Highlights
- Assays from the final three Phase 1 holes (AUR-26-08 to AUR-26-10) and the first Phase 2 hole to be reported (AUR-26-12) returned broad gold-copper mineralization in every hole, beginning near surface and persisting to approximately 660 m down-hole.
- AUR-26-12: 45.5 m grading 1.05 g/t Au from 397.0 m, including 8.0 m grading 4.37 g/t Au and 2.2 m grading 12.2 g/t Au, 31.9 g/t Ag, 0.35% Cu and 0.21% Zn; plus 23.2 m grading 1.35 g/t Au from 111.0 m (including 1.5 m at 16.3 g/t Au) and 19.5 m grading 1.51 g/t Au from 207.0 m (including 2.9 m at 7.01 g/t Au).
- AUR-26-10: 29.4 m grading 1.32 g/t Au from 402.0 m, including 1.3 m of banded massive sulphides grading 14.0 g/t Au, 44.9 g/t Ag and 1.47% Cu and 1.4 m at 12.3 g/t Au; plus 24.3 m grading 1.04 g/t Au from 603.7 m, including 4.0 m at 3.82 g/t Au.
- AUR-26-09: 4.1 m grading 1.22 g/t Au from 658.9 m, including 0.5 m at 8.41 g/t Au, 106.0 g/t Ag and 0.84% Cu, confirming mineralization at the deepest level drilled to date.
- Phase 1 drilling has extended the Roger mineralized system to at least 1.4 km of strike and at least 150 m below the limits of historical drilling. The system remains open in all directions.
- Phase 2 definition drilling is approximately 70% complete, with roughly 5,700 m of the planned 16-hole, 7,300 m program drilled. Visible gold was observed for the first time at Roger in hole AUR-26-20, at 443.95 m within a strongly mineralized pyrite-chalcopyrite interval from 427.3 to 450.0 m; assays are pending.
- An updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Roger Zone is expected before year-end 2026. It is based on a revised geological interpretation of the historical resource and a modern drill database and will not include Phase 1 or Phase 2 drilling. A further MRE update incorporating Phase 1, Phase 2 and any Phase 3 drilling is targeted for the first half of 2027.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 15, 2026) - Auriginal Mining Corp. (TSXV: AUME) ("Auriginal" or the "Company") reports assay results for four additional drill holes at its 100%-owned Roger Project in the Chibougamau district of Quebec: the final three holes of the Phase 1 program (AUR-26-08 to AUR-26-10) and the first hole of the Phase 2 definition program for which assays have been received (AUR-26-12). All Phase 1 results have now been fully reported.
"These four holes do two things for us," said Peter Cashin, Chief Executive Officer. "They confirm that the broad gold-copper system at Roger continues well below the historical resource and along strike from it, and they keep returning high-grade, sulphide-associated intercepts that support a gold-rich VMS component within the system. Our immediate priority is to complete the revised interpretation of the historical resource and publish the 2026 estimate before year-end. That estimate deliberately excludes this year's drilling: it gives us a clean, modern base to which the Phase 1 and Phase 2 results, and any Phase 3 drilling, can then be added in the 2027 update."
- Figure 1 - Plan Map of Phase 2 Drillhole Locations, Roger Project, Quebec
- Figure 2 - Completed Phase 1 and Phase 2 Drillhole Intercepts, Longitudinal Section Looking South, Roger Project (Reported Holes Shown)
Drill Results: Holes AUR-26-08 (-650), -09, -10 and -12
The four holes were collared to test the continuation of Roger mineralization below and along strike from the historical Roger Zone, within the extension area outlined by earlier Phase 1 drilling (Figure 1 and Figure 2). Each hole intersected multiple mineralized intervals over several hundred metres of core, beginning near surface, which is consistent with the broad, moderate-grade porphyry-style gold-copper system that characterizes Roger. Within those broad intervals, each hole also returned discrete higher-grade gold intercepts, several of which carry elevated silver, copper and zinc.
AUR-26-12 returned the strongest results reported to date, with four separate intervals exceeding 19 m in core length. The lower interval of 45.5 m grading 1.05 g/t Au from 397.0 m includes 8.0 m grading 4.37 g/t Au and a polymetallic sub-interval of 2.2 m grading 12.2 g/t Au, 31.9 g/t Ag, 0.35% Cu and 0.21% Zn. Mineralization in this hole is hosted in some of the strongest pyrite-chalcopyrite mineralization intersected at Roger to date.
