Headwater Gold Mobilizes Geophysical Surveys at Jake Creek Project, Nevada and Provides Update on Exploration Activities
(TheNewswire)
Vancouver, British Columbia -TheNewswire - February 18, 2026:Headwater Gold Inc. (CSE: HWG) (OTCQX: HWAUF) (the "Company"or "Headwater") is pleased to announce that CSAMTresistivity and ground gravity geophysical surveys are underway at its100%-owned Jake Creek project in Nevada. The surveys are fully fundedpursuant to the earn-in agreement with OceanaGold Corporation (“OceanaGold”) (TSX:OGC, OTCQX:OCANF) (“Oceana”) announced on October 15,2025.
Highlights:
CSAMT and Gravity Geophysical SurveysUnderway: 12.5 line-kilometre CSAMT and600-station gravity survey designed to define structural controls andprioritize drill targets.
New Surface VeinDiscovery: Detailed mapping identified a newzone of outcropping high-level epithermal quartz veining (“Pete’sVein”) in the northern portion of the project.
Soil Sampling and Geological MappingCompleted: 500-sample soil survey andcomprehensive geologic mapping have significantly refined thestructural and stratigraphic framework of the project.
Drilling Planned for Summer2026: An initial drill program is currentlyscheduled for early summer 2026. The ongoing geophysical surveyswill inform the final target areas and program scope.
Caleb Stroup, President and CEO of the Company, states:“Historic drilling at JakeCreek confirmed the presence of blind gold mineralization at moderatedepth, including 11.3 g/t Au over 1.52 metres within a broader 45.72metres grading 0.96 g/t Au in hole JC-005. What has been missing is aclear understanding of the structural framework controlling thatmineralization, which is a key reason the system was never adequatelyfollowed up. Our current program of detailed mapping, relogging, soilsand rock sample geochemistry and modern geophysics is focused ondefining the fault architecture and district-scale fluid pathwaysresponsible for mineralization. As we refine this structural andgeological model, we are generating increasingly well-constrained,high-quality drill targets in advance of an initial drill program,funded by OceanaGold and scheduled for early summer 2026.”
Jake Creek GeophysicalSurveys:
Headwater has engaged geophysical service providers toperform CSAMT and gravity surveys at Jake Creek including:
CSAMT: Acontrolled-source audio-frequency magnetotelluric (“CSAMT”)resistivity survey totaling 12.5 line-kilometres (“line-km”) onfive parallel lines that align with soil survey lines (Figure 1) andone perpendicular (northwesterly) line. The main array is designedorthogonal to the primary set of northwest-oriented faults that alignwith the margin of the Northern Nevada Rift and are interpreted byHeadwater geologists to be the main control of epithermalmineralization. The northwest-oriented CSAMT line is designed topinpoint the location of a significantnortheast-striking fault that bounds a modern basin at the southernportion of the Property. Structural intersections between northwestand northeast-striking faults are important centres of mineralizationat the nearby Hecla Midas and Hollister mines.
Gravity: Aground gravity survey consisting of 600 stations on a 200-metre-spacedgrid with 400 metre spacing along the margins (total survey footprintof 28 km2) to cover the entire Project area. Headwater geologicmapping demonstrates the Property is comprised of a series of faultblocks at the edge of the Northern Nevada Rift. Detailed gravity datawill permit further refinement of property-wide structural trends andidentify fault segments that have potential to serve as mineralizedepithermal feeder structures.
Figure 1: District-scale mapshowing the proximity of the Jake Creek Project to the Turquoise RidgeComplex and planned CSAMT and gravity survey areas overlain onsimplified geology.
2025 Exploration ProgramUpdate
The 2025 exploration program at Jake Creek consisted ofdetailed geologic mapping, relogging of historic reverse circulation(“RC”) drill chips, rock chip sampling and a 500-sample soilgeochemistry survey. The objective of this work was to refine thegeological model, better understand structural controls and prioritizeareas for follow-up with geophysical surveys and drilling.
Figure 2: Left and Centre:“Pete’s Vein”—Outcropping high-level chalcedonic quartz-opalvein with sparse bladed quartz-after-calcite epithermal boilingtexture. Right: Rhyolite flow with chalcedonic quartz crackle brecciaand highly anomalous pathfinder element geochemistry (579 ppm As, 167ppm Mo, 50 ppm Sb, 1% Mn)
Mapping and RC chip relogging confirm that Jake Creekis situated along the western margin of the Northern Nevada Rift andis characterized by west-dipping fault blocks that control volcanicstratigraphy and mineralization. The work has improved understandingof the Tertiary unconformity and its relationship to epithermalmineralization intersected in historic drilling.
Reconnaissance mapping in the northern portion of theproject identified a linear array of outcropping chalcedonicquartz-opal veins and crackle breccias hosted within flow-bandedrhyolite (Figure 2). These veins exhibit classic high-level epithermaltextures, including local bladed quartz-after-calcite and areassociated with strongly anomalous arsenic, mercury, antimony,molybdenum, tungsten and manganese geochemistry. This represents thefirst significant outcropping veining identified at Jake Creek.
The soil survey, completed on 50-metre-spaced samplesalong broadly spaced orientation lines, highlights coherent pathfinderelement anomalies that align with mapped northwest-trending structuresand areas of silicification and clay alteration. These results provideimportant vectors for drill targeting, particularly where geochemicalanomalies coincide with mapped or inferred structures, such as in thearea of Pete’s Vein in the northern project area.
