Athena Discovers New High-Grade Gold Showings and Submits Drill Permits for Laird Lake Project in Ontario's Red Lake Gold Camp

Rhea-AI Summary

Athena Gold (OTCQB:AHNRF) reported final results from its 2025 prospecting program at the Laird Lake project in Ontario's Red Lake district. A new surface Rigby showing returned up to 20.8 g/t Au, traced for >40m of strike and remaining open; 12 samples were taken at Rigby with 8 samples >1 g/t Au and 5 samples >10 g/t Au. Additional anomalous results came from Nemo and Hugo. Athena has submitted drill permits for a planned ~5,000 m maiden winter drill program targeted for Q1 2026 to test SkyTEM-derived conductive targets G1–G6. Historical context notes past high-grade values to 373 g/t Au reported in 2024. QA/QC and lab methods are detailed and a Qualified Person has approved the technical data.

Positive

• Rigby surface sample up to 20.8 g/t Au
• 8 of 12 Rigby samples returned >1 g/t Au
• Drill permit submitted for ~5,000 m program in Q1 2026
• Geophysical targets G1–G6 identified from SkyTEM reprocessing

Negative

• Drill program pending permit approval (permit submitted)
• Rigby dataset limited to 12 surface samples over >40m strike

New Rigby showing returns up to 20.8 g/t Au from surface sampling

WHITE ROCK, BC / ACCESS Newswire / November 13, 2025 / Athena Gold Corporation (CSE:ATHA)(OTCQB:AHNRF) ("Athena" or the "Company") is pleased to announce final results from its 2025 prospecting program at the flagship Laird Lake gold project, located in Ontario's world-class Red Lake Gold District. The latest results suggest a potentially significant surface gold discovery at the new Rigby showing, returning up to 20.8 g/t gold along a mineralized structure traced for over 40 meters and open in both directions. The discovery was generated through systematic follow-up of anomalous gold-in-till results reported earlier this year (see press release dated September 4, 2025).

Additional prospecting at the Nemo and Hugo geochemical targets returned anomalous gold in altered and pyrite-mineralized volcanic outcrops and subcrops, confirming widespread potential across the property.

"We are pleased to see our continued exploration efforts at Laird bear fruit, with new high-grade gold occurrences found within only 100m of the road, with prolific headframes in Red Lake in plain sight. The earlier results from the till program have helped guided us here. With a solid mix of geochemical and geophysical targets, we've begun discussions with several local drill contractors to prepare for our maiden drill program, expected to take place in early 2026" said Koby Kushner, CEO of Athena.

Zone	Total Grab Samples Collected	Number of Samples >0.1 g/t Au	Number of Samples >1.0 g/t Au	Maximum Gold Value (g/t Au)
Bounty	109	15	9	20.8
Nemo	97	6	0	0.853
Hugo	16	2	0	0.112

Table 1: Surface grab samples taken from zones of geochemical anomalism at Laird Lake.

Rigby Discovery
The Rigby showing is a new surface gold discovery identified by following up anomalous gold-in-till results completed earlier this year (see news release dated September 4, 2025). Preliminary field work has successfully traced the mineralization over >40m of strike length and remains open in both directions. A total of 12 samples were collected from the showing over the traced strike length with 8 samples returning >1 g/t Au, 5 samples returning > 10g/t Au, with a maximum value of 20.8 g/t Au. The mineralization is hosted within an approximately 1m-wide, sheared mafic volcanic rock with highly deformed quartz veins. The highest gold values were collected from the quartz-pyrite veins, however the sheared host rock also contained low grade gold values (up to 0.23 g/t Au). Follow up work will consist of tracing the mineralization along strike to determine the full extent of mineralization and potential channel sampling.

Figure 1: Map showing recent sampling locations, including the Rigby discovery, along with geophysical anomalies (G1-G6), regional geology, and interpreted structures.

Discussion on Drill Program
Athena has submitted a permit to drill the Laird Lake project scheduled to begin in Q1 2026. A ~5,000m program will be designed to test a number of highly compelling geophysical and geological targets. Athena has completed an in-depth review of historical data and supplemented with new field observations to reinterpret the controls on mineralization. Athena has identified two main controls on mineralization at Laird Lake referred to as Generation 1 & 2. Generation 1 is dominantly in an east-west orientation and generally observed as a replacement-style mineralization characterized by the presence of pyrite, arsenopyrite and tourmaline. Generation 2 is characterized by a northeast orientation and locally cutting the first generation. Mineralization is largely hosted within quartz-pyrite-chalcopyrite veins and able to return high-grade gold values up to 373 g/t Au (see press release dated December 4, 2024).