AUR-26-10 intersected mineralization from 167 m to 663 m down-hole. The interval of 29.4 m grading 1.32 g/t Au from 402.0 m includes 1.3 m of banded massive sulphides grading 14.0 g/t Au, 44.9 g/t Ag and 1.47% Cu and a further 1.4 m at 12.3 g/t Au. A second broad interval of 24.3 m grading 1.04 g/t Au from 603.7 m, including 4.0 m at 3.82 g/t Au, demonstrates that gold grades are sustained at the deepest levels tested in this hole.
AUR-26-09 intersected narrower intervals, the most significant being 4.1 m grading 1.22 g/t Au from 658.9 m, including 0.5 m grading 8.41 g/t Au, 106.0 g/t Ag and 0.84% Cu, the deepest mineralized intercept reported at Roger. AUR-26-08 returned eleven mineralized intervals between 127 m and 534 m, including 33.3 m grading 0.43 g/t Au from 397.5 m (with 2.5 m at 2.47 g/t Au) and 7.5 m grading 0.99 g/t Au from 235.5 m (with 1.5 m at 4.22 g/t Au).
Taken together with the Phase 1 holes reported previously, the program has extended the known mineralized system over at least 1.4 km of strike and at least 150 m below the limits of historical drilling. Mineralization remains open along strike and at depth. Significant intervals are presented in Table 1.
Table 1 - Significant assay results, holes AUR-26-08 to AUR-26-10 (Phase 1) and AUR-26-12 (Phase 2)
| Hole ID | From (m) | To (m) | Interval (m) | Au (g/t) | Ag (g/t) | Cu (%) | Zn (%) |
| AUR-26-08 (-650) | 127.3 | 134.0 | 6.7 | 0.32 | – | – | – |
| 183.0 | 192.5 | 9.5 | 0.59 | – | – | – | |
| 235.5 | 243.0 | 7.5 | 0.99 | – | – | – | |
| incl. | 235.5 | 237.0 | 1.5 | 4.22 | – | – | – |
| 256.5 | 265.0 | 8.5 | 0.34 | – | – | – | |
| 343.0 | 346.2 | 3.2 | 0.69 | – | – | – | |
| incl. | 344.8 | 346.2 | 1.4 | 1.23 | – | – | – |
| 378.0 | 379.5 | 1.5 | 1.04 | – | – | – | |
| 397.5 | 429.8 | 33.3 | 0.43 | – | – | – | |
| incl. | 425.0 | 427.5 | 2.5 | 2.47 | – | – | – |
| 524.0 | 533.5 | 9.5 | 0.19 | – | – | – | |
| AUR-26-09 (-650) | 355.5 | 361.5 | 6.0 | 0.51 | – | – | – |
| 412.3 | 415.0 | 2.7 | 1.26 | – | – | – | |
| 658.9 | 663.0 | 4.1 | 1.22 | – | – | – | |
| incl. | 659.4 | 659.9 | 0.5 | 8.41 | 106.0 | 0.84 | – |
| AUR-26-10 (-650) | 167.4 | 186.0 | 18.6 | 0.25 | – | – | – |
| incl. | 171.5 | 181.5 | 10.0 | 0.33 | – | – | – |
| 246.0 | 266.7 | 20.7 | 0.27 | – | – | – | |
| incl. | 254.9 | 255.9 | 1.0 | 2.07 | – | – | – |
| 276.0 | 297.0 | 21.0 | 0.23 | – | – | – | |
| 318.1 | 335.0 | 16.9 | 0.39 | – | – | – | |
| incl. | 334.0 | 335.0 | 1.0 | 1.29 | – | – | – |
| 402.0 | 431.4 | 29.4 | 1.32 | – | – | – | |
| incl. | 410.1 | 411.4 | 1.3 | 14.0 | 44.9 | 1.47 | – |
| and incl. | 430.0 | 431.4 | 1.4 | 12.3 | – | – | – |
| 502.0 | 530.0 | 28.0 | 0.48 | – | – | – | |
| incl. | 507.0 | 510.0 | 3.0 | 1.37 | – | – | – |
| and incl. | 517.0 | 518.0 | 1.0 | 1.22 | – | – | – |
| 570.5 | 577.0 | 5.5 | 0.21 | – | – | – | |
| 589.0 | 590.0 | 1.0 | 4.87 | --- | --- | --- | |
| 603.7 | 628.0 | 24.3 | 1.04 | – | – | – | |
| incl. | 606.0 | 610.0 | 4.0 | 3.82 | – | – | – |
| and incl. | 615.0 | 617.2 | 2.2 | 2.15 | – | – | – |
| and incl. | 626.0 | 627.0 | 1.0 | 3.53 | – | – | – |
| 651.5 | 663.1 | 11.6 | 0.44 | – | – | – | |
| AUR-26-12 (-520) | 111.0 | 134.2 | 23.2 | 1.35 | – | – | – |
| incl. | 131.0 | 132.5 | 1.5 | 16.3 | – | – | – |
| 207.0 | 226.5 | 19.5 | 1.51 | – | – | – | |
| incl. | 209.5 | 225.7 | 16.7 | 1.72 | 2.66 | – | – |
| and incl. | 222.8 | 225.7 | 2.9 | 7.01 | – | – | – |
| 308.0 | 345.0 | 37.0 | 0.64 | – | – | – | |
| incl. | 327.0 | 345.0 | 18.0 | 1.04 | 3.82 | – | – |
| and incl. | 327.0 | 328.1 | 1.1 | 3.70 | 14.5 | 0.16 | – |
| 397.0 | 442.5 | 45.5 | 1.05 | – | – | – | |
| incl. | 397.0 | 415.5 | 18.5 | 2.04 | – | – | – |
| and incl. | 397.0 | 405.0 | 8.0 | 4.37 | – | – | – |
