Reconnaissance Drill Hole HER-26-03 Intersects Intense Phyllic Alteration, Consistent with the
Hercules
Metals
Identifies
Evidence
for
a
New
Porphyry
Center
at
the
Hook
Target
Reconnaissance
Drill
Hole
HER-26-03
Intersects
Intense
Phyllic
Alteration,
Consistent
with
the
Margins
of
a
New
Porphyry
System,
at
the
Edge
of
a
1.8-Kilometer
Chargeability
Anomaly
●
Reconnaissance
Hole
Tests
Edge
of
Anomaly:
Drilling
from
the
nearest
existing
road,
approximately
400
meters
west
of
the
newly
identified
Hook
chargeability
anomaly,
successfully
intersected
strong
quartz-sericite-pyrite
(“phyllic”)
alteration,
consistent
with
the
margins
of
a
potential
nearby
porphyry
copper
system.
●
Advanced
Drill
Permitting
Underway:
The
reconnaissance
hole
was
drilled
from
the
nearest
location
accessible
under
the
Company’s
existing
drill
permit
and
was
designed
to
test
for
distal
porphyry-style
alteration
near
to
the
target.
Based
on
the
strength
of
the
alteration
encountered,
the
Company
has
elected
to
proceed
with
permitting
temporary
access
roads
and
drill
pads
to
directly
test
the
core
of
the
chargeability
anomaly.
●
Target
Size
:
The
Hook
target
comprises
an
approximately
1.8-kilometer-long
IP
chargeability
anomaly,
coincident
with
a
previously
identified
conductivity
anomaly
from
the
Company’s
district-scale
2025
MT
survey.
●
High-Strength
Core:
The
highest-intensity
portion
of
the
Hook
target
extends
for
approximately
500
meters
and
ranges
from
approximately
20–40
mV/V,
representing
the
strongest
chargeability
response
associated
with
Triassic
rocks
identified
on
the
Property
since
the
2023
IP
survey
that
led
to
the
discovery
of
the
Leviathan
porphyry
copper
system.
●
Near
Surface:
The
high-strength
core
of
the
anomaly
is
modelled
to
begin
within
approximately
100
meters
of
surface,
which
is
where
the
next
phase
of
drill
permitting
will
focus.
In
addition,
Triassic-age
host
rocks
are
mapped
at
the
surface
across
the
Hook
target
area.
●
Favourable
Host
Rock:
In
addition
to
quartz-sericite-pyrite,
distal
skarn
alteration
was
encountered
within
favourable
calcareous
host
rocks
in
the
hole.
The
presence
of
skarn
2
alteration
is
encouraging,
as
these
host
rocks
are
generally
conducive
to
strong
mineralization
near
their
porphyry
source.
Toronto,
Ontario
/
September
14,
2026 – Hercules
Metals
Corp. (“Hercules”
or
the
“Company”)
(TSX-V: BIG
|
OTCQB:
BADEF)
is
pleased
to
announce
that
HER-26-03
has
intersected
intense
quartz-sericite-pyrite
(“
phyllic
”)
and
skarn
alteration
at
the
newly
identified
Hook
target
on
its
100%
owned
Hercules
Property
in
western
Idaho
(the
“
Property
”).
The
alteration
style
identified
at
Hook
is
consistent
with
the
edges
of
other
porphyry
copper
systems
on
the
Property
and
aligns
with
the
results
of
recently
completed
geophysical
surveys,
including
Hook’s
large,
near-surface
chargeability
anomaly,
occurring
approximately
3
km
east
of
the
Company’s
Leviathan
porphyry
copper
system.
The
Hook
target
is
centered
on
a
large,
near-surface
chargeability
anomaly,
however
the
nearest
available
drill
pad
under
the
Company’s
existing
permit
was
located
on
an
established
road
approximately
400
meters
west
of
the
anomaly.
Rather
than
immediately
permit
new
road
access
to
the
target,
the
Company
elected
to
first
use
the
existing
permitted
drill
pad
to
establish
geological
support
for
the
target.
