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Toronto, Ontario TheNewswire – January 20, 2026 Laurion Mineral Exploration Inc. (TSX-V: LME | OTCQB: LMEFF | FSE: 5YD) (‘LAURION’ or the ‘Company’) is pleased to provide an update on its strategic positioning entering 2026, following a recent strategy session of the Company’s Board of Directors. LAURION’s primary focus for the year ahead is the advancement and further development of its flagship Ishkōday Project, with the objective of enhancing the positioning of the asset to support the Company’s pursuit of strategic alternatives aimed at maximizing long‑term shareholder value.

‘Our focus has always been on advancing Ishkōday through disciplined, milestone-driven execution,’ said Cynthia Le Sueur-Aquin, President and CEO of LAURION. ‘This technical direction reflects my conviction that LAURION’s strategy is sound, disciplined, and built to endure. We are no longer relying on the market to infer value — we are building it by translating technical progress and mineral property advancement into measurable project value. As the Company’s largest shareholder, with my immediate family and I holding over 30 million shares, alignment with this approach matters deeply to me.’

‘This clarity regarding LAURION’s strategic plan is intended to ensure that investors understand how the Company’s disciplined execution today improves outcomes tomorrow, while avoiding mixed signals between whether the Company is prioritizing a pursuit of strategic alternatives as compared to the technical advancement and development of Ishkōday. They are considered concurrent and complementary priorities.’

EVALUATION OF STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES

As previously announced, LAURION has undertaken a structured strategic review process, including the establishment of a special committee (the ‘Special Committee‘) and the engagement of a network of financial and strategic advisors, to explore a range of potential strategic alternatives for the Company, which includes, among other things, assessing interest from potential acquirers and institutional investors aligned with LAURION’s long-term vision. (LAURION press releases dated November 14, 2023, April 14, 2025, September 5, 2025, October 23, 2025 and November 19, 2025.)

As part of recent strategic discussions, the Company received feedback from external advisors regarding the Company’s market positioning, timing, and next steps. These advisors noted that, while interest in high-quality Canadian gold assets exists, it remains selective. The most effective way to strengthen future strategic outcomes is through the continued technical advancement and development of the Ishkōday Project. Specifically, these advisors recommended that LAURION advance the Project toward the completion of a technical report expressing a mineral resource estimate (MRE), followed by a subsequent technical report disclosing a preliminary economic assessment (PEA), each prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (‘NI 43-101‘). Therefore, working towards these two technical milestones will be the Company’s principal focus in 2026.

While LAURION’s M&A infrastructure – comprised of its Special Committee and established network of financial and strategic advisors – remains in place and the Company continues to explore and be receptive to strategic opportunities, day-to-day management will concentrate on advancing the development of the Ishkōday Project through its next stages of technical reporting. Consistent with the guidance provided by the Company’s advisors, the advancement of the Ishkōday Project is expected to further enhance the project’s profile, quantify the merits of the project, and better position LAURION to explore strategic alternatives designed to maximize shareholder value.

FROM BROAD EXPLORATION TO STRUCTURED VALUE DEFINITION

LAURION has built an extensive geological and exploration dataset across a large, mineralized corridor at Ishkōday through a series of deliberate, strategically designed work programs. The Company has developed a structure-led, confidence-building technical program designed to support mineral resource development.

The Company’s technical focus in 2026 will be on integrating this information to identify and progressively refine coherent mineralized envelopes within priority structural corridors, using structurally informed drilling, shoot-fan patterns, and 3D domaining to convert drilling confidence into robust geological models. Near-term drilling will be designed and executed within structurally validated zones and along established plunge directions, with each hole planned to test defined geological hypotheses and contribute directly to model refinement, continuity assessment, and confidence building. This disciplined approach emphasizes data quality and geological consistency, with the objective of ensuring that technical advancement is systematic, defensible, and aligned with NI 43-101. In the Company’s view, by prioritizing technical integrity, LAURION can support near-term target generation and foster future resource growth and value recognition, as this is how the Company intends to increase the underlying value of the project in a manner consistent with how value is traditionally assessed and realized in the mining industry.

LAURION to Attend VRIC 2026

LAURION will be attending the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC) 2026, to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, on January 25-26, 2026. Management will be available during the conference to engage with investors and industry participants and to discuss the Company’s ongoing work at the Ishkōday Gold-Polymetallic Project, its disciplined technical approach, and its 2026 execution priorities. Participation in VRIC supports LAURION’s commitment to transparent investor engagement and clear communication aligned with its milestone-driven strategy.

Qualified Person

The technical contents of this release were reviewed and approved by Pierre-Jean Lafleur, P.Eng, a consultant to LAURION and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

About LAURION Mineral Exploration Inc.

 

Laurion Mineral Exploration Inc. is a mid-stage junior mineral exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol LME and on the OTC Pink market under the symbol LMEFF. The Company currently has 278,716,413 common shares outstanding, with approximately 73.6% held by insiders and long-term ‘Friends and Family’ investors, reflecting strong alignment between management, the Board, and shareholders.

