Banyan Gold Commences Fully Funded 40,000+ Metre Diamond Drill Program at AurMac Project, Yukon

Rhea-AI Summary

Banyan Gold (OTCQB:BYAGF) has started a fully funded 40,000 metre diamond drill program at the AurMac Project, Yukon, in 2026. About 80% of the budget targets Airstrip and Powerline to expand known mineralization; regional work will test 10 un‑drilled targets at AurMac and Nitra.

The AurMac MRE (effective June 28, 2025) reports an Indicated 2.274 Moz Au and Inferred 5.453 Moz Au; scoping and PEA work is planned for Q4‑2026.

Positive

• Fully funded 40,000 metre 2026 drill program
• Indicated MRE of 2.274 Moz Au (112.5 Mt at 0.63 g/t)
• Approximately 80% of budget directed to Airstrip and Powerline
• Over 95% of AurMac and Nitra undrilled to date
• Planned PEA Q4‑2026 with ongoing metallurgical and geotechnical work

Negative

• Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and lack demonstrated economic viability
• Inferred 5.453 Moz Au reported as uncertain in nature

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / February 19, 2026 / Banyan Gold Corp. (the "Company" or "Banyan") (TSXV:BYN)(OTCQB:BYAGF) is pleased to announce commencement of the 2026 diamond drilling and exploration program at its AurMac Project ("AurMac" or the "Project") in the Tombstone Gold Belt, Yukon. The fully funded 40,000 metre ("m") campaign will include:

• Four drills at AurMac focused on project advancement work and exploration drilling aimed at expanding the mineralized envelope of Airstrip and Powerline, following up on high grade gold and high grade silver zones.

• Exploration drilling on Banyan's largely unexplored regional projects at AurMac and Nitra, with a primary focus on discovery of additional expressions of Reduced Intrusion-Related Gold Systems ("RIRGs") with testing of geophysical and geochemical targets from both our seasoned geologists and AI guided analysis of all geological data.

"We're excited to kick off the 2026 exploration season with strong momentum and a clear roadmap for value creation and discovery," said Duncan Mackay, Vice President of Exploration. "The success of our 2025 results laid a solid foundation for this year's drilling, which focuses on further defining higher-grade mineralized domains at Airstrip and Powerline. Both deposits remain open in all directions, exhibiting significant potential for expansion. By integrating geophysical datasets with compelling soil geochemical anomalies across our largely untested 720 square kilometer land package, we see significant opportunities for new discoveries, particularly on the 10 targets we have identified that have never been drilled on our Nitra and broader AurMac property."

2026 EXPLORATION PLANS

Airstrip and Powerline:

Approximately 80% of the 2026 drill budget will be allocated to project advancement at Airstrip and Powerline which host an Indicated Mineral Resource of 2.274 million ("M") ‎ounces ("oz") of gold ("Au") (112.5 M tonnes at 0.63 g/t) and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 5.453 M oz of Au (280.6 M tonnes at 0.60 g/t ) using a $2050 USD gold price (as defined in the CIM Definition ‎Standards for Mineral Resources & Mineral Reserves incorporated by reference into NI 43‑101; see news release August 20. 2025¹). Diamond drilling will also test potential for expansion of the known mineralized system at both deposits along strike and down-dip of known mineralized domains.

⁽¹⁾ See Table 1 below

Figure 1: Project Location Map for Banyan's AurMac and Nitra projects. Banyan has identified 10 highly prospective targets on its broader Nitra and AurMac property, distal to the existing Resource.

AurMac and Nitra:

Regional targets have also been identified using new geophysical surveys in combination with soil sampling anomalies. Approximately 20% of the drill program will be testing RIRGs potential at these high priority targets. Over 95% of AurMac and Nitra has not been tested by drilling to date; the majority of exploration is limited to surficial geochemical work and airborne geophysical surveys. The western portion of Nitra (see "Green Fields" target in Figure 1) is approx. 20km south-east of Sitka Gold's RC Gold Project, within the prolific Tombstone Gold Belt which hosts the Brewery Creek deposit, Snowline Gold's Valley Project, Prospector Metal's ML project, the Eagle mine, and the Fort Knox mine.

Drilling will be complemented by surface sampling, geophysical surveys, ongoing metallurgical work, geotechnical work and environmental surveys, along with scoping and engineering studies required for a preliminary economic assessment of the project in Q4-2026.

