Juggernaut drills 30.11 m quartz-sulphide at Big Mack, Big One property
(TheNewswire)
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Vancouver, British Columbia – August 19, 2026 – TheNewswire – Juggernaut Exploration Ltd (JUGR: TSX.V) (OTCPK: JUGRF) (FSE: 4JE) (the “Company” or “Juggernaut”) is pleased to report that initial observations from the maiden drill program have already confirmed the extent of the Big Mac Zone to a depth of 1/2 kilometre (500 m) and a strike of 450 m where broad intervals up to 30.11 meters of quartz-sulphide mineralization have been intersected on the newly discovered district scale gold, silver, copper rich system on the 100% controlled Big One property (the “Property”), Golden Triangle, British Columbia. The Big Mac Zone remains wide open both laterally and at depth. Multiple drill holes intersected substantial intervals of broad quartz-sulphide veins and shears containing quartz-sulphide mineralization and textures visually similar to those observed in surface samples that assayed up to 114.60 g/t AuEq (3.66 oz/t AuEq) and continuous channel cuts yielding up to 4.89 g/t AuEq over 5.21 meters. The drill program has been significantly expanded and remains ongoing.
Big Mac vein highlights:
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The Big Mac Zone has a confirmed strike on surface of 450 m with a down-dip extent confirmed in drill core of 500 m and remains wide open for expansion both laterally and at depth. Multiple drill holes intersected substantial intervals of broad quartz-sulphide veins and shears up to 30.11 m wide containing chalcopyrite, galena and sphalerite, similar to those seen in high-grade gold-bearing samples collected on surface.
LINK TO BIG MAC SCALE MAP HERE
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Drill hole BO-26-14 intersected the Big Mac Zone in a 30.11 m interval from 461.40 m to 491.51 m containing two shear zones separated by pervasively silicified diorite with minor disseminated pyrite and sphalerite. The first shear zone consists of a 3.46 m interval from 461.40 m to 464.86 m characterized by strongly sheared diorite containing veins with up to 2% disseminated pyrite. The second shear zone is characterized by strongly foliated and silicified diorite with trace amounts of sulphides. Assays are pending.
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Drill hole BO-26-02 intersected the Big Mac Zone in a 11.22 m interval from 117.48 m to 128.70 m characterized by veins and veinlets up to 1 m wide containing up to 2% pyrite with trace amounts of chalcopyrite enveloped by strong quartz-sericite alteration. Assays are pending.
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Drill hole BO-26-18 intercepted the Big Mac Zone in a 10.04 m interval from 374.51 m to 384.55 m containing strongly foliated diorite with disseminated pyrite and veins with up to 1% pyrite, as well as pervasive quartz-sericite alteration. Assays are pending.
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Drill hole BO-26-05 intersected the Big Mac Zone in a 9.12 m interval from 130.02 m to 139.14 m consisting of strongly sheared diorite with veins and veinlets containing up to 1% pyrite as well as galena enveloped by pervasive quartz-sericite alteration. Assays are pending.
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Drill hole BO-26-07 intercepted the Big Mac Zone in a 6.57 m interval from 153.66 m to 160.23 m containing disseminated pyrite within the shear zone as well as in veins up to 20 cm wide with strong quart-sericite alteration. Assays are pending.
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Drill hole BO-26-04 intersected the Big Mac Zone in a 5.26 m interval from 122.81 m to 128.07 m characterized by veins and veinlets up to 0.5 m wide containing up to 2% pyrite with trace amounts of galena enveloped by strong quartz-sericite alteration. Assays are pending.
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Surface exploration at the Big Mac Vein has returned several high-grade results, highlighted by grab samples assaying up to 114.60 g/t AuEq (3.66 oz/t AuEq) and a continuous channel cut yielding 4.89 g/t AuEq over a width of 5.21 meters.
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Drilling as well as geological mapping confirms that the vein and its hosting shear structure measure up to 30 m wide, with a surface exposure of over 450 m and a vertical relief of up to 360 m. The system remains open along strike and at depth.
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Microscopic inspection has also identified coarse-grained, free-milling gold up to 150 microns in size within the vein, indicating highly favorable metallurgical and processing characteristics as the company advances this target.
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Pervasive propylitic alteration outside the veins and shear zones has been confirmed in all drill holes that intercepted the Big Mac vein to date, strongly indicating proximity to a buried porphyry core.
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As a result of the remarkable mineralization and intercepts length observed in drill core confirming the robust nature of this district scale system, the fully funded 2026 drill program has been expanded by ~30% from 10,000 m to ~13,000 m.
