ORIGINAL: Headwater Gold Advances Targets at Crane Creek and Receives Permits for Initial Drill Test

Sep 8, 2025

2025-09-08 06:30 ET – News Release

(via TheNewswire)

Vancouver, British Columbia – TheNewswire – September 8, 2025: Headwater Gold Inc. (CSE: HWG) (OTCQB: HWAUF) (the “Company” or “Headwater”) is pleased to announce the completion of airborne magnetic and radiometric surveys and a ground gravity survey on its 100%-controlled Crane Creek gold project located in western Idaho. The Company has also received drill permits from the state of Idaho and BLM authorizing drilling activities on the project.

Highlights:

The Company has identified new high-priority drill targets beneath outcropping gold-bearing epithermal quartz veins where potential mineralized feeder structures have never been tested at depth as well as new target areas with the potential to significantly expand the mineralized footprint of the system.
The radiometric survey delineated a 4 km long by 2 km wide zone of potassium enrichment encompassing the Crane Creek epithermal vein system and unexplored areas to the west and south. This anomaly is interpreted to represent the footprint of illite-adularia hydrothermal alteration and highlights prospectivity beyond the exposed portion of the epithermal vein system.
The magnetic survey identified numerous targets for fault-hosted vein mineralization within the same structural corridor as NevGold Corp’s Nutmeg Mountain project located 8 km along strike to the southeast. Clear identification of structures from results of the magnetic survey allows mapping of potential target structures under cover, in areas that have never been drill tested.
The Company has received all necessary permits from the BLM and Idaho Department of Lands for exploration drilling on the project, including a total of 14 drill pads across BLM land and leased land from the State of Idaho.
The Company is evaluating strategic options for advancing Crane Creek, including potential partnerships, while also preparing for the possibility of conducting initial drilling itself.

Caleb Stroup, President and CEO of Headwater, comments: “We are very excited about the opportunity at Crane Creek, particularly as this part of Idaho has gained a much higher profile with the recent discovery by Hercules Metals. Our detailed geophysical surveys, geological mapping and reinterpretation of historical drilling demonstrate that the system is larger and more robust than previously recognized. Together, these datasets have defined a series of exploration targets for both high-grade vein mineralization and potential near-surface bulk-tonnage gold. With permits secured and drill targets now defined, we are now positioned with a range of options to advance this exciting project.”

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Figure 1: Location of the Crane Creek project in western Idaho with respect to the Crane Creek Graben, a major extensional fault system which hosts the Nutmeg Mountain epithermal gold deposit, and lies approximately 40 km south of the recently discovered copper porphyry belt centered on the Hercules project.

Crane Creek Geophysical Surveys

Airborne Radiometric Survey

Precision Geosurveys completed a 302 line-km helicopter airborne magnetic and radiometric survey at 100 m spacing totaling 27.4 km 2 (Figures 2 and 3). Results from the airborne radiometric survey show a broad radiometric high defined by increased potassium concentrations that coincide with mapped areas of argillic alteration and are interpreted to represent illite-adularia alteration associated with mineralizing fluids. Thorium is immobile in comparison to potassium and evaluation of the ratios of these two elements gives further confidence that the radiometric high defined over the center of the property is related to hydrothermal fluid flow and alteration rather

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than lithologic variability.

Figure 2: Potassium response map from the Crane Creek airborne radiometric shows a coherent potassium anomaly 4 km long and 2 km wide that extends west and south from the area of previously known epithermal vein mineralization.

Airborne Magnetic Survey

The airborne magnetic survey displays a strong NNW structural trend in the project area related to basin-bounding structures parallel to and possibly controlling the outcropping vein zones. The sharp magnetic contrast associated with these NNW-trending breaks enables continuous mapping of target structures under cover and away from the main area of outcropping veins. Linear magnetic lows within the alteration footprint locally coincide with outcropping zones of mineralization and may directly map zones of structurally controlled magnetite-destructive alteration associated zones of more intense mineralization.

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Figure 3: Reduced to Pole magnetic response map from Crane Creek airborne magnetic survey showing epithermal veins situated within a system of NW-striking faults that define the Crane Creek Graben. Magnetic lows highlighted by the survey are potentially related to hydrothermal alteration and have seen minimal drill testing outside the area of outcropping mineralization.

Gravity Survey

Magee Geophysical Services and Thomas Carpenter completed ground gravity surveys consisting of a regional survey of 440 stations collected along a station spacing of approximately 500 m, and a higher resolution survey over the main Crane Creek vein system consisting of 69 stations spaced on a 200 m grid. The property is characterized by a broad northwest-trending gravity low bordered by gravity gradients that coincide with basin-bounding structures observed in surface mapping and magnetics. The NNW trend of these features highlights the continuity of a major Miocene graben which is a well-documented setting for epithermal deposits worldwide. The eastern margin of this graben coincides with both the mineralized footprint at Crane Creek and NevGold Corp’s Nutmeg Mountain deposit (1.0 Moz Au M&I 1,2 ), located approximately 8 km along strike to the southeast.

Exploration Implications from Geophysical Survey Results

The recent geophysical surveys highlight exploration potential on the property beyond the historically tested areas, where previous drilling targeted shallow (<150 m) disseminated and vein-hosted mineralization beneath outcropping gold-bearing quartz veins. Integration of new geophysical data with existing datasets highlights the potential for testing historic high-grade intercepts down-dip and along strike where the system remains open, as well as newly generated structural targets within the broader alteration footprint. A clear target is the structural corridor occupied by the outcropping veins that is well-defined in the magnetic survey and shown to extend hundreds of meters north of the known historical drilling. Additional targets include fault splays with geophysical signatures comparable to the known mineralized block that lie within the interpreted broad zone of illite–adularia alteration that is typical of high-temperature epithermal systems. The surveys define numerous structurally aligned magnetic lows coincident with the potassium anomaly that Headwater geologists interpret as magnetite-destructive hydrothermal alteration associated with a fluid upflow zone. These areas represent priority targets for fault-hosted epithermal veins that have seen little to no historical drilling.

