Thunder Bay, Ontario — February 11, 2026 — Leads & Copy — Benton Resources Inc. has appointed Darin Wagner, P.Geo., as a special technical advisor.
Wagner brings over 35 years of mineral exploration and corporate development experience, with expertise in Volcanogenic Massive Sulphides (VMS) and gold systems. He also has experience in equity markets, including mergers and acquisitions.
Wagner’s background includes public company fund raising, corporate management/governance, and merger/acquisition transactions. He is also recognized as an expert in gold exploration, with experience in mesothermal, epithermal, and porphyry environments.
Wagner co-founded West Timmins Mining, Falco Pacific Resources, and Balmoral Resources. West Timmins and Balmoral were acquired by third parties in deals valued at $424 and $160 million, respectively. Falco transferred to the Osisko Group after acquisition of the Horne deposit in Quebec.
He has also served as a management/technical advisor to Gatling Exploration (acquired by MAG Silver), Nova Royalties (acquired by Metalla Royalty and Streaming), and MAG Silver (acquired by Pan American Silver). Wagner currently advises Midnight Sun Mining, Dryden Gold, Majestic Gold, and private gold exploration and royalty companies.
The company’s board of directors has approved the grant of 300,000 incentive stock options to Wagner at an exercise price of $0.10 for a period of five years that will vest in accordance with the company’s stock options plan.
Stephen Stares, President and CEO of Benton, expressed his enthusiasm for Wagner joining the team, citing Wagner’s leadership and successes in exploration, discovery, and financial markets.
Wagner noted his early career work in Central Newfoundland and his excitement to return to the area with Benton, highlighting the discovery potential in Newfoundland.
Benton also provided an update on its Newfoundland exploration plans, noting that drilling has been postponed due to weather conditions. A small soil sampling program north of the South Pond deposit is ongoing, and plans to upgrade the exploration camp at Great Burnt are underway.
Additionally, Benton plans a trenching program to expose gold and base-metal surface showings discovered last season on the Dominion Lake project. Benton holds large land positions at Dominion Lake and Victoria West, covering the same stratigraphy and geology as the Equinox discoveries.
Stephen House (P.Geo.), Vice President of Exploration for Benton Resources Inc., the ‘Qualified Person’ under National Instrument 43-101, has approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this release.
Core and rock samples are submitted to Eastern Analytical Ltd., Springdale, Newfoundland, for preparation and analysis. Samples are analyzed using Eastern’s Au (Fire assay) @ 30g + ICP-34 method. All reported assays are uncut. Eastern Analytical Ltd. achieved ISO 17025 accreditation in February 2014.
Benton Resources is a mineral exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol BEX. It has a diversified property portfolio and holds equity positions in other mining companies. Benton retains net smelter return (NSR) royalties whenever possible.
Benton is focused on advancing its Copper-Gold Great Burnt Project in central Newfoundland, which has a Mineral Resource estimate of 667,000 tonnes @ 3.21% Cu Indicated and 482,000 @ 2.35% Cu Inferred. The Project covers 25km of strike and boasts six known Cu-Au-Ag zones over 15km that are all open for expansion. Drilling at the South Pond Gold Zone has confirmed a gold-mineralized system over 2.5 km with results of 74.20 m of 1.43g/t Au and 43.75 m of 1.62g/t Au.
Source: Benton Resources Inc.
