Puma Exploration's Inaugural Drilling Confirms High-Grade Gold System at McKenzie
Puma’s first McKenzie drill assays confirm narrow high-grade gold veins within low-grade halos, though scale and continuity remain unproven.
Puma Exploration Inc. (PUMA) has announced assay results from its initial drilling campaign at the RIM Gold Zone within the McKenzie Gold Project in northern New Brunswick. The company completed 43 holes totaling 2,721 meters of diamond drilling, confirming gold-bearing shear and extension vein structures at depths reaching 106 meters. Management stated that these findings validate the existing geological model and will guide follow-up work planned for the fall of 2026.
The drilling program identified several high-grade intercepts within main quartz veins. Core lengths for the primary high-grade results include:
- 42.60 g/t Au over 0.25 m (MK25-20)
- 21.86 g/t Au over 0.30 m (MK25-26)
- 15.55 g/t Au over 0.30 m
- 13.41 g/t Au over 0.25 m
- 12.65 g/t Au over 0.25 m
- 12.60 g/t Au over 0.30 m
Wider low-grade envelopes were also reported with "including" treatment applied to higher-grade intervals. The results for these broader intercepts are as follows:
- MK25-20: 0.64 g/t Au over 20.10 m (including 1.64 g/t over 7.75 m)
- MK25-26: 0.38 g/t Au over 27.85 m (including 1.01 g/t over 10.40 m)
- MK25-09: 0.65 g/t over 9.35 m
- MK25-05: 0.44 g/t over 10.90 m
Puma disclosed that it experienced unprecedented assay delays from laboratory provider MSALABS and intends to switch providers for future work.
Puma Exploration Inc. (PUMA) released drill results from its first program at a new project, which demonstrated that surface high-grade veins continue to shallow depths but are surrounded by sub-economic low-grade halos. The intercepts indicate no large tonnage potential.
The market had previously bid the stock up to $0.25 in January 2026 in anticipation of strong drill results, driven by awareness of exceptional grab samples containing up to 601 g/t Au. Since then, the stock has declined to $0.11, reflecting disappointment or uncertainty. While the actual drill assays are not complete failures, they do not exceed the expectations implied by the grab samples, essentially confirming the existence of narrow high-grade veins without scale.
Puma’s core value driver remains the Williams Brook option with Kinross, while McKenzie is a secondary early-stage project. Given the company’s $20M market cap, even a significant result would not re-rate the firm, making the release routine incremental news.
Puma Exploration Inc. (PUMA) operates as a project generator with a DEAR strategy, centered on the Williams Brook Gold Project, which is optioned to Kinross. Under the agreement, Kinross is spending $16.75M to earn a 65% interest, with 2025 drilling at the Lynx zone extending mineralization. The company also holds the McKenzie Gold Project, a second orogenic gold land package along the RBMF featuring RIM and Grog targets, subject to a 70% earn-in. Additionally, Puma holds Murray Brook Minerals, which controls the Legacy Cu-Ag skarn containing 930kt @0.66% Cu inferred resources, alongside other copper-silver prospects. The company maintains significant equity stakes in Canadian Copper and Raptor Metals, as well as NSR royalties.
Puma has a market capitalization of approximately C$19.8M with roughly 180M shares outstanding. The company reported cash of $1.9M as of Q3-2026 (Nov 30, 2025), a figure flagged as insufficient to meet obligations through Feb 2027, presenting a going concern risk.