Prospector Outlines Fully Funded 2026 Drill Strategy for the ML Project, Yukon
Suite 1020 – 800 West Pender Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 2V6
Prospector Outlines Fully Funded 2026 Drill Strategy for the
ML Project, Yukon
Vancouver, BC January 26, 2026. Prospector Metals Corp. (“Prospector” or the “Company”) (TSXV: PPP;
OTCQB: PMCOF; Frankfurt: 1ET0) today provided an update on the Company’s fully funded 2026 drill
campaign on the ML Project in the Yukon.
Key Point Summary:
• Prospector’s 2026 drilling program will include 25,000 meters. All required land use permits are in
place, and three drill rigs have been secured with drilling expected to begin in May 2026.
• The total budget for the 2026 exploration work is estimated at approximately $15 million. Prospector
currently has over $42 million in cash and cash equivalents , so the Company is well funded for this
program maintaining a strong balance sheet through 2026 (See Prospector news release November
26th, 2025).
• Initial drilling will be focussed on the newly discovered TESS Zone (See Prospector news release
October 1st, 2025). The first holes will target expansion of mineralization along trend and to depth.
• The 2026 drill program will also test newly generated and previously undrilled TESS "look -alike"
targets which have been identified within a 4 km radius of the TESS Zone.
• A detailed review of the datasets that cover the 108.69, sq km ML project area following the 2025
program has identified a number of high priority drill targets which will also be tested in 2026. Key
targets include Skarn Ridge, and several newly generated targets that have not been previously drill
tested (See Prospector news release November 26th, 2025)
TESS Zone Expansion Drilling
The first holes of the 2026 season will be drilled at the newly discovered TESS Zone. To date, two holes
have been drilled at TESS and both yielded wide intervals of high-grade gold, copper, and silver, including
13.79 g/t Au, 1.84% Cu and 38.08 g/t Ag over 44m from hole ML25 -31(1) and 7.29 g/t Au, 0.91% Cu and
24.98 g/t Ag over 14m from hole ML25-32(2). The TESS Zone is hosted in a near-vertical structural corridor,
and our 2026 drill plan will systematically test this structure along trend and to depth. Ongoing in -house
technical work is currently refining proposed final collar locations and will be reviewed and approved by
the ML Technical Committee. Evaluation of the alteration, mineralization, and structural controls of the
TESS - North Vein is ongoing and includes additional geochemical analysis and petrographic studies.
The TESS Zone occurs north of the historic North Vein occurrence and would not have been tested by
historic drilling. At surface the TESS Zone is obscured by a thin layer of talus and is a blind discovery. Both
zones are pervasively oxidized at surface and appear to have a strong association with jarosite alteration.
In ML25 -031, the TESS Zone consisted of an upper, sulfide rich, zone with disseminated to massive
arsenopyrite-chalcopyrite-pyrite-pyrrhotite within calc -silicate to vuggy silicified and clay a ltered rocks
with strongly Au – Cu values (14m of 4.60 g/t Au, 3.76 g/t Cu, & 74.23 g/t Ag from 62m depth (1)) and a
lower, pervasively calc -silicate altered zone with black sulfidic fractures, disseminated arsenopyrite –
pyrrhotite - chalcopyrite, coarse Bi-Te minerals, local visible gold, and significantly elevated Au (24.65m
of 21.93 g/t Au, 1.14% Cu, and 25.5 8 g/t Ag from 81.35m depth (1)). Hole ML25 -032 was an over -cut of
ML25-031 and returned 14m of 7.29 g/t Au, 0.91% Cu, & 24.98 g/t Ag from 57.05m dept h and correlates
as the projection of the upper sulfide rich zone interested in ML25 -031, confirming the mineralized zone
is steeply dipping(2). The mineralization occurs within a broader zone of strong oxidation, fracturing, and
localised brecciation with anomalous pathfinder elements (As +/ - Bi +/ - Cu) but low gold grades and
includes the projection of the lower gold rich zone intersected in ML25-031. The current interpretation is
that mineralization on the TESS - North Vein is structurally controlled along ENE trending, steeply dipping,
zones of fracturing and brecciation. It is also anticipated that the zones of mineralization will have a plunge
controlled by the intersection of the structural zones with host lithologies and/or other structures.
Figure 1: Cross-section of ML25-031 & -032 on TESS - North Vein looking East
Drill Testing TESS "look-alike" Targets
The TESS Zone displays a distinct geological, geophysical and geochemical signature that we can use to
search for additional “look-alike” zones. The Prospector technical team has identified several priority drill
targets within a roughly 4km radius of TESS based on criteria such a s rock geochemistry, alteration, and
structural setting.
Mineralization at the TESS - North Vein is pervasively oxidized at /near surface and appear s to have a
strong association with jarosite alteration and other iron oxide minerals, which is coincident with strong
linear features interpreted as mineralized structures. Within the broader Java - TESS area there are
multiple other jarosite and iron -oxide anomalies with associated structural trends and a significant
population of rock and soil samples with strongly elevated Au (>5 g/t) with a similar geochemical
association as TESS - North Vein. Each of these targets are currently being classified and ranked for follow
up field investigation and, ultimately, drill testing.