LAURION’s primary focus is the 100%-owned, district-scale Ishkōday Project, a 57 km² land package hosting gold-rich polymetallic mineralization. The Company is advancing Ishkōday through a disciplined, milestone-driven exploration strategy focused on strengthening geological confidence, defining structural continuity.

LAURION’s strategy is centered on deliberate value creation. The Company is prioritizing systematic technical advancement, integrated geological and structural modeling, and the evaluation of optional, non-dilutive pathways, including historical surface stockpile processing, that may support flexibility without diverting focus from core exploration objectives.

The Company’s overarching objective is to build project value before monetization, ensuring that any future strategic outcomes are supported by technical clarity, reduced execution risk, and demonstrated scale. While the Board remains attentive to strategic interest that may arise, LAURION is not driven by transaction timing. Instead, the Company is focused on advancing the Ishkōday Project in a manner that strengthens long-term shareholder value.

LAURION will continue to communicate progress through timely disclosure and will issue press releases in accordance with applicable securities laws should any material change occur.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Laurion Mineral Exploration Inc.

Cynthia Le Sueur-Aquin – President and CEO

Tel: 1-705-788-9186 Fax: 1-705-805-9256

 

Douglas Vass – Investor Relations Consultant

Email: info@laurion.ca

Website: http://www.LAURION.ca

Follow us on: X (@LAURION_LME), Instagram (laurionmineral) and LinkedIn ()

 

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which reflect the Company’s current expectations regarding future events including with respect to LAURION’s business, operations and condition, management’s objectives, strategies, beliefs and intentions, the Company’s ability to advance the Ishkōday Project, the nature, focus, timing and potential results of the Company’s exploration, drilling and prospecting activities in 2026 and beyond, including the Company’s planned activities for the Ishkōday Project for the remainder of 2026, the timing of, and the Company’s ability to complete, any technical reports or milestones regarding the Ishkōday Project, and the statements regarding the Company’s exploration or consideration of any possible strategic alternatives and transactional opportunities, as well as the potential outcome(s) of this process, the possible impact of any potential transactions referenced or inferred herein on the Company or any of its stakeholders, and the ability of the Company to identify and complete any potential acquisitions, mergers, financings or other transactions referenced or inferred herein, and the timing of any such transactions. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual events and future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements could differ materially from those projected herein including as a result of a change in the trading price of the common shares of LAURION, the TSX Venture Exchange or any other applicable regulator not providing its approval for any strategic alternatives or transactional opportunities, the interpretation and actual results of current exploration activities, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, future prices of gold and/or other metals, possible variations in grade or recovery rates, failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, the failure of contracted parties to perform, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of exploration, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company’s publicly filed documents. Investors should consult the Company’s ongoing quarterly and annual filings, as well as any other additional documentation comprising the Company’s public disclosure record, for additional information on risks and uncertainties relating to these forward-looking statements. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. Subject to applicable law, the Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. All sample values are from grab samples and channel samples, which by their nature, are not necessarily representative of overall grades of mineralized areas. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on the assay values reported in this press release.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICE PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

Copyright (c) 2026 TheNewswire – All rights reserved.

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Exploration drilling underway and PFS-level technical programs ongoing at the Company’s Saskatchewan gold project

Fortune Bay Corp. (TSXV: FOR,OTC:FTBYF) (FWB: 5QN) (OTCQB: FTBYF) (‘Fortune Bay’ or the ‘Company’) is entering 2026 with a strengthened balance sheet and a clear strategic focus on advancing its Goldfields Gold Project (‘Goldfields’ or the ‘Project’), a gold development asset in Saskatchewan, one of the world’s top-tier mining jurisdictions.

Following a year of significant technical and corporate progress in 2025, the Company is fully funded to execute its planned 2026 program at Goldfields, centered on; 1) project development work, that includes advancing toward a Prefeasibility Study (‘PFS’) in tandem with permitting activities, and 2) exploration drilling targeting additional near-mine ounces that could further strengthen Goldfields’ excellent economics. Exploration drilling has resumed after the holiday break and initial drill results are expected in the first quarter of 2026.

Goldfields is very well-positioned for advancement, with excellent PEA economics, a high-confidence mineral resource base, established infrastructure, and the benefit of Saskatchewan’s stable, top-tier jurisdiction.‘ said Dale Verran, CEO of Fortune Bay. ‘The work completed in 2025 strengthened the project’s technical foundation and firmly set the stage for expedited advancement. With funding secured, our priority in 2026 is disciplined execution, advancing development while growing the resource and positioning Goldfields to unlock meaningful value as the gold market continues to strengthen.’

2025: A Year of Demonstrating Project Value and Setting the Stage for Advancement

Throughout 2025, Fortune Bay advanced Goldfields through a series of key milestones aimed at strengthening technical confidence, improving execution readiness, and positioning the project for the next stage of value creation.

Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment: Defining an Expedited Development Path

In September 2025, Fortune Bay completed an independent Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (‘Updated PEA’) for Goldfields, confirming the project as a robust open-pit development asset supported by a well-defined resource base, existing infrastructure, and Saskatchewan’s stable regulatory environment.

At a base-case gold price of US$2,600/oz, the Updated PEA outlined after-tax economics of C$610 million NPV (5%) and a 44% IRR, with initial capital estimated at C$301 million. At spot gold prices at the time of the study (US$3,650/oz), the after-tax NPV (5%) increased to C$1.25 billion, highlighting the project’s strong sensitivity to gold prices. On average, every US$100 change in the gold price assumption results in an approximate C$61 million change in after-tax NPV.

The Updated PEA positions Goldfields for accelerated advancement toward construction by maintaining throughput below 5,000 tpd, enabling the Project to remain within the provincial permitting framework. This expedited pathway is supported by established infrastructure, a de-risked resource base (with 97% of ounces in the mine plan classified as Indicated), and a valid provincially approved Environmental Impact Statement (‘EIS’) from 2008 for a 5,000 tpd open-pit operation.

To read the full release visit https://fortunebaycorp.com/news/post/fortune-bay-announces-updated-pea-for-goldfields-saskatchewan.

Permitting Work: Advancing Execution Readiness

Alongside the Updated PEA, Fortune Bay advanced environmental baseline studies during 2025, building upon extensive historical datasets and the existing EIS. Both aquatic and terrestrial baseline environmental studies were completed in late 2025, with final reporting and ongoing monitoring continuing into early 2026 and beyond.

In addition, a well-attended community tour of Indigenous communities and municipalities was completed in November 2025 to support early engagement on the development of Goldfields. Productive meetings were also held with Chiefs and Council members from local Indigenous nations to introduce the project and seek initial feedback from leadership.

Post-PEA Technical Programs: Advancing Toward PFS-Level Studies

Following completion of the Updated PEA, the Company initiated a series of post-PEA technical programs aimed at further de-risking the project and advancing studies toward the PFS level. This work included high-resolution topographic (LiDAR) survey, waste rock characterization, metallurgical testwork, and planning for additional PFS-level work programs.

Exploration: Positioning for Resource Expansion

In parallel with project development work, Fortune Bay refined exploration targets across the Goldfields property, integrating historical drilling, updated geological modeling, and insights gained through the PEA process. This work directly informed the design of the current exploration drilling program targeting additional near-mine ounces that could further strengthen Goldfields’ exceptional economics and improve the overall development profile. 

2026: Funded, Focused, and Advancing

With funding secured, Fortune Bay’s 2026 work program is designed to translate the technical and permitting progress achieved in 2025 into tangible value advancement at Goldfields. The Company enters the year with a clear operational focus and the financial capacity to execute its plans without near-term capital constraints.

Exploration

A central component of the 2026 program is resource expansion drilling, targeting priority areas identified through recent geological modeling and insights gained from the Updated PEA. The drilling is intended to test the potential to further strengthen project scale, extend mine life, and enhance the overall development profile. Initial drill results are expected in the first quarter of 2026.

Project Development

The Company plans to advance three key project development strategies in parallel; 1) PFS-level work streams, 2) Saskatchewan-led environmental approvals, and 3) community consultation and engagement.

PFS-level work streams will include expanded geotechnical, metallurgical and waste rock geochemistry investigations. Metallurgical and waste rock studies in 2025 were scoped to inform and support design of optimized PFS-level investigations in 2026. An integrated work program is being developed to reduce the amount of drilling required to the extent possible.

  • Geotechnical drilling and investigations, in tandem with hydrogeological survey, will expand on historical studies to further characterize host-rock physical properties and support optimization of the open pit design. Surface investigations and soil profile testing will also be carried out to support higher-confidence infrastructure design, including that of the tailings storage facility, process plant and other site infrastructure.
  • Metallurgical studies will include expanded testing to better constrain parameters around process plant design and reagent consumption, including broad-scale variability testing.
  • Waste rock characterisation study will be carried out, including acid base accounting and geochemistry, to support waste rock facility design and complement site water balance and environmental (permitting) advancement.

Results from recent baseline environmental studies and the waste rock characterization program will be integrated with feedback from early engagement activities and the project scope outlined in the Updated PEA to inform development of the Technical Proposal. The Technical Proposal is the first step in the provincial environmental assessment process and will be used as a basis for initiation of regulatory engagement with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment in Q1 of 2026. This work will build upon the Provincially-approved 2008 Environmental Impact Statement for a 5,000 tpd open-pit operation. Community engagement will continue in 2026 to strengthen relationships and continue meaningful dialogue on the project with the public and local Indigenous Nations, including rights holders.

The technical progress achieved at Goldfields in 2025, and the fully funded program planned for 2026, reinforce the Company’s strategy of disciplined, cycle-aware advancement of a high-quality gold asset in a top-tier jurisdiction.