Upcoming Events

• Florida Roadshow, - Boca Raton, Miami, February 19 - 20

• BMO 35rd Global Metals, Mining & Critical Minerals Conference, Hollywood, FL, February 22 - 25

• Metals Investor Forum Toronto, February 27 - 28

  • Corporate Presentation: February 27, 6:00 PM ET

• Yukon in Global Focus: From Rocks to Riches Breakfast - Fireside Chat - Toronto, March 2, 7 AM - 9 AM ET

  • 7:00 AM to 9 AM ET

• PDAC, Toronto, March 1 - 4

  • Exhibitor Booth No. 2213, March 1 - 2

  • 1x1 Meetings, Level 300, March 1 - 3

• SMI Zurich, Switzerland, March 18 - 19

• Italy Roadshow - Milan, Rome, March 23 - 27

Qualified Persons

Duncan Mackay, M.Sc., P.Geo., is a "Qualified Person" as ‎defined under National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), and has reviewed and approved the content of this news release in respect of all disclosure other than the MRE.‎ Mr. Mackay is Vice President Exploration for Banyan and has verified the data disclosed in this news release, including the sampling, ‎‎analytical and test data underlying the information.

About Banyan

Banyan's primary asset, the AurMac Project is located in the Traditional Territory of First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, in Canada's Yukon Territory. The current Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for the AurMac Project has an effective date of June 28, 2025 and comprises an Indicated Mineral Resource of 2.274 million ‎ounces of gold (" Au ") (112.5 M tonnes at 0.63 g/t) and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 5.453 Moz of Au (280.6 M tonnes at 0.60 g/t ) (as defined in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") Definition ‎Standards for Mineral Resources & Mineral Reserves incorporated by reference into NI 43‑101). The 303 square kilometres ("sq km") AurMac Project lies 40 kilometres from Mayo, Yukon. The AurMac Project is transected by the main Yukon highway and benefits from a 3-phase powerline, existing power station and cell phone coverage.

Table 1: Pit-Constrained Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources - AurMac Project

Deposit	Gold Cut-Off (g/t)	Tonnage (M Tonnes)	Average Gold Grade (g/t)	Contained Gold (Moz)
Indicated MRE
Airstrip	0.30	27.7	0.69	0.611
Powerline	0.30	84.8	0.61	1.663
Total Combined Indicated MRE	0.30	112.5	0.63	2.274
Inferred MRE
Airstrip	0.30	10.1	0.75	0.245
Powerline	0.30	270.4	0.60	5.208
Total Combined Inferred MRE	0.30	280.6	0.60	5.453

Notes to Table 1:

1. The effective date for the MRE is June 28, 2025, and was prepared by Marc Jutras, P.Eng., M.A.Sc., Principal, Ginto Consulting Inc., an independent "Qualified Person" within the meaning of NI 43-101.

2. Mineral Resources, which are not Mineral Reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing, changes in global gold markets or other relevant issues.

3. The CIM Definition Standards were followed for classification of Mineral Resources. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred Mineral Resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature ‎and there has been insufficient exploration to define these Inferred Mineral Resources as an ‎Indicated Mineral Resource.

4. Mineral Resources are reported at a cut-off grade of 0.30 g/t gold for all deposits, using a US$/CAN$ exchange rate of 0.73 and constrained within an open pit shell optimized with the Lerchs-Grossman algorithm to constrain the Mineral Resources with the following estimated parameters: gold price of US$2,050/ounce, US$2.50/t mining cost, US$10.00/t processing cost, US$2.00/t G+A, 90% gold recoveries, and 45° pit slopes. ¹

5. The number of tonnes and ounces was rounded to the nearest thousand. Any discrepancies in the totals are due to rounding effects.

