With a focus on maintaining fiscal discipline and strategically allocating resources, Riverside is well-positioned to pursue high-potential projects across its diverse portfolio. The Company's financial stability and its ability to source high-potential projects enhance its ability to attract partnerships and drive shareholder value through exploration success and asset development. These factors, along with Riverside's proven track record of delivering results, create a strong foundation for growth, the potential spinout of new businesses to shareholders, and continued exploration success in 2025 and beyond.
"Building on the strong foundation progressed in 2024, Riverside is poised to unlock key opportunities in 2025," said Riverside's President and CEO, John-Mark Staude. "With a solid financial position, a diverse portfolio of high-quality projects, and strategic partnerships, we are advancing our exploration efforts in Canada and Mexico while capitalizing on royalty opportunities and ongoing transactions to drive value creation.
The first half of 2025 is shaping up to be an active and pivotal period for Riverside. We are moving forward with plans to spin out our Ontario gold assets into a separate exploration company, a strategic initiative designed to unlock additional value for shareholders and provide secondary liquidity potential. Additionally, we are working closely with our partner, Fortuna Mining, on follow-on exploration the drilling success of 2024 with a program at the Cecilia Project in Mexico, on discovering now high-grade mineralization at the system the Company delineated during the 2024 program. Updates on both initiatives will be shared early in the year.
In British Columbia, we are prioritizing exploration for gold and rare earth elements across key properties, including the Deer Park, Revel and Taft projects, to take advantage of growing demand for critical minerals. These projects represent exciting opportunities to expand our resource base and further diversify our portfolio in a stable Canadian jurisdiction with drive up access and easy delivery to markets.
Looking ahead, we are actively evaluating potential acquisitions to grow our property portfolio in another North American jurisdiction. This expansion aligns with our strategy to capitalize on favorable markets and enhance Riverside's position as a leader in exploration-driven value creation. With these initiatives and a strengthening commodities market, we are confident in our ability to deliver meaningful results and shareholder value in 2025."
2025 Strategic Goals and Potential Milestones
Advancing Canadian Assets:
- In the first half of 2025, Riverside Resources plans to present a proposal to its shareholders for the potential spinout of its Ontario gold properties-Pichette, Oakes, and Duc-into a dedicated exploration company named Blue Jay Gold (Resources). This strategic initiative aims to create a standalone entity that will focus exclusively on advancing these high-potential gold assets, strategically located within the prolific Geraldton-Beardmore Greenstone Belt in Northwestern Ontario. Shareholders previously benefited from the successful spinout of Capitan Mining (TSXV: CAPT) in 2021, as highlighted in Riverside's press release at the time. Now, shareholders have another opportunity to unlock value through the proposed spinout of Riverside's Ontario gold assets into a new company. This initiative aims to create a focused exploration entity, providing shareholders with direct exposure to its potential success and unlocking the embedded value within Riverside's portfolio.
- Riverside intends to execute follow-up exploration on its gold and rare earth element properties in British Columbia with a focus on advancing these projects to drill-ready status. Planned work includes detailed mapping, geochemical sampling, and geophysical surveys to refine targets and evaluate resource potential. Riverside aims to capitalize on the growing demand for gold and critical minerals, leveraging its technical expertise to advance these high-potential assets while seeking partnerships to accelerate exploration efforts.
Mexico Exploration and Partnerships:
- The Company is collaborating closely with our partner, Fortuna Mining, to design and launch a follow-on exploration program at the Cecilia Project in Mexico. This next phase of exploration will continue to delineate and define the full extent of the mineralized system, building on the results from the successful 2024 drill program. By focusing on key structural zones and high-priority areas identified through geophysical surveys and earlier drilling, we aim to target higher-grade gold zones and large-scale deposits.
This planned program will include additional detailed mapping and geochemical analysis to refine targets and identify areas of significant gold and silver potential. Geophysics is also planned to refine targets ahead of the next 2025 drill program at Cecilia based upon this spring 2025 exploration results. The project exhibits many technical similarities to nearby operations, such as the Santa Elena District, where Coeur Mining recently acquired Silvercrest Metals for over $1 billion USD, and First Majestic's most productive operation in Mexico. Updates on this initiative, along with the drill results from the 2024 program, are expected to be shared in Q1 2025 as laboratory results are finalized.
- Pursue additional joint ventures or sale agreements for key projects such as Union and Ariel to further de-risk and monetize Riverside's asset base. This strategic approach aligns with the Company's goal of diversifying beyond Mexico while capturing value from the high-quality assets developed over the past five years.
Royalty and Strategic Opportunities:
- Actively advance and expand Riverside's royalty portfolio to enhance its value as key royalties are developed and progressed through the pipeline by major partners, such as Fresnillo PLC. The portfolio includes significant assets, such as the Net Smelter Return (NSR) royalty on the Tajitos Gold Project in Mexico with Fresnillo, which holds promising potential for future production. Fresnillo is actively advancing development and permitting at Tajitos with the project well-positioned for continued progress toward production, enhancing the royalty's value. Further, the recent election of Mexico's new President, who has maintained a pro-business stance bolsters the attractiveness of the Tajitos NSR.
- Continue advancing discussions with U.S.-based exploration groups and other partners across the Americas to explore potential generative exploration alliances. These partnerships and portfolios have the potential to strategically enhance value for Riverside shareholders over the coming year.