Technical Report & Qualified Person

Details for the Updated PEA for Goldfields are provided in the technical report titled ‘Goldfields Project Updated NI 43-101 Technical Report & Preliminary Economic Assessment, Saskatchewan, Canada‘, dated October 20, 2025, prepared by Kevin Murray, P.Eng.; Scott C. Elfen, P.E.; James Millard, P.Geo.; Jonathan Cooper, P.Eng.; Marc Schulte, P.Eng.; Cliff Revering, P.Eng.; and Ron Uken, Pr.Sci.Nat. for Fortune Bay Corp. The technical report is available under the Company’s issuer profile on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) and on the Company’s website at www.fortunebaycorp.com.

The technical and scientific information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Gareth Garlick P.Geo., Vice-President Technical Services of the Company, who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Garlick is an employee of Fortune Bay and is not independent of the Company under NI 43‑101.

About Fortune Bay

Fortune Bay Corp. (TSXV:FOR,OTC:FTBYF; FWB:5QN; OTCQB:FTBYF) is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company with assets in Canada and Mexico. The Company’s primary focus is advancing the Goldfields Gold Project in Saskatchewan, Canada. Fortune Bay also holds the Poma Rosa Gold-Copper Project in Chiapas, Mexico, as well as an optioned uranium project portfolio in the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan. Fortune Bay continues to evaluate and advance its portfolio in a disciplined manner while maintaining a strong technical foundation and prudent capital management. For more information, please visit www.fortunebaycorp.com or contact info@fortunebaycorp.com.

On behalf of Fortune Bay Corp.

‘Dale Verran’
Chief Executive Officer
902-334-1919

Cautionary Statement

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management’s current estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. Words such as ‘expects’, ‘aims’, ‘anticipates’, ‘targets’, ‘goals’, ‘projects’, ‘intends’, ‘plans’, ‘believes’, ‘seeks’, ‘estimates’, ‘continues’, ‘may’, variations of such words, and similar expressions and references to future periods, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, and include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the results of the Updated PEA, including future Project opportunities, future operating and capital costs, closure costs, AISC, the projected NPV, IRR, timelines, permit timelines, and the ability to obtain the requisite permits, economics and associated returns of the Project, the technical viability of the Project, the market and future price of and demand for gold, the environmental impact of the Project, and the ongoing ability to work cooperatively with stakeholders, including Indigenous Nations, local Municipalities and local levels of government. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management’s expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward- looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, the Company’s objectives, goals or future plans, statements, exploration results, potential mineralization, the estimation of mineral resources, exploration and mine development plans, timing of the commencement of operations and estimates of market conditions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to failure to identify mineral resources, failure to convert estimated mineral resources to reserves, the inability to complete a feasibility study which recommends a production decision, the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals, political risks, inability to fulfill the duty to accommodate Indigenous Nations and local Municipalities, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the development of projects, capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, and those risks set out in the Company’s public documents filed on SEDAR. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. For more information on Fortune Bay, readers should refer to Fortune Bay’s website at www.fortunebaycorp.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Fortune Bay Corp.

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MIAMI GARDENS, FL — Fernando Mendoza delivered some late magic and No. 1 seed Indiana held on to beat No. 10 Miami, 27-21, in the College Football Playoff championship game to claim the first title in program history.

The win completes a stunning turnaround orchestrated by second-year coach Curt Cignetti, who inherited what is historically one of the weakest programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision but quickly transformed the Hoosiers into the best team the sport has to offer.

A surprisingly low-scoring game through the first half began to open up in the third quarter and then took on a frenzied pace in a final quarter that saw Mendoza put the finishing touches on the most memorable individual season in program history by providing clutch plays on two Indiana scoring drives.

Buy IU championship books, newspapers, gear

Mendoza finished 16 of 27 for 186 yards and ran for a touchdown. Kaelon Black ran for 79 yards on 17 carries and Roman Hemby added 60 yards on 19 carries. Omar Cooper led IU with 71 yards on five receptions and Charlie Becker added 65 yards, including multiple driving-extending catches in the fourth quarter.

Miami quarterback Carson Beck threw for 232 yards on 19 of 32 passing with a touchdown and an interception. Mark Fletcher Jr. had 112 yards on 17 carries and freshman receiver Malachi Toney had a game-high 10 catches for 122 yards and a score.

The teams exchanged punts on the game’s first three possessions. Indiana opened scoring on a 34-yard field goal by Nicolas Radicic with 2:42 left in the first quarter. That capped an 11-play, roughly six-minute drive featuring a key 25-yard completion to Cooper after a holding penalty left IU facing first-and-20 inside its own red zone.

After the teams combined for three consecutive three-and-out drives, the Hoosiers stirred to life and took a 10-0 lead with 6:13 remaining in the half on a 1-yard plunge by tight end Riley Nowakowski. Capping an 85-yard march, the score was set up by a 15-yard completion to Becker that was originally called a touchdown but brought back to the 5-yard line on an official review.

