Gladiator's 2026 Drilling to Commence Mid-April

The most recent release (April 7, 2026) announces that Gladiator Metals will launch a fully permitted, fully funded 35,000‑metre drill campaign in mid‑April across the Whitehorse Copper Project. The program targets resource extension at Cowley, expansion of the high‑grade CubEast discovery and first‑pass testing of the district‑scale Great Southern target. Historic intercepts from CubEast (e.g., 44.2 m @ 1.69% Cu, 0.93 g/t Au & 15.39 g/t Ag) are highlighted to justify the upcoming work. An exploration budget exceeding $15 million is allocated for 2026, with ~40,000 m of drilling planned (including geophysical road‑map work). The release notes that a Class 3 Quartz Exploration Permit was received on March 30, 2026, enabling systematic drilling on high‑priority targets. Strategic objectives for 2026 include advancing Cowley toward a defined resource, expanding CubEast strike length and testing up‑dip/down‑dip extensions, and initiating deep IP programs on Chiefs Trend and other high‑potential targets.

The April 7 news largely reiterates information already disclosed in prior releases: - The Class 3 permit was granted on March 30 (rated Material‑Positive). - Funding for >50,000 m of drilling in 2026 was stated in the January 27 drill results and the January 15 CubEast discovery release. - The >$15 million budget and ~40,000 m drill plan align with the “>40,000 m planned” mentioned in the March 30 permit announcement and the January 27 funding statement.

Because the announcement confirms the imminent start of a program that was already fully funded, permitted, and publicly outlined, it does not contain genuinely new, unexpected, or market‑moving information. It is an expected follow‑up to previously disclosed plans. Therefore the impact is Routine - Positive.

Gladiator Metals Corp. is a TSX‑V listed explorer focused on the Whitehorse Copper Belt in Yukon, Canada. The belt hosts >30 copper‑related skarn occurrences over a 35 km × 5 km area with historic production (1967‑1982) of 267.5 M lb Cu, 225 k oz Au and 2.84 M oz Ag from 10.5 Mt milled at ~1.5% Cu and 0.75 g/t Au. The flagship project is the Whitehorse Copper Project, encompassing prospects such as Cowley Park, CubEast, Great Southern, Chiefs Trend (Little Chief, Arctic Chief, Best Chance) and Valerie. Exploration to date has defined near‑surface high‑grade copper‑gold‑silver‑molybdenum skarn mineralization at Cowley and discovered the CubEast skarn zone with grades up to 2.56% Cu over 27 m within a broader 44.2 m interval.