Athena Gold Corporation has made a near-surface, high-grade grassroots gold discovery at its flagship Laird Lake project in Ontario's Red Lake Gold District, returning 23.85 grams per tonne gold over 5 metres from hole LL-26-006A.

The drill intercept, from 21.0 to 26.0 metres downhole, defines the newly named Scooby Zone. High-grade components within the interval include 62.9 g/t gold over 1 metre from 21 metres and 54.1 g/t gold over 1 metre from 23 metres. Athena's stock price is up 42.8% at 9:50 am PST.

The maiden nine-hole, 5,134-metre diamond drill program was partially funded by a CAD $200,000 non-dilutive grant awarded to Athena by the Ontario government through the Ontario Junior Exploration Program.

“ This is a genuine grassroots discovery on ground that has still seen such little drilling, ” said Koby Kushner, President and CEO of Athena. “ Hitting nearly 24 grams over five metres , this close to surface, in our first program validates the two years of systematic targeting we put in. ”

— Koby Kushner, President and CEO of Athena

The Scooby Zone was also intersected in hole LL-26-008 at a vertical depth of approximately 400 metres below hole LL-26-006A, returning 8.03 g/t gold over 0.62 metres within a broader interval of 1.37 g/t gold over 4.5 metres from 609.5 metres. The mineralization occurs proximal to the Balmer-Confederation contact, which has been traced for greater than 10 kilometres at the project.

“ Hole 6 represents the best gram-metre hit 6 within a roughly 10 kilometre radius, with the next closest discoveries 6 being at the Madsen Mine and the Great Bear project, respectively. We are incredibly proud of making Red Lake's newest discovery . These results fundamentally change the project and follow up work will be focused on delineating this new gold zone, ” said Ben Kuzmich, Vice President, Exploration of Athena.

In the surrounding district, Rockland Resources Ltd. reported 79.9 g/t gold over 0.50 metres near surface and confirmed a new gold zone at its Cole Gold Mines project in July 2026.

Athena plans a subsequent approximately 10,000-metre drill program using oriented core at Laird Lake for the upcoming Fall/Winter.

Read the full announcement: Athena Announces Red Lake's Newest Grassroots Discovery: Drills 23.85 Grams per Tonne Gold over 5 Metres at Laird