Canary Gold Corp. has mobilized its 2026 exploration program at the Madeira Project with the arrival of the first drill rig on site, launching a comprehensive 20,000-metre drilling campaign. The company has engaged Geosol, a leading drilling services contractor, to execute this multi-rig program focused on defining near-surface mineralization through specialized techniques. This significant drilling initiative represents a critical step in advancing the project's geological understanding and potential resource evaluation.
The exploration program employs a dual-rig strategy combining geological definition drilling with rapid regional coverage. The first rig utilizes a screw-auger drilling system, a specialized technique optimized for unconsolidated ground conditions designed to recover high-quality samples from the favorable "Mocururu" geologic horizon and associated prospective gravel beds. This phase involves approximately 5,000 metres across roughly 100 drill holes arranged in an initial grid of 200 m x 100 m, with drilling to a maximum depth of approximately 50 metres per hole. This targeted approach allows for detailed characterization of specific geological units that have shown mineralization potential in previous assessments.
A second Reverse Circulation (RC) drill rig is expected to arrive during the second half of January. While the screw-auger program focuses on defining specific near-surface geological units, the RC rig will be deployed to "sweep" the broader land package included in the original agreement with New Frontiers. This phase involves approximately 15,000 metres across roughly 300 drill holes arranged in a wide-spaced reconnaissance grid of approximately 2,000 m x 1,000 m, testing the oxide profile to a maximum depth of approximately 50 metres. The combination of these two approaches enables both detailed investigation of promising areas and systematic evaluation of the entire project area's potential.
In parallel with the drilling mobilization, the company has completed a comprehensive update of its corporate website and investor presentation. These refreshed materials are designed to more clearly communicate the geological framework, exploration strategy, and scale of the company's land position while ensuring consistent and accessible disclosure for investors. The updated website and investor materials reflect the company's transition into an active execution phase, providing shareholders with improved technical context and a more structured overview of exploration objectives at the Madeira Project and across the broader Madeira River region. Mark Tommasi, President of Canary Gold Corp., noted that as the company moves into an active drilling phase, it was important that public-facing materials evolve alongside operations.
The company also announced it has granted an aggregate of 6,107,500 stock options to certain directors, officers and consultants pursuant to the company's Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan, with options exercisable at $0.27 per common share for five years from the date of grant. The scientific and technical information has been reviewed and approved by Andrew Lee Smith, P.Geo., Executive Director of Canary Gold Corp., who is a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101. The company emphasizes that information disclosed relates to early-stage exploration results, and heavy-mineral analyses and field-based observations do not provide quantitative gold grades and cannot be used to estimate mineral resources. Additional drilling, systematic sampling, and assay verification are required to determine the significance of geological features described. This drilling campaign represents a substantial investment in advancing the Madeira Project toward potential resource definition while maintaining appropriate disclosure standards for early-stage exploration activities.
