Gladiator builds Whitehorse Copper potential

Over the course of 2024, Gladiator Metals Corp. advanced its exploration of the Whitehorse Copper project, unveiling significant high-grade copper zones, refining its geological models with cutting-edge surveys and historical insights, and setting the stage for substantial resource growth and future development at this historic Yukon project.

Throughout the year, Gladiator conducted a robust exploration program across its 5,280-hectare (13,294 acres) Whitehorse Copper project, located within a historically productive region that yielded 267.5 million pounds of copper, 225,000 ounces of gold, and 2.84 million ounces of silver over a 15-year period from 1967 to 1982.

Beginning its season in early spring, Gladiator focused on resource expansion drilling at high-priority targets, while reanalyzing historical drill cores, conducting advanced geophysical surveys, and staking new claims to uncover potentially untapped copper mineralization and refine possible co-product opportunities in gold, silver, and molybdenum.

Initially planning for 10,000 meters of drilling across multiple targets, including the Cub Trend, Chiefs Trend, and Best Chance, with a particular emphasis on the Cowley Park and Middle Chief zones, Gladiator sought to define extensions of mineralization and test promising new anomalies identified through its drone magnetic surveys.

With the surveys conducted earlier in the year revealing large-scale magnetic anomalies along 1,100 meters of strike at the Cub Trend, which the company interpreted as a possible district-scale continuity in mineralization, Gladiator also reexamined historical databases comprised of 11,474 meters of historical drilling across 142 holes.

The modern surveying, paired with the review of historical drilling data further reinforced the district-scale potential, as it revealed strong correlations between the mineralized zones where drilling had taken place and the magnetic anomalies previously identified.

Shallow, high-grade copper-skarn intercepts identified through historical data, such as 34.75 meters averaging 1.65% copper at Black Cub South; 23.47 meters averaging 2.91% copper at Keewenaw; and 24.99 meters averaging 1.4% copper at Gem; highlighted areas of interest within the Cub Trend.

These findings informed the decision to mobilize a second rig to further investigate the continuity of mineralization and assess the broader potential of this historically significant trend.

"Gladiator has mobilized a second rig at the Whitehorse Copper project and commenced the first diamond drilling campaign at the Cub Trend prospect since the 1980s," said Gladiator Metals CEO Jason Bontempo.

Shortly after, the company reported the first results from drilling at Middle Chief, which similarly was collated with historic drilling – 628 underground holes and 166 surface holes totaling 68,940 meters – confirming significant unmined high-grade copper-skarn mineralization and highlighting the potential for further extensions.

The initial six holes, totaling 2,162 meters of drilling, confirmed the continuity of high-grade mineralization with notable intercepts including:

• Six meters averaging 1.56 % copper and 1.06 grams per metric ton gold from 213 meters in LCG-001.

• 22 meters averaging 1.41% copper and 0.28 g/t gold from 208 meters in LCG-001D1.

• 10 meters averaging 0.83% copper and 0.19 g/t gold from 62 meters in LCG-001D2.

These results validated Gladiator's historical data compilation and pointed to the potential for significant resource expansion at Middle Chief.

Gladiator Metals Corp.

Driven by the promising results and the identification of untapped targets, Gladiator opted to expand its landholdings in June by staking an additional 54 square kilometers (21 square miles). This expansion not only increased the project's footprint but also secured access to the newly identified anomalies and mineralized zones.

Bolstered by the success at Middle Chief and Cub Trend, Gladiator redirected its expanded exploration capacity toward Cowley Park. While early results were significant, it was assays from later in the season that began to show the extent of this promising prospect. Significant intercepts from this campaign included:

• Nine meters averaging 1.37% copper, 0.06 g/t gold, 4.38 g/t silver, and 261 parts per million molybdenum from a depth of 71 meters in hole CPG-049, including 26 meters averaging 3.31% copper from 88 meters.

• 38 meters averaging 1.01% copper, 0.06 g/t gold, 4.83 g/t silver, and 604 ppm molybdenum from 96 meters in CPG-045, including 12 meters averaging 1.73% copper from 96 meters.

"These results at CPG-049 and CPG-045 confirm our belief that copper mineralization including molybdenum, gold and silver at Cowley Park continues near surface, is high grade and remains open along strike and down dip in all directions with significant resource expansion opportunities both within AND outside the area of historic drilling," said Bontempo.

The results at Cowley Park capped off a defining year for Gladiator, adding significant new mineralized zones and extending the known strike of high-grade copper skarn mineralization at this historic target.

In total, the company completed over 13,000 meters of drilling in 68 holes, uncovering substantial resource expansion opportunities at Cub Trend, Middle Chief, and Cowley Park. These discoveries, combined with the integration of historical data and advanced geophysical insights, have laid the groundwork for the company's next phase of exploration.

To further strengthen its position, Gladiator formalized a partnership with the Kwanlin Dün First Nation (KDFN) toward the end of the year, establishing a collaborative framework for the planning, consultation, and environmental review processes for the Whitehorse Copper project, situated within their traditional territory.

Supported by a capacity funding agreement, this partnership ensured KDFN's active participation in reviewing exploration plans, conducting environmental assessments, and developing mitigation strategies to address potential impacts.

Gladiator plans to leverage these operational and collaborative achievements to define new resources and refine its development strategies, setting a strong foundation for the continued revitalization of the Whitehorse Copper Belt in 2025 and beyond.