By: NewMediaWire
January 8, 2026
Trailbreaker Expands Footprint of High-Grade Gold Structure at Atsutla Gold Project, BC
VANCOUVER, BC - January 8, 2026 (NEWMEDIAWIRE) - Trailbreaker Resources Ltd. (TBK.V) (“Trailbreaker” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce results from its 2025 exploration program at the Atsutla Gold project in northwestern British Columbia (BC). Detailed prospecting and mapping in the Highlands zone area has expanded the known footprint of high-grade gold (Au) showings and led to discovery of new high-grade copper-gold-silver (Cu-Au-Ag) showings on recently acquired claims.
Previous exploration at the Highlands zone led to discovery of a shallowly-dipping shear structure which hosts high-grade gold-bearing quartz veins, returning assays up to 630 g/t Au. During the 2025 program, the structure’s continuity was explored on recently acquired claims, expanding the Highlands zone structural feature to a 1.0 km x 1.2 km area. A zone of high-grade copper and silver, the Highlands North zone, was also discovered 1.1 km north of the high-grade gold showings.
Mineralization at the Highlands zone is related to a much larger system (Atsutla West), which includes the Christmas Creek and Snook zones. Combined, this area covers 5.0 km x 4.3 km. Trailbreaker’s team interprets the gold mineralization to be orogenic in nature, with multiple gold ± silver ± copper-bearing shear zones related to larger faults occurring in the area.
Daithi Mac Gearailt, CEO of Trailbreaker, commented, “The Highlands zone continues to exceed our expectations. To date we have not defined its extent, and its footprint expands with each campaign. It is important to remember that this is a new discovery, where high-grade gold and silver have been discovered at surface over multiple kilometers. It has never been drilled and is only one part of the story at the Atsutla Gold project.”
Figure 1: Gold mineralization in the Atsutla West project area.
Trailbreaker’s 100%-owned Atsutla Gold project is located 70 km south of the Yukon-British Columbia border and 120 km northwest of the Village of Dease Lake, BC. The project covers over 40,000 hectares (ha) of ground with very limited historic exploration.
The 2025 exploration program consisted of the collection of 147 soil samples and 77 prospecting grab samples during late August and early September. Final assays were not received until late December due to multiple re-analyses of high-grade gold, copper, and silver as well as additional QA/QC completed by Bureau Veritas Labs. Table 1 (below) displays the ten highest gold values returned from these assays.
Table 1: Ten highest gold values returned from rock grab samples taken during the 2025 program.
The purpose of the program was to further delineate the Highlands zone shear structure by additional prospecting in areas of previously discovered mineralization and on newly acquired claims to the west and north of the known gold zones.
Gold at the Highlands zone is found within quartz veins ranging from 10 cm to 60 cm thick occurring within a continuous, shallow-dipping shear structure. The gold-bearing quartz veins typically host galena and arsenopyrite, but commonly have no visible sulphide minerals. During 2025, this structure was traced along the side of a ridge for 1.0 km in a NE-SW direction (Figures 2 and 3). Rock samples taken from the northeast corner returned assays up to 221.6 g/t Au, and rocks taken from the southwest corner returned assays up to 9.32 g/t Au. The highest gold value returned, 401.8 g/t Au, 493 ppm Ag (Photo 1), was obtained from a rock taken 140 m from the previously discovered high-grade showings. The structure was traced for an additional 1.2 km to the west, onto newly acquired claims, where assays returned values up to 4.83 g/t Au.
A newly discovered zone of high-grade copper, termed the Highlands North zone, yielded up to 1.65% Cu, 5.92 g/t Au, and 551 ppm Ag (from separate rocks) in an area 1.1 km north of the high-grade gold showing at the Highlands zone. The high-grade copper values were returned from more steeply dipping quartz veins from 20 cm to 80 cm thick, hosting chalcopyrite, bornite, malachite, azurite, and pyrite. Five rock samples in this area returned assay values greater than 1% Cu, and eight samples returned values greater than 100 ppm Ag (see Photo 3).
Reconnaissance soil sampling to the west of the Highlands North zone returned values up to 66 ppb Au, suggesting potential for additional mineralization in this direction.
Statistical analysis of rock and soil sample assays in the Highlands zone show that gold correlates with mercury (Hg), selenium (Se), lead (Pb), silver, antimony (Sb), copper, and arsenic (As). High bismuth (Bi) values also occur, but are generally related to high-grade copper.
Photo 1 (left): Rock sample 2013421 - Photo 2 (right): Rock sample 2013473
Trailbreaker’s team has interpreted the shear structure delineated at the Highlands zone to be continuous, with similar structures found at the Christmas Creek zone (1.5 km to the east), and the Snook zone (4.5 km to the north). The total surficial footprint of this area is 5.0 km x 4.3 km. Figures 1 and 4 display mineralization across the Atsutla West area. Rock sampling indicates potential for further shear-hosted mineralized quartz veins at lower elevations along the slope, however much of this area is masked by a thick talus apron (Figure 3). Further rock sampling and geological mapping is warranted to test for their presence.
