Blue Jay Gold initiates metallurgical studies at Becker-Cochran antimony prospect

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blue Jay Gold Corp. (TSXV: JAY) (OTCQB: JAYGF) (FSE: JAY) (“ Blue Jay ” or the “ Company ”), is pleased to announce that metallurgical studies using >400 kg of stibnite-rich mineralization from the Becker-Cochran antimony prospect have commenced. Becker-Cochran forms part of an 8 km wide antimony anomaly on the Company’s 100%-owned Steller Gold Project (“Steller” or the “Project”) in southern Yukon. ALS Metallurgical Laboratories in Kamloops, British Columbia, are co-ordinating the processing flowsheet testing, and results are due later in September. The program aims to augment earlier conventional processing work that was carried out on this prospect area in 1965 to produce high grade stibnite concentrates that exceed 62% antimony. Antimony is designated a critical mineral by both Canada and the United States.

Blue Jay's 2026 exploration program remains focused on the gold and silver program with drill rigs turning on the Skukum Creek Structural Corridor as well as at Mt. Skukum. What the historical record at Becker-Cochran does provide is further evidence of something the Company has said since acquiring Steller: this is a mineralized district, not just a single deposit system. On the east side of the property sits the antimony-rich mineralization that inspired a generation of exploration that pre-dated the discovery of high-grade gold mineralization at Mt Skukum that took the project area into production. These gold and antimony-rich mineralized areas are deemed to have formed during the same period of Eocene magmatic-epithermal activity and demonstrate the capability of these expansive systems to produce several deposits, in different styles, carrying different metals.

“The part of this story that gets overlooked is that somebody already tested the metallurgy,” said Geordie Mark, CEO of Blue Jay Gold. “In 1965 the federal government’s own mineral processing laboratory took a bulk sample from Becker-Cochran and reported concentrates exceeding 62% antimony at a recovery of 92.8% 1 , above the 50% antimony threshold considered premium material. Those historical data points are not compliant to today’s metrics and hence provide a great opportunity to reexamine using new technologies that are 60 years more advanced. Should our work confirm and or improve on historic efforts it is fair to say that we hold a critical mineral system with a metallurgical head start, on a property where our rigs are already drilling for gold and silver. That is what district scale means to me: one land package that can be endowed with more than one deposit, which the potential for enrichment in more than just one metal.”

The History of Antimony at Becker-Cochran

Steller is known today as a gold property, and with good reason. But the first metal to witness appreciable exploration was antimony, and that happened a very long time ago. A map of the Becker-Cochran prospect area can be viewed at: https://bluejaygoldcorp.com/news/news-2026/metallurgical-studies-initiated-for-blue-jay-golds-becker-cochran-antimony-prospect

In 1898, prospectors descended on into the Wheaton River country. By 1906 they had found antimony showings on the flank of Carbon Hill, at a place that came to be known as Becker-Cochran. In 1912 Dr. D. D. Cairns of the Geological Survey of Canada published a full account of them in Memoir No. 31, describing an unusual class of antimony-silver deposit “known in but few localities in the world.” Stibnite, the mineral antimony is mined from, was in places abundant enough to make up nearly the entire filling of the veins.

Half a century later, a company was built specifically around that ground. Yukon Antimony Corporation Ltd. was incorporated in July 1964, listed on the Vancouver Stock Exchange, and assembled 172 claims over the Carbon and Chieftain Hill showings. Work started on surface expressions of mineralization, and the Company commenced underground work in September 1965.

What the 1960s Test Work Showed

In the autumn of 1964, an approximately 8-ton bulk sample was transported for metallurgical testing. Part of the material went to the Mineral Processing Division of the federal Department of Mines and Technical Surveys in Ottawa; a comparable sample went to Britton Laboratories Limited in Vancouver, under the supervision of Wright Engineers Limited. On July 6, 1965, the Mineral Processing Division reported its results. In its own words: “In our best flotation test, 92.8% of the antimony content was recovered in a concentrate 1 .”

For an antimony project, three questions decide almost everything: does the stibnite float; does it float into a high-grade concentrate; and is that concentrate clean enough to sell without penalty. In 1965, on this material, the answer given to all three was yes.

