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K2 Gold Launches 2026 Mojave Drill Campaign with High-Grade Dragonfly Target
K2 Gold has officially kicked off its 2026 exploration and drilling program at the company’s wholly owned Mojave Project, situated in Inyo County, California.
The initiative gets underway following the recent federal approval of the project's environmental plan, clearing the path for an aggressive season of subsurface investigation.
The company is committed to drilling a minimum of 5,650 metres for this phase, with operations commencing at the Dragonfly Zone. The approved Plan of Operations and accompanying Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) authorize significantly more extensive work, permitting up to roughly 14,000 metres of drilling across the project’s Eastern Target Area, a highly prospective, mineralized structural corridor that extends for over four kilometres.
Initial drilling at Dragonfly will zero in on the specific structures that have historically delivered standout results for K2 Gold. Previous exploration at the zone returned a notable intercept of 86.9 metres grading four grams per tonne gold, which included an exceptionally rich sub-interval of 24.4 metres at 10.9 grams per tonne. These past successes are now guiding the company’s first drill bits of the season as it looks to expand upon the known mineralization.
The company has allocated roughly 3,000 metres to this zone, with the aim of evaluating the extent of high-grade gold mineralisation both along strike and within parallel structural features. Additional drilling is also planned for the Newmont Zone, which has previously delivered notable intercepts including 41.15 metres at 1.64 grams per tonne gold.
An initial 2,650-metre drilling programme will target the southern extension and assess the continuity of gold mineralisation in the vicinity of the Discovery Outcrop. Both the Dragonfly and Newmont zones have seen earlier exploration efforts, with K2 having carried out reverse circulation drilling in the area as recently as 2020. Concurrently, surface exploration is advancing at other priority targets, including Flores, Gold Valley, and Stega. At Flores, channel sampling has returned 3.78 grams per tonne gold over 43 metres, and subsequent follow-up work has identified multiple additional rock samples carrying gold mineralisation.
At Gold Valley, surface rock samples have returned grades as high as 375 grams per tonne gold, while the Stega Zone has yielded impressive rock-chip results including copper values up to 14.2% and gold values reaching 12.68 grams per tonne.
To advance these targets, the company has allocated $9.8 million (C$13.89 million) toward its 2026 Mojave exploration program.
K2 Gold’s president and CEO, Anthony Margarit, commented: “It has been a long road to get to this point, and it feels like we are just getting started. The commencement of drilling at Mojave represents a significant step forward for K2 Gold as we begin the largest and most comprehensive drill programme in the company’s history.”
Earlier this year, K2 Gold also kicked off drilling at its wholly owned Si2 Gold Project, located roughly 59 kilometres west of Tonopah, Nevada.
Ontario Fast-Tracks Canada Nickel’s Crawford Project as Second Test Case for Streamlined “One Project, One Process” Framework
The Crawford Nickel Project, wholly owned by Canada Nickel and located 42 kilometres north of Timmins, Ontario, has been officially named the second mining venture to advance under the province’s newly launched One Project, One Process (1P1P) initiative.
Designed to cut through bureaucratic red tape, the 1P1P framework synchronizes permitting timelines, clarifies ministerial responsibilities, and consolidates information-sharing across all relevant provincial ministries for major resource developments. By aligning these moving parts into a single, coordinated track, Ontario aims to significantly reduce delays and inject greater predictability into the review cycle for strategically vital projects.
According to Canada Nickel, the project’s selection underscores both its advanced-stage readiness and its outsized importance to the province’s broader Critical Minerals Strategy. As a high-grade nickel-cobalt sulphide deposit, Crawford is poised to supply key battery metals for electric-vehicle supply chains, making its expedited progression a clear signal of Ontario’s commitment to cementing its place as a North American mining and manufacturing powerhouse.
Canada Nickel CEO Mark Selby hailed the Crawford project as a foundational pillar for a new low‑carbon mining and clean metals manufacturing corridor in northeastern Ontario. According to Selby, the initiative is designed to spur lasting economic growth, generate well‑paying local jobs, and ensure that the resulting value stays within the province.
Noting that Crawford is the only mining project in Canada to receive such strong backing from both federal and provincial governments, Selby said the latest endorsement only reinforces the company’s resolve to break ground before the end of this year. He also expressed eagerness to collaborate with the province through its newly established Critical Minerals Processing Fund to turn those ambitions into reality.
On the technical side, the Crawford project is planned for a mine production rate of 240,000 tonnes per day, with a mill throughput of 120,000 tonnes per day, and is expected to have a lifespan of roughly 41 years. The company emphasized that, while the newly introduced 1P1P framework will streamline government coordination and decision‑making, it will not supplant existing obligations to Indigenous communities or diminish any environmental protection standards already in place.
Canada Nickel has formally submitted its impact statement under the amended Impact Assessment Act of 2019, placing the Crawford project at the vanguard of the country’s modernized regulatory framework. The undertaking received an additional boost in November 2025 when it was referred to the federal Major Projects Office, signaling high-level government backing.
Ontario’s Minister of Energy and Mines, Stephen Lecce, underscored the province’s urgency, stating that Ontario is moving at "lightning speed" to bring this wholly Canadian-owned mine into production, a move he says will create 4,000 jobs for domestic workers. With the provincial government operating in "full-tilt" mode in 2026, Lecce framed the project as a strategic lever to unlock one of the world’s largest nickel deposits, supercharge the economy, and decisively counter China’s dominance in critical minerals. He emphasized the "Made-in-Canada" ethos permeating every stage of development, from the Western world’s largest nickel-sulphide mine through to a new processing plant and a downstream alloy production facility, thereby forging a resilient domestic supply chain.