Core
logging
of
HER-26-03
has
now
indicated
support
for
advancing
such
additional
permitting
and
road
construction.
Figure
1:
East-west
cross-section
(looking
north)
showing
the
Leviathan
(left)
and
Hook
(right)
IP
chargeability
anomalies
on
the
Hercules
Property
and
the
drilled
location
of
HER-26-03.
Chargeability
is
clipped
to
>17
mV/V.
HER-26-03
began
in
relatively
unaltered
rock
outside
of
the
anomaly
which
transitioned
to
increasing
phyllic
alteration,
with
strong
pyrite
ranging
from
5-10%,
as
disseminations
and
porphyry-style
3
“D-veins”.
Importantly,
the
alteration
appears
consistent
with
the
pyrite
halo
surrounding
the
Company’s
nearby
Leviathan
porphyry
copper
system.
Unlike
at
the
Leviathan
target,
HER-26-03
did
not
have
to
drill
through
younger
post-mineral
cover
and
was
drilled
entirely
within
Triassic-age
geology,
which
hosts
the
Late
Triassic
porphyry
copper
mineralization
on
the
Property.
The
hole
intersected
volcanic
and
carbonate-bearing
sedimentary
lithologies
consistent
with
the
lower
portion
of
the
Triassic
stratigraphy
mapped
throughout
the
Hercules
district.
This
lower
stratigraphic
sequence
includes
iron-
and
carbonate-rich
host
rocks
that
are
considered
favourable
for
the
development
of
skarn
and
associated
copper
mineralization
in
porphyry
systems.
Assays
are
pending;
however,
given
the
distal
nature
of
the
intercept
within
the
interpreted
pyrite
halo,
the
results
are
expected
to
be
more
useful
for
providing
additional
vectoring
information
toward
the
system
than
for
returning
significant
copper-molybdenum
intercepts.
Drilling
efforts
will
move
northeast
toward
the
high-chargeability
core
at
the
Hook
anomaly
targeting
a
potential
causative
porphyry
intrusion,
which
may
host
a
shell
of
copper-molybdenum
mineralization,
akin
to
that
observed
at
the
Leviathan
porphyry
system.
Figure
2:
Looking
northwest
at
the
new
seven-line
IP
anomaly
at
Hook,
relative
to
the
2023
IP
anomaly
at
Leviathan,
highlighting
the
similar
chargeability
response
at
both
targets.
George
Ogilvie,
President
and
Chief
Executive
Officer,
commented
:
“The
team
utilized
existing
road
infrastructure
to
provide
an
efficient
initial
test
of
the
newly
identified
IP/MT
geophysical
anomaly
at
Hook,
without
incurring
the
permitting
costs
and
associated
delays
that
would
have
been
required
for
new
drill
access.
This
initial
drill
test
has
provided
encouraging
geological
indications
of
potential
4
porphyry-related
alteration,
supporting
the
strategy
to
continue
testing
the
high-strength
core
of
the
anomaly
along
its
strike
extent.
He
continued,
“Looking
forward,
continued
drilling
will
focus
on
expanding
our
near-surface
targets,
particularly
at
Leviathan,
where
more
than
30,000
m
of
combined
drilling
has
tested
both
the
at-surface
epithermal
silver
mineralization
and
the
underlying
copper
porphyry
system.
In
addition,
initial
drilling
in
HER-26-03
has
upgraded
Hook
to
a
particularly
compelling
near-surface
target,
supported
by
geological
and
geophysical
similarities
to
Leviathan.
These
results
warrant
an
updated
plan
of
operations
to
facilitate
the
next
phase
of
follow-up
drilling,
targeted
to
commence
in
2027.”
Two
diamond
drills
are
currently
active
at
the
Hercules
property.
Both
drills
are
conducting
southern
step
outs
(HER-26-05
and
HER-26-06)
of
the
Leviathan
system,
with
a
focus
on
expanding
hangingwall
and
footwall
mineralization
along
strike
and
to
depth,
in
an
area
with
a
gap
in
drilling
between
Leviathan
and
Southern
Flats.
