Mr. Denis Laviolette reports

PIRATE GOLD DRILLING EXPANDS LARGE ALTERATION SYSTEM AT CRIPPLEBACK LAKE

Pirate Gold Corp. has confirmed a large advanced argillic alteration zone at Crippleback Lake anomaly at its Treasure Island project. The Treasure Island project in central Newfoundland covers over 90 kilometres of strike along the Valentine Lake fault zone in Canada's newest gold district.

Crippleback Lake anomaly

Located in the southern portion of the Treasure Island project and hosted within the Crippleback intrusive suite, the Crippleback Lake anomaly spans 6.5 kilometres by 1.0 kilometre and forms an electromagnetic resistivity low.

Drilling in 2024 along the margins of the anomaly identified broad zones of clay alteration exceeding 200 metres in downhole length, with sulphide contents ranging from 1 per cent to 8 per cent. The clay alteration and pyrite are interpreted as the primary drivers of the geophysical anomaly.

Alteration mineralogy identified to date includes kaolinite, montmorillonite, pyrophyllite and muscovite, along with vuggy silica textures. These alteration assemblages and textures are key indicators of high-level epithermal and copper-porphyry mineral systems.

The 2026 drilling program aims to further investigate the anomaly at depth and toward its core.

Crippleback Lake drilling highlights

Three drill holes have been completed targeting the Crippleback Lake anomaly. Drilling continues to intersect extensive alteration zones across multiple lithologies, with consistent sulphide mineralization throughout. Below is a general summary of the drilled intervals and alteration sequences:

• PGC-26-058 targeted the alteration system from the southern side of Crippleback Lake; this hole intersected an interval of vuggy, silicified volcanic rock from 15 to 137 metres downhole containing disseminated pyrite and muscovite alteration; from 137 to 247 metres in highly altered quartz monzonite marked by chlorite and montmorillonite alteration with pyrite mineralization, this included a veined zone from 224.5 to 232.0 metres with locally massive to semi-massive pyrite; 247 to 293 metres intersected a phengite-dominated volcanic sequence with disseminated pyrite and locally chalcopyrite; 293 to 395 metres intersected a kaolinite dominated alteration in both volcanic and felsic intrusive rocks with pyrite mineralization, including a veined zone from 343.0 to 349.5 metres containing semi-massive pyrite mineralization; 395 to 562 metres intersected a volcanic sequence with muscovite-phengite alteration and disseminated pyrite mineralization; 562 to 602 metres intersected highly silicified monzonite and volcanic sequence containing pyrite as stringers.
• PGC-26-064 targeted the alteration system from the northern side of Crippleback Lake; this hole intersected quartz monzonite from zero to 107 metres depth dominated by chlorite alteration and disseminated pyrite mineralization; from 107 to 197 metres depth, it intersected silicified and vuggy volcanic and intrusive sequences with pyrite as stringers and disseminations dominated by muscovite and kaolinite alteration; 197 to 215 metres intersected heavily clay altered volcanic rocks dominated by pyrophyllite with local vuggy segments and pyrite mineralization; 215 to 295 metres contained heavily clay altered volcanic rock with vuggy textures dominated by muscovite and kaolinite alteration carrying pyrite as disseminations and stringers; 295 to 349 metres intersected volcanic sequence heavily altered with pyrophyllite, pyrite as disseminations; 349 to 438 metres intersected monzonite with phengite and montmorillonite alteration with pyrite as semi-massive stringers and disseminations; 438 to 600 metres intersected monzonite dominated by chloritic alteration, local potassic feldspar alteration carrying pyrite and semi-massive pyrite stringers; a fault zone at 600 metres bounds further clay alteration from 600 to 690 metres dominated by muscovite and montmorillonite with localized vuggy silica segments; disseminated pyrite is common throughout the interval; 690 to 797 metres encountered relatively fresh quartz monzonite with localized mafic dikes.
• PGC-26-068 was drilled from the same location as PGC-26-058 at a 44-degree angle extending farther north into the anomaly; this hole intersected felsic volcanics with muscovite-dominated alteration sequences from 12.8 to 175 metres; felsic volcanic with montmorillonite-dominated alteration from 175 to 255 metres depth; from 255 to 275 metres, a strongly magnetic intrusive unit with semi-massive pyrite and disseminated chalcopyrite; 275 to 326 metres intersected altered felsic volcanic with chlorite and montmorillonite alterations; 326 to 428 metres intersected largely muscovite-dominated felsic volcanics with local silicified zones and disseminated pyrite; 428 to 596 metres intersected felsic volcanics with muscovite alteration, localized gypsum with disseminated pyrite.

The company cautions that the presence of visible mineralization is not indicative of high assay grades and that drill core samples have been submitted to a certified laboratory for analysis. Assay values for the discussed intervals will be released when available. All intervals are downhole depths, and true widths are not known at this time.

"With three holes completed testing the Crippleback Lake anomaly, we are continuing to expand our geological understanding of this system," said Greg Matheson, vice-president, exploration. "It is apparent we have many of the markers of a high-sulphidation epithermal system, including advanced argillic alteration and core textures such as vuggy silica. Our current drilling is focused on the eastern side of the anomaly along strike of PGC-26-068 to better assess the scale of alteration. The Crippleback Lake intrusive suite remains an excellent orogenic gold target with similarities to the nearby Valentine Lake mine, and, as we await assay results, one drill has shifted to testing the 35-plus kilometres of prospective strike along the Valentine Lake fault."

"Moosehead continues to demonstrate the kind of high-grade vein systems that drive near-term discovery, but Crippleback is a different opportunity entirely," said Denis Laviolette, executive chairman and chief executive officer. "What we're seeing now is scale. Widespread alteration, strong sulphide development and a system that is just beginning to take shape: These are the kinds of geological footprints that can point to something much larger, and that's what we're focused on defining."

Drilling is continuing, with additional holes planned to test deeper levels of the system and further define the core of the Crippleback anomaly.

Pirate Gold Treasure Hunters season 1 episode 10 -- Pyrite Gold

Episode 10 of Pirate Gold Treasure Hunters moves to Crippleback, where drilling begins to reveal the scale and intensity of a large hydrothermal system taking shape beneath the surface. The episode features:

• Heavy sulphide mineralization in core, with pyrite and chalcopyrite helping vector toward potential gold mineralization;
• Over 500 metres of continuous clay alteration, highlighting the scale and intensity of the system;
• Strong geological evidence of a high-sulphidation epithermal system, with potential links to a deeper gold-copper porphyry source;
• Continuing drilling adding detail to the model, expanding the system and sharpening the path toward discovery.

Qualified person

Greg Matheson, PGeo, vice-president, exploration, for Pirate Gold, a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release.

About Pirate Gold Corp.

Pirate Gold is led by an experienced management team and is the dominant explorer along the Valentine Lake fault zone in Newfoundland, Canada's newest gold district. The company's primary focus is its 100-per-cent-owned district-scale Treasure Island gold project, along with a portfolio of gold projects, including the district-scale Fleur de Lys project.

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