Yukon Metals Samples Up to 250 G/T Gold in Rock and Expands Land Position at Carter Gulch, Yukon

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yukon Metals Corp. (CSE: YMC, FSE: E770, OTCQB: YMMCF) (“Yukon Metals” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce high-grade gold results from a 2025 rock sampling program, resulting in the establishment of a new land position at the Carter Gulch Property (or “the Property”), located 40 kilometres southwest of Whitehorse, Yukon and 10 kilometres from the Alaska Highway.

Highlights:

• High-grade gold identified from 2025 rock sampling, including up to 250 grams per tonne (“g/t”) gold (“Au”) with average sample grade of 17.8 g/t Au and minimum of 0.00 g/t Au, from quartz vein float material on surface.
  
  
• New land position established at the Carter Gulch Property with the staking of 68 claims surrounding the original claims.
  
  
• Gold mineralization associated with quartz veining and shear-related structures, with elevated lead and other pathfinder elements identified.
  

“These high-grade gold samples collected from our Carter Gulch property are an exciting start to early-stage exploration on an easily accessible property,” commented Jim Coates, Interim CEO of Yukon Metals. “Additional staking has allowed us to secure the core areas of known mineralization at the Property while expanding our footprint to include nearby showings. Information gathered during the sampling program will help inform our next steps at the property, which will include additional surface sampling, detailed geological mapping, and target definition.”

2025 Rock Sampling Results

During 2025, the Company completed a targeted rock sampling program focused on quartz veins and vein-related mineralization in the Carter Gulch area. Nine samples graded over 1 g/t gold, with an average of 17.8 g/t Au, out of a total of 27 rock samples collected and submitted for analysis.

Figure 1 - Sample 325933 of oxidised quartz vein float assaying 250 g/t Au, 41.9 ppm Ag, 2,130 ppm Cu, and 2.96 % Pb.

Rock sampling returned highly anomalous gold values, including a peak result of 250 g/t Au in a float sample of oxidised quartz vein material (Table 1, Figure 1). Multiple samples returned multi-gram gold values and were accompanied by elevated concentrations of lead, zinc, copper, and pathfinder elements such as arsenic and antimony. Lead values reached up to 2.96% lead (“Pb”), highlighting a strong multi-element association commonly observed in structurally controlled gold systems.

Table 1- Highlighted 2025 prospecting rock sample results.

Notes: Au=gold, Ag=silver, Cu=copper, Zn=zinc, g/t=grams per tonne, ppm=parts per million

Rock samples taken while prospecting referenced in this release are selective in nature and collected to determine the presence or absence of mineralization and may not be representative of the mineralization hosted on the project.

Property Acquisition and Location

The Company has staked 68 new quartz claims, which, together with the two existing claims, comprise a total of 70 claims covering approximately 1,462 hectares at the Carter Gulch Property. The Kiyoko claims host the Carter Gulch (CG) Showing. The CG Showing was identified by prospecting in 1993, following anomalous gold results from a Geological Survey of Canada regional stream sediment surveys conducted in the 1980s, with follow-up rock sampling returning gold values of up to 142 g/t Au, 1.3% Pb, and 1.1% Cu from quartz vein–hosted shear zones containing visible gold. The newly staked claims also cover the Peppy Showing; a known gold occurrence located approximately 1.5 kilometres southeast of the CG Showing.

Figure 2- 2025 newly staked Carter Gulch claims with 2025 gold-in-rock assays.

The newly staked claims were acquired to consolidate the broader structural and geochemical footprint surrounding the CG Showing and to capture potential extensions of gold mineralization identified by historical exploration and recent Company sampling. The current land position is comparable in scale to a previously assembled claim block that surrounded the Kiyoko claims during historical exploration campaigns.

Claim staking was completed by Vision Quest Drilling, a Kluane First Nation citizen-owned company, with helicopter support provided by Yukon-based Capital Helicopters.

Historical Context

Previous exploration at Carter Gulch identified gold-bearing quartz veins and shear zones, including visible gold at the CG Showing and the nearby Peppy Showing. Historical rock sampling returned highly anomalous gold values, and soil geochemical surveys outlined gold anomalies extending hundreds of metres beyond known showings. Much of the surrounding ground lapsed following earlier exploration campaigns and has now been re-consolidated by the Company.

