Announcement • Jun 16
Great Pacific Gold Corp. Provides Wild Dog Project Exploration Update
Great Pacific Gold Corp. is providing an exploration update and drilling plan for the second half of 2026 at its flagship Wild Dog Project, located on the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea. The Company has two diamond drill rigs active at Wild Dog, one at Kavasuki and one at Kasie Ridge. Kavasuki holes KVH-01 through KVH-07 were drilled along an east-west cross-section of the north-south trending epithermal vein. Assays for holes KVH-06 and 07 are pending. KVH-08 and KVH-09 are step out holes 250-300m north of the section drilled with KVH-01 to 07, and testing the down-dip vein continuity and horizontal vein continuity near a high-grade historic trench (28m at 4.48 g/t Au). Assays for KVH-08 are pending with KVH-09 currently being drilled. Approximately 1,200 meters of the planned 1,950 meters at Kavasuki have been completed. Kasie Ridge maiden hole complete: intersected a large sulphide-bearing hydrothermal system beneath the lithocap with increasing alteration and sulphide intensity to the end of hole at 593.5 m. Updated 2026 drill plan targeting 13,000 meters of total drilling with two diamond drill rigs. Following Kasie Ridge hole 2 (North Zone), second half of 2026 focused on the 4.5km strike length Main Zone: 8,000 meters drilling on Kavasuki, Magiabe, Mengmut, Morgan and EK targets. Field exploration team moving to South Zone, developing eight further prospects for drilling in 2027, including Steel Creek with recent rock chip samples yielding 150 g/t Ag and 0.13% Cu and a follow up trench yielding 5 meters at 24.0 g/t Au. Kavasuki is a high-grade epithermal structure located approximately 1 km north of Sinivit along the same mineralized trend. Historic drilling has defined over 900 meters of strike length. The objective of the current drilling program is to test down-dip extensions of known mineralization and confirm the continuity and extension of known high-grade shoots. Current drilling is also expected to provide additional geological information to allow modelling of geological constraints on mineralization. Kasie Ridge represents the largest and most advanced hydrothermal alteration system identified to date at the Wild Dog Project and remains one of the highest-priority exploration targets within the district. The prospect forms part of the broader Nengmutka hydrothermal system and lies northeast of the central Wild Dog corridor. It is interpreted as a structurally controlled lithocap developed above, or adjacent to, an interpreted high-sulphidation epithermal or porphyry system at depth. The scale, intensity and mineralogical maturity of the alteration footprint are consistent with the upper levels of robust magmatic-hydrothermal systems recognized in major high-sulphidation and porphyry districts globally. The first drilling ever undertaken at Kasie Ridge was initiated in First Quarter 2026. Drill hole KAS-01 was completed to 593.5 metres and intersected a large, vertically extensive sulphide-bearing hydrothermal system beneath the lithocap. Alteration intensity, sulphide abundance and structural complexity all increased with depth, with the hole ending in strongly altered sulphide-bearing ground. Sulphide abundance increases progressively with depth: crackle breccia, vuggy silica, anhydrite veining and sulphide flooding from 336 m; semi-massive pyrite from ~460 m all the way to the end of hole. Gusano-style (worm-like) textures and clay clasts with chalcopyrite noted in core — interpreted as the lower lithocap transition. Bottomed at 593.5 m still within the sulphide-bearing system and, based on geological observations, the base of the sulphide zone was not reached and remains open at depth. Assays are pending from KAS-01 and samples have also been submitted for additional mineralogical studies, including XRD analysis, to further characterize alteration mineral assemblages and assist with vectoring toward potential fluid pathways and the core of the hydrothermal system. Intense zones of alteration appear to be structurally controlled with strong alteration to the end of hole at 593.5 m. The sulphide-rich ground persisted to end of hole at 593.5 m. The South Zone of the Wild Dog structural corridor represents the next growth front for the Project. High-grade gold has been sampled across 5 kilometers of largely unexplored epithermal vein structures. The South Zone represents a district-scale extension of the Sinivit-Kavasuki Main Zone corridor with the same structures hosting mineralization. Gold has been sampled at surface across the full five kilometre trend with rock chips returning 1.65 to 74.6 g/t Au, including: Steel Creek rock chip 150g/t Ag and 0.13% Cu with follow up trench yielding 5m at 24 g/t Au; Lost Dog rock chip 74.6 g/t Au, and Quartz Ridge 3.46 g/t Au. The field exploration team will be focusing on prioritizing and maturing multiple South Zone prospects for potential drilling in 2027. The Company follows industry-standard Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) procedures for the collection, handling and analysis of exploration samples. Rock-chip and surface bench samples referenced in this release were collected by Great Pacific Gold geological staff and submitted to Intertek Minerals Ltd. in Lae, Papua New Guinea, an ISO 9001-certified independent analytical laboratory with internationally recognised quality standards. Samples were dried, crushed and pulverised prior to analysis. Gold analyses were completed by fire assay, while silver and copper analyses were completed using multi-element methods following four-acid digestion (MS48) and ICP-OES/MS analysis. Certified reference materials (standards), blanks and field duplicates were inserted into the sample stream at industry-standard frequencies, including routine insertion of blanks following mineralized intervals. All assay batches received to date have passed QA/QC review and fall within acceptable tolerance limits. Sampling procedures and chain-of-custody protocols were managed by Company geologists and field staff in accordance with industry best practices. Rock-chip and surface bench samples are selective in nature and may not be representative of the underlying mineralized system.
