Gladiator Metals 24,000 Meter Drill Program Targets Maiden Resource for Yukon Copper Project

February 12, 2025 at 08:30 AM EST

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Vancouver, BC, February 12, 2025 – TheNewswire – Global Stocks News – Sponsored content disseminated on behalf of Gladiator Metals. Gladiator Metals Corp. (TSX-V: GLAD) (OTC: GDTRF) (FSE: ZX7) is rediscovering the long-forgotten Whitehorse Copper Belt, lying dormant for nearly 40 years.

After a successful 2024 drill program confirmed that the high-grade copper deposit remains open in all directions, GLAD will begin drilling its Whitehorse Copper Project to determine its true size potential

An aggressive 24,000m drill program budgeted for 2025 will seek to expand the current known deposit and Gladiator will begin work on a maiden resource for its high-grade copper prospect Cowley Park.

‍The White Horse Copper Project hosted a past-producing underground and open pit mine from 1967-1982, employing over 200 Yukoners. They extracted 10.5 million tons at around 1.5% copper and almost a gram per ton of gold. The mine was shut down in 1982 when the copper price fell from $1.04 to $0.68/lb. in the wake of the oil crisis.

“We picked up this project almost 2 years ago,” Gladiator President Marcus Harden told Guy Bennett, the CEO of Global Stocks News (GSN). “It's been a forensic exercise, compiling and understanding the historical data. We found advanced targets drilled by Hud Bay, sometimes down to 12 X 12-meter spacing. We tested new area, and now have numerous advanced resource-ready prospects.”

“We have confirmed that Cowley Park has the potential to be a real, sizeable, near-surface high-grade copper deposit,” added Harden. “The 19,000-meter Phase 1 & Phase 2 drill program we have planned for 2025 is going to give us a much clearer picture of the size potential of this project.

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Phase 1 drilling (10,000 meters planned) at the advanced high-grade copper prospect Cowley Park will focus on:

Targeting the strike and down dip extensions to the high-grade exoskarn identified in the 2024 drill program at Cowley Park.
Resource definition; and
Expanding the Cowley Park footprint.

Phase 2 drilling (9,000 meters planned) at Cowley Park will be scheduled and planned for the second half of 2025 and will focus on delivering a maiden resource as soon as possible.

Recent drilling and geophysical programs have led to an expanded interpretation of the geological model used to explore Cowley Park.

The new model supports a significant enlargement of the exploration potential of Cowley Park.

Three newly identified geophysical anomalies will be drill-tested as part of the 2025 drill program.

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Figure 3: Plan map of Cowley Park over drone magnetics, LIDAR and DTM. Gladiator drill collars coloured by sum Cu% x Length (m); historical collars marked as non-Gladiator drilling.

“In 2024 we successfully extended high-grade mineralization along strike and at depth and identified three new, highly prospective geophysical targets which promise to significantly expand the known extents of Cowley Park if successful,” stated Gladiator CEO, Jason Bontempo.

“This work confirmed our belief that Cowley Park will deliver a material cornerstone high-grade copper resource inventory within our 35-kilometer-long Whitehorse Copper Project, where we are targeting over 100 million tonnes of high-grade copper resources along the belt.”

“We are excited to commence our 2025 phase 1 drill campaign at Cowley Park,” added Bontempo. “With a treasury exceeding $18 million, we are well-funded to complete an aggressive drill program on and around Cowley Park to assess its true size potential with the objective of delivering a maiden resource as soon as possible, as well as follow-up on the other Whitehorse Copper Project exploration targets.”

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Recent drilling and geophysical results have caused the Gladiator geologists to re-interpret the geological model used to explore Cowley Park. The new model supports a significantly enlarged exploration potential of Cowley Park.

The 2024 drill program has confirmed Gladiator’s belief that mineralization is now open at depth and along strike and is not constrained as implied by the previous model.

GLAD has found a high-grade core (see below image) with spectacular grades in an area that was previously believed to be barren/truncated.

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Figure 2 Section (Line 3) through the Cowley Park prospect looking 280o (20m Window approximately West) showing only Gladiator drilling and recently returned assay results along the interpreted granodiorite-skarn boundary.

On December 16, 2024, Gladiator announced drill results from its maiden drill program on the two-kilometer “Arctic Chief Trend”, one of 30 identified exploration targets within the Company’s 35-kilometer-long Whitehorse Copper Project.