Figure
3:
Compilation
map
showing
the
Leviathan
and
Southern
Flats
discoveries,
as
well
as
the
new
Hook
and
Pegasus
targets.
An
MT
conductivity
depth
slice
highlights
the
broadly
conductive
target
regions,
while
IP
is
used
to
define
specific
high
chargeability
targets
for
drill
testing.
5
Drill
core
from
Hole
HER-26-03
is
shown
in
Exhibit
A,
at
the
end
of
the
press
release.
Qualified
Person
The
scientific
and
technical
information
in
this
press
release
has
been
reviewed
and
approved
for
disclosure
by
Dillon
Hume,
P.Geo.
and
Vice
President,
Exploration
for
the
Company.
Mr.
Hume
is
a
"Qualified
Person"
for
Hercules
Metals
within
the
meaning
of
National
Instrument
43-101
-
Standards
of
Disclosure
for
Mineral
Projects
.
Corporate
Update
The
Company
also
announces
that,
further
to
its
press
releases
dated
July
30,
2026
and
August
7,
2026,
the
board
of
directors
of
the
Company
has
approved
the
cancellation
of
an
aggregate
of
20,500,000
stock
options
(the
“
Subject
Options
”)
previously
granted
under
the
Company’s
omnibus
incentive
plan
(the
“
Plan
”)
to
certain
directors,
officers,
employees
and
consultants
of
the
Company.
The
Subject
Options
consisted
of:
(i)
18,650,000
options
granted
on
July
30,
2026
(the
“
New
Management
Grant
”);
and
(ii)
1,850,000
options
granted
on
August
7,
2026.
At
the
request
of
the
TSX
Venture
Exchange,
the
Company
cancelled
the
New
Management
Grant
and,
by
its
own
election,
also
cancelled
the
remaining
Subject
Options
granted
in
August.
Following
the
cancellation
of
the
Subject
Options,
the
Company
will
have
5,290,000
stock
options
and
2,666,000
restricted
share
units
(“
RSUs
”)
issued
and
outstanding
under
the
Plan,
with
6,985,745
stock
options
and/or
RSUs
remaining
available
for
issuance
after
taking
into
account
prior
stock
option
and
RSU
grants,
cancellations
and
expiries
since
the
Plan’s
inception
on
June
1,
2022.
The
Company
is
considering
all
available
means
to
alternatively
compensate
the
directors,
officers
and
consultants
who
previously
held
the
now
cancelled
Subject
Options.
About
Hercules
Metals
Corp.
Hercules
Metals
Corp.
(TSXV:
BIG)
(OTCQB:
BADEF)
(FWB:
C0X)
is
an
exploration
Company
focused
on
developing
America’s
newest
porphyry
copper
district,
in
Idaho.
The
100%
owned
Hercules
Project,
located
northwest
of
Cambridge,
hosts
the
newly
discovered
Leviathan
porphyry
copper
system,
one
of
the
most
important
new
discoveries
in
the
country
to
date.
The
Company
is
well
positioned
for
growth
through
continued
drilling,
supported
by
a
strategic
investment
from
Barrick
Mining
Corporation.
With
the
potential
for
significant
scale,
the
Company’s
management
and
board
of
directors
aims
to
deliver
value
to
shareholders
through
proven
discovery
success.
For
further
information
please
contact:
George
Ogilvie
President
&
CEO
Telephone:
+1
(416)
723-0458
Email:
6
Alison
Dwoskin
VP
Investor
Relations
Telephone
+1
(647)
233-4348
Email:
This
press
release
does
not
constitute
an
offer
to
sell
or
a
solicitation
of
an
offer
to
buy
any
of
the
securities
in
the
United
States.
Any
securities
referred
to
herein
have
not
and
will
not
be
registered
under
the
United
States
Securities
Act
of
1933,
as
amended
(the
“
U.S.
