Kintavar plans 4,500 m drill program at Roger

The most recent news, dated December 1, 2025, announces that Kintavar Exploration Inc. (to be renamed Auriginal Mining Corp. effective December 3, 2025) plans a 4,500-meter diamond drill program at its 100%-owned Roger VMS project. The program is slated for early 2026 and aims to test high-priority off-hole conductors identified through recent downhole EM surveys. This plan is based on a new geological reinterpretation suggesting a potential deeper gold-rich Volcanic-Hosted Massive Sulphide (VMS) system beneath the known gold-copper deposit. The release highlights the expertise of the Qualified Person, Charles Beaudry, PGeo, in reviewing and approving the technical information.

This news is an operational update that confirms the company's previously announced intentions to drill the Roger project based on the new VMS geological model. The positive geophysical results from downhole EM surveys were already reported on November 12, 2025, validating the VMS interpretation and identifying drill targets. Furthermore, the company announced a $5 million private placement on November 18, 2025, specifically to fund the exploration activities at Roger.

The key detail in this latest release is the specified 4,500-meter drill program. It's important to note that the November 12, 2025 news release mentioned a 5,500-meter drill program for early 2026. Therefore, this latest announcement represents a reduction of 1,000 meters (approximately 18%) in the planned program size. While initiating a drill program is generally positive for an exploration company, the reduced scope, when compared to prior expectations, tempers the overall impact.

Considering the context, the news is routine as it confirms an expected event (drilling). The positive aspect of moving forward with exploration at Roger, particularly with the new VMS interpretation, is offset by the decrease in the planned meterage. The funding for the program was already secured or in the process of being secured with the announced private placement. Therefore, this news primarily provides more specific details on an ongoing, well-communicated exploration strategy rather than introducing new, significantly impactful developments.

Kintavar Exploration Inc. (soon to be Auriginal Mining Corp.) is a mineral exploration company primarily focused on base and precious metals in Quebec, Canada. The company's flagship project is the Roger Copper-Gold Project, located in the Chibougamau mining district of Quebec. * Development: The Roger project was acquired on September 15, 2025, for a purchase price of $2,565,000 paid by issuing 85,500,000 common shares. Historically, Roger was interpreted as a porphyry-style system. However, a new geological reinterpretation by the current management suggests a Volcanic-Hosted Massive Sulphide (VMS) environment, similar to Agnico-Eagle's LaRonde mine. This reinterpretation is supported by downhole geophysical surveys (BHEM, BHIP) that identified moderate to strong off-hole conductors coincident with known mineralization. The company plans a 4,500-meter diamond drill program for early 2026 to test these VMS targets. * Historical Resource: A historical NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate from 2018 (by GeopointCom) for the Roger project indicated 10.9 million tonnes at 0.85 g/t gold, 0.80 g/t silver, and 0.06% copper (333,000 gold equivalent ounces) in the Indicated category, and 6.569 million tonnes at 0.75 g/t gold, 1.18 g/t silver, and 0.11% copper (202,000 gold equivalent ounces) in the Inferred category, using a 0.45 g/t AuEq cut-off. Kintavar emphasizes that this is a historical estimate and is not to be treated as a current mineral resource.