Volta Metals Ltd. (CSE: VLTA | FSE: D0W) is a critical mineral exploration company focused on rare earths, gallium, lithium, cesium, and tantalum, with projects in Ontario, Canada. On February 23, 2026, the Company reported a major resource expansion at its Springer Rare Earth Element deposit near Sturgeon Falls, approximately one hour east of Sudbury, Ontario along the Trans-Canada Highway.
“It’s very exciting. It exceeded our expectations, to be honest,” Kerem Usenmez, President, CEO, and Director of Volta Metals Ltd., said in an interview with InvestorNews host Tracy Hughes.
“What’s exciting also is that it’s still open and we are drilling. We’re hitting more. So, I think it’s going to get even bigger, but we’re already in the Top 10 and getting better and better every day.”
Hughes asked what “Top 10” meant in practical terms. “Basically, if I understand properly, is the Springer project in the ‘Top 10 Rare Earth Deposits in North America’? Is that correct?”
“That is correct, yes,” Usenmez replied. “It got into a new scale. It really is incredible — 176 million tonnes of rare earth mineralization, on surface. It’s very, very exciting.”
The updated Mineral Resource Estimate, effective December 31, 2025, reports 56.6 million tonnes in the Indicated category at 0.70% TREO and 119.5 million tonnes in the Inferred category at 0.58% TREO. According to the Company, the deposit now ranks among the top 10 largest rare earth deposits in North America based on publicly available Indicated and Inferred mineral resource tonnage for North American rare earth projects listed in the S&P Global Market Intelligence database, 2025.
The Company reported a 1,248% increase in Indicated Resources to 56.6Mt at 0.70% TREO, including a near-surface high-grade core of 11.5Mt at 1.10% TREO, and an 841% expansion in Inferred Resources to 119.5Mt at 0.58% TREO, including a near-surface high-grade core of 3Mt at 1.16% TREO. Additional contained rare earth oxides were added at an estimated discovery cost of C$0.02 per tonne of Indicated Resource.
Hughes noted that the project ranks number seven and pointed to infrastructure as a key advantage. Usenmez agreed. “Fifty minutes away from Sudbury through the Trans-Canada Highway. We’re just outside of Sturgeon Falls. Have two hydro power dams literally just outside of our claims, and one of them is powered by First Nations.
“So this project will be powered not only with staff but literally the power because the power lines go through the property. We have all the supplies we need within 68 km, including Trans-Canada Highway and railway station.”
According to the Company’s disclosure, the deposit is approximately 70 km east of Sudbury and 15 km north of Sturgeon Falls. It is accessible via Highway 64, with proximity to the Crystal Falls and Sturgeon Falls hydroelectric dams, hydroelectric power lines, a natural gas pipeline, and the Canadian National Railway line. A high-voltage transmission line runs through the project’s claims and is expected to source power from the Crystal Falls hydroelectric dam.
On drilling results, Usenmez said, “Our initial drilling came back with — well, we first drilled twice as much as we anticipated, or planned for, because we were still in mineralization. It kept going, etc. So having holes, not once, more than once, from top to bottom mineralized, and at the end still high-grade mineralization — that’s really what else can you hope for?
“So that helped, and that showed us the shape is changing. It’s getting bigger and it is still open. That’s why we are drilling right now. But the intercepts we have are exceptional — rare earth mineralization, very high grade. In some cases, the premium magnets that you want — magnet minerals — but also the gallium. So very, very good results.”
Hughes referenced the “core four” rare earth elements — praseodymium, neodymium, dysprosium and terbium — and asked about their significance.
“This mineral resource is based on those four — big four — I call them big four being the only ones that are payable,” Usenmez said. “We have other light and heavies, but yes, those are the ones that the Western world needs the most for our modern world — for technology, for AI, as well as defense applications — which we don’t have. So we need to find more of those to support the critical supply chain that is domestic in North America. So having those four — two light, two heavy — that are most valuable in this one project is incredible to me.”
He also addressed gallium. “China controls 98% of the processing of gallium. You can’t take it out of China. U.S. has zero production of gallium. Gallium goes not only everywhere — but AI, so the semiconductors. As we all know, how important it is to have the control for this critical supply chain.
“Gallium nitride chips — the semiconductors — are way more efficient and faster than silicon chips alone, so that is making it very strategic. The price of gallium, obviously, is through the roof and I think it’s going to remain there for a long time. Obviously it’s a smaller market. So having that kind of grades, that kind of thicknesses that Springer has is definitely going to give a strong advantage to this project.
“And having it from surface down to the depths we’re looking at for the rare earth, it seems to correlate — where the high-grade, those big four are — along with the gallium. So gallium is going to add — probably our estimation is between 25 to 35% value — to this project alone.”
A fully funded 6,000-metre Phase-2 drill program is underway, and the current Mineral Resource Estimate does not include historical or recent high-grade gallium assay results from the Fall 2025 drill program.
Usenmez said he would be attending PDAC. “I’m looking forward to seeing you, our shareholders — existing and potential new ones. I think this is one of the good stories for this year’s PDAC, I’m hoping. So yeah, it’s a very exciting time. I’m going to have the high-grade core from Springer as well as our technical team going to be on site. So I would like to see everyone that is interested to come and visit us. Our booth number is 2728.”
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