The Carter Gulch Property is located in southern Yukon, approximately 40 kilometres east-southeast of Whitehorse, the territorial capital and a major regional service and logistics centre. Gravel roads extend to within 2 kilometres of the Property and the Alaska Highway is 10 kilometres from the edge of the claim block (Figure 3).

Carter Gulch is one of the Company’s early-stage exploration portfolio of projects that serves as a development pipeline, generating targets for further advancement.

Next Steps

The Company is planning follow-up exploration at Carter Gulch, including additional surface sampling, detailed geological mapping, and the evaluation of priority targets defined by historical work and the 2025 rock sampling program.

Figure 3- Location of the Carter Gulch property in relation to Whitehorse and the Alaska Highway.

QA/QC

Rock samples were sent to ALS Minerals for analysis with sample preparation in Whitehorse, Yukon and analysis in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Samples were prepared by crush to 70% passing 2mm, 250g split pulverised better than 85% passing 75 microns (Prep-31A). Pulp samples were analysed for 48 elements by four acid digestion and ICP-MS (ME-MS61L). All samples were analyzed for gold by Au-NANO51, samples over 250 ppb were assayed with 30g fire assay with ICP-AES finish (Au-ICP21), and samples over 10 ppm were further sampled with 30g fire assay and gravimetric finish (Au-GRA21).

Qualified Person

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Helena Kuikka, P.Geo., VP Exploration for Yukon Metals and a Qualified Person (as defined by National Instrument 43-101).

About Yukon Metals Corp.

Yukon Metals is a well-financed exploration company with a 17-project portfolio covering more than 43,000 hectares. Built on over 30 years of Berdahl family prospecting, the same team behind Snowline Gold’s district-scale assets, YMC provides exposure to copper, gold, silver, and critical metals. While advancing high-priority drill targets at the Birch and AZ copper-gold systems, the Company is also conducting generative exploration across its broader portfolio to develop the next pipeline of discovery opportunities. Guided by an experienced leadership team with technical, financial, and Yukon expertise, the Company is well positioned to unlock new mineral discoveries across the Yukon territory.

Yukon Metals is committed to fostering sustainable growth and prosperity within Yukon’s local communities, while also enhancing shareholder value. Rooted in a philosophy of inclusiveness and shared prosperity, the Company’s strategy offers both local community members and investors the opportunity to contribute to and benefit from its success.

The Yukon

The Yukon remains one of the world’s last underexplored mineral belts, offering exceptional discovery potential. The Territory is home to a highly skilled and conscientious local workforce, shaped by generations of exploration experience coupled with a deep respect for the land.

Recent major discoveries with local roots, such as Snowline Gold’s Rogue Project - Valley Discovery, highlight the Yukon’s potential to generate fresh district-scale mining opportunities.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF YUKON METALS CORP.

“Jim Coates”

Jim Coates, Interim CEO

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This news release contains certain forward-looking information, including information about the metal association and geology of the prospect area at Birch pointing to the prospectivity for a gold-rich copper porphyry system, significant scale having been demonstrated by a soil anomaly over 1,400 metres long, the potential for economic grades of copper and gold based on grades taken from surface rock chips, the Yukon’s potential to generate fresh district-scale mining opportunities, and the Company’s future plans and intentions. Wherever possible, words such as “may”, “will”, “should”, “could”, “expect”, “plan”, “intend”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “predict” or “potential” or the negative or other variations of these words, or similar words or phrases, have been used to identify the forward-looking information. These statements reflect management’s current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management as at the date hereof.

Forward-looking information involves significant risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those discussed or implied in the forward-looking information. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to Chair Mountain and other properties not being prospective copper-rich, gold-rich or silver-rich geological systems; rock samples analysed not being representative of overall mineralization; the required assumptions of completed helicopter-supported mapping and sampling programs; not having significant scale and a lack of economic grade minerals; the Yukon not having the potential to generate fresh district-scale mining opportunities; and other risks and uncertainties. See the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s listing statement dated May 30, 2024, available under the Company’s profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca for additional risk factors. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking information.

Although the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure readers that actual results will be consistent with the forward-looking information. The forward-looking information is made as of the date of this news release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise the information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

Jim Coates, Interim CEO
Email: jimcoates@yukonmetals.com

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