At this point, Miami’s offense had gained only 26 yards, 9 coming on Fletcher’s carry on the first play from scrimmage, and just a single first down.

Combined with the Hoosiers’ growing lead, this rough start led Miami to attempt and convert a fourth-and-1 play at its 34-yard line on a short Fletcher run. But after a 25-yard grab by receiver CJ Daniels pushed the Hurricanes into IU territory, coach Mario Cristobal opted for a long field goal attempt on fourth-and-2 from the 32.

Kicker Carter Davis’s 49-yard attempt with 33 seconds left in the half had the distance but drifted right and clanged off the goalpost to send the Hoosiers into the break ahead 10-0. IU went into the locker room with a 100-yard edge in total offense (169-69) and 11 first downs to Miami’s three. The Hurricanes were 0 of 6 on third down.

But the momentum built during that drive carried over into the third quarter. After sacking Mendoza twice and forcing an IU punt, Miami scored on its second play of the half via a 57-yard run by Fletcher, who waited patiently for a seam to open on the right side before going untouched into the end zone to make it 10-7 less than four minutes into the half.

That was the sixth run of at least 50 yards given up by the Hoosiers’ defense this season, more than all but five teams in the FBS.

Two drives later, following another IU punt, Miami was stopped short on a third-and-8 completion to Toney and lined up to punt back to the Hoosiers at its 16-yard line with 5:04 left in the third quarter.

Miami’s special teams were again an issue: IU’s Mikail Kamara blocked Dylan Joyce’s punt, which bounced into the end zone and was recovered by Isaiah Jones to put the Hoosiers back up by double digits at 17-7.

That was the first blocked punt for a score in College Football Playoff history.

The Hurricanes remained composed and provided a response. Starting at its 19 with five minutes to go in the third quarter, Miami went 81 yards in 10 plays, ending with Fletcher’s second touchdown run from 3 yards out, and drew within a field goal at 17-14 with 14:57 to play.

Miami had dominated the third quarter and put the Hoosiers on their heels. After that score, the Hurricanes were ahead in total offense with 222 yards to IU’s 180; the defense held Mendoza without a completion in the quarter.

But the fourth quarter would belong to the Hoosiers.

IU would have a major answer behind a rejuvenated Mendoza. He threw for 37 yards on the next drive, including a key 19-yard completion to Becker on fourth-and-5 from the Miami 37, and then ran it in from 12 yards out on fourth-and-4 from the 12 to put Indiana ahead 24-14 with 9:18 left.

Yet Miami would not go away thanks to more open-field brilliance from Toney. The Hurricanes needed just 2:34 to go 91 yards and make it 24-21 via Toney’s weaving 22-yard touchdown on a short completion from Beck. The former Georgia transfer found Toney for a 41-yard two plays earlier to drive deep into IU territory.

With 6:37 left, the Hoosiers took over at their 25 with a chance to put Miami in a serious bind with another score. Again, Mendoza stepped up to deliver one final blockbuster sequence.

He hit Cooper for 14 yards on a third-and-5 from IU’s 31. He then found Becker for 19 yards on third-and-7 from the 48 to get the Hoosiers across midfield. After Hemby went around the right end for 10 yards on the following play, the Hoosiers were set up at the Miami 23 at the two-minute timeout.

Hemby then ran for 9 yards and Miami called its first timeout. IU followed that with a key false start to make it second-and-6 from the 19 with 1:56 to play. The Hoosiers gained a yard on the next runs, both of which were followed by Miami timeouts, to make it fourth-and-4 from the 18.

Radicic made the 35-yard field goal to grow the lead to 27-21 with 1:42 left, but Miami was left in position to win the game with a touchdown.

The Hurricanes committed a false start on the first play. Beck was hit and threw incomplete on first-and-15. Next, Beck again missed his target but the Hoosiers were flagged for a late hit, giving Miami a first down at its 35-yard line.

A 7-yard gain from Beck to Toney with 51 seconds left moved the Hurricanes into IU territory at the 47. On the next snap, Beck arced a throw down the left sideline toward Keelan Marion. But Marion wasn’t looking for the ball; defensive back Jamari Sharpe undercut Marion and intercepted at the Hoosiers’ 7-yard line to seal the win.

Before going 11-2 and losing in the opening round of last year’s playoff, IU had never won more than nine games in a season. The 2025 team is the first national champion since Yale in 1894 to finish 16-0. In their final four games, the Hoosiers beat teams then ranked No. 1, No. 5, No. 10 and No. 11 in the US LBM Coaches Poll.

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If Indiana football can pull out the win in the College Football Playoff national championship game, it will be because of the aggression from Curt Cignetti to go for it on fourth down in the fourth quarter… twice.

Following a timeout to mull over the decision with a three-point lead, Cignetti sent the offense back out on the field, and did it ever work out in the Hoosiers’ favor. Their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, bulldozed his way to the end zone for a 12-yard rushing touchdown.