Corporate Development:
- Maintain a strong focus on financial discipline while strategically expanding and upgrading the Company's portfolio of quality mineral assets. Riverside remains committed to managing its capital prudently, ensuring resources are allocated efficiently to projects with the highest potential for discovery and value creation. This disciplined approach enables the Company to advance its exploration initiatives while safeguarding its robust balance sheet.
As part of this strategy, Riverside will prioritize opportunities to acquire high-quality assets in mining-friendly jurisdictions, leveraging its proprietary databases and technical expertise to identify projects with significant upside potential. In addition to its current focus in Canada and Mexico, the Company is exploring the potential for acquisitions in another mining-friendly North American jurisdiction, further diversifying its asset base and creating new growth opportunities.
- Actively engage with the investment community through attending conferences and events, including Vancouver Round Up, PDAC 2025, Swiss Mining Institute, the Rule Symposium 2025
2024 Recap and Highlights
Canada
Ontario Projects:
Riverside transferred its three key projects into a new subsidiary company, strategically positioning them for a potential unlocking of value in 2025.
Pichette Gold Project: through integrating structural geology LiDAR and geochemical data Blue Jay Gold has identified several new zones with mineralization. Recent fieldwork led to the discovery of mineralized banded iron formations, with samples returning assays up to 21 g/t gold. (Press Release, February 29, 2024)
Duc Project: The company completed a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) survey, enhancing the understanding of surface projections and structural features. This data coupled with last year's magnetics survey has improved the targeting for future exploration, particularly in identifying major shears indicative of Abitibi greenstone-style gold deposits.
Blue Jay Gold (Resources) Spinout: Riverside announced plans to transfer its Ontario gold assets, including Pichette, Oakes, and Duc, into a wholly owned subsidiary, Blue Jay Gold. (Press Release, November 14, 2024) This strategic move aims to unlock shareholder value by creating a focused exploration company dedicated to advancing these high-potential gold projects in the Geraldton-Beardmore Greenstone Belt.
British Columbia Projects:
Deer Park and Sunrise Gold Projects: Riverside has an option to acquire these projects north of Castlegar and the Rossland Gold Camp. Initial exploration identified two main targets: Viking Horde and Cougar Ridge with rock samples returning assays up to 7.07 g/t gold. These acquisitions align with Riverside's strategy to expand its presence in British Columbia's prolific mining regions.
Taft Project: The company secured an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Taft Project, covering 3,000 hectares in the Perry River Carbonatite Belt west of Revelstoke. This project is prospective for rare earth elements and gold, aligning with Riverside's focus on critical minerals essential for renewable energy and advanced technologies.
Mexico
Cecilia Project: Riverside, in collaboration with Fortuna Mining, launched a fully funded 2,250-meter drill program targeting geologic exploration zones: the Agua Prieta Breccia, East Target, and Mayra vein system. This program expanded on previous exploration efforts to delineate and define the strength and continuity of hydrothermal alteration which was supported by geophysical and field data. This partnership highlights Cecilia's potential as a cornerstone asset in Sonora and demonstrates Riverside's expertise in leveraging its extensive Mexican database to identify high-quality opportunities that secure partnerships.
Union Project: Riverside has continued to consolidate the Union Project district by securing property agreements and integrating the data from multiple properties. This effort is aimed at developing a comprehensive, district-wide understanding of the geological framework and identifying high-priority exploration targets. The Company signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Questcorp Mining Inc. for an option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the Union Project for which the Company was paid a fee of $12,500. (Press Release, September 6, 2024). The agreement includes $5.5 million in exploration expenditures, cash payments, and share issuances over four years, with Riverside retaining a 2.5% NSR royalty. Exploration efforts in 2024 focused on mapping, sampling, and geochemical surveys, identifying high-grade gold and zinc zones. These findings have positioned the project for further development in partnership with Questcorp.
Ariel Copper-Gold Project: The company has continued to advance the Ariel Project by consolidating landholdings and conducting early-stage exploration. Riverside has identified porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum potential across a 16 km² area. Recent efforts have focused on securing joint venture opportunities to unlock the project's value.
Qualified Person & QA/QC:
The scientific and technical data contained in this news release was reviewed and approved by Freeman Smith, P.Geo, a non-independent qualified person to Riverside Resources who is responsible for ensuring that the information provided in this news release is accurate and who acts as a "qualified person" under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
About Riverside Resources Inc.:
Riverside is a well-funded exploration company driven by value generation and discovery. The Company has over $4M in cash, no debt and less than 75M shares outstanding with a strong portfolio of gold-silver and copper assets and royalties in North America. Riverside has extensive experience and knowledge operating in Mexico and Canada and leverages its large database to generate a portfolio of prospective mineral properties. In addition to Riverside's own exploration spending, the Company also strives to diversify risk by securing joint-venture and spin-out partnerships to advance multiple assets simultaneously and create more chances for discovery. Riverside has properties available for option, with information available on the Company's website at www.rivres.com.
ON BEHALF OF Riverside Resources Inc.
"John-Mark Staude"
Dr. John-Mark Staude, President & CEO
For additional information contact:
Certain statements in this press release may be considered forward-looking information. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology (e.g., "expect"," estimates", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "plans"). Such information involves known and unknown risks -- including the availability of funds, the results of financing and exploration activities, the interpretation of exploration results and other geological data, or unanticipated costs and expenses and other risks identified by Riverside in its public securities filings that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.
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