Nicola Mining (NASDAQ: NICM, TSX.V: NIM, FSE: HLIA) has a number to work with: 2.83 grams gold and 753.41 grams silver per tonne, the weighted average grade from composite sampling of two Red Eye Resources stockpiles, according to the company's 6-K filed on August 31, 2026, with the SEC.
The result comes less than two weeks after Nicola entered a mining and milling profit share agreement with Red Eye Resources, announced August 17, 2026. The immediate question the sampling was designed to answer is whether the material is worth trucking to Nicola's fully permitted Merritt Mill facility near Merritt, British Columbia — a gravity-and-flotation plant the company owns 100%.
Paragon Geochemical, an independent ISO 17025:2017 accredited laboratory in Surrey, BC, ran the analysis using 2-cycle PhotonAssay on samples totalling 47.82 kilograms. The split: 34.31 kilograms drawn from the larger stockpile, estimated at approximately 1,200 tonnes, and 14.87 kilograms from the smaller stockpile, estimated at approximately 300 tonnes. Nicola's own geologists transported the material to the lab, where it was crushed and pulverized before analysis.
The 6-K is candid about the limits of what these numbers mean. Buried material in both piles was not accessible for sampling. Additional material was added to the larger pile after samples were collected. High variability in the results adds further uncertainty to grade distribution across the full volume. The company states plainly that results should not be considered representative of the entire stockpile material — a caveat that applies equally to both the gold and silver figures.
What's next is a laboratory simulation program to maximize gold and silver recovery from the sampled material, per the 6-K. That work will give the company a clearer picture of recoveries before committing the Merritt Mill — and the economics embedded in the profit share agreement — to processing the Red Eye piles.
Nicola's Merritt Mill sits fully permitted and capable of handling both gold and silver feed. The company holds 100% of the Treasure Mountain project (31 mineral claims covering 2,200 hectares plus one mineral lease covering approximately 335 hectares in Hope, BC), 100% of the New Craigmont project (22 mineral claims covering approximately 10,800 hectares plus 10 mineral leases covering approximately 347 hectares in Merritt, BC), and a 50% interest in the Dominion Creek Property (8 mineral claims covering 1,040 hectares in Prince George, BC).
Will Whitty, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration, is the Qualified Person under NI 43-101 who reviewed and approved the technical disclosures in the August 31, 2026, 6-K.
On the financing side, Nicola completed a non-brokered private placement on January 29, 2026, issuing 5,512,001 units at $0.90 per unit for gross proceeds of $4,960,800 (net proceeds $4,801,185). Each unit carried one common share and one warrant exercisable at $1.10 per share for three years.
Silver on COMEX settled at $66.44 on August 31, 2026, per the research brief, providing the commodity backdrop against which any eventual processing decision will be weighed.
The next datapoint to watch is the outcome of the laboratory recovery simulations — the number that will actually determine whether the Red Eye stockpiles feed the Merritt Mill.