Trident Resources Corp. (TSXV:ROCK) is excited to announce an acceleration in its Winter 2026 drilling program with the addition of a third drill rig. The company is well funded and has been encouraged by the visual indications of mineralization observed so far this winter. This decision to mobilize another rig aims to expedite and expand the initial drilling plan.
Trident plans to continue drilling throughout 2026 while also engaging in extensive ground exploration activities, including prospecting, geological mapping, and geochemical sampling across its properties in the La Ronge Gold Belt, which now spans over 130,000 hectares.
Jon Weisblatt, CEO of Trident, stated, "We are pleased to report the mobilization of a third drill rig at the Contact Lake Gold Project to enhance our exploration plans for 2026. We felt this was necessary given our satisfaction with the visual indications of mineralization early in this winter program, as we follow up on high-grade drill results from last year and explore new targets. We anticipate drilling between 30,000 and 40,000 metres at Contact this year, marking one of the largest annual drill programs in the La Ronge Gold Belt for decades. Thanks to our strong balance sheet, Trident is well-positioned to advance the Contact Lake project aggressively in 2026. Our goal is to discover new high-grade zones of gold mineralization and expand the current mineral resource while following up on previously reported high-grade drill intercepts from last year."
Currently, Trident has two drill rigs operating at the past-producing Contact Lake mine site as part of a planned 10,000-metre winter phase of diamond drilling. The addition of a third rig is set to enhance drilling capacity and expedite exploration timelines across the company's promising land package. The third rig will initially operate in the Preview target area, located 2.5 kilometres east of the Contact Lake mine site, which hosts two deposits with current NI43-101 compliant Mineral Resource Estimates.
The Preview SW and Preview North deposits are part of a 4-kilometre mineralized corridor within a northeast-trending shear zone that parallels the Bakos Shear, which hosts the Contact Lake mine's gold mineralization.
Trident currently holds over CAD $32 million in cash and marketable securities, which will be utilized to expand existing gold resources and drill-test high-potential exploration targets across the Contact Lake Property. The current drilling efforts will focus on extending high-grade mineralization towards the northeast and will also examine the BK3 zone, an area with historically defined high-grade gold resources that remain unmined.
The Preview SW deposit, situated 2.5 km southeast of the Contact Lake mine site, is found within multiple sub-parallel zones of sheared dioritic to gabbroic rocks. The current Mineral Resource Estimate, effective November 26th, 2025, indicates 314,700 ounces of gold (Au) in the Indicated category and 531,900 ounces Au in the Inferred category. The Preview North deposit, located 2.6 km northeast of Preview SW, contains 40,800 ounces Au in the Indicated category and 7,400 ounces Au in the Inferred category. The planned winter drilling program at Preview will seek to expand resources at both deposits and explore various prospective targets along the Preview trend.
The Contact Lake Gold Project encompasses approximately 22,790 hectares and includes the past-producing Contact Lake gold mine, which yielded around 190,000 ounces of gold at an average head grade of 6.16 g/t Au during its operation from 1994 to 1998. At the time of closure, gold prices were approximately $300/oz (USD), and Cameco Corporation noted significant unmined gold resources remained. Located in the promising La Ronge Gold Belt of Saskatchewan, the Contact Lake Property also features the Preview SW, Preview North, and the North Lake orogenic gold deposits. These deposits are wholly owned by Trident Resources and are backed by current Mineral Resource Estimates, which do not include any ounces from the past-producing Contact Lake area.
The technical information in this release adheres to Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and has been reviewed by Cornell McDowell, P.Geo., VP Exploration for Trident Resources and the Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.
For further details, contact Jonathan Wiesblatt, Chief Executive Officer at Jon.Wiesblatt@tridentresourcescorp.com or Andrew J. Ramcharan, PhD, P.Eng., Corporate Communications at Trident Resources Corp.
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