| and incl. | 402.8 | 405.0 | 2.2 | 12.2 | 31.9 | 0.35 | 0.21 |
| and incl. | 427.0 | 431.0 | 4.0 | 1.40 | 11.4 | – | – |
Intervals are core lengths. True widths are estimated at approximately 65% of the core intervals reported. Sub-intervals ("incl.") are reported where grades are materially higher. Ag, Cu and Zn are shown where significant; "–" indicates not reported.
What the Results Mean Geologically
The Roger deposit was historically interpreted as a porphyry-style gold-copper system. The Company's reinterpretation, based on relogging, resampling, geochemistry and age dating, is that this porphyry system sits beneath, and is spatially associated with, a gold-rich volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) system developed at the top of the older Bruneau Formation volcanic stratigraphy. Phase 1 was designed to test that model while extending the vertical limits of the porphyry mineralization; the first support for it came from the massive sulphides intersected in hole AUR-26-03 (see news release dated July 14, 2026).
The holes reported here add to that picture in three ways. First, the broad, continuous gold intervals in AUR-26-08, -10 and -12 confirm that the porphyry-style system persists below and beyond the historical Roger Zone, with grade maintained to approximately 660 m down-hole. Second, the banded massive sulphides in AUR-26-10 and the gold-silver-copper-zinc sub-intervals in AUR-26-09 and AUR-26-12 are consistent with a VMS-related, gold-rich sulphide component within the system. Third, wide zones of anomalous copper, grading between 0.12% and 1.4% Cu, continue to be observed in the North Zone immediately north of the gold-enriched core of the Roger porphyry, and in close association with several of the higher-grade gold intersections. The North Zone is hosted in intercalated mafic to intermediate flows and tuffs with felsic volcanic rocks of the Bruneau Formation, the same stratigraphy to which the VMS mineralization is believed to be related.
Together, these observations support a larger and more varied mineralizing system than the historical porphyry model alone, and they are the basis for the resource strategy described below.
2026 Mineral Resource Estimate Update
The Company expects to publish an updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Roger Zone before year-end 2026. The estimate is being prepared by PLR Resources Inc. ("PLR"), the Company's independent resource consultant, at a 0.2 g/t Au cut-off. It is based on a revised geological interpretation of the previously reported historical resource, supported by the historical drilling and a modern, validated drill database compiled by the Company.
The 2026 MRE will not include any results from the Phase 1 or Phase 2 drill programs, including the holes reported in this release. Its purpose is to re-establish the Roger resource on a current footing, with a consistent geological model, a verified database and modern estimation methods, before new drilling is added. The Company expects the revised interpretation and supporting database to provide the foundation for a robust estimate, and to serve as the base case against which subsequent drilling can be measured.
Pathway to an Expanded Resource Estimate in the First Half of 2027
Following the 2026 MRE, the Company intends to incorporate the Phase 1 and Phase 2 drilling, together with any additional drilling completed under a potential Phase 3 program, into a further MRE update targeted for the first half of 2027. This update is intended to capture the extensions to the Roger system outlined by the 2026 drilling and represents the next stage of resource development at the project.
