North American Niobium and Critical Minerals Corp. has added approximately 3,500 metres of diamond drilling to its 2026 exploration schedule after securing final operational permits for its remaining properties in Québec.

The company received Authorizations for Impact-Causing Exploration Work from Québec’s Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts for the 100%-owned Bardy SE, Sabot, and Miskam projects. The three permits authorize diamond drilling across 11 zones and carry three-year validities.

The approvals mean all six of the company’s drill-ready assets in the Grenville Province are now fully permitted. As of April 2026, North American Niobium held drilling authorizations for only three projects in the portfolio: Bardy, Blanchette, and Seigneurie.

The newly permitted sites sit approximately 45 kilometres northwest of La Tuque in the Mauricie region. The upcoming maiden drill programs will test un-drilled geological targets, including an interpreted approximately 60-square-kilometre alkaline intrusion at Miskam, a Crevier Alkaline Complex analog at Bardy SE, and structurally controlled pegmatite dyke and vein systems at Sabot.

Permitting followed community engagement with the Atikamekw First Nation Council at Wemotaci and local family chief members whose traditional territory encompasses the project areas.

“We have officially expanded our 2026 drilling program to 8,500 metres across six properties,” said Murray Nye, NIOB’s Chief Executive Officer. “We plan our drill programs with intention, targeting based on the strongest results from the airborne survey, historical data, and field work. This approach is working, as we have consistently delivered what we set out to do in each program: identify rare earth minerals. We now have more than three alkaline intrusions showing strong potential.”

— Murray Nye, Chief Executive Officer

The expanded campaign brings total planned diamond drilling for the year to approximately 8,500 metres across six properties. Laboratory multi-element and rare earth element assays remain pending for completed 2026 diamond drilling programs at the Bardy and Blanchette properties.

Elsewhere in the surrounding district, an updated mineral resource estimate for the Bégin-Lamarche project reported by First Phosphate Corp. on May 30, 2026, showed indicated resources increasing by 378%.

North American Niobium holds a district-scale land package spanning 29,936 hectares in the Grenville Province, hosting rare earth element, niobium, and nickel-copper occurrences.

Read the full announcement: NIOB’s six drill-ready Québec projects fully permitted