Positioned to become the preeminent nickel-sulphide project in the Western hemisphere, Crawford is also slated to be one of Canada’s most economically consequential mining ventures. Independent projections estimate that over its initial mine life, the operation will generate more than C$70 billion ($50.4 billion) in gross domestic product, with the lion’s share, roughly C$67 billion, flowing directly to Ontario. Beyond the macroeconomic impact, the project is expected to sustain approximately 1,000 direct jobs and an additional 3,000 indirect positions across the region.
Equally notable is the project’s environmental ambition. Leveraging patented in-process tailings carbonation technology, Crawford aims to sequester up to 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. This breakthrough would not only make it one of Canada’s largest carbon-storage facilities but also potentially the world’s first net-zero-carbon nickel mine, a bold statement of how resource development and climate responsibility can converge.
Silver Storm Launches 6,000-Metre Underground Drilling Campaign at La Parrilla Complex
Silver Storm Mining has commenced a 6,000-metre underground drilling programme at its wholly owned La Parrilla Silver Mine Complex in Mexico, located roughly 76 kilometres southeast of Durango State.
The initiative will focus on three key targets within the broader La Parrilla Complex: the Quebradillas, San Marcos, and Rosarios mines.
The wider complex comprises 40 adjacent mining concessions, all reported to be in good standing, which collectively span an area of 38,128 hectares.
The underground drilling program will focus primarily on exploratory step-out and infill work to support the planned development of the Quebradillas, San Marcos, and Rosarios mines within the La Parrilla Complex.
At the Quebradillas Mine, a total of 3,500 meters of drilling is planned across several zones, including C460, C550, Norte Sur, La Estrella, and San Nicolas. The C460 Zone consists of a sulfide replacement body trending north-northwest for 460 meters, with a vertical extent of 500 meters and a maximum thickness of 8.5 meters. Drilling here will target the southern strike extension and deeper levels. The remaining zones contain sulfide-bearing fault veins and breccias, where drilling will focus on defining their strike and downdip extensions.
At the San Marcos Mine, 1,000 meters of drilling will be directed at the San Marcos and C1100 zones.
The San Marcos zone features fault-vein oxide mineralization that extends 700 meters in a north-northwest direction, with a vertical depth of 350 meters and a maximum thickness of 17 meters. Drilling here will focus on near-surface and mid-level targets.
In the C1100 zone, fault-vein sulfide mineralization stretches 500 meters to the northwest, reaching 430 meters vertically and up to 1.5 meters thick. Drilling efforts in this zone are designed to explore depths below previously developed areas.
At the Rosarios Mine, a 1,500-meter drilling program will concentrate on the Rosarios and RRFW zones. The Rosarios zone consists of fault-vein sulfide mineralization that has developed into stockwork or replacement zones along its footwall and hanging wall. This mineralization extends west-northwest for 1.75 kilometers, has a vertical scope of 900 meters, and reaches thicknesses of up to 14 meters.
Drilling will target the central and western extensions of the deposit. The RRFW zones consist of five subparallel fault structures located in the western footwall of Rosarios, characterized by sulphide breccias and replacement zones with strike lengths of 150 to 490 metres and vertical extents of 200 to 270 metres. Following a potential restart of operations, Silver Storm Mining plans to carry out an additional 4,000 metres of follow-up drilling as part of its development strategy.
Greg McKenzie, president and CEO of Silver Storm, expressed enthusiasm about the resumption of drilling at La Parrilla. He noted that the initial phase is focused on supporting the current internal mine plan by expanding the indicated and inferred resource base, as the company moves toward a potential restart of operations in the second quarter of 2026. McKenzie also mentioned that surface exploration programmes are scheduled to begin in 2026 across seven target areas within the La Parrilla concessions.
The company plans to release results from this initial drilling phase once assay findings are available. In the meantime, the geology team is actively working on planning further surface exploration and drilling at multiple targets.
Mexico Approves EIA Extension for McEwen’s El Gallo Mine, Paving Way for Mill Construction
McEwen Mining has announced that the Mexican government granted an extension of the Environmental Impact Assessment (Manifestación de Impacto Ambiental) for its El Gallo mine complex in Sinaloa, Mexico.
Located along the foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental, the El Gallo complex spans more than 1,700 square kilometers of mineral claims.
The approval represents a key milestone, allowing McEwen to proceed with phase one mill construction. The company plans to begin building the mill in mid-2026, with the first gold pour expected by mid-2027.
Phase one of the project is designed to deliver roughly 20,000 gold equivalent ounces per year once commercial production is achieved. Production will come from reprocessing material taken from the historical leach pad, which significantly reduces the need for major development or exploration spending. This approach is expected to boost the company’s free cash flow.
McEwen has already acquired a ball mill, which is now on-site at the El Gallo mine. An estimated $25 million (C$34.43 million) in additional capital is required to complete construction. Meanwhile, the company has started work on phase two, which will target production from the project’s in-situ silver deposits. This second phase has the potential to extend the life of El Gallo well beyond the initial ten years envisioned under phase one.
Across the El Gallo deposit and nearby satellite deposits in the district, historical silver resources are reported as 53.1 million ounces (moz) in the measured and indicated categories, plus 31 moz in the inferred category for areas that have not yet been mined. These resources were estimated using a silver price of $28.50 per ounce and a gold price ranging from $950 to $1,500 per ounce.
McEwen noted that this estimate is historical and plans to update El Gallo’s resource estimates in 2026 based on currently defined resource areas. In July 2025, McEwen signed a binding letter of intent with Canadian Gold to acquire all of Canadian Gold’s issued and outstanding securities, which would result in Canadian Gold becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of McEwen upon completion of the transaction.
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