The Phase 2 definition program, funded with an additional $2.0 million (see news release dated August 12, 2026), was designed to provide sufficient drill density across the extensions identified in Phase 1 to support their evaluation for potential inclusion in a resource. Based on PLR's initial review, drilling at approximately 125-metre spacing has been recommended across portions of the extensions to support evaluation for potential classification as Inferred Mineral Resources. Phase 2 is planned to test the vertical continuation of the historical Roger porphyry by 200 to 250 m over the 1.4 km strike length and to continue to test for the overlying gold-rich VMS system.
Phase 2 is approximately 70% complete, with roughly 5,700 m of the planned 16-hole, 7,300 m program drilled and the twelfth hole underway. In addition to the results from AUR-26-12 reported here, visible gold was observed for the first time at Roger in hole AUR-26-20, at 443.75 m within a strongly pyrite-chalcopyrite mineralized interval from 427.3 to 450.0 m (Plates 1 and 2). Assays for AUR-26-20 and the remaining Phase 2 holes are pending. All currently planned Phase 2 drilling and associated technical work is fully funded. The scope of any Phase 3 program will be determined on completion of Phase 2 and the 2026 MRE.
The extent to which the 2026 drilling adds to the Roger resource will depend on the results of the remaining Phase 2 holes and on the outcome of the resource estimation work. There is no assurance that the drilling described in this release will result in additional Mineral Resources.
| Plate 1 - Visible gold at 443.95 m, hole AUR-26-20 | Plate 2 - Visible gold in pyrite-chalcopyrite stringer, hole AUR-26-20 |
About Auriginal Mining Corp.
Auriginal is a Quebec-focused copper and gold exploration company with one of the province's largest and most diversified exploration portfolios. Its 100%-owned flagship Roger Project, in the Chibougamau district, hosts a known gold-copper deposit with potential to host volcanic-hosted polymetallic massive sulphide mineralization. The Company also holds a pipeline of greenfield projects across Quebec's established mining regions and is supported by the Ore Group's exploration and capital markets team. Further details are available at https://auriginal.ca/.
QA/QC Protocol
Strict QA/QC protocols are in place for the Roger Project, including the insertion of certified reference materials (standards), duplicates and blanks at regular intervals throughout the sample sequence. Samples were collected from half-split NQ-size drill core; duplicate samples were derived from quarter-cut core. A total of 1,864 drill core samples, including 94 QA/QC samples, were sent to Activation Laboratories Ltd. (Actlabs). Sample preparation and analysis were carried out at Actlabs' facilities in Val-d'Or, Quebec and Ancaster, Ontario, using the analytical packages "UT-8" and "4Litho". Whole-rock analyses are by lithium metaborate/tetraborate fusion with ICP-OES and ICP-MS finish, plus loss on ignition. Gold (5-5,000 ppb) is analysed by 30 g fire assay with atomic absorption spectrometry finish. Cu, Zn, Ag and Mo are analysed by aqua regia digestion with ICP finish.
Qualified Persons
The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Michel Leblanc, géo. (613) and André Liboiron, géo. (617), independent consultants to Auriginal Mining Corp. and Qualified Persons as defined in National Instrument 43-101.
For further information, please contact:
Peter Cashin, P.Geo.
Chief Executive Officer
Tel: 416-644-1567 ext. 9
pcashin@oregroup.ca
www.auriginal.ca
Cautionary Statement
Certain information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements or information ("forward-looking statements"), including statements regarding the expected timing and content of the 2026 Mineral Resource Estimate update, the intention to complete a further Mineral Resource Estimate update in the first half of 2027, the inclusion of Phase 1, Phase 2 or any Phase 3 drilling in that update, the completion and results of the Phase 2 drill program, the potential for a Phase 3 program, the geological interpretation of the Roger Project and the potential for additional Mineral Resources. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Auriginal expects to occur are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond Auriginal's control, including the results of further drilling and resource estimation work, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, environmental risks, operational risks, competition from other industry participants and stock market volatility. Although the Company believes that the expectations in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, its forward-looking statements have been based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as no assurance can be provided as to future results, levels of activity or achievements. Risks, uncertainties, material assumptions and other factors that could affect actual results are discussed in Auriginal's public disclosure documents available at www.sedarplus.ca. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are made as of the date of this document and, except as required by applicable law, Auriginal does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any of the included forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/319019
Source: Auriginal Mining Corp.