The gusty touchdown call pushed the Hoosiers’ lead back up to a 10-point game with just over nine minutes remaining at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

‘That’s why he won the Heisman Trophy,’ ESPN’s Chris Fowler said on the broadcast at the end of the touchdown call.

Added Kirk Herbstreit: ‘What a call from Curt Cignetti and the offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan.’

It was the second fourth-down conversion that the Hoosiers were able to convert on their first scoring drive since the second quarter, as Mendoza connected with Charlie Becker for a ridiculous catch as he fell backwards on the field along the sidelines.

Mendoza’s rushing score was just his seventh on the ground this season for the Miami native. It also got a heartwarming reaction from his mom, Elsa — who is battling multiple sclerosis — from the stands with the rest of the Mendoza family.

The Hurricanes responded to Mendoza’s touchdown with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Carson Beck to Malachi Toney, bringing the score back to a one-possession game at 24-21 with 6:37 remaining in the fourth quarter.

If Mendoza and Indiana can pull out the win over Miami, the Hoosiers will win their first-ever national championship in program history. It would also give the Big Ten their third consecutive CFP championship, with the last two coming from Michigan and Ohio State.

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It was a busy week on the NCAA women’s hockey schedule. 

Most of the women’s Beanpot championship took place in Boston, with the home of the Boston Bruins hosting the final two games on Tuesday. Boston College takes on Northeastern in the third-place game at 4:30 p.m. ET, while Harvard and Boston University will battle for the championship at 7:30 p.m. ET.

All of the nation’s top programs were in action this past week as well.

While the WCHA’s top three teams maintained their dominance, Minnesota-Duluth was this week’s biggest dropper in the women’s college hockey power rankings. The Bulldogs have gone winless in six straight games. The Yale Bulldogs, meanwhile, are on the rise.

Here’s a look at the top 10 NCAA women’s hockey programs this week.

Women’s college hockey power rankings

1. University of Wisconsin (WCHA)

This team continues to mow through the competition. Since being left of USA’s Olympic roster, Lacey Eden has been a force to be reckoned with. She scored two goals in each of Wisconsin’s 5-1 wins over St. Thomas this weekend. Every weekend, a new leader steps forward in Wisconsin, which makes them such a difficult team to plan for and beat.

2. Ohio State University (WCHA)

The Buckeyes swept through conference rival Minnesota State with ease. A four-goal performance from Joy Dunne and a four-point night from Jocelyn Amos powered Ohio State’s offense on Friday, while Swedish Olympian Hilda Svensson continued her spectacular rookie season. If there’s one question mark remaining for Ohio State, it’s in net where they’ve played three different goaltenders this season. None has emerged as a clear difference-maker.

3. University of Minnesota (WCHA)

It’s a broken record at this point, but Abbey Murphy has become unstoppable. Murphy recorded her fifth and sixth straight multi-point games this weekend. She notched eight points in two games, boosting her nation-leading totals to 33 goals and 58 points in 24 games. Uniquely, she also leads the nation in penalty minutes. Minnesota showed no mercy to Bemidji State this past weekend, outscoring them 16-4 in a series sweep.

4. Penn State (AHA)

Penn State is a difficult program to judge. They keep winning, but they haven’t looked as dominant lately, and many of their wins continue to come against weaker opponents with thinner margins. They beat Syracuse 3-2 and 4-1, with captain and American national team member Tessa Janecke continuing to lead as Penn State’s top scorer and best player. The question is: where would Penn State rank if it played in the ECAC or the WCHA? 

5. Princeton (ECAC)

Princeton’s best continue to get better as Issy Wunder and Mackenzie Alexander lead the way. The Tigers’ depth, however, also stepped forward in wins over Harvard and Dartmouth. One significant change since last season is the return of Uma Corniea in net. She’s been the consistent and reliable factor Princeton needed, stopping 33 of 34 shots faced over the weekend.

6. Quinnipiac (ECAC)

Felicia Frank has been the busiest goaltender in NCAA women’s hockey this season, and she may be the best as well. She only bettered her numbers this past week, winning both starts while turning aside 37 of 38 shots faced in wins over Dartmouth and Harvard. Kahlen Lamarche continues to add to her career-best season totals, including nearly doubling her goal output from last season as she now sits at 27 in 26 games.

7. Northeastern (Hockey East)

With more midweek action approaching to close out the Beanpot, Northeastern won its only matchup of the weekend, a 2-1 decision over New Hampshire. Eloise Caron scored both for the Huskies, which looked out of sorts after failing to punch their ticket to the Beanpot final. They fell 2-1 in an emotional overtime upset at the hands of Boston University last Tuesday. 

