Artemis Gold drills significant mineralization in first two drill holes in resource expansion program at Blackwater mine, British Columbia

Artemis Gold Inc. [TSXV: ARTG] provided an update on the company’s resource expansion program at the Blackwater deposit, central British Columbia, including assays for the first two diamond drill holes.

BWDD-26-0001 intercepted 259 metres at 1.22 g/t Au from 309 metres downhole, including 85 metres at 2.29 g/t Au from 371 metres downhole.

BWDD-26-0003 intercepted 191 metres at 0.95g/t Au from 163 metres downhole, including 93 metres at 1.33 g/t Au from 228 metres downhole.

The Blackwater deposit is open to the north, northwest, and at depth. The 2026 resource expansion program is testing the extensions of the deposit with approximately 25,000 metres of diamond drilling and an initial budget of $10 million.

The initial two drill holes of the program intercepted multiple significant mineralized zones. These drill holes extended below any previous drilling on the deposit and the results provide further confirmation of the significant scale and potential of the Blackwater deposit. The program started with two drill rigs in the second quarter, with a third diamond drill rig recently mobilized to site.

Artemis Gold CEO Dale Andres commented: “These results show what an incredible asset Blackwater is. The headline intercepts in the first two holes are a great result and these zones are targeted for further drilling and inclusion in our next Mineral Reserve update planned for later this year. Our geologists are even more excited about the sheer scale we see from the results at depth. There aren’t many deposits around the world where it’s possible to drill more than a kilometre and intercept mineralization throughout. These two drill holes are just the beginning, and we look forward to updating the market as we continue stepping outwards to fully explore how big this system is.”

Drill hole BWDD-26-0001 was drilled to a depth of 913 metres and was stopped within high-grade mineralization (>1g/t Au) due to drill constraints. The drill hole intercepted numerous zones of mineralization from the bedrock surface to the end of the drill hole. The high-grade mineralization appears mainly associated with the felsic volcanics and andesites consistent with the main orebody of the Blackwater deposit.

Quartz-sericite alteration, locally intense, is frequently observed. Abundant sulphide mineralization occurs throughout the hole including pyrite, sphalerite, pyrrhotite, galena, and chalcopyrite. The drill hole intercepted a high-silver zone near surface within the existing reserve pit shell. The main mineralized zone that sits dominantly below the current reserve pit, starting at 309 metres downhole, showed high gold, silver and zinc values.

The current processing facility at Blackwater does not produce any revenue for zinc but the company is initiating metallurgical testwork to evaluate the potential to do so. The mineralized zone starting at 736 metres showed elevated silver and base metal values.

Drill hole BWDD-26-0002 was terminated due to drilling challenges and redrilled as BWDD-26-0003 to a depth of 1,134 metres. This is now the deepest drill hole on the Blackwater property.

The drill hole was stopped 32 metres after encountering a felsic intrusive. The drill hole intercepted numerous zones of mineralization from the bedrock surface to 1,016 metres. The hole initially intersected felsic volcanics and andesites similar to those described in hole BWDD-26-0001 before encountering a sharp contact with an underlying intrusive granodiorite at 1,101 metres.

The drill hole also intercepted a high-silver zone near surface within the existing reserve pit shell. The main mineralized zone, starting at 163 metres downhole, showed high gold, silver and zinc values. Between 386 and 963 metres, the mineralized zones were similar in nature to BWDD-26-0001 with elevated gold, silver and zinc. The intercept from 1,000 to 1,016 metres was notably high in silver, copper and gold, averaging 25.6 g/t Ag, 0.22% Cu and 0.41g/t Au over the 16 metres.

Two diamond drill rigs are currently operating in a two-shift operation on this resource expansion program. Due to the initial success, Artemis Gold has mobilized a third rig to site to speed up the progress of the program.

The regional exploration drill program launched in October 2025 will include 15,000 to 25,000 metres of drilling in up to 150 holes, targeting prospective areas identified through a thorough desktop review of all available exploration data. Over 30 targets within trucking distance of the existing processing facilities have already been identified. The initial drill program is part of a broader and longer-term regional exploration strategy over the next 5 to 10 years to fully test the large and highly prospective land package.

Through the end of Q2 2026, 33 holes totalling approximately 5,100 metres have been completed in six targets within the Top Lake and Van Tine areas. Drilling has recommenced and updates will be provided as the program advances and results become available.

Mineralized zone orientation at depth is not currently known and therefore true widths cannot be calculated. Blackwater is a large scale, disseminated deposit and drill widths are not expected to be materially higher than true widths.

Artemis Gold’s primary focus is the operation and further development of the Blackwater Mine approximately 160 km southwest of Prince George and 450 km northeast of Vancouver, B.C. The first gold and silver pour at Blackwater was achieved in January 2025 and commercial production was declared on May 1, 2025.