RIMOUSKI, Québec, April 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Puma Exploration Inc. (TSXV: PUMA, OTCQB: PUMXF) (the "Company" or "Puma") is thrilled to announce the launch of its 2025 exploration programs in Northern New Brunswick. After weeks of compiling data, delivering assessment reports, and submitting permit applications, Puma is eagerly anticipating its return to the field. The technical team will be mobilized the first week of May, once the access roads to the different working areas are dry and safe.
Work in 2025 will focus primarily on the Williams Brook Project, following the signing of Kinross Gold Corp's Option Agreement last fall (see October 24, 2024 News Release). The joint technical committee met in March to finalize the details of this year's C$2M committed exploration program. Four (4) full-time teams, comprising one geologist and one technician each, will execute the fieldwork across the entire 40,225-hectare land package. The 9-month program has been strategically designed to include, but is not limited to, 5,000 metres of drilling, more than 95 days of trenching, three (3) drone geophysical magnetic surveys and general mapping and prospecting over the entire land package.
"I am delighted that Kinross supports our exploration methodology. We've demonstrated that trenching and stripping programs lead to discoveries, and I am confident that this extensive program will bear fruit as our exploration teams scour the properties. We're planning to launch a 3,500-metre drilling program at the Lynx Gold Zone in mid-June," notes Marcel Robillard, President and CEO of Puma.
The Company anticipates that forthcoming assay results and real-time field assessments will guide the expansion of drilling activities into additional high-priority areas over this season. News will be consistent throughout the rest of 2025. It must be noted that the exploration programs can be modified at any time according to the field discoveries, the availability of the technical teams and the weather conditions.
Puma also intends to advance exploration on its McKenzie Gold project in the second half of 2025. Once the current targeting and planning operations are finalized, a more detailed work program will be shared.
2025 WILLIAMS BROOK PROGRAM
Highlights
- 3,500 metres of drilling at the Lynx Gold Zone (Spring);
- Three (3) drone magnetic geophysical surveys (Spring);
- 95 days of trenching and stripping (all summer long);
- 90 days of mapping and prospecting;
- 1,500-metre drilling on the best targets defined during the summer on the property (Fall).
Figure 1. Planned work for 2025 on the main gold zones of the Williams Brook Project
Several areas that were prospected, mapped, trenched and drilled previously will be revisited during the 2025 field program. Trenching and stripping are proven low-cost activities that have successfully discovered new gold zones, extended previously discovered gold zones and provided a better understanding of the gold control system before initiating drilling operations. In 2024, Puma collected more than 1,100 samples, including 388 samples from prospecting and 708 trench samples on various gold occurrences on the large property package that will inform the upcoming field work.
LYNX GOLD ZONE
A 3,500-metre drilling program is planned at the Lynx Gold Zone, which will start in mid-June.
The Lynx Gold Zone ("LGZ"), discovered in 2020 by high-grade surface sampling, was confirmed at depth in 2021 with hole WB21-02 that intersected 5.55 g/t gold over 50.15 metres from surface, including two high-grade gold veins with 9.88 g/t gold over 8.60 metres and 46.94 g/t gold over 3.85 metres (see September 15, 2021 News Release).
The high-grade gold mineralization is characterized by finely disseminated gold in quartz (veins, veinlets, stockworks, breccias) affected by pervasive supergene alteration.
