Edmonton, Alberta — February 24, 2026 — Leads & Copy —
Emperor Metals Inc. (CSE: AUOZ) (OTCQB: EMAUF) (FSE: 9NH) has announced initial results from its 2025-2026 drilling program, which is part of an extensive exploration initiative. The program includes 15,000 metres of new drilling and 8,000 metres of historical core resampling, contributing an additional 23,000 metres of data to refine and expand the current geological model.
According to the company, assay results received to date represent approximately 7% of the new drilling program and just 4% of the total assays anticipated for the 2025-2026 season, which includes both current drilling and historical core resampling. Drilling activities remain ongoing.
CEO John Florek said the company is seeing strong evidence of a robust and growing gold system, with broad intercepts and multiple styles of mineralization. He added that the combination of extensive low-grade bulk tonnage intervals alongside multiple high-grade lenses is enhancing the overall scale and quality of the deposit. Florek noted that the mineralizing system is evolving into a significant emerging gold deposit within the district.
Florek also commented that the company’s 2025 maiden Mineral Resource Estimate has doubled the size of the deposit, underscoring its rapid growth trajectory. He said the presence of visible gold within the open-pit environment, particularly within these large, low-grade bulk tonnage zones, further reinforces the system’s strength, and that he looks forward to delivering additional results over the coming months.
Highlights from the drilling program include drillhole DQ25-01, which intersected 107.7 metres grading 0.5 g/t Au. The overall mineralized intervals span approximately 170 meters and encompasses four distinct zones. The company said this result delineates a more extensive mineralized system peripheral to the higher-grade structural corridors and underscores the presence of gold that was not systematically sampled in earlier exploration programs.
Drillhole DQ25-02 targeted the infill of historically under-sampled areas within the conceptual pit shell to evaluate the potential for additional low-grade, bulk-tonnage material and support ounce growth. According to the company, results received to date remain partial, as several drillhole assays are still pending, and additional results will be reported in subsequent press releases as they become available. Despite the incomplete dataset, intervals exceeding 50 meters of mineralization have been intersected in core, emphasizing the scale and continuity of the system and reinforcing the need for systematic follow-up drilling.
Emperor is targeting a multi-million-ounce gold resource through a combination of conceptual open-pit and underground mining scenarios. The Property currently hosts an updated inferred mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 26.9 Million Tonnes (Mt) containing 1.46 million ounces (Moz) of gold at an average grade of 1.69 g/t Au. Sensitivity table in MRE shows various grade scenarios for a higher grade open pit for an underground mining scenario.
The 2026 drilling campaign at Emperor’s Duquesne West Gold Project in Quebec continues to identify extensive low-grade bulk tonnage zones surrounding the previously known high grade areas. These latest results further solidify the project’s immense potential and underscore the Company’s commitment to unlocking substantial value for its shareholders.
The company said the 2026 season leverages advanced exploration techniques to test several scenarios to add ounces and/or expand the footprint, including exploring lower grade discoveries, increasing the thickness of the high-grade lenses, expanding mineralized zones, and discovering new zones.
Emperor Metals Inc. is a high-grade gold exploration and development junior mining company focused on Quebec’s Southern Abitibi Greenstone Belt, leveraging AI-driven exploration techniques. The Company is dedicated to unlocking the substantial resource potential of the Duquesne West Gold Project and the Lac Pelletier Project (currently under purchase agreement) both situated in this Tier 1 mining district.
Emperor is led by a dynamic group of resource sector professionals who have a strong record of success in evaluating and advancing mining projects from exploration through to production, attracting capital and overcoming adversity to deliver exceptional shareholder value.
Quality assurance and quality control for the Duquesne West Project is overseen by a Qualified Person on site. Emperor Metals QA/QC protocols are maintained through the insertion of certified reference material (standards), blanks and lab duplicates within the sample stream. Analytical testing is performed by SGS laboratories in Burnaby, British Columbia.
The Duquesne West Gold Property is located 32 km northwest of the city of Rouyn-Noranda and 10 km east of the town of Duparquet. The property lies within the historic Duparquet gold mining camp in the southern portion of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in the Superior Province.
Under an Option Agreement, Emperor agreed to acquire a one hundred percent (100%) interest in a mineral claim package comprising 38 claims covering approximately 1,389 ha, located in the Duparquet Township of Quebec (the “Duquesne West Property”) from Duparquet Assets Ltd., a 50% owned subsidiary of Globex Mining Enterprises Inc. (TSX: GMX).
The Property hosts a recent inferred mineral resource. The gold system remains open for resource identification and expansion.
A reinterpretation of the existing geological model was created using AI and Machine Learning. This model shows the opportunity for additional discovery of ounces by revealing gold trends unknown to previous workers and the potential to expand the resource along significant gold-endowed structural zones.
Source: Emperor Metals Inc.