About the Jake Creek project:
The Jake Creek project is 100% owned by Headwater andconsists of 189 unpatented lode mining claims on BLM land in HumboldtCounty, Nevada, located 65 km northwest of Winnemucca and 8 km east of the Nevada Gold Mines’ Turquoise Ridge MineComplex. A portion of the project is subject toa 1% NSR, half of which can be purchased for $1,000,000 at any time. For further information see Headwater news release - March 3,2025.
The project covers 3,700 acres on the western margin ofthe Northern Nevada Rift, a north-northwest trending structuralcorridor known for hosting significant precious metal mineralizationincluding Hecla’s past-producing Midas Mine and Hollister Mine.
Figure 3: Soil geochemistry mapsshowing sample locations and rasterized images of gold and weightedsum model (WSM) results. Values binned using unequal percentile binranges shown in map legends. Input weights for weighted sum model: Au2, Ag 1, As 1, Mo 1, Tl 1, Cs 1, W 1 and Mn 1.
The geology is dominated by mid-Miocene bimodalvolcanic rocks, including rhyolite to dacite flows and welded tuffs,unconformably overlying Paleozoic sedimentary rocks at depths of 50 to300 metres. North-northwest and east-northeast trending faults, likelyrelated to the rift’s 14-16 Ma extension, dissect the property andmay control mineralization. Historic drilling byEvolving Gold Corp. in 2010 and 2011 (13 RC holes total) intersectedwidespread epithermal mineralization at the Tertiary unconformity,with notable intercepts1 such as 11.3 g/t Au over 1.52 m within 45.72m grading 0.96 g/t Au from 210.3 m in hole JC-005 (see Headwater news release - March 3,2025). This mineralization, associatedwith silicification, clay alteration and banded quartz veining,suggests a robust low-sulfidation epithermal system with potential forhigh-grade feeder zones at depth or along strike.
About Headwater Gold
Headwater Gold Inc. (CSE: HWG, OTCQB: HWAUF) is atechnically driven mineral exploration company focused on exploringfor and discovering high-grade precious metal deposits in the WesternUSA. Headwater is actively exploring one of the world’s mostwell-endowed, mining-friendly jurisdictions,with a goal of making world-class precious metal discoveries. TheCompany has a large portfolio of epithermal vein exploration projectsand a technical team with diverse experience in capital markets andmajor mining companies. Headwater is systematically drill-testingseveral projects in Nevada and has strategic earn-in agreements withOceana on its TJ, Jake Creek, and Hot Creek projects, Newmont on itsSpring Peak and Lodestar projects, and Centerra on its Crane Creekproject. In August 2022 and September 2024, Newmont and CenterraGold Inc. acquired strategic equity interests in the Company, furtherstrengthening Headwater’s exploration capabilities.
For more information about Headwater, please visit theCompany's website at www.headwatergold.com.
Headwater is part of the NewQuest Capital Group whichis a discovery-driven investment enterprise that builds value throughthe incubation and financing of mineral projects and companies. Further information about NewQuest can be found on the companywebsite at www.nqcapitalgroup.com.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
Caleb Stroup
President and CEO
+1 (775) 409-3197
cstroup@headwatergold.com
For further information, please contact:
Brennan Zerb
Investor Relations Manager
+1 (778) 867-5016
bzerb@headwatergold.com
Qualified Person
The technical information contained in this newsrelease has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Gregory Dering, P.Geo(AIPG CPG-12298), a “Qualified Person” (“QP”) as defined inNational Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for MineralProjects. Dr. Dering is the Company’s Vice President of Explorationand is not independent.
1Historicaldrill intercepts included in this release were sourced from primaryhistorical Evolving
Gold Corp. data and NI43-101 Technical Report on theJake Creek Gold Project Humboldt
County, Nevada, June 19, 2012, Effective Date: June 19,2012, prepared for Evolving Gold Corp.,
37 p. Drill results and surface samples have not beenindependently verified by Headwater and
are treated by the Company as historical in nature andnot current or NI 43-101 compliant.
2NI 43-101Technical Report on the Turquoise Ridge Complex Humboldt County,Nevada, USA,
March 15, 2024, Effective Date: December 31, 2023,prepared for Barrick Gold Corporation, 304
p.
Forward-LookingStatements:
This news release includes certainforward-looking statements and forward-looking information(collectively, “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning ofapplicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other thanstatements of historical fact, included herein including, withoutlimitation, 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 timingthereof, and the anticipated business plans and timing of futureactivities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Althoughthe Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can giveno assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Often,but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by wordssuch as “pro forma”, “plans”, “expects”, “may”,“should”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”,“forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “believes”,“potential” or variations of such words including negativevariations thereof, and phrases that refer to certain actions, eventsor results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken orachieved. 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 fromany future results, performance or achievements expressed or impliedby the forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factorsinclude, among others, risks related to the anticipated business plansand timing of future activities of the Company, including theCompany’s exploration plans and the proposed expenditures forexploration work thereon, the ability of the Company to obtainsufficient financing to fund its business activities and plans, therisk that Newmont will not elect to obtain any additional prognosticinterest in the earn-in projects in excess of the minimum commitment,the ability of the Company to obtain the required permits, changes inlaws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, theCompany’s limited operating history, currency fluctuations, titledisputes or claims, environmental issues and liabilities, as well asthose factors discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in theCompany’s prospectus dated May 26, 2021 and other filings of theCompany with the Canadian Securities Authorities, copies of which canbe found under the Company’s profile on the SEDAR+ website atwww.sedarplus.ca.
Readers are cautioned not to placeundue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakesno obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements, exceptas otherwise required by law.
Copyright (c) 2026 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
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