Securities
Act
”)
or
any
state
securities
laws
and
may
not
be
offered
or
sold
within
the
United
States
or
to
U.S.
Persons
unless
registered
under
the
U.S.
Securities
Act
and
applicable
state
securities
laws
of
an
exemption
from
such
registration
is
available.
Cautionary
Statements
Regarding
Forward-Looking
Information
All
statements,
other
than
statements
of
historical
fact,
contained
or
incorporated
by
reference
in
this
press
release
constitute
“forward-looking
statements”
and
“forward-looking
information”
(collectively,
“forward-looking
statements”)
within
the
meaning
of
applicable
Canadian
and
United
States
securities
legislation.
Generally,
forward-looking
statements
can
be
identified
by
the
use
of
forward-looking
terminology
such
as
"anticipated"
“assumption”,
“believe”,
“compelling”,
“confidence”,
“developing”,
“encouraging”,
“estimate”,
“evidence”,
"expected",
“exploration”,
“focus”,
“forward”,
“future”,
“indications”,
“initial”,
"intended",
“may”,
“modelled”,
“next”,
“pending”,
"plan",
“potential”,
“progress”,
"projects",
“target”,
“test”,
“vectoring”,
and
“will”,
or
variations
of
such
words,
and
similar
such
words,
expressions
or
statements,
that
certain
actions,
events,
conditions
or
results
"will,"
"would,"
"may,"
"could"
or
"should"
(or
not)
be
achieved,
occur,
provide,
result
or
support
in
the
future,
or
which,
by
their
nature,
refer
to
future
events.
In
some
cases,
forward-looking
information
may
be
stated
in
the
present
tense,
such
as
in
respect
of
current
matters
that
may
be
continuing,
or
that
may
have
a
future
impact
or
effect.
Forward-looking
statements
in
this
press
release
may
include,
without
limitation,
statements
regarding:
planned
or
other
future
drilling,
the
Company’s
plans
to
permit
temporary
access
roads
and
drill
pads
to
test
the
core
of
the
Hook
chargeability
anomaly;
the
expected
direction,
location
and
focus
of
future
drilling
at
the
Hook
target;
the
potential
for
copper-molybdenum
mineralization
at
the
Hook
target;
expectations
regarding
the
timing
and
results
of
assays
from
HER-26-03;
the
Company’s
interpretation
of
alteration
patterns
and
their
relationship
to
potential
porphyry
systems;
the
Company’s
consideration
of
compensation
alternatives
following
cancellation
of
the
Subject
Options;
the
potential
for
scale
at
the
Hercules
Project;
any
expansion
of
near-surface
targets;
potential
for
significant
scale;
and
the
Company’s
ability
to
deliver
value
to
shareholders
through
continued
exploration
and
discovery;
results
of
exploration
including
related
testing
and
modelling)
and
other
activities
and
operations;,
and
the
objectives,
strategies
and
expected
financial
performance
of
the
Company.
Although
the
Company
believes
the
forward-looking
statements
contained
in
this
press
release
are
reasonable,
there
can
be
no
assurance
that
those
forward-looking
statements
will
prove
to
be
correct,
and
any
forward-looking
statements
by
the
Company
are
not
guarantees
of
future
actions,
results
or
performance.
Forward-looking
statements
are
based
on
assumptions,
estimates,
7
expectations,
information
and
opinions,
which
are
considered
reasonable
and
represent
best
judgment
based
on
available
facts,
as
of
the
issuance
of
this
press
release.
If
such
assumptions,
estimates,
expectations
and
opinions
prove
to
be
incorrect,
actual
and
future
results
may
be
materially
different
than
expressed
or
implied
in
the
forward-looking
statements.
