Vancouver, British Columbia — February 24, 2026 — Leads & Copy —
Heliostar Metals Ltd. (TSXV: HSTR) (OTCQX: HSTXF) (FSE: RGG1) has announced additional drill program results from its 100% owned Ana Paula project in Guerrero, Mexico. The company aims to convert inferred ounces to higher confidence classifications and support the ongoing Feasibility Study. The program also intends to test the next set of exploration targets near the Ana Paula deposit.
Heliostar CEO Charles Funk stated that a hole was pushed deeper to test potential step-outs of the Expansion Zone during the reserve conversion drill program. Hole AP-25-313A, a 70 m step out from the nearest intercept supporting ore stopes, returned 25.45 m grading 8.26 grams per tonne gold. Funk said that this first hole beneath the High Grade Panel led the company to extend additional holes deeper at Ana Paula.
Two results from the Expansion Zone are reported, with remaining assay results pending. Funk added that the company has always interpreted the resource to be open at depth, but due to the lack of drilling at depth, there is no strongly predictive model for mineralization within the Expansion Zone.
Heliostar has completed 72 holes and 23,979 metres drilled to date in the current program. Today’s release covers 13 holes with 34 holes awaiting assay results. Drilling is designed along north-south sections with angled holes to define the overall east-west orientation of the High Grade Panel and the Expansion Zone beneath.
The company is also collecting rock strength data, hydrogeologic data, and samples for metallurgical studies. This data will allow Heliostar to refine the mine design for Ana Paula in the ongoing Feasibility Study, due to be released in the first half of next year.
Holes AP-25-313A and AP-25-345 are resource definition holes drilled along the western edge of the High Grade Panel and Expansion Zone. Hole AP-25-313A is an extension of AP-24-313 and intersected 25.45 m of 8.26 g/t gold from 493.8 m. Hole AP-24-345 intersected a 3.75 m zone of 5.00 g/t gold from 508.4 m depth.
Mineralization is open to the north, northwest and beneath these intercepts.
Drilling continues throughout the High Grade Panel, its less well-defined east and west edges, and into the Expansion Zone. Two drill rigs have continued to target deeper inferred mineralization and the northern exploration zone, approximately 250 m north of the High Grade Panel. Ten drill holes are pending assay.
The next Ana Paula drill results are anticipated to be released in four to six weeks.
Heliostar Metals was included in the 2026 TSX Venture 50™ list for the second year. TSX Venture 50 ranks the top fifty performing companies on the TSXV based on one-year share price appreciation, market capitalization increase, and Canadian consolidated trading value.
The company cited catalysts for 2026, including year-on-year gold production growth, $27 million dollars in exploration programs, and the advancement of key development projects as reasons for the company’s share outperformance.
Drill core is PQ and HQ size, and the core is cut in half, with half sent for analysis. Core samples were shipped to ALS Limited in Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico, for sample preparation and analysis at the ALS laboratory in North Vancouver. Gold was assayed by 30-gram fire assay with atomic absorption spectroscopy finish, and overlimits were analyzed by 30-gram fire assay with gravimetric finish.
Stewart Harris, P.Geo., Exploration Manager of the Company and a Qualified Person, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in the release.
Heliostar is a gold mining company with production from operating mines in Mexico, including the La Colorada Mine in Sonora and the San Agustin Mine in Durango. The company also has a portfolio of development projects in Mexico and the USA.
These include the Ana Paula project in Guerrero, the Cerro del Gallo project in Guanajuato, the San Antonio project in Baja Sur and the Unga project in Alaska, USA.
Source: Heliostar Metals Ltd.