The winter drill program will leverage the historical SkyTEM magnetic and electromagnetic (EM) data. This data has been instrumental in mapping out the various structures which to date host all the known gold occurrences. The EM data has outlined a series of conductive bodies (targets G1 - G6) which correspond to a confluence of interpreted structures and represents high priority drill targets. Additionally, these conductive anomalies have the potential to host critical minerals, particularly for copper, nickel and/or platinum group elements. As a result, future analytical results testing these conductors will also assay for these metals in addition to their pathfinders. The geophysical anomalies are being reprocessed to refine the targets prior to drilling.

QA/QC
All collected field samples were flagged with flagging tape and marked with sample ID, and location data was collected with a GPS device. Post-field collection, samples were transported to Agat Labs Thunder Bay for preparation and analysis. All samples were dried to 60°C to reduce loss of volatile mercury and arsenic, passed through a 2mm sieve and split to 250g. Splits were pulverized to 85% passing 75 µm. Subsets of 25g underwent Aqua Regia ICP-OES & MS digestion and analysis. 50g subsets underwent FA - AAS. Overlimit Au samples (>10 g/t) underwent an additional 50g gravimetric analysis by Fire Assay Fusion.

The technical information presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Benjamin Kuzmich, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration for Athena Gold Corporation and the Qualified Person for exploration at the Laird Lake Project, as defined by NI 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects".

About Athena Gold Corporation
Athena Gold is engaged in the business of mineral exploration and the acquisition of mineral property assets. Its objective is to locate and develop economic precious and base metal properties of merit and to conduct additional exploration drilling and studies on its projects across North America. Athena Gold's Laird Lake project is situated in the Red Lake Gold District of Ontario, covering over 7,000 hectares along more than 10 km of the Balmer-Confederation Assemblage contact, where recent surface sampling results returned up to 373 g/t Au. This underexplored area is road-accessible, located about 10 km west of West Red Lake Gold's Madsen mine and 34 km northwest of Kinross Gold's Great Bear project. Meanwhile, its Excelsior Springs project is located in the prolific Walker Lane Trend in Nevada, where it is currently under an earn-in option with Mammoth Minerals Limited (formerly, Firetail Resources Limited). Excelsior Springs spans over 2,500 hectares and covers at least three historic mines. Athena Gold also holds a 100% interest in its Oneman Lake Au-VMS project in Ontario.

For further information about Athena Gold Corporation, please visit www.athenagoldcorp.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Koby Kushner
President and Chief Executive Officer, Athena Gold Corporation

For further information, please contact:

Athena Gold Corporation
Koby Kushner, President and Chief Executive Officer
Phone: 416-846-6164
Email: kobykushner@athenagoldcorp.com

CHF Capital Markets
Cathy Hume, CEO
Phone: 416-868-1079 x 251
Email: cathy@chfir.com

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US. securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including, without limitation, statements regarding future exploration plans, future results from exploration, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "will", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", ''potential", "scheduled", or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this press release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that there will be investor interest in future financings, market fundamentals will result in sustained precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future exploration and development of the Company's projects in a timely manner.

The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this press release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise stated.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Athena Gold Corporation

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

FAQ

What gold grades did Athena report at the Rigby showing at Laird Lake (AHNRF) on November 13, 2025?

Rigby returned up to 20.8 g/t Au, with 8 of 12 samples >1 g/t Au and 5 samples >10 g/t Au.

When will Athena begin drilling at Laird Lake (AHNRF) and how big is the program?

Athena submitted permits and plans a ~5,000 m maiden drill program targeted for Q1 2026.

How far does the Rigby mineralized zone extend at Laird Lake (AHNRF)?

Field work traced the Rigby mineralization for >40 m of strike and it remains open in both directions.

What geophysical targets will Athena test at Laird Lake (AHNRF)?

Athena will target SkyTEM-derived conductive anomalies labeled G1–G6, prioritized before drilling.

Were laboratory QA/QC procedures used for the Laird Lake samples (AHNRF)?

Yes; samples were prepared at Agat Labs Thunder Bay with Aqua Regia ICP-OES/MS and FA-AAS; >10 g/t overlimits had gravimetric fire assay.

Do the Laird Lake results include other metals besides gold for AHNRF drilling?

Future assays will also test for copper, nickel and platinum group elements on selected conductive targets.