Manuele (Lele) Lazzarotto, President and COO of Juggernaut Exploration states: “The 2026 inaugural drill program has already exceeded the team’s expectations with multiple significant broad intercepts of quartz-sulphide veining up to 30.11 m wide on the Big Mac Zone that look similar to those sampled on surface that assayed high-grade gold up to 114.60 g/t AuEq. The initial Drilling has already confirmed that we were only seeing the tip of the iceberg on surface on Big Mac that now exceeds 450 m of strike and 500 m to depth and remains wide open. Based on these exceptional initial results, the Company has significantly expanded the drill program with multiple holes to ~13,000 m. We look forward to continuing to expand on this discovery in the third dimension both to depth and along strike and we are certain it will provide many additional pleasant surprises as drilling continues. Juggernaut Exploration is on track with discovery and looks forward to unlocking the full potential of this newly discovered district-scale gold system and building value for its shareholders for years to come. We plan to report additional results from the Big One property in the immediate future as the drill program continues with two drill rigs located on the Big Mac and Whopper zones within the 22 km2 Eldorado system.”
The fully funded 2026 inaugural drill program has been expanded from 10,000 m to 13,000 m of drilling with two drill rigs and is designed to test the largest and most extensive veins hosted within the 22 km2 Eldorado zone, where surface samples assayed up to 263.70 g/t AuEq or 8.48 oz/t AuEq and channel cuts assayed up to 4.89 g/t AuEq over 5.21 m from >400 mineralized veins that are up to 10 m wide hosted in shear zones up to 50 m wide, and are exposed on surface for >1 km with >1 km of vertical relief and remain open. The planned drill holes are designed to intersect areas where multiple occurrences of gold visible to the naked eye (VG) have been identified in surface channel and grab samples from the Whopper Zone, the Big Mac Zone, and the Gold Dome Zone.
Drilling, sampling and detailed mapping have confirmed that gold mineralization on Big One is linked to a Jurassic to Cretaceous transpressional system and associated intrusive sources, coeval with the magmatic events that formed the nearby multi-million-ounce Galore Creek copper, gold, silver porphyry deposit. Mineralized veins and shear zones were emplaced through brittle-ductile deformation during and after the Jurassic period, forming a major structural corridor at Big One. This newly discovered district-scale system shows widespread porphyry-style propylitic alteration, which will help vector in on the source of the extensive mineralization confirmed in multiple recently exposed gold-rich shear zones and veins.
Big One Gold-Rich District-Scale System Highlights:
Link to map with samples > 1 g/t AuEq
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The district-scale Eldorado System covers an area of 22 km that remains wide open where grab samples assayed up to 263.70 g/t AuEq or 8.48 oz/t AuEq (256.60 g/t Au, 546.00 g/t Ag, 0.43 % Cu, 0.41 % Pb and 0.01 % Zn) from 400 mineralized veins that remain open and are up to 10 m wide, hosted in shear zones up to 50 m wide, and are exposed on surface for 500 m with 1 km of vertical relief.
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The Gold Swarm Discovery is a 3 km area of strong gold potential with 100 gold-rich polymetallic veins exposed on surface for 200 m and up to 4.5 m wide with up to 700 m of vertical relief, where grab samples assayed up to 231.81 g/t AuEq or 7.45 oz/t AuEq (226.94 g/t Au, 335.00 g/t Ag, 0.00 % Cu, 4.99 % Pb and 0.01 % Zn) that remains open.
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41% (219 samples out of 527) collected within the Eldorado System in 2024 and 2025 assayed 1 g/t AuEq; 65% (28 samples out of 43) collected within the Gold Swarm Zone in 2024 and 2025 assayed 1 g/t AuEq.
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Gold samples up to 256.60 g/t or 8.25 oz/t, silver samples up 2810 g/t or 90.34 oz/t, and copper samples up to 14.40 % were collected on Big One.
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Results from a petrographic study prepared by the Colorado School of Mines confirmed that gold occurs as relatively pure, free milling gold up to 150 microns in size. Additionally, fluid inclusions with both liquid and gaseous CO bubbles have been observed within the gold-mineralized quartz veins indicating that fluids are generated at high-pressures confirming a magmatic origin, potentially a porphyry.
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The polymetallic veins, alteration signature, geochemical path finder element signature, and geophysical anomalies strongly indicate the presence of a large common buried gold, silver, copper rich porphyry feeder source or similar magmatic source or sources at depth responsible for the extensive district scale high-grade gold, silver, copper veining confirmed on surface.
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Detailed mapping has confirmed that mineralization at Eldorado and Gold Swarm is linked to a Jurassic to Cretaceous transpressional system and intrusive sources, coeval with the magmatic events that formed the nearby multi-million-ounce Galore Creek copper, gold, silver porphyry deposit.
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The district scale system shows widespread porphyry-style propylitic alteration, with the final phase of alteration occurring simultaneously with mineralization, which will help vector towards the potential source of the mineralization seen in the gold-rich shear zones and veins on surface that remain open.
