Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 6, 2026) - Silver Elephant Mining Corp. (TSX: ELEF) (OTCQB: SILEF) (FSE: 1P2) ("Silver Elephant" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an exploration update on the Company's optioned Robinson-Lasher zinc-germanium-gallium mining project (the "Robinson-Lasher Project") in Livingston County, Kentucky, located approximately 90 miles from the proposed US$7.4 billion critical-minerals smelter in Clarksville, Tennessee being developed by Korea Zinc. Modeled after Korea Zinc's Onsan Smelter - the world's largest non-ferrous smelter - the proposed Tennessee facility is largely financed by the U.S. EXIM Bank, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the Department of War. The new smelter in Tennessee is designed to recover up to 12 critical minerals, including zinc, silver, germanium and gallium, all of which occur at the Robinson-Lasher Project. The smelter is projected to enter operation in 2029, requiring over 500,000 tons of concentrate feed annually.
Historical drilling on the Robinson-Lasher Project returned germanium values of up to 350 grams per ton ("g/t") and gallium values of up to 20 g/t within sphalerite mineralized zones in two of the four holes drilled (DXHR-01 and DXHR-03). Down-hole composite assays from DXHR-01 include 81.4 feet (24.8 meters) grading approximately 11.2% zinc and 114 g/t germanium; composite assays from DXHR-03 include 16.0 feet (4.9 meters) grading approximately 13.4% zinc and 199 g/t germanium (with a peak of 350 g/t germanium).[1]
As of June 26, 2026, germanium metal traded at US$8,597.50 per kilogram - equivalent to approximately US$267 per troy ounce - up 320% since the start of 2020.[2] The price action is partly attributed to China's August 2023 germanium export-licensing measures and its December 2024 ban on exports to the United States.
Germanium and gallium at Robinson-Lasher Project
The germanium and gallium data referenced in this news release are drawn from an exploration report titled "Shawnee Zinc Exploration Project - Hampton Prospect, Livingston County, Kentucky," dated July 2008, prepared by North American Exploration, Inc. for Dynamex Resources Corporation (the "2008 Report"). The Project corresponds to the area historically referred to as the Hampton Prospect, which comprises the adjoining Robinson (zinc) and Lasher (fluorspar) structures.
As part of a 2008 confirmation drilling program, four core holes were completed and selected core intervals were analyzed at ACME Analytical Laboratories (Vancouver, B.C.). Base metals were determined by four-acid digestion with an ICP-ES finish, and gallium and germanium were determined on samples from two of the holes - DXHR-01 and DXHR-03. Holes DXHR-02 and DXHL-01 were assayed for zinc and fluorspar but were not analyzed for germanium or gallium.[3] According to the 2008 Report, hole DXHR-01 returned germanium of up to 220 g/t and hole DXHR-03 returned germanium of up to 350 g/t (the highest value on the Project), in each case with the highest germanium value reported in association with the hole's highest-grade zinc interval - a 5.0-foot interval grading 32.63% zinc in DXHR-01 and a 6.6-foot interval grading 28.12% zinc in DXHR-03. Gallium reached up to 20 g/t in both holes. The full sample-by-sample results for both holes are set out in Table 1.