Drill Permits

Permits for exploration drilling on the property are in place with the BLM and Idaho Department of Lands. Permitted drill pads are centered on the area of outcropping mineralized veins that lie near the center of the radiometric anomaly described above. The permitted drill pads will allow for 1) confirmation drilling of historical mineralized zones; 2) initial drill tests at untested depths below zones of shallow vein-controlled mineralization; and 3) expansion drilling along strike and between zones of known mineralization.

About the Crane Creek Project

The Crane Creek project is located in western Idaho, approximately 18 km northeast of the town of Weiser and 90 km northwest of the city of Boise, with a paved county road less than 1 km from the southern property boundary. The project is fully permitted for drilling under a Notice of Intent with the BLM and a Plan of Operation with the Idaho Department of Lands. The project encompasses an array of mineralized epithermal quartz veins within a broad gold and trace element geochemical anomaly and features characteristic of a well-preserved low-sulfidation system, including mercury prospects, widespread opaline silica, and chalcedonic vein fill. This alteration cell is located 8 km along trend northwest of the Nutmeg Mountain gold project (1,006,000 oz Au Indicated, 275,000 oz Au Inferred 1,2 ). The Crane Creek project comprises approximately 1,240 hectares, consisting of 123 unpatented federal mining claims on BLM land, a 640-acre State of Idaho minerals lease and a private lease.

Historic drilling took place on the property between 1984 and 1996, consisting of mainly shallow reverse-circulation holes with an average depth of 71 m and only three holes drilled to greater than 150 m in depth 1 . Historic drilling primarily targeted bulk-tonnage disseminated mineralization in a package of near-surface sedimentary rocks, with most holes terminated shortly after intercepting an underlying basalt unit. A significant number of holes encountered mineralized quartz veins ranging from 2.0 g/t Au up to 8.14 g/t Au that were apparently never followed up, within broader intervals of disseminated low-grade mineralization. The potential for basalt-hosted high-grade veins at depths of 100 m or more below the paleosurface, such as those occurring at the Midas mine in northern Nevada (Hecla Mining Company) and the Cerro Negro mine (Newmont Corporation) in Argentina, remains untested at the project.

About Headwater Gold

Headwater Gold Inc. (CSE: HWG, OTCQB: HWAUF) is a technically-driven mineral exploration company focused on exploring for and discovering high-grade precious metal deposits in the Western USA. Headwater is actively exploring one of the world’s most well-endowed, mining-friendly jurisdictions, with a goal of making world-class precious metal discoveries. The Company has a large portfolio of epithermal vein exploration projects and a technical team with diverse experience in capital markets and major mining companies. Headwater is systematically drill-testing several projects in Nevada and has strategic earn-in agreements with Newmont on its Spring Peak and Lodestar projects. In August 2022 and September 2024, Newmont and Centerra Gold Inc. acquired strategic equity interests in the Company, further strengthening Headwater’s exploration capabilities.

For more information about Headwater, please visit the Company’s website at www.headwatergold.com .

Headwater is part of the NewQuest Capital Group which is a discovery-driven investment enterprise that builds value through the incubation and financing of mineral projects and companies. Further information about NewQuest can be found on the company website at www.nqcapitalgroup.com .

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Caleb Stroup

President and CEO

+1 (775) 409-3197

[email protected]

For further information, please contact:

Brennan Zerb

Investor Relations Manager

+1 (778) 867-5016

[email protected]

Qualified Person

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Gregory Dering, P.Geo (AIPG CPG-12298), a “Qualified Person” (“QP”) as defined in National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Dr. Dering is not independent by reason of being the Company’s Vice President of Exploration.

References

1 The Qualified Person has been unable to verify the information on the adjacent properties. Mineralization hosted on adjacent and/or nearby and/or geologically similar properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on the Company’s properties. Historical resource estimates, historical drill intercepts, and historical surface samples are treated by the Company as historical in nature, and not current or NI 43-101 compliant.

2 Nevgold Corp. 2023 Almaden NI43-101 Technical Report ( https://www.sedar.com )

3 Reported grades were calculated using a 0.2 g/t cut-off grade for primary intervals and a 2 g/t cut-off grade for included intervals. Intervals correspond to downhole thickness, with insufficient information available to calculate true thickness.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding future capital expenditures, exploration activities and the specifications, targets, results, analyses, interpretations, benefits, costs and timing of them, Newmont’s anticipated funding of the earn-in projects and the timing thereof, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by words such as “pro forma”, “plans”, “expects”, “may”, “should”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “potential” or variations of such words including negative variations thereof, and phrases that refer to certain actions, events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, risks related to the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, including the Company’s exploration plans and the proposed expenditures for exploration work thereon, the ability of the Company to obtain sufficient financing to fund its business activities and plans, the risk that Newmont will not elect to obtain any additional prognostic interest in the earn-in projects in excess of the minimum commitment, the ability of the Company to obtain the required permits, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, the Company’s limited operating history, currency fluctuations, title disputes or claims, environmental issues and liabilities, as well as those factors discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company’s prospectus dated May 26, 2021 and other filings of the Company with the Canadian Securities Authorities, copies of which can be found under the Company’s profile on the SEDAR+ website at www.sedarplus.ca.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements, except as otherwise required by law.

https://headwatergold.com/