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Mineralized veins and shear zones were emplaced through brittle-ductile deformation during and after the Jurassic period, forming a major structural corridor at Big One defined by northeast, east, and northwest trends, confirming common orientations as well as similar geochemical signatures and textures of the gold-mineralized veins along the 15 km Highway of Gold corridor surrounding the snowcap of Deeker Glacier strongly indicating that the gold-rich mineralization found throughout is all part of one district-scale gold system that remains open.
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The overall geochemistry of the gold-rich mineralized veins is clean with no occurrence of deleterious elements such as mercury or arsenic.
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The 5-year drill permit valid until March 31, 2031, will allow the Company to define the extent of the mineralization at depth as well as fully understand the geometry of the system and related drivers of the mineralization in preparation for a future resource.
The Big One property is situated in a region that is well known for hosting precious metal and porphyry deposits, several of which occur near the property including the multiple porphyry systems at Galore Creek, the world’s largest known gold reserve at KSM and the polymetallic copper project at Shaft Creek, as well as the Brucejack high-grade epithermal gold deposit, and the structurally controlled high-grade hydrothermal gold-silver zones at Trophy and Sphal Creek. The property geology is favorable to host these types of deposits as confirmed by the presence of extensive areas of propylitic alteration, untested geophysical anomalies, strong silt, soil and rock geochemistry including path finder elements directly related to porphyry systems, key structures and textures, porphyry-style mineralization, and high-grade polymetallic veins, that have been discovered on the Big One property.
The Big One property can be accessed year-round via helicopter from the Glenora/Telegraph Creek Road at the Barrington Mine (33 km to the north-northeast) as well as the Galore Creek Road (15 km to the southeast). The Canadian government committed $20 M to extend/improve the Galore Creek Road to within 15 km of the Big One property. The property is 2 km west of the Scud River airstrip used in the early days of Galore Creek.
The Big One property exploration qualifies for the Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (CMETC).
Table 1: Collar information for holes reported. Information will be updated once drilling is completed.
|
Hole ID |
CRS |
Easting (m) |
Northing (m) |
Elevation (m) |
Azimuth (deg) |
Dip (deg) |
Length (m) |
|
BO-26-18 |
NAD83/UTM Z9N |
317652 |
6364810 |
Not measured |
300 |
48 |
500 |
|
BO-26-14 |
NAD83/UTM Z9N |
317652 |
6364810 |
Not measured |
100 |
65 |
624 |
|
BO-26-7 |
NAD83/UTM Z9N |
317652 |
6365014 |
Not measured |
342 |
87 |
612 |
|
BO-26-5 |
NAD83/UTM Z9N |
317652 |
6365014 |
Not measured |
342 |
75 |
192 |
|
BO-26-4 |
NAD83/UTM Z9N |
317652 |
6365014 |
Not measured |
342 |
65 |
315 |
About Juggernaut Exploration Ltd.
Juggernaut Exploration Ltd. is a preeminent explorer and generator of precious and strategic metals projects in the prolific Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia. Its projects are located in globally recognized geological settings and in geopolitically stable jurisdictions, making them amenable to mining in Canada. Juggernaut is a member and active supporter of CASERM, a collaborative venture between the Colorado School of Mines and Virginia Tech. Juggernaut’s key strategic cornerstone shareholder is Crescat Capital.
For more information, please contact:
Juggernaut Exploration Ltd.
Dan Stuart
Chief Executive Officer
Tel: (604)-559-8028
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Qualified Person
Rein Turna, P. Geo is the qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, for Juggernaut Exploration projects, and supervised the preparation of, and has reviewed and approved, the technical information in this release.
Disclaimer
The reader is cautioned that grab samples are spot samples which are typically, but not exclusively, constrained to mineralization. Grab samples are selective in nature and collected to determine the presence or absence of mineralization and are not intended to be representative of the material sampled.
QA/QC Protocol
Oriented NQ-diameter diamond drill core from the drill program is placed in core boxes by the drill crew contracted by the Company. Core boxes are transported by helicopter to the staging area and then transported by truck to the core shack. The core is then re-orientated, meterage blocks are checked, meter marks are labelled, Recovery and RQD measurements taken, and primary bedding and secondary structural features including veins, dykes, cleavage, and shears are noted and measured. The core is then described and transcribed in MX Deposit data management software. Drill core containing quartz breccia, stockwork, veining and/or sulphide(s), or notable alteration is selectively sampled in lengths of 0.5 to 1.5 meters. Samples are selected from continuous intervals of mineralization and/or other relevant geological features, including shoulder samples that extend for 3 meters into adjacent unmineralized and/or unaltered country rock. Along barren core intervals devoid of mineralization or significant geological features, one 1 meter sample is collected every ten meters. Core samples are cut lengthwise in half: one-half remains in the box and the other half is inserted in a clean plastic bag with a sample tag. The bagged samples are then weighed and secured with a zip tie. Certified reference materials (CRMs), blanks and duplicates are added in the sample stream at a rate of 10%. To ensure analytical anonymity, CRM identification labels are removed prior to submission to the laboratory. Additional out-of-sequence blanks are introduced immediately following core samples that contain visible gold to the naked eye (VG-NE) or visibly high-grade sulphide mineralization.
