Headwater Gold receives drill permit for Lodestar

Oct 3, 2025

2025-10-02 19:42 ET – News Release

Mr. Caleb Stroup reports

HEADWATER GOLD RECEIVES DRILL PERMIT FOR LODESTAR PROJECT, NEVADA

Headwater Gold Inc. has received approval for the Lodestar plan of operations from the U.S. Forest Service and is authorized to commence drilling activities. Mobilization of earth work equipment to site will begin immediately in preparation for an inaugural up-to-3,500-metre drill program.

The Lodestar project is located in the Walker Lane mineral belt in western Nevada and is being explored in partnership with Newmont Corp. through an earn-in agreement announced on May 9, 2023.

Highlights:

Drill permit approved: The U.S. Forest Service has approved the Lodestar plan of operations and authorized the commencement of drilling, allowing work to start immediately.
Mobilization under way: Earth work and core drilling contractors have been notified to commence mobilization to site.
Fully financed program: The planned drill program is fully financed through a $2-million (U.S.) minimum expenditure commitment by Newmont. The program is expected to consist of up to 3,500 metres, comprising 10 to 15 holes.
Priority zodiac target: Initial drilling will test beneath the prominent silica sinter ridge at the Zodiac target, currently interpreted as the preserved paleosurface of an epithermal system, which shows evidence of a dynamic hydrothermal activity that the company considers significant.

Caleb Stroup, president and chief executive officer of the company, states: “We are very pleased to have this much-anticipated permit in place, providing permission to commence drilling at Lodestar. The upcoming program is particularly exciting, as it will be the first-ever test of what we consider to be a very high-priority untested high-grade vein target. The project exhibits all the hallmarks of a robust and well-preserved epithermal system, with extensive silica sinter development and strong alteration features exposed at surface, yet the underlying feeder structures remain completely untested by drilling. We believe this presents a rare opportunity to make a new discovery in one of Nevada’s most prospective epithermal gold districts, and we are eager to get drills turning and begin unlocking this potential for our shareholders.”

About the Lodestar project

The Lodestar project is located in the Aurora mining district in the Walker Lane belt, west-central Nevada, approximately 10 kilometres north of Headwater’s Spring Peak project and adjacent to Hecla Mining Company’s past-producing Aurora mine complex, which hosts existing infrastructure, including a 600-ton-per-day mill, several production water wells and high-voltage three-phase power. The project features a prominent silicified and brecciated ridgeline capped by a silica sinter, similar to the sinter overlying the Disco zone at Spring Peak, where Headwater intersected high-grade gold mineralization, including 15.92 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au) over 2.38 metres (m) and 10.43 g/t Au over 2.01 m. Historical shallow drilling at Lodestar encountered anomalous gold but did not test deeper feeder structures, leaving exploration potential largely untested. Headwater holds an option to acquire a 100-per-cent undivided interest in the Lodestar project from a private vendor, subject to retained royalties and Newmont’s option to acquire up to 75 per cent of the project following certain expenditures and delivery of a prefeasibility study within a designated time frame.

About Headwater Gold Inc.

Headwater Gold is a technically driven mineral exploration company focused on exploring for and discovering high-grade precious metal deposits in the Western United States. 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.

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.

Qualified person

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Gregory Dering, PGeo (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.

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https://headwatergold.com/