VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Eminent Gold Corp. (TSXV: EMNT) (OTCQB: EMGDF) (FSE: 7AB) ("Eminent" or the "Company") reports that a new age date from its Celts project matches the age of mineralization at AngloGold Ashanti's Arthur Project (current mineral endowment of approximately 15.7 Moz Au(1)), located about 100 km away along the same structural trend (Figure 1). Younger gold systems of this age in the district tend to form larger, bulk-mineable deposits, while older systems (such as those at Goldfield and Tonopah) were typically high-grade underground vein mines. Celts now represents one of the few remaining untested, Silicon--age gold systems in the district.
Highlights
-- Age date of 11.73 million years matches the age of gold mineralization at
AngloGold Ashanti's Silicon deposit (part of the Arthur Project).
-- Structural setting at Celts is consistent with the style that hosts large,
bulk-mineable gold systems at the Arthur Project.
-- Mapping has identified priority fault targets; claims more than doubled
to 1,020 hectares ahead of drilling.
-- Five-hole drill program planned to test both fault-hosted (Silicon-style)
and layer-hosted (Merlin-style) targets.
The Company has received surface rock samples up to 1.5 g/t gold from a new area away from the historic mines and completed mapping and structural work that highlights strong potential for mineralization (Figure 2). As a result, the Company has more than doubled its claim package to 1,020 hectares ahead of its first drill program. Five holes are planned to test two target styles similar to those at the Arthur Project: fault-hosted targets like Silicon and layer-hosted targets like Merlin.
Dan McCoy, PhD, President and CEO, stated:
"As we enter an exciting and potentially transformational phase of advanced discovery drilling at HSRP, we are thrilled to have advanced Celts to drill-ready status, positioning us for the opportunity to make a second major gold discovery in Nevada. The increasingly compelling geological similarities to AngloGold Ashanti's Arthur Project, further strengthened by new age-dating, rock-sampling and structural mapping results, continue to build our confidence in the potential for a significant new gold system. With two highly prospective discovery opportunities advancing simultaneously, we believe we are entering one of the most exciting chapters in our company's history, with the potential to unlock exceptional value through major new gold discoveries."
Justin Milliard, PhD, Vice President of Exploration, commented:
"The age dating is a key technical result. It shows Celts was active during the same event that formed the major gold system at the Arthur Project. Combined with the structural opening we have mapped along a major regional fault, this gives us a stronger geological basis to test both the fault-hosted and layer-hosted targets with our upcoming drill program."
Age Dating Results
A sample of alunite (a mineral that forms during gold-related hydrothermal activity) returned an age of 11.73 +/- 0.12 million years. This matches the age of the host volcanic rocks on the property and the age of gold mineralization at Silicon (part of the Arthur Project). It is significantly younger than the gold systems at Goldfield. The younger age corresponds to a period of tectonic activity that created the larger, bulk-mineable gold deposits in the Beatty district, including the Arthur Project.
Mapping and Structural Results
Mapping shows that the historic Gold Button Mine sits on a bend in a major northwest-trending fault. Stress from that bend appears to have been transferred to the north-south Cool Boy fault, which the Company identified in earlier geophysical work. This bend created an opening in the rocks (a half-graben -- a down-dropped block where fluids can collect) that is considered a favorable setting for gold mineralization (Figure 2). This structural style developed during the same period of tectonic activity that formed the Arthur Project.
Rock Sample Results
The Company previously reported high-grade samples (up to 33 g/t gold) from the historic Gold Button mine dump. Those samples were collected by a previous operator from dump material and have not been verified by the Company. New sampling by Eminent has returned gold values up to 1.5 g/t from areas outside the historic dumps, including along the Cool Boy fault and in a zone of silica veining and breccias west of Nancy Donaldson. These results support the decision to drill beneath the rhyolite dome and in the half-graben.
Planned Drill Program
The Company plans five holes totaling approximately 2,500 metres. Two holes will test the Cool Boy fault beneath the rhyolite dome, and three additional holes will test for layer-hosted gold mineralization (similar to Merlin) in the half-graben (down-dropped fault block) near the Gold Button Mine (Figures 3 and 4). The first two holes are already permitted. The additional three holes are subject to permit approval and financing.
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Justin B. Milliard, CPG (American Institute of Professional Geologists, Certificate No. 12053), Vice President of Exploration of the Company and a non-independent Qualified Person ("QP") under NI 43-101.