Highlights of the last drilling program at Lynx Gold Zone
- The 24 holes (3,475 metres) drilled in 2023 successfully extended the width and length of the high-grade gold shoots identified previously at the LGZ. They demonstrated the continuity of mineralization over long intervals (see October 19, 2023, October 31, 2023, and November 16, 2023 News Releases for the results below);
- Half the holes intersected visible gold between 100 metres and 211 metres downhole depth. Highlights include 137.0 g/t gold over 0.60 metres (WB23-139), 96.0 g/t gold over 0.45 metres (WB23-139), 63.6 g/t gold over 0.30 metres (WB23-136), 16.85 g/t gold over 0.79 metres (WB23-137);
- High-grade gold mineralization was shown to start at surface. WB23-136 returned 30.90 metres grading 1.10 g/t gold from 8 metres depth, and WB23-137 returned 5.00 metres of 2.79 g/t gold from 2 metres below surface;
- Hole WB23-125 intersected fifteen (15) separate quartz veins and returned 90 metres of 0.70 g/t gold from surface (at 2.90 metres) with an impressive 50.85 metres of 1.05 g/t gold starting at 42 metres depth, including a 4.50 metres interval of 6.46 g/t gold at 75 metres depth;
- Hole WB23-139 intersected 63.05 metres at 2.49 g/t gold, including two (2) high-grade gold intervals of 37.40 g/t gold over 2.50 metres and 21.66 g/t gold over 2.55 metres;
- Drilling showed that thick lower-grade gold envelopes surround the higher-grade gold shoots (0.49 g/t to 0.67 g/t gold over 22.80 to 30.95 metres), resulting in impressive lengths of continuous gold mineralization, such as 100.90 metres of 1.25 g/t gold in WB23-142 and 98.05 metres of 1.24 g/t gold in WB23-145;
- The Lynx Gold Zone now spans 750 metres along strike, 100 metres wide and 175 metres deep.
CHEETAH GOLD ZONE
The Cheetah Gold Zone ("CHGZ"), discovered 4 kilometres along strike from the Lynx Gold Zone, returned 6.69 g/t gold* in initial trenching. Puma's scouting drilling at the CHGZ yielded significant findings, such as anomalous gold grade intercepts in similar stratigraphy and structures as those shown to host gold at Lynx. In addition, drilling confirmed that quartz veins, discreet quartz injections (stockwork), and hydrothermal alteration extend to at least 100 metres at depth. Further surface exploration work and trenching will be undertaken at the CHGZ to determine if additional drilling is warranted. (see December 12, 2023 News Release).
COUGAR GOLD ZONE
The Cougar Gold Zone (''CGZ'') is located about 4 kilometres northeast of the Lynx Gold Zone and 1 kilometre southeast of the Jaguar Gold Zone ("JGZ"). A drilling intercept graded 54.20 g/t gold over 2.8 metres by previous operators in 2008. The CGZ is similar to the Lynx Gold Zone ("LGZ"), with gold also found in quartz veins near a rhyolite/sediment contact. High-grade gold in quartz veins was discovered in three (3) small areas uncovered by stripping in 2021- 2022. Other grab samples returned 60.10 g/t gold*, 25.20 g/t gold*, 5.76 g/t gold*, and 3.17 g/t gold*. Further trenching is planned to uncover new mineralization in 2025 (See November 2, 2022 News Release).
LION GOLD ZONE
Eleven (11) trenches for 1,256 metres were completed on the Lion Gold Zone (''LIGZ''), a 2024 discovery. The LIGZ is closely associated with a major fault, the McCormack Brook Fault. Prospection uncovered altered sediment, a band of rhyolite and a large dike or a few mafic dikes with mineralized quartz veins similar to the mineralization found at the LGZ and TGZ. High-grade quartz veins were traced over a strike length of 550 metres and they returned up to 72.0 g/t gold* in a sample of quartz, oxidized sulphides and fragments of altered rhyolite. The LIGZ will see most of the trenching and stripping activities of the 2025 program (See July 24, 2024 News Release).
JONPOL-PORTAGE PROPERTIES
The Jonpol and Portage properties host numerous gold occurrences associated with gabbroic intrusions located along a major subsidiary of the Rocky Brook Millstream Fault ("RBMF"). Historical grab samples collected in trenches reported grades of 17.1 g/t gold*, 14.8 g/t gold*, 10.6 g/t gold*, 6.8 g/t gold*, 5.1 g/t gold*, and 3.4 g/t gold*. Minimal diamond drilling was conducted on the property, which is underlain by sedimentary rocks and mafic intrusives. Historical drilling results included 1.13 g/t gold over 12.0 metres, 1.37 g/t gold over 6.0 metres, 1.37 g/t gold over 1.4 metres, 3.89 g/t gold over 1.0 metre, and 2.78 g/t gold over 1.5 metres (Results from BM&S / Denis Fitzpatrick, Report of Work (September 1986) that have yet to be verified and confirmed by Puma).