Those results are historical in nature and a Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to verify or classify the historical information as current mineral resources or mineral reserves, and the Company is not treating it as such. They were produced sixty years ago, to procedures and quality controls that cannot be verified today, on material the Company did not collect and cannot confirm was representative. They have not been verified by a Qualified Person, they are not necessarily indicative of the results of the current test program, and they should not be relied upon.

Why This Matters Now

Antimony sits on the critical minerals lists of Canada, the United States, the European Union, Australia and Japan. It goes into flame retardants, batteries, semiconductors, glass, as well as ammunition and other defence applications, in large volumes, with few practical substitutes. It is also one of the most concentrated supply chains that reside outside Western mining and manufacturing in the industrial world: hence, its critical nature to the countries mentioned above. While mining is concentrated; refining to antimony metal products is more concentrated still, and Western refining capability has been anemic and reliant on metal imports for decades leaving the respective countries strategically exposed to exogeneous supply. That arrangement worked until it was tested. When exports were restricted, buyers in North America and Europe discovered how little domestic capacity stood behind them. While the rising price of the metal made the point, the fear of supply unreliability weighed far more heavily. Governments across the Western world have since designated antimony a critical mineral and begun allocating capital to stockpiles, refineries and enhancement of domestic supply. What that leaves is a metal with real strategic demand, an established industrial domestic markets, with a need to bolster local supply to enhance vertical integration.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Freeman Smith, P.Geo., VP Exploration of Blue Jay Gold Corp., who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Cautionary Note Regarding Historical Information

Information in this news release regarding the discovery, historical exploration, historical development and historical metallurgical test work at the Becker-Cochran occurrence is derived from publications and reports prepared before NI 43-101 came into force, including Geological Survey of Canada Memoir No. 31 (1912) and reports prepared for or on behalf of Yukon Antimony Corporation Ltd. between 1964 and 1968, together with information summarized in the technical report referred to above. The Company has not independently verified this historical information, and it should not be relied upon. The sampling, analytical and metallurgical procedures used, the laboratories engaged, and the quality assurance and quality control protocols applied are not known to the Company and cannot be verified; the samples described are selective and are not necessarily representative of mineralization on the Property; and the historical metallurgical results were obtained on a single historical bulk sample and are not necessarily indicative of the results of the metallurgical test program now underway or of metallurgical performance at any scale. Metallurgical recovery and concentrate grade achieved in laboratory test work may not be achieved in commercial operation. A Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to verify or classify the historical information as current mineral resources or mineral reserves, and the Company is not treating it as such. The samples submitted to ALS Laboratories are selective samples and are not necessarily representative of mineralization at Becker-Cochran. No mineral resource has been estimated for antimony mineralization at Becker-Cochran, no economic assessment of the occurrence has been undertaken, and antimony mineralization forms no part of the current Mineral Resource Estimate for the Steller Gold Project.

About Blue Jay Gold Corp.

Blue Jay Gold Corp. is a Canadian gold exploration company focused on growing and discovering resources within established gold producing regions in Canada. The Company’s flagship asset is the 100%-owned Steller Gold Project in southern Yukon, an infrastructure-supported, past-producing mine with significant exploration upside and clear near-term catalysts. Blue Jay has also built a portfolio of projects in Ontario. With strategically located assets and a leadership team experienced in geology and capital markets, Blue Jay will advance disciplined, modern exploration programs focused on target definition, resource growth, and new discoveries in known gold-mineralized regions.

ON BEHALF OF BLUE JAY GOLD CORP.

signed “Geordie Mark” Geordie Mark, CEO

For additional information contact:

BLUE JAY GOLD CORP.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release contain forward-looking information. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. In addition, the forward-looking statements require management to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There is significant risk that the forward-looking statements will not prove to be accurate, that the management's assumptions may not be correct and that actual results may differ materially from such forward-looking statements. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology (e.g., "expect"," estimates", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "plans"). Forward-looking statements contained in this press release may include, but are not limited to, the results of the hyperspectral core scanning and spectral analysis program, the timing and scope of the Company’s exploration program, increasing the Company’s current mineral resources, and future business plans of the Company. Such information involves known and unknown risks, including the receipt of regulatory approval, the results of future financing and exploration activities, the interpretation of exploration results and other geological data, or unanticipated costs and expenses and other risks identified by Blue Jay in its public securities filings that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by applicable securities laws and regulation, Blue Jay disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

GlobeNewswire

August 20, 2026 - 5:00 AM PDT

News by QuoteMedia

www.quotemedia.com