Figure 2: Plan map of Java - TESS - North Vein area with gold in rocks and jarosite alteration from
WorldView-3 satellite imagery.
Skarn Ridge
Skarn Ridge is located 4km to the south of TESS, it has been significantly drilled and has lots of mineralized
space between it and TESS. Drilling in 2025 at Skarn Ridge successfully identified several closely spaced
gold zones hosted in near vertical structural panels. Key intercepts from 2025 include 45.65m of 2.11 g/t
Au & 0.48% Cu from 44m depth (ML25 -010)(3); 25m of 2.97 g/t Au from 137m depth (ML25 -014)(4); and
27m of 2.04 g/t Au & 0.42% from 24m depth and 19m of 4.33 g/t Au & 0.5% Cu from 57m depth (ML25 -
024)(2). Gold-bearing structures at Skarn Ridge occur parallel to each other and are open along trend and
to depth. Drilling in 2026 will test both the strike and depth extent of mineralized corridors identified
during the 2025 drill program and test the potential for additional, subparallel, zones of mineralization on
the broader Skarn Ridge target. Ongoing studies at Skarn Ridge include additional geochemical analysis,
petrographic studies, and structural -lithologic analysis of drill core and oriented core data to aid in
assessment of potential plunge controls on mineralized zones.
Mineralization on Skarn Ridge, and the Bueno target on trend to the south, is hosted within a series of
north-northeast trending, steeply dipping, structural zones and associated splays. Individual mineralized
trends range from 1-2m wide up to 44m wide and can be traced in multiple drill holes (i.e. ML -10-13 and
22-25) The corridor has now been traced over 1.5km along strike and has over 600m of vertical continuity.
The 2025 drilling at Skarn Ridge - Bueno successfully confirmed key structural interpretations for the ML
Project resulting in a new exploration model that can be applied project -wide Within the structural
corridors, gold mineralization is noted in every rock type on the Skarn Ridge - Bueno Trend and is best
developed within strongly fractured/brecciated calc -silicate altered and/or iron rich units, and along
lithologic contacts. The gold mineralization is, locally, coincident with significant copper mineralization,
however, the gold and copper mineral izing events appear to be independent of each other. Gold is
focused within structural corridors and is strongly associated with bismuth and tellurium mineralization,
whereas copper is more broadly distributed and only occurs within strongly calc-silicate altered units.
Figure 3: Cross-sections of ML25-012/-013 (top), ML25-010/-011 (upper middle), ML25-022/-023
(lower middle), & ML25-024/-025 (bottom).
New Greenfield Drill Targets
In addition to the Java - TESS - North Vein and Skarn Ridge targets discussed above, numerous other
prospects are known on the project; many of which have received little to no follow up work. In addition,
large portions of the project are un/under explored and there is significant potential for new discoveries.
An example of this potential is the discovery of the Rubble North target during the 2025 prospecting
efforts which returned samples of 57.8 g/t Au and 109 g/t Au from strongly silicified and breccia ted
siliciclastic rocks with quartz – arsenopyrite veins and are associated with strongly elevated As, Bi, and
Te(4). The area lies approx. 750m north of Skarn Ridge and was targeted based on the projection of
mineralized structures on Skarn Ridge to the NNE. This is significant because it demonstrates the potential
for both strong vertical and lateral continuity on min eralized structural trends across the project.
Assessment of the targets is ongoing and plans for follow up work will including additional r ock sampling
& prospecting, geologic mapping, additional soils and/or ground based geophysical surveys, and drill
testing as warranted.
Most of the historic exploration efforts on the ML Project have focused on high -grade Au -Cu+/-Ag
occurrences within thermally altered sediments on the margins of intrusive bodies and/or dikes and sills.
Only minor exploration efforts been performed for “classic” reduced intrusion related gold system (RIRGS)
sheeted vein style mineralization which is more typical of known deposits throughout the Tombstone belt
including Dublin Gulch/Eagle, Snowline Gold’s Rouge, and Sitka Gold’s RC/Clear Creek project, am ong
others. Currently, there are five mapped intrusive bodies on the project and include the Anvil, Fishbowl,
Mike Lake, Lorrie Lake, and Bear stocks ; five of which have known occurrences of sheeted vein style
mineralization with anomalous Au (+/-Cu) and an associated As-Bi-Te geochemical signature. Additionally,
modelled geophysical data on the project including magnetic susceptibility and gravity indicate strong
potential additional “blind” intrusive bodies at shallow depths (<1km). Evaluating the project for intrusion
hosted mineralization will be a priority for the 2026 season and current efforts to aid targeting include
evaluation of existing geochemical datasets, detailed assessment of geophysical datasets, regional –
target scale lithologic and structural interpretations, and petrographic studies.
Figure 4: ML Project Target Areas