reset in a world-class yet long-forgotten mining district — set its wheels in motion, consolidating high-quality exploration assets, securing strategic land positions, and assembling a team with deep technical expertise across exploration, permitting, and capital markets.

When GRL listed publicly in April 2025, it did so with a robust portfolio of Wisconsin-based exploration assets in the Penokean Volcanic Belt ready for advancement.

At the center of that portfolio sits the Bend project — a copper-gold VMS system with more than US$8 million already invested by prior operators, over 22,000 meters of historic drilling, and early indications of strategic metals such as tellurium (a critical mineral used in advanced solar technologies) — now positioned for systematic expansion.

GreenLight’s advancement of Bend in Q1 2026 has moved swiftly from Phase-1 drilling success to targeted Phase-2 step-out drilling.

Following the receipt of all required regulatory approvals from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the US Forest Service in February 2026, GreenLight has mobilized two diamond drill rigs to Bend for the immediate commencement of Phase-2.

As GreenLight Metals president & CEO Matt Filgate — whom you’ll meet shortly in our exclusive interview just ahead — stated via press release:

“We are pleased to be working with Taconite Drilling LLC again as we enter this exciting next phase of exploration at Bend. Their performance during Phase-1 demonstrated their expertise in mineral exploration drilling and their alignment with our safety and operational standards. With regulatory approvals in hand and two rigs now mobilizing, we are positioned to significantly advance the Bend Project while continuing to unlock the exceptional copper-gold-tellurium potential we have demonstrated to date.”

Anchoring that momentum, GreenLight recently completed a C$11.5 million financing, strengthening the balance sheet and supporting this next critical phase of drilling.

Beyond Bend, GRL has assembled an impressive pipeline of accretive regional assets — including Reef and Lobo & Lobo East — aligned with its emerging hub-and-spoke strategy across the Penokean.

Together, these elements underscore the strategic convergence of timing, jurisdiction, and execution now taking shape at GreenLight Metals.

With metals markets increasingly favoring high-grade, US-based discoveries, let’s take a closer look at the flagship Bend project — the copper-gold VMS system anchoring GRL’s district-scale strategy in Wisconsin’s newly reopened Penokean Volcanic Belt.

 

Flagship Bend Project: VMS System with Multi-Rig, Phase-2 Drill Program Underway

The flagship Bend project anchors GreenLight Metals’ portfolio as a resource-stage copper-gold VMS system now advancing into an expanded, multi-rig Phase-2 drill campaign.

Importantly, the historic resource estimate noted above provides valuable geological context as the GRL team moves directly into Phase-2 step-out drilling.

As management notes, Bend compares favorably in grade and geological character to other more advanced North American VMS systems — reinforcing confidence in the flagship project’s scalability.

Solving the Historic Bottleneck

Historically, Bend was constrained not by geology but by access, with fragmented land ownership leaving large portions of the system untested.

GreenLight addressed that constraint directly by consolidating key mineral rights and securing permits, enabling step-out drilling beyond the limits of historic programs for the first time in decades.

Following the completion of Phase-1, GreenLight Metals president & CEO Matt Filgate stated:

“The completion of our Phase-1 program marks a significant milestone for the Bend project with all six holes successfully intersecting mineralization and confirming our geological model. The results from B25-006 are particularly encouraging — the intercept shows both increased thickness and robust grades approximately 65 meters down-dip from B25-005, continuing the pattern of strengthening mineralization we’ve observed throughout this program. The consistency of these results, combined with the presence of high-grade copper and gold across multiple holes, reinforces our confidence in the deposit’s expansion potential.”

Building on that confidence, the results confirm continuity of mineralization, orientation, and expansion potential — all core requisites for growing a VMS resource in a disciplined, technically sound manner.

Phase-2 Drill Program Underway

Building off the success of Phase-1 — and with key permits in hand — GreenLight Metals is moving straight into a fully funded, multi-rig Phase-2 drill program at Bend planned for approximately 7,000 meters across up to 15 permitted drill pads.

The program will test down-plunge and down-dip extensions of the high-grade copper-gold-tellurium system with the aim of delineating additional high-grade zones as the company advances toward a modern NI 43-101–compliant Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE).

The campaign is structured in two stages with initial winter drilling kicking off now and the balance of permitted meterage scheduled for post-spring breakup.

Modern Exploration Advantage

Phase-2 will incorporate Borehole Electromagnetic (BHEM) surveys, enabling real-time 3D plate modeling designed to optimize targeting precision.