The Highlands zone and greater Atsutla West area are fully permitted for drilling. During the 2025 program, the Trailbreaker team ground-truthed potential drill pads to test the shear structure. The Swan target, situated 26 km to the southeast, is also fully permitted for drilling. The two areas represent different deposit models: Atsutla West is an orogenic Au target while Swan is a porphyry Cu-Au-Ag target.
More about the Atsutla Gold project
The Atsutla Gold project is centered over the regional-scale Teslin-Thibert fault system which marks the contact between the Quesnel and Cache Creek terranes. Gold mineralization is associated with Mesozoic batholitic intrusions that are the predominant geological unit on the property. Since discovery in 2020, Trailbreaker has outlined five significant zones of gold mineralization on the property, across a span of 26 kilometers. These are:
- Highlands Zone - A 2.0 km by 1.5 km area in the western Atsutla Gold project region, with veins containing coarse visible gold assaying up to 630 g/t Au and 1,894 g/t Ag.
- Christmas Creek Zone - Gold-bearing quartz veins 1.5 km east of the Highlands Zone, with rock samples assaying up to 102 g/t Au and 524 g/t Ag.
- Snook Zone - High-grade veins 3.5 km northeast of the Highlands Zone, with rock samples assaying up to 53.3 g/t.
- Willie Jack Zone - 1.25 km long gold-in-soil anomaly with soil samples assaying up to 3.77 g/t Au and rock samples up to 9.9 g/t Au.
- Swan Zone - A Cu-Au-Ag porphyry target defined by a 1.5 km x 1.5 km multi-element soil geochemical anomaly (Au-Cu-Ag-As-molybdenum [Mo]-Sb-Bi),with rock grab samples grading up to 11.7 g/t Au, 212 g/t Ag, and 0.81% Cu. The geochemical anomaly is coincident with a 2.1 km x 1.4 km donut-shaped chargeability high (defined by a 2024 induced polarization survey) as well as a zone of elevated potassium marked by a magnetic low signature indicated from a 2024 airborne magnetic and radiometric survey.
Quality Assurance/ Quality Control (QA/QC)
Rock and soil samples were stored at the Atsutla camp for the duration of the program. At the program’s conclusion, samples were flown out and then driven by Trailbreaker personnel to Bureau Veritas’ prep lab in Whitehorse, YT.
Rock samples were prepared using industry-standard preparation methods, which involved crushing the entire sample until 70% passed through a 2 mm screen. A resulting 250 g split was pulverized to > 85% passing a 75-micron screen (Bureau Veritas prep code PRP70-250). Soil samples were prepared by drying at 60° C and sieved to -80 mesh (prep code SS80).
After preparation, the samples were sent to Bureau Veritas’ lab in Vancouver, BC. Rock samples underwent 37-element analysis (analytical code AQ200). This package involves aqua regia digestion (1:1:1 HNO3:HCl:H2O) of a 0.5-gram split followed by ICP-ES/MS analysis. Rock samples also underwent gold fire assay analysis (code FA350-Au). This package uses a 50-gram split, fire assay, and ICP-ES analysis. Samples assaying >10 g/t Au or >100 g/t Ag underwent additional gravimetric analysis (codes FA550-Au and FA550-Ag). Samples assaying >1% Cu underwent additional atomic absorption (AAS) analysis (code AR401).
Soil samples underwent analytical package AQ201 which returns values for 37 elements. This package involves aqua regia digestion of a 15-gram split followed by ICP-ES/MS analysis.
Bureau Veritas performs its own QA/QC procedure and is ISO 17025 certified. Blanks, duplicates, and standard reference materials are sequentially inserted into the client’s sample stream to test for contamination, uniformity of element distribution, and analytical accuracy.
About Trailbreaker Resources
Trailbreaker Resources is a mining exploration company focused primarily on mining-friendly British Columbia and Yukon Territory, Canada. Trailbreaker is committed to continuous exploration and research, allowing maintenance of a portfolio of quality mineral properties which in turn provides value for shareholders. The company has an experienced management team with a proven track record as explorers and developers throughout the Yukon Territory, British Columbia, Alaska and Nevada.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Daithi Mac Gearailt
President and Chief Executive Officer
Carl Schulze, P. Geo., Consulting Geologist with Aurora Geosciences Ltd, is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 for Trailbreaker's BC and Yukon exploration projects, and has reviewed and approved the technical information in this release.
Other
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Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "Forward-Looking Information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-Looking Information includes, but is not limited to, disclosure regarding possible events, conditions or financial performance that is based on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action; expectations regarding future exploration and drilling programs and receipt of related permitting. In certain cases, Forward-Looking Information can be identified by the use of words and phrases such as "anticipates", "expects", "understanding", "has agreed to" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "would", "occur" or "be achieved". Although Trailbreaker has attempted to identify important factors that could affect Trailbreaker and may cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in Forward-Looking Information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, if any, Trailbreaker has applied several material assumptions, including the assumption that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner. There can be no assurance that Forward-Looking Information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on Forward-Looking Information. Except as required by law, Trailbreaker does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to Forward-Looking Information contained in this news release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
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