In 2024, Puma completed five (5) trenches, totalling 586 metres, on the Jonpol Gold Showing to better locate and expand on the previous work from the 1960s to 1980s. Gold mineralization occurs within an altered sediment with veinlets of quartz-carbonate-pyrite. Sampling highlights* include 3.59 g/t gold, 0.45 g/t gold, 0.36 g/t gold, 0.35 g/t gold and 0.20 g/t gold. At Simpsons Field NE, mainly mafic and felsic dikes were observed with anomalous gold and a 20-centimetre hematite vein grading 2.95 g/t gold* and 1.53 g/t silver*. Five (5) distinct targets will be trenched during the 2025 program. Previous operators have shown some of these to host gold zones, but Puma has never re-examined them.
*The reader is cautioned that grab samples are selective by nature and may not represent the true metal content of the mineralized zone.
Grants of Options
Pursuant to its stock option plan and subject to regulatory acceptance, Puma has granted an aggregate total of 6,500,000 incentive stock options to certain company directors, advisors, and consultants, vesting immediately. These options will be exercisable at $0.08 per common share and expire on April 23, 2027.
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical content of this press release has been prepared, reviewed, and approved by Mr. Dominique Gagné, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration, who is a "Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").
On-site quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) measures
Grab samples are bagged, sealed and sent to ALS CHEMEX in Moncton, N.B., where each sample is crushed and pulped before being fire assayed (Au-ICP21). The remaining coarse reject portions of the samples remain in storage for further work or verification as needed. As part of its QA/QC program, the company inserts external gold standards (low to high grade) and blanks every 20 samples in addition to standards, blanks and duplicates. All samples over 10 g/t gold or with abundant visible gold are analyzed with a gravity finish (Au-GRA22). Check assays are routinely performed for samples with visible gold to ascertain the gold content of the mineralization zone.
About the Williams Brook Project
The Williams Brook Project (40,225 ha), optioned to Kinross Gold Corp (see October 24, 2024 News Release), comprises the Williams Brook Property, the Jonpol Property and the Portage Property. To earn a 65% interest in the project, Kinross can finance a minimum of $16.75-million in exploration expenditures over the next five years (including a firm commitment of $2 million with at least 5,000 metres of drilling in the first 18 months).
About Puma's Assets in New Brunswick
Puma has accumulated an impressive portfolio of prospective gold landholdings strategically located close to roads and infrastructure in Northern New Brunswick, including the Williams Brook Project and the new McKenzie Gold Project. Both are located near the Rocky Brook Millstream Fault ("RBMF"), a major regional structure formed during the Appalachian Orogeny and a significant control for gold deposition in the region. Puma's work to date has focused on the Williams Brook property, but prospecting and surface exploration work on its other properties have confirmed their potential for significant gold mineralization.
About Puma Exploration
Puma Exploration is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on identifying and developing a pipeline of precious metals projects in New Brunswick, near Canada's Renowned Bathurst Mining Camp. Puma has a long history in Northern New Brunswick, having worked on regional projects for over 15 years. Puma's successful exploration methodology, which combines traditional prospecting methods with detailed trenching and cutting-edge technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, has been instrumental in facilitating an understanding of the region's geology and associated mineralized systems. Armed with geophysical surveys, geochemical data, and consultants' expertise, Puma has developed a cost-effective exploration tool to discover gold at shallow depths and maximize drilling results.
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Visit www.explorationpuma.com for more information or contact:
Marcel Robillard, President and CEO.
(418) 750-8510; president@explorationpuma.com
Mia Boiridy, Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Development.
(250) 575-3305; mboiridy@explorationpuma.com
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 release.
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve several known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of Puma to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statements were made, except as required by law. Puma undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. The quarterly and annual reports and the documents submitted to the securities administration describe these risks and uncertainties.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9f5283ce-be0d-4a89-bac9-92c0ac1ca501