That integration of active step-out drilling and simultaneous downhole geophysics represents a powerful technical advantage for the GRL team in Phase-2:

• Faster vectoring toward mineralized zones
• Improved targeting efficiency
• Increased probability of follow-up success

As noted earlier, GreenLight has reengaged Taconite Drilling LLC to execute the Phase-2 program following the firm’s successful completion of Phase-1.

With Phase-2 mobilizing, Bend is increasingly demonstrating the characteristics of a large, scalable VMS system aligned with GRL’s broader vision of executing a US-based copper-gold-critical-metals hub-and-spoke platform.

As the program advances, speculators can expect a steady stream of news flow, including drilling updates and assay releases.

Next, let’s dive into GreenLight’s complementary projects — Reef, Lobo, and Lobo East — further strengthening the company’s district-scale resource potential and exploration optionality across Wisconsin’s Penokean Volcanic Belt.

 

Expansive Discovery Upside in the Penokean:
Reef, Lobo & Lobo East

With the flagship Bend project anchoring GreenLight Metals’ district-scale strategy — and with Phase-2 drilling now underway — the company has assembled a broad Wisconsin-focused portfolio spanning copper, gold, silver, and zinc.

These accretive assets — Reef, Lobo, and Lobo East — add meaningful upside, strategic flexibility, and longer-term optionality within Wisconsin’s Penokean Volcanic Belt.

Reef: High-Grade Gold-Copper System with Established Footprint

The 100%-owned Reef project represents a compelling advanced-stage gold-copper exploration opportunity within GreenLight’s copper-dominant Wisconsin portfolio.

Located on private land, Reef hosts a shear-zone related system supported by extensive historic drilling and multiple high-grade intercepts, including long intervals of continuous gold mineralization.

Past work outlined broad zones of gold mineralization with copper credits extending from surface to approximately 150 meters depth, remaining open along strike and at depth.

Importantly, Reef has already benefited from millions of dollars in prior investment, providing GreenLight with a substantial technical and geological foundation.

Current work is focused on validating and digitizing historic datasets, re-logging core, and refining geological interpretations — a disciplined approach positioning Reef for efficient follow-up drilling (~2,000 meters planned) as permitting progresses.

In today’s rising precious and base metals price environment, Reef adds meaningful gold-copper exposure, complementing Bend’s copper-dominant profile.

Lobo & Lobo East: High-Grade VMS Discovery Potential

The Lobo and adjacent Lobo East projects introduce a new layer of VMS-focused discovery upside to the GreenLight portfolio.

Lobo is a historic, high-grade VMS discovery located near the world-class Crandon deposit, one of the largest undeveloped VMS systems in North America.

Past drilling at Lobo intersected exceptionally high grades, including zinc-dominant massive sulfide mineralization with meaningful copper, gold, and lead credits.

Mineralization remains open along strike and down dip with only limited historical drilling completed.

Lobo East remains largely undrilled despite hosting strong geophysical anomalies consistent with VMS-style mineralization.

The strategically positioned project is currently advancing through baseline environmental studies and permitting.

Together, Lobo and Lobo East provide GreenLight with district-scale VMS discovery optionality — the kind of upside that has historically driven meaningful re-ratings upon drill-bit success.

Disciplined Portfolio Advancement

GreenLight continues to prioritize capital deployment and technical effort at Bend while systematically advancing Reef, Lobo, and Lobo East through targeted, lower-cost de-risking programs — including permitting, data validation, and target refinement.

That disciplined, low-cost exploration model preserves multiple future pathways, including internal advancement, strategic partnerships, or joint ventures — while maintaining upside exposure across the broader Penokean Belt.

In a market increasingly rewarding jurisdictional safety, geological scale, and strategic optionality, GRL’s multi-project, multi-metal approach delivers leverage well beyond a single-asset story.

With the broader portfolio taking shape, the focus now turns to the timing behind GreenLight’s emerging hub-and-spoke strategy in one of the safest mining jurisdictions globally.

 

Perfect Timing: Metals, Energy Transition & US Policy

The broader metals environment is increasingly favoring the type of assets GreenLight Metals is advancing in Wisconsin’s Penokean Volcanic Belt.

Across copper, gold, silver, zinc, and tellurium — the metals most relevant to GreenLight’s portfolio — markets are signaling sustained demand, tightening supply, and growing strategic importance tied to electrification, infrastructure investment, and domestic supply security.

Copper, gold, and silver, in particular, sit at the intersection of electrification, infrastructure buildout, and monetary uncertainty as governments and industry alike prioritize secure domestic sources of supply.