Grab, channels, chip and talus samples were collected by foot with helicopter assistance. Prospective areas included, but were not limited to, proximity to MINFile locations, placer creek occurrences, regional soil anomalies, and potential gossans based on high-resolution satellite imagery. The rock grab and chip samples were extracted using a rock hammer, or hammer and chisel to expose fresh surfaces and to liberate a sample of anywhere between 0.5 to 5.0 kilograms. All sample sites were flagged with biodegradable flagging tape and marked with the sample number. All sample sites were recorded using hand-held GPS units (accuracy 3-10 meters) and sample ID, easting, northing, elevation, type of sample (outcrop, subcrop, float, talus, chip, grab, etc.) and a description of the rock were recorded on all-weather paper. Samples are then inserted in a clean plastic bag with a sample tag for transport and shipping to the geochemistry lab. QA/QC samples including blanks, certified reference materials, and duplicate samples are inserted regularly into the sample sequence at a rate of 10%.
All samples are transported in rice bags sealed with numbered security tags. The rice bags are transported from the core shacks to the MSALABS facilities in Terrace, BC. MSALABS is certified with both AC89-IAS and ISO/IEC Standard 17025:2017. The core samples undergo preparation via drying, crushing to ~70% of the material passing a 2 mm sieve and riffle splitting. The sample splits are weighed and transferred into three plastic jars, each containing between 300 g and 500 g of crushed sample material. A 250 g split is pulverized to ensure at least 85% of the material passes through a 75 µm sieve. The crushed samples are transported to the MSALABS PhotonAssayTM facility in Prince George, where gold concentrations are quantified via photon assay analysis (method CPA-Au1). Samples that result in gold concentrations ≥5 ppm are analyzed to extinction. Photon assay uses high-energy X-rays (photons) to excite atomic nuclei within the jarred samples, inducing the emission of secondary gamma rays, which are measured to quantify gold concentrations. The assays from all jars are combined on a weight-averaged basis. Multielement analyses are carried at the MSALABS facilities in Surrey, BC, where 250 g of pulverized splits are analyzed via ICF6xx and IMS-230 methods. The IMS-230 method uses 4-acid digestion (a combination of hydrochloric, nitric, perchloric and hydrofluoric acids) followed by inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry to quantify concentrations of 48 elements. Samples with over-limit results for Ag, Cu, Pb and Zn undergo ore-grade analysis via the ICF-6xx method (where ‘xx’ denotes the target metal). This method employs 4-acid digestion followed by inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry.
Gold Equivalent (AuEq) metal values are calculated using: Au 4004.43 USD/oz, Ag 48.80 USD/oz, Cu 5.09 USD/lbs, Pb 2026.43 USD/ton and Zn 3054.88 USD/ton on October 31, 2025. There is potential for economic recovery of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc from these occurrences based on other mining and exploration projects in the same Golden Triangle Mining Camp with similar style of high-grade gold mineralization where Juggernaut’s project is located such as the Brucejack Mine and the Homestake Ridge Gold Project. Here, AuEq values were calculated using multi-year running averages for metal price, and included provisions for metallurgical recoveries, treatment charges, refining costs, and transportation. Recoveries for Au, Ag, Cu, Pb and Zn on Big One are not known but are assumed to be similar with 85 % gold recovery, 75 % silver recovery, 75 % copper recovery, 75 % zinc recovery and 50 % Pb recovery. The quoted reference of metallurgical recoveries is not from Juggernaut’s Big One project and there is no guarantee that such recoveries will ever be achieved, unless detailed metallurgical work such as in a Feasibility Study will be completed on the Big One project.
Drill core intervals are reported as drill lengths, where the true width is estimated to be 80-90% of the length. The widths of the mineralized intervals were defined to reflect both the assay results and the mineralized veining observed in drill core. Veining constrains the local width of the mineralized zone, while assay results define the grade distribution within that zone. Reported intervals are therefore intended to represent geologically meaningful zone widths at the point of intersection.
The reported assays of drill intervals were calculated as length-weighted average grades using the individual sample assay results and their corresponding sample lengths. The average grade for each interval was determined by dividing the sum of the products of each sample grade and sample length by the total sampled interval length (Σ[grade × sample length] / Σ[sample length]). This method accounts for variations in sample length and provides a representative average grade over the reported interval.
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FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT
Certain disclosure in this release may constitute forward-looking statements that are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties relating to Juggernaut’s operations that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements, including its ability to complete the contemplated private placement. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements.
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