8. Yale (ECAC)

Watch out, top 10, Yale is hot. Yale beat higher-ranked Colgate and Cornell this weekend, with goaltender Samson Frey picking up the Bulldogs’ third shutout in four games and captain Carina DiAntonio continuing to power their offense. Yale even beat Providence College 4-2 on Monday, with Hannah Weyerhaeuser recording a hat trick. It’s not just the results, but how they’re achieving those wins that have them moving up the rankings.

9. Cornell (ECAC)

Cornell fell to Yale but beat a red-hot Brown team. Annelies Bergmann remains their deciding factor in net. When she’s at the top of her game, this team doesn’t lose. But their continued struggles to score put a lot of onus on Bergmann’s play. Sometimes, even making at least 30 saves isn’t enough for a win, which was the case in Cornell’s loss to Yale. 

10. University of Minnesota-Duluth (WCHA)

January hasn’t been kind to Minnesota-Duluth. Since their sluggish start overseas in Northern Ireland, the Bulldogs haven’t been themselves. They tied St. Cloud State in the first game before losing the extra point in a shootout, and they lost to them again in the second game, 5-2. This team is spiraling, having not won a game in its last six.

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After the Rose Bowl, it was a movie. But after the national championship, it became real.

Moments after defeating Miami 27-21 in a thrilling national championship that came down to the wire, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti finally allowed himself to believe a Hoosiers football national championship is possible.

Speaking to ESPN’s Molly McGrath on the field after the game, Cignetti broke down how Indiana won its first national title, while also inserting some of his now-customary sentimentalism. The coach, already a legend in his own right, was all smiles following the win, even as he acknowledged some of the struggles Indiana faced over the course of the game.

Celebrate Indiana’s title with books, page prints, more

‘It took a lot to get here, but I’ll tell you what it took to come out ahead in this game was a lot of guts,’ Cignetti said. ‘I give Miami a lot of credit they played really hard. We couldn’t get anything done on offense — couldn’t protect the quarterback at all … Let me tell ya: We won the national championship at Indiana University. It can be done. And I’m so happy for our fans. Words can’t describe it.’

As the interview ended, Cignetti concluded with what seems to be another motif he’s adopting. After McGrath asked him how he was going to celebrates, he said while beaming: ‘I’m gonna have a beer.’

It wasn’t a perfect win for Cignetti and the Hoosiers, but to hear him tell it, that’s what made it special. Even as he listed everything that went wrong in the game, Cignetti had high praise for Fernando Mendoza and his players. After his beer, Cignetti will undoubtedly be back to work preparing for 2026, as Indiana gets ready to defend a title for the first time ever.

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Robert Saleh is back among the head coaching ranks of the NFL.

The Tennessee Titans are hiring Saleh, the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator, to be their next head coach, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal was not yet finalized.

NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported on Jan. 18 that the Titans had scheduled Saleh for an in-person interview on Jan. 19, right after their interview with Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. Saleh had a second interview scheduled with the Arizona Cardinals on Jan. 20, per NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, but Tennessee did not let him leave its building without a deal.

Saleh, 46, spent three and a half years as head coach of the New York Jets between 2021 and 2024. He joined the Green Bay Packers staff in the middle of the 2024 season as an offensive consultant. Before the 2025 season, Saleh returned to San Francisco for a second stint as the team’s defensive coordinator, a role he originally served under head coach Kyle Shanahan from 2017 to 2020.

Tennessee’s head coach vacancy has been open since Week 6, when the Titans fired former head coach Brian Callahan amid his second season in charge after the team got off to a 1-5 start. Callahan finished his tenure with a 4-19 record as Tennessee’s head coach.

Saleh takes over a Titans team that just drafted quarterback Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick in 2025 and owns the No. 4 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

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Investor Insight

Transition Metals offers investors exposure to discovery-driven upside across critical and precious metals through a proven project generator model, a diversified Canadian asset portfolio, and a capital-efficient strategy designed to minimize dilution while retaining meaningful discovery and monetization leverage.

Overview

Transition Metals (TSXV:XTM) is a Canada-based, multi-commodity exploration company focused on the discovery of critical and precious metals exclusively within Canada’s most prospective and stable mining jurisdictions. The company has assembled a diversified portfolio of exploration projects spanning platinum group metals, nickel, copper, gold, silver and uranium, providing broad exposure to commodities central to electrification, decarbonization and long-term resource security.

Operating under a disciplined project generator model, Transition advances early-stage assets through geoscience-driven exploration before strategically bringing in partners to participate in funding drilling and development. This approach allows the company to preserve capital, limit shareholder dilution and retain upside through royalties, milestone payments and equity interests, while maintaining operatorship and technical control during key exploration phases.

Transition’s portfolio includes flagship assets such as the Saturday Night/Sunday Lake PGM projects near Thunder Bay, the Gowganda Gold project in Ontario and the Pike Warden polymetallic system in Yukon, alongside a pipeline of additional opportunities across Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. Led by an award-winning technical team with a proven discovery record, the company is positioned to create shareholder value through discovery, disciplined capital management and strategic asset monetization within a secure, Canada-focused footprint.