Zinc remains essential to global infrastructure through its critical role in steel galvanization. Meanwhile, tellurium demand, driven by its strategic importance in advanced solar technologies, has been in a sustained uptrend since 2022.

In that context, scale, jurisdiction, and development readiness matter more than ever.

Against that backdrop, large-scale polymetallic projects in secure North American jurisdictions are becoming increasingly rare — and increasingly valuable — in today’s bullish metals environment.

VMS systems are especially relevant in this setting as they naturally host multiple payable metals within a single geological system, often delivering copper-dominant economics with meaningful gold, silver, and zinc credits.

That polymetallic profile provides built-in resilience across commodity cycles, reinforcing GreenLight’s focus on the VMS-hosted Bend project along with additional VMS discovery upside at Lobo and Lobo East.

Complementing that exposure, the Reef project adds significant gold-copper optionality within the same belt.

Also noteworthy, GreenLight’s assets are located in a jurisdiction that has decisively reopened to responsible mining, supported by Wisconsin’s modernized regulatory framework — creating a favorable operating environment for small-cap explorers.

As global geopolitics continue to disrupt traditional supply chains, projects located entirely within the United States — and capable of contributing to domestic critical metals security — are commanding renewed attention.

In this setting, GRL is executing a disciplined hub-and-spoke strategy supported by accretive assets that are well aligned for the next growth phase.

As Matt Filgate explains, the company’s strategy reflects tightening copper supply alongside rising demand with additional leverage from gold, silver, tellurium, and zinc exposure across this deeply mineralized, underexplored US belt.

To that end, GreenLight is advancing multi-project exploration and resource growth with a clear roadmap toward a scalable, US-based VMS platform.

That execution-first approach is driven by a leadership team with decades of combined experience building and advancing large-scale mineral systems.

Next, we explore that perspective in our exclusive conversation with GreenLight Metals president & CEO Matt Filgate.

 

Exclusive Interview with GreenLight Metals
President & CEO Matt Filgate

Our own Gerardo Del Real of Resource Stock Digest caught up with GreenLight Metals president & CEO Matt Filgate to discuss the company’s rapid ascent to first-mover status in a newly reopened US critical minerals district.

Matt brings a unique blend of capital markets experience and hands-on project advancement at an ideal moment for a US-focused critical metals story.

Since taking the company public in April 2025, he has overseen rapid technical validation at Bend, strengthened the balance sheet, and positioned GreenLight for its next phase of growth.

Just as importantly, Matt has assembled a tightly focused team with deep experience spanning exploration, development, permitting, and corporate governance.

So let’s jump in as CEO Matt Filgate details why 2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for GreenLight Metals with drilling, resource growth, and portfolio advancement all moving forward in America’s heartland.

The GreenLight Metals Opportunity

GreenLight Metals Inc. (TSX-V: GRL)(OTCQB: GRLMF) enters 2026 with accelerating momentum across its project portfolio as metals markets turn increasingly supportive of high-grade, US-based projects — particularly in newly reopened, underexplored districts like Wisconsin’s Penokean Volcanic Belt.

At the flagship Bend project, multi-rig Phase-2 drilling is underway with a focus on systematically advancing the copper-gold VMS system.

You heard directly from CEO Matt Filgate, who says,

“The primary goal here is to define an economic deposit at Bend — something that can become the next high-grade copper-dominant mine in the United States. That’s our focus, and we have lots of exciting exploration and news flow ahead as we advance Bend.”

That strategy is supported by a strengthened balance sheet following a recently completed C$11.5 million financing.

Beyond Bend, GreenLight’s broader portfolio in the Penokean adds depth and optionality with Reef providing gold-copper leverage and Lobo and Lobo East offering high-grade VMS discovery potential.

With ~100 million shares outstanding on a non-fully-diluted basis and a market capitalization below C$50 million, GRL maintains a tight share structure, providing meaningful leverage to exploration success as the project portfolio advances through successive exploration and drilling phases.

With Wisconsin’s Penokean Volcanic Belt reopened and Phase-2 drilling now underway at the flagship Bend project, GRL stands out as a first mover with multiple catalysts ahead — making now an opportune time to take a closer look at GreenLight Metals Inc.

A great place to continue your due diligence is the company’s corporate website where you can learn more about the projects, meet the team, and sign up for direct updates.

View the current Investor Presentation here.

GreenLight Metals Inc. trades on the TSX-V under the symbol GRL and on the OTCQB under the symbol GRLMF.

— Resource Stock Digest Research

Click here to see more from GreenLight Metals Inc.