Gladiator completed 13 holes (2,441 meters) drilled on new targets including 6 holes at the Arctic Chief prospect and 7 drill holes at the Best Chance prospect.

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“The discovery of previously unrecognized, broad widths of mineralization at two separate prospects highlights the lack of systematic exploration coverage across our 35-kilometer-long Whitehorse Copper Project,” stated Bontempo. “This early success indicates the potential of the district now that it is being targeted by a well-funded, dedicated technical team for the first time since mine closure in the 1980s.”

“Our fully funded 2025 exploration program will include follow-up drilling designed to target higher grade mineralized zones within the broader envelope of lower grade copper-skarn mineralization,” added Bontempo.

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“In October 2024, Gladiator announced that they have entered into a Capacity Funding Agreement with the Kwanlin Dun First Nation (KDFN) for the initial phase of permitting and undertaking ongoing exploration activities within KDFN’s traditional territory in connection with GM’s Whitehorse Copper Project.

“The Capacity Funding allows KDFN to supplement their existing in-house expertise with outside experts to review and critique our plans,” explained Olav Langelaar, Gladiator VP Corporate Development. “We are currently consulting with KDFN before submitting permit applications, making sure that they are fully in the loop and onside before we progress.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with Gladiator Metals through KDFN’s meaningful engagement in the ongoing permitting and exploration phase of the project,” stated KDFN Chief Sean Uyenets’echᶖa Smith.

The KDFN is combining environmental stewardship with ambitious business objectives, including the expansion of the Sky High Wilderness Ranch and a strategic portfolio development fund.

“I’m extremely pleased and proud that we are now formally engaged with KDFN to outline the process of working together towards a Benefits, Cooperation and Foundation agreement for a long-term, mutually beneficial partnership during the exploration phase of the Whitehorse Copper Project in a manner respectful of the KDFN’s rights and interests, including all environmental protections,” stated Bontempo.

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In conjunction with its partnership with the KDFN, Gladiator is expanding its community outreach initiatives to include:

Organization of multiple public events such as community appreciation barbecues, open houses.
Educational tours of the Whitehorse Copper Project for families and students.
Participation in and support of Every Student, Every Day, to foster student attendance in Yukon schools, Yukon Geoscience and Women in Mining Family Day.
Sponsorship of recreational teams including Lights Out Basketball, Sub Zero Volleyball, Glacier Bears Swim Club, and Indigenous Sports Circle.
Financial support and ongoing patronage of businesses that promote social inclusion and training opportunities such as Core Box Yukon, where attendees develop new skills and competencies.
Development of prototype and pre-production of biodegradable cloth bags to ecologically improve sampling methods used in mineral exploration in the Yukon.
Environmental remediation of the WCP site, which includes the removal of derelict vehicles and decades of accumulated garbage.

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A 2015 report by the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada estimated Northern Canada remote drilling costs (projects > 50 km from the supply route) to be $460/meter. With inflation running hot, the 2025 cost is projected to be significantly higher, up to $1,000/meter.

Gladiator’s project is a 20-minute drive from Whitehorse, Yukon (pop. 30,000). An assay lab is situated at the edge of GLAD’s tenements. It takes 30 minutes to mobilize a drill rig to the site. There is no need for a work camp. Geologists and drill crews typically sleep in their own beds in Whitehorse at night.

“We budgeted $300/meter for the 2024 drill program at Cowley,” Harden told GSN. “The costs came in lower, at $260/meter, which includes labour, rig and assays. Our proximity to drill rigs, machinery and skilled labour allows us to drill more meters within a fixed budget.”

All scientific and technical information in this news release has been prepared or reviewed and approved by Kell Nielsen, the Company’s Vice President Exploration, a “qualified person” as defined by NI 43-101.

Contact: guy.bennett@globalstocksnews.com

Disclaimer: Gladiator Metals paid Global Stocks News (GSN) $1,750 for the research, writing and dissemination of this content.

Full Disclaimer: GSN researches and fact-checks diligently, but we can not ensure our publications are free from error. Investing in publicly traded stocks is speculative and carries a high degree of risk. GSN publications may contain forward-looking statements such as “project,” “anticipate,” “expect,” which are based on reasonable expectations, but these statements are imperfect predictors of future events. When compensation has been paid to GSN, the amount and nature of the compensation will be disclosed clearly.

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Gladiator Metals 24,000 Meter Drill Program Targets Maiden Resource for Yukon Copper Project

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