Athena GOLD Completes Maiden Drill Program at Laird Lake Project in Ontario’S Red Lake GOLD District
ATHENA GOLD COMPLETES MAIDEN DRILL PROGRAM AT LAIRD LAKE PROJECT IN ONTARIO’S RED
LAKE GOLD DISTRICT
White Rock, BC --- Newsfile Corp. --- July 2, 2026 --- Athena Gold Corporation (CSE: ATHA) (OTCQB:
AHNRF) (“Athena” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide an exploration update from its flagship Laird
Lake Project (“Laird Lake” or the “Project”) in Ontario’s Red Lake Gold District.
The Company has successfully completed its maiden drill program at the Project, which comprised a total
of 5,134 metres across nine diamond drill holes (Figure 1/Table 1). The Company expects to receive all
pending assays by early August. Crews have now commenced demobilization, with site clean-up activities
underway.
“We are pleased to have safely and successfully completed our maiden drill program at Laird Lake, the
culmination of years of hard work modernizing historical geophysical data through 3D inversions and
completing an extensive +2,000 sample geochemical program. We extend our sincere thanks to
Wabauskang First Nation and the Cameron family for their partnership and support throughout the
program. We look forward to re ceiving all pending assay results and providing further updates to
shareholders,” said Koby Kushner, CEO of Athena.
Figure 1: Map of Laird Lake, showing completed diamond drill holes.
Hole ID Easting
(UTM)
Northing
(UTM)
Drilled
Depth (m)
Azimuth
(degrees) Dip
LL-26-001 416707 5643849 323 340 45
LL-26-002 421146 5643723 737 335 45
LL-26-003 420948 5643681 26 345 45
LL-26-003A 420948 5643681 716 345 45
LL-26-004 420175 5643625 521 300 45
LL-26-005 420175 5643625 311 300 65
LL-26-006 420175 5643625 14 340 45
LL-26-006A 420175 5643625 752 340 45
LL-26-007 420615 5643490 479 350 45
LL-26-008 420615 5643490 725 290 45
LL-26-009 421197 5643619 530 355 60
5134
Table 1: Laird Lake diamond drill hole locations, depths and orientations.
Qualified Persons Statement
The technical information presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Benjamin
Kuzmich, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration for Athena Gold Corporation, and the Qualified Person as
defined by NI 43-101 “Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects”.
About Athena Gold Corporation
Athena is engaged in the business of mineral exploration and the acquisition of mineral property assets.
Its objective is to locate and develop economic precious and base metal properties of merit and to conduct
additional exploration drilling and studies on its projects across North America. Athena’s Laird Lake project
is situated in the Red Lake Gold District of Ontario, covering more than 7,000 hectares along more than
10 km of the Balmer-Confederation Assemblage contact, where recent surface sampling results returned
up to 373 g/t Au. This underexplored area is road-accessible, located about 10 km west of West Red Lake
Gold’s Madsen mine and 34 km northwest of Kinross Gold's Great Bear project. Also in northwestern
Ontario is Athena’s Forester project, a 4,900-hectare land package located less than 30 km southeast of
Orla Mining’s Musselwhite Gold Mine, with historical drill intercepts showing strong potential for both
high-grade, narrow-vein and low-grade, bulk-tonnage gold mineralization. Meanwhile, Athena’s Excelsior
Springs project is located in the prolific Walker Lane Trend in Nevada, where it is currently under an earn-
in option with Mammoth Minerals Limited (formerly Firetail Resources Limited). The Excelsior Springs
project spans more than 2,500 hectares and includes at least three historic mines. For further information
about Athena Gold Corporation, please visit www.athenagoldcorp.com.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
Koby Kushner
President and Chief Executive Officer, Athena Gold Corporation
For further information, please contact:
Athena Gold Corporation
Koby Kushner, President and Chief Executive Officer
Phone: 416-846-6164
Email: [email protected]
CHF Capital Markets
Cathy Hume, CEO
Phone: 416-868-1079 x 251
Email: [email protected]
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward- looking statements and forward- looking information (collectively,
"forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. All
statements, other than statements of historical fact s, included herein, including, without limitation,
statements regarding future exploration plans, future results from exploration, and the anticipated
business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward- looking statements. Although
the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations
will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes",
"will", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates”, “plans", "may", "should", ''potential", "scheduled",
or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future
events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the
forward-looking statements in this press release, the Company has applied several material assumptions,
including without limitation, that there will be investor interest in future financings, market fundamentals
will result in sustained precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses
and regulatory approvals in connection with the future exploration and development of the Company's
projects in a timely manner.
The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees
of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-
looking statements.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward- looking statements. The Company
undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward- looking statements in this press release or
incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise stated.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider accepts responsibility for
the adequacy or accuracy of this release.