The
assumptions,
estimates,
expectations
and
opinions
referenced,
contained
or
incorporated
by
reference
in
this
press
release
which
may
prove
to
be
incorrect
include
those
set
forth
or
referenced
in
this
press
release,
as
well
as
those
stated
in
the
Company’s
other
public
disclosure
in
2026
including
Management’s
Discussion
and
Analysis
(together
with
the
accompanying
financial
statements)
for
the
year
ended
December
31,
2025
and
the
quarters
already
ended
and
reported
in
2026
(collectively,
the
“
2026
Disclosure
”),
available
on
the
Company’s
website
at
www.herculesmetals.com
and
under
its
issuer
profile
at
www.sedarplus.ca
.
Forward-looking
statements,
by
their
nature,
are
inherently
subject
to
assumptions,
estimates,
expectations,
opinions,
and
known
and
unknown
risks,
uncertainties,
contingencies
and
other
factors,
which
may
cause
our
actual
results,
level
of
activity,
performance,
developments
or
achievements,
or
other
future
events,
to
be
materially
different
from
any
future
results,
activity,
performance,
developments
or
achievements
expressed
or
implied
by
such
forward-looking
statements.
Examples
of
such
assumptions,
estimates,
expectations,
opinions,
risks,
uncertainties,
contingencies
and
other
factors
include,
without
limitation,
those
identified
herein
as
well
as
associated
with
general
economic
conditions;
any
mineralization
at
Hook,
if
present,
may
differ
materially
from
that
observed
at
the
Leviathan
porphyry
system;
adverse
industry
events;
the
receipt
of
required
regulatory
approvals
and
the
timing
of
such
approvals;
that
the
Company
maintains
good
relationships
with
the
communities
in
which
it
operates
or
proposes
to
operate,
future
legislative
and
regulatory
developments
in
the
mining
sector;
the
Company’s
ability
to
access
sufficient
capital
from
internal
and
external
sources,
and/or
inability
to
access
sufficient
capital
on
favorable
terms;
mining
industry
and
markets
in
Canada
and
generally;
the
ability
of
the
Company
to
implement
its
business
strategies;
competition;
the
risk
that
any
of
the
assumptions
prove
not
to
be
valid
or
reliable,
which
could
result
in
delays,
or
cessation
in
planned
work,;
risks
associated
with
the
interpretation
of
data,
the
geology,
grade
and
continuity
of
mineral
deposits;,
the
possibility
that
results
will
not
be
consistent
with
the
Company’s
expectations,
as
well
as
other
assumptions
risks
and
uncertainties
applicable
to
mineral
exploration
and
development
activities
and
to
the
Company,
including
as
set
forth
in
the
Company’s
other
2026
Disclosure,
available
on
the
Company’s
website
at
www.herculesmetals.com
and/or
documents
filed
under
its
issuer
profile
at
www.sedarplus.ca
.
Although
the
Company
has
attempted
to
identify
important
factors
that
could
cause
actual
actions,
events
or
results
to
differ
materially
from
those
contained
in
forward-looking
statements,
there
may
be
other
factors
that
cause
actions,
events
or
results
to
differ
from
those
anticipated,
estimated
or
intended.
Forward-looking
statements
contained
herein
are
made
as
of
the
issuance
of
this
press
release
(or
as
otherwise
expressly
specified)
and
the
Company
disclaims
any
intention
or
obligation
to
update
or
revise
any
forward-looking
statements,
whether
as
a
result
of
new
information,
future
events
or
results
or
otherwise,
except
as
required
by
applicable
securities
laws.
There
can
be
no
assurance
that
such
information
will
prove
to
be
accurate,
as
actual
results
and
future
events
could
differ
materially
from
forward-looking
statements.
Accordingly,
readers
should
not
place
undue
reliance
on
forward-looking
statements.
The
forward-looking
statements
referenced
or
contained
in
this
press
release
are
expressly
qualified
by
these
Cautionary
Statements
as
well
as
the
cautionary
notes
and/or
statements
in
the
Company’s
other
2026
Disclosure.
8
Neither
the
TSX
Venture
Exchange
nor
its
Regulation
Services
Provider
(as
that
term
is
defined
in
the
policies
of
the
TSX
Venture
Exchange)
accepts
responsibility
for
the
adequacy
or
accuracy
of
this
press
release.