In addition to the AurMac Project, the Company holds the Hyland Gold Project, located 70 km Northeast of Watson Lake, Yukon, along the Southeast end of the Tintina Gold Belt (the "Hyland Project") in the Traditional Territory of the Kaska Nations, closest to the Liard First Nation and Daylu Dena Council.The Hyland Project represents a sediment hosted, structurally controlled, intrusion related gold deposit, within a large land package (over 125 sq km), accessible by a network of existing gravel access roads. The updated MRE comprises an Indicated Mineral Resource of 337 thousand ("K") ‎ounces ("oz") of gold ("Au") and 2.63 million ("M") oz of silver ("Ag") (11.3 M tonnes of ore at 0.93 g/t Au and 7.27 g/t Ag), and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 118 Koz of Au and 0.86 Moz Ag (3.9 M tonnes of ore at 0.95 g/t Au and 6.94 g/t Ag)(as defined in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") Definition ‎Standards for Mineral Resources & Mineral Reserves incorporated by reference into NI 43‑101) effective September 1, 2025 and with technical report filed on Sedar on October 27, 2025.

Banyan also holds the Nitra Gold Project, a grassroots exploration project located in the Mayo Mining district, approximately 10 km west of the AurMac Gold property. The Nitra Property lies in the northern part of the Selwyn basin and is underlain by metaclastic rocks of the Late Proterozoic Yusezyu Formation of the Hyland Group, similar to lithologies hosting portions of the AurMac Project. Middle Cretaceous Tombstone Plutonic suite intrusions occur along the property including the Morrison Creek and Minto Creek stocks. The property is 100% owned and operated by Banyan and covers approximately 313.9 sq km. The property is accessible by road along the Silver Trail Highway, South McQuesten Road and 4x4 roads.

Banyan trades on the TSX-Venture Exchange under the symbol "BYN" and is quoted on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol "BYAGF". For more information, please visit the corporate website at or contact the Company.

ON BEHALF OF BANYAN GOLD CORPORATION

(signed) "Tara Christie"

Tara Christie
President & CEO

For more information, please contact:

Tara Christie • 778 928 0556 • tchristie@banyangold.com
Jasmine Sangria • 604 312 5610 • jsangria@banyangold.com

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: Neither the TSX Venture Exchange, its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor OTCQB Venture Market accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION: This release contains forward-looking information, which is not comprised of historical facts and is based upon the Company's current internal expectations, estimates, projections, assumptions and beliefs. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as "may", "will", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend(s)", "believe", "potential" and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations, Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, mineral resource estimates; mineral recoveries and anticipated mining costs. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include uncertainties inherent in resource estimates, continuity and extent of mineralization, capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates, the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals, political risks, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, enhanced risks inherent to conducting business in any jurisdiction, and those risks set out in Banyan's public documents filed on SEDAR. Although Banyan believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Banyan disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

¹ The gold price and cost assumptions are consistent with current pricing assumptions and costs and, in particular, with those employed for recent technical reports for similar pit-constrained Yukon gold projects.

SOURCE: Banyan Gold Corp.

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

FAQ

When did Banyan Gold (BYAGF) start the 2026 AurMac 40,000m drill program?

Banyan began the fully funded 40,000 metre diamond drill program on February 19, 2026. According to the company, four drills will operate at AurMac focusing on project advancement at Airstrip and Powerline plus regional discovery drilling at Nitra.

What portion of the 2026 drill budget for BYAGF is allocated to Airstrip and Powerline?

About 80% of the 2026 drill budget targets Airstrip and Powerline. According to the company, this focuses on expanding the mineralized envelope and testing strike and down‑dip extensions of known higher‑grade domains.

What are the AurMac Mineral Resource figures cited by Banyan (BYAGF)?

AurMac MRE reports an Indicated 2.274 Moz Au and Inferred 5.453 Moz Au. According to the company, the Indicated figure is 112.5 Mt at 0.63 g/t and Inferred is 280.6 Mt at 0.60 g/t (effective June 28, 2025).

How will Banyan's 2026 program test regional targets at Nitra and AurMac?

Approximately 20% of drilling will test regional reduced intrusion‑related gold system targets. According to the company, geophysics, soil geochemistry and AI‑guided analysis identified 10 high‑priority targets that are largely un‑drilled.

Is Banyan planning economic studies alongside drilling for BYAGF's AurMac project?

Yes, Banyan plans scoping and engineering studies aiming for a preliminary economic assessment in Q4‑2026. According to the company, ongoing metallurgical, geotechnical and environmental work will support that PEA timeline.

What caveats apply to the AurMac Mineral Resource figures for BYAGF investors?

The MRE is subject to uncertainties and is not a Mineral Reserve with proven economic viability. According to the company, resources may be affected by environmental, permitting, title or market factors and inferred tonnes remain uncertain.