Vancouver, B.C. - April 7, 2026 - Gladiator Metals Corp. (TSX-V: GLAD, OTCQB: GDTRF, FSE: ZX7) (“Gladiator” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce drilling will soon commence at Cowley and Cub East, with a third rig scheduled to mobilize at the end of April to test Great Southern.
Gladiator CEO, Jason Bontempo commented:
“We are very excited to begin our 2026 drilling campaign with an initial planned 35,000 metres under the new Class 3 permit, allowing for rapid copper discovery and resources drilling at the Whitehorse Copper Project. At Cowley the focus will on bringing both the Southern and Northern Limb mineralization towards surface while demonstrating the continuity of the high‑grade copper mineralization zones.
At Cub East, follow‑up drilling is building directly on the highly successful late‑2025 program that delivered a major new high‑grade copper‑gold‑magnetite skarn discovery. This was a previously untested target, right next to the historic Black Cub South open pit, and the results so far have clearly demonstrated both strong grades and excellent continuity. The Class 3 permit now allows Gladiator to rapidly advance drilling at Cub East to determine the size and scale of this new discovery which is located only 2km west of Cowley.
At Great Southern, we’re preparing to drill what is a highly compelling, district‑scale target. The gravity and IP anomaly there is not only significantly larger, but also stronger than the Cowley system response to the north. The northern portion alone covers an area approximately 2km by 1.2 km, and we believe this represents real potential for a significant new mineralized system within the broader Cowley corridor”.
SUMMARY:
Gladiator Metals will commence a fully permitted and fully funded initial 35,000 metre drill program in April 2026. The program will focus on accelerating resource extension and definition at Cowley, rapidly expanding the high‑grade Cub East discovery, and delivering a first‑pass test of the district‑scale Great Southern target. (Figure 1).
COWLEY RESOURCE DELINEATION DRILLING
From mid-April 2026, Gladiator intends to conduct a minimum of 8,000 metres of drilling at Cowley. Drilling is designed to advance resource delineation efforts under Class 3 permit conditions, which provides increased and more flexible drill density within and external to the boundaries of the established mineralized system (Figure 2) that Gladiator has been unable to test to date. By employing a regularly spaced grid system, Gladiator will be able to systematically test the mineralized zones, facilitating comprehensive resource drilling.
The initial priority will be to:
CUB EAST DRILLING
Drilling at Cub East is planned to further test mineralization discovered in late 2025 from drilling that targeted Induced Polarization (IP) and gravity anomalies beneath shallow cover (see Figure 3).
Five holes were completed over the target area, with all holes intersecting high-grade copper-gold-silver magnetite skarn over 300m of strike within a broader 800m coincidental anomalous IP and gravity geophysical corridor. Drilling returned1:
1: (Refer 15 January 2026 News Release – “Gladiator Drills New Discovery Intersecting 27m of 2.56% Cu & 1.44 g/t Au within 44.20m of 1.69% Cu & 0.93 g/t Au at Cub Trend”)
Gladiator is presently conducting a 3D IP survey over the Cub area to enhance its understanding of the intrusive architecture and to further define the zones of high chargeability identified in late 2025 that led to the discovery holes at Cub East.
Upon completion of this survey, Gladiator intends to expand the known strike extents of mineralization and target up-dip extensions from existing drilling, with the objective of bringing mineralization closer to surface.
GREAT SOUTHERN EXPLORATION DRILLING
Gladiator expanded coverage of its ongoing high-definition gravity surveys throughout the broader Cowley area in late 2025. This extension of the gravity survey resulted in the identification of a significant high-density anomaly, referred to as “Great Southern,” which is situated approximately 1.5 kilometres south of the main Cowley zone and the previously known Cowley South target (see Figure 4).
The newly identified anomaly extends for more than 2 kilometres in a north-south orientation and 1.2 kilometres in an east-west direction. The northern portion of the anomaly, which displays a higher density response, aligns with a magnetic low. This magnetic low is thought to be associated with an intrusive body, as indicated by the presence of a circular feature showing a low magnetic response.
To further investigate the anomaly, Gladiator completed three lines of Induced Polarization (IP) survey across the area, with all lines returning intense chargeability responses over a currently defined 600 metres of strike.
The chargeability response observed at Great Southern is also considerably higher than the central line completed over the main gravity anomaly at Cowley that may be indicative of a qualitative higher sulphide system.
EXPLORATION STRATEGY - 2026
Gladiator completed ~50,000m of drilling during 2025 targeting high-grade copper skarns throughout the Whitehorse Copper Belt.
With a planned fully funded exploration budget of > $15 million and ~40,000 metres of drilling already planned for 2026, Gladiator is poised to complete a very exciting and positive year focused on the drill bit.
Plans are also underfoot to keep rolling out the geophysical “road map” over the broader belt to continue the highly successful return on investment from gravity followed by IP experienced in 2025, with a doubling of the geophysical budget that led to the new discovery at Cub East and the generation of the Great Southern Target south of Cowley. This is to ensure that Gladiator maintains a pipeline of high-quality resource opportunities into the future.
1. – Advancing Cowley to resource definition and expansion:
2. – Progressing the New Discovery at Cub East
3. – Exploration Drilling:
Drilling will be complemented by the continual expansion of geophysical “roadmap” programs that were incorporated throughout 2025 with great success. These include ongoing Induced Polarization Surveys and Gravity surveys, all designed to enhance drill targeting within prospect areas and identify additional opportunities for exploration.
THE WHITEHORSE COPPER PROJECT
The Whitehorse Copper Project is an advanced-stage high grade copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), silver (Ag) and gold (Au) skarn exploration project in the Yukon Territory, Canada.
Copper mineralization was first discovered in 1897 on the Whitehorse Copper Belt and comprises over 30 copper-related, primarily skarn occurrences covering an area of 35km long by 5 km wide on the western margin of Whitehorse City, Yukon.
Exploration and mining development have been carried out intermittently since 1897 with the main production era lasting between 1967 and 1982 where production from primarily the Little Chief deposit totalled 267,500,000 pounds copper, 225,000 ounces of gold and 2,838,000 ounces of silver from 10.5 million tons of mineralized material milled (Watson, 1984). The Whitehorse Copper Project is accessible by numerous access roads and trails located within 2 km of the South Klondike Highway and the Alaska Highway. An extensive network of historical gravel exploration and haul roads exists throughout the project area, providing excellent access to the claim package. Access to existing electric power facilities is available through the main Yukon power grid.
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
References:
Watson P.H. (1984) The Whitehorse Copper Belt - A Compilation. Yukon Geological Survey, Open File 1984-1.(https://data.geology.gov.yk.ca/Reference/42011#InfoTab)
Tenney D. (1981) – The Whitehorse Copper Belt: Mining, Exploration and Geology (1967-1980). (https://ia800602.us.archive.org/7/items/whitehorsecopper00tenn/whitehorsecopper00tenn.pdf )
Qualified Person
All scientific and technical information in this news release has been prepared or reviewed and approved by Kell Nielsen, the Company’s Vice President Exploration, a “qualified person” as defined by NI 43-101.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
“Jason Bontempo”
Jason Bontempo
Director & CEO
For further information contact:
Caitlin Cheadle, Investor Relations
+1-778-403-5139
ccheadle@gladiatormetals.com
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