Sampling and QA/QC
March 2026 rock-chip samples (24 samples collected, 23 with gold results; 0.2--1.6 kg each) were collected by J. Slayton and R. Selwood between March 21 and 23, 2026 and were received by MSALABS, Elko, Nevada, on March 25, 2026. MSALABS is independent of the Company and operates to ISO/IEC 17025 guidelines; however, the Elko facility is not listed as an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory. At MSALABS, samples were dried and crushed in their entirety to 70% passing 2 mm (method CRU-CPA), and a nominal 500 g split was placed in a PhotonAssay jar and analysed for gold by PhotonAssay (method CPA-Au1; detection limit 0.015 g/t Au); samples were not pulverized. One sample (479917) returned insufficient sample for analysis. Company-inserted quality control consisted of two granite blanks in the batch (certificate ELK2610371); no Company-inserted certified reference materials (standards) or duplicates were used. MSALABS analysed an internal blank and OREAS certified reference materials (OREAS 243 and OREAS 273) as internal quality control. All blanks returned less than 0.015 g/t Au. Samples 361084 and 479918 were re-assayed by MSALABS in July 2026 by re-reading the original PhotonAssay jars without further preparation (method CPA-AgAu1, certificate ELK2610688) and returned 1.49 and 0.42 g/t Au, compared with 1.525 and 0.431 g/t Au originally. Samples 479911 and 479905 were collected in 2025 and analysed by Paragon Geochemical Laboratories, Sparks, Nevada, which is accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 by the International Accreditation Service (IAS, certificate TL-917), with a scope of accreditation that includes gold by fire assay with AAS and ICP-OES finish. At Paragon, samples were dried and crushed to 70% passing 10 mesh (method PREP-PKG), and a 250 g riffle split was pulverized to 85% passing 200 mesh and analysed by 30 g fire assay with AAS/OES finish (method Au-FA30, certificate B25-1115). Rock-chip samples are selective by nature and may not represent average grades or continuity of mineralization.
Data verification
The QP visited the Property on May 19, 2026. Mr. Milliard has verified the 2026 data disclosed in this news release, subject to the limitations below. The QP has reviewed the QA/QC procedures and results and considers the data adequate for the purposes of this news release. Limitations: the CS061 alunite age is preliminary, unpublished and verbally reported, and the analytical method has not been reported, pending the formal laboratory report; the host rhyolite age is a conventional K-Ar sanidine age published in 1976 (recalculated as compiled by USGS/NBMG) and has not been re-dated by modern methods; the Chevron drill result is historical and has not been verified; rock-chip samples collected by previous operators before the Company acquired the Property in February 2025, including mine-dump samples, are selective and have not been verified by the Qualified Person; and information on Silicon, Merlin, Goldfield and Tonopah is from public sources that the Qualified Person has not verified.
References
(1) AngloGold Ashanti plc. (2026). NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Arthur Gold Project, Nevada, United States of America. Effective date 31 December 2025; dated 2 April 2026. Qualified Persons: G. Gushée, FAusIMM, and H. Taghavi, RM SME. Gold Mineral Reserve (Probable): 87.64 Mt at 1.75 g/t Au for 4.94 Moz; gold Mineral Resources, exclusive of Mineral Reserves: Indicated 164.14 Mt at 0.84 g/t Au for 4.41 Moz and Inferred 219.79 Mt at 0.90 g/t Au for 6.34 Moz. Information on AngloGold Ashanti's Arthur project (including the Silicon and Merlin deposits) is from public sources that the Qualified Person has not verified, and mineralization at that project is not necessarily indicative of mineralization at Celts. (2) Vikre, P.G. (USGS), personal communication (email), 15 September 2026: sample CS061 alunite 11.73 +/- 0.12 Ma, date provided by C.D. Henry (NBMG) on 4 September 2026; preliminary and unpublished; cited with permission (3) Ashley, R.P. and Silberman, M.L., 1976, Direct dating of mineralization at Goldfield, Nevada, by potassium-argon and fission-track methods, Economic Geology, Volume 71, Issue 5, pages 904--924 (4) McKee, E.H. and Bergquist, J.R., 1993, New radiometric ages related to alteration and mineralization in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 93-538. (5) John, D.A., and Henry, C.D., 2020, Magmatic-tectonic settings of Cenozoic epithermal gold-silver deposits of the Great Basin, western United States: Geological Society of Nevada 2020 Symposium Volume.
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