Canterra Minerals identifies five new gold targets at Wilding Project, Newfoundland

Canterra Minerals Corp. [TSXV: CTM; OTCQB: CTMCF; FSE: DXZB] has identified five new, district-scale gold targets on its 100%-owned Wilding gold project in central Newfoundland. The project lies directly along the prolific Valentine Lake shear zone, contiguous with Equinox Gold’s Valentine gold mine, which is expected to pour first gold in Q3 2025.

Highlights: Five multi-kilometre-scale gold targets defined through newly compiled and reprocessed geophysical data sets spanning the gold belt from Equinox’s Valentine mine through Canterra’s Wilding gold project.

Each target demonstrates key geological characteristics analogous to those at the Valentine mine, a inferred resource with 4.0 million ounces gold measured and indicated and 1.1 million ounces gold (2024).

The newly interpreted data support a targeted and systematic basal till sampling program to accelerate drill targeting across multiple gold-bearing structures, optimizing exploration efficiency and increasing the probability of new gold discoveries.

“This is a pivotal moment for Canterra,” said Chris Pennimpede, CEO of Canterra Minerals. “Our technical team’s work has opened up a new scale of opportunity on our Wilding project. With these five targets in hand and a fast-track discovery plan, we believe we can advance from target generation to potential drill discoveries in a single season.”

Reprocessed and newly compiled geophysical data sets across the Valentine Lake gold belt reveals previously unrecognized belt parallel shear structures, cross-structures and favourable host lithologies, all key ingredients for gold mineralization with strong geological similarities to structures hosting the Valentine mine. Several previously unrecognized structural corridors with significant gold-bearing potential have been identified, particularly along the Valentine Lake shear zone and parallel structures. As a result of this structural study, five new multi-kilometre-scale target areas have been identified.

This work has corroborated and highlighted past exploration work on the western portion of the Wilding property, which returned numerous high-grade and broad, bulk-tonnage-style gold intercepts, confirming the presence of a robust mineralizing system, which may extend along Canterra’s 55-km strike length. These past successes highlight potential for new discoveries on the recently identified targets.

Previously reported drill highlights included 5.0 metres of 10.01 g/t gold/tonne (Elm Zone); 6.5 metres of 3.63 g/t gold (Elm Zone); 12.0 metres of 0.71 g/t gold (Alder Zone; 1.5 metres of 3.03 g/t gold (Alder Zone); 0.5 metres of 81.52 g/t gold (Red Ochre Zone); 4.0 metres of 1.14 g/t gold (Red Ochre Zone); 42.0 metres of 0.57 g/t gold (Red Ochre Zone) and 17.0 metres of 0.98 g/t gold.

These past results also confirm the significant exploration upside of the Wilding project, demonstrating both high-grade veins and a widespread gold system. The results compare favourably with early results from the Valentine gold project published by Marathon Gold (predecessor of Calibre and Equinox) on the deposits, which now form a part of the Valentine mineral resources, including 4.0 million ounces gold of total measured and indicated mineral resources and 1.1 million ounces gold of total inferred resources (2024 Valentine mine mineral reserves and resources).

Canterra’s strategic land position in central Newfoundland has become increasingly valuable. Adjacent to Canterra’s Wilding project, Equinox Gold is advancing construction of the Valentine gold mine following its acquisition of Calibre Mining. The mine is expected to become Newfoundland’s largest gold mine and one of Canada’s top gold producers.

Notably, the structural corridors that host the Valentine gold mine deposits are interpreted to trend directly onto Canterra’s Wilding project, amplifying the exploration upside. The Wilding property boundary lies just 20 kilometres from the Valentine gold mine’s processing facilities.

Results from the adjacent Valentine property are not necessarily indicative of the mineralization on the company’s property.

Canterra is a diversified minerals exploration company focused on gold, copper and other critical minerals in central Newfoundland. The company’s projects include six mineral deposits located near the world-renowned, past-producing Buchans mine and Teck Resources’ former Duck Pond mine, which collectively produced copper, zinc, lead, silver and gold. Several of Canterra’s deposits support current and historical mineral resource estimates prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and the CIM standards

Canterra’s gold projects are immediately adjacent to Equinox Gold’s (formerly Calibre Mining) Valentine mine, currently under construction and expected to become Newfoundland’s largest gold mine and one of Canada’s top gold producers. Canterra’s Wilding project is interpreted to cover an approximately 55-km extension of the structural corridor that hosts the Valentine gold mine deposits. Past drilling on the company’s gold projects intersected multiple occurrences of orogenic-style gold mineralization within a large land position that remains underexplored.