Company Highlights

  • Multi-commodity exploration company with a portfolio of projects and royalties, covering gold, nickel, copper, platinum group metals (PGM), cobalt, tungsten and more located in mining-friendly jurisdictions across Canada
  • Flagship PGM exposure at the Saturday Night/Sunday Lake projects in the Thunder Bay region
  • Discovery-focused project generator model designed to minimize shareholder dilution while maximizing exploration leverage
  • Strong treasury position complemented by marketable securities, milestone payments and royalty interests
  • Proven management team with multiple industry discovery awards and a long track record of value creation
  • Exposure to critical metals themes supported by government funding, flow-through incentives and secure jurisdictions

Key Projects

Saturday Night / Sunday Lake (Ontario)

The Saturday Night and adjacent Sunday Lake projects form one of the most compelling emerging PGM exploration stories in the Thunder Bay region. The properties are associated with early-stage Midcontinent Rift-related mafic-ultramafic intrusions, analogous in age and style to major North American PGM-Ni-Cu deposits such as Eagle (Michigan), Tamarack (Minnesota) and Thunder Bay North (Ontario). Sunday Lake hosts thick, laterally extensive zones of PGM mineralization, while drilling at Saturday Night has confirmed a large rift-related intrusion with basal PGM-Ni-Cu mineralization. Ongoing and planned drilling is focused on expanding the mineralized footprint and testing the basal contact geometry, positioning the project as a potential district-scale PGM system.

Gowganda (Ontario)

Gowganda is a 100-percent-owned, 87 sq km gold project in the historic Gowganda silver-cobalt camp, where Transition reports it made a gold discovery in 2010 less than 1 km from a paved highway. The company describes a widespread gold mineralized system over ~1.25 km of strike, with “visible gold at surface” and highlights including 97 grams per ton (g/t) gold over 40 cm (channel sample) and drill highlights including 2.4 g/t gold over 7.1 m and 82.5 g/t gold over 0.4 m (within 35 m of surface).

Dessert Lake (Northwest Territories)

Dessert Lake is a strategic uranium exploration opportunity in a large, underexplored basin that shares geological similarities with the Athabasca Basin, which hosts a significant portion of the world’s high-grade uranium deposits. Transition holds the exclusive right to stake claims and is seeking a partner to advance the district-scale opportunity, noting prospective settings along the Wopmay fault and along the basal unconformity/crustal fault intersections.

Pike Warden (Yukon)

Pike Warden is a large polymetallic project situated on the northern margin of the Bennett Lake Caldera, one of the largest collapsed caldera complexes in Canada. Pike Warden is an emerging epithermal gold-silver/porphyry copper system near the Yukon–BC border, ~70 km southwest of Whitehorse, where Transition retains the option to earn 100% of the 41 sq km property. Transition reports 25+ zones of gold-silver-copper-molybdenum-lead mineralization identified to date and sampling highlights up to 48.1 g/t gold, 11,270 g/t silver, 7.49 percent copper, 2.37 percent molybdenum and 59.6 percent lead, with recent work and targeting supported by geophysics and systematic sampling.

Jolly (Ontario)

Jolly Gold is a large, 100-percent-owned and optioned land package covering the western extension of the Beardmore–Geraldton greenstone belt, with multiple undrilled occurrences of high-grade gold mineralization. The company highlights major and splay structures intersecting favourable stratigraphy, describing the target as a camp-scale exploration opportunity.

Cryderman (Ontario)

Cryderman is a gold project in the Shining Tree West camp located along the Ridout Deformation Zone and sits 55 km east of IAMGOLS’s Côté gold project and 16 km west of Aris Gold’s Juby gold project. It is a gold-mineralized system over ~500 m of strike hosted in N–S trending, multi-phase quartz-carbonate veins. The company reports channel sample highlights including 9.15 g/t gold over 1.07 m (with additional high-grade sub-intervals).

Maude Lake (Ontario)

The Maud Lake project is a high-tenor nickel-copper-cobalt-PGM magmatic sulphide system located ~10 km north of Schreiber, Ontario. Transition reports surface sampling up to 6.23 percent nickel, 0.719 percent copper, 0.085 percent cobalt, and 1.042 g/t PGM (platinum+palladium+gold), and notes drilling that intersected a semi-continuous zone of magmatic sulphides near the base of a gabbroic intrusion including 20.01 m averaging 0.33 percent nickel and 0.28 percent copper (including 4 m averaging 0.61 percent nickel and 0.52 percent copper).

Homathko (British Columbia)

Homathko is a high-grade, drill-ready gold prospect exposed by receding glaciers in British Columbia, with an interpreted lode gold system traced along ~1.5 km of strike and grab sample highlights up to 87 g/t gold.

Island Copper (Ontario)

Island Copper is an IOCG (iron oxide copper-gold) opportunity north of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, with Transition reporting two separate mineralized showings along Highway 556. Recent samples and historical drill holes returned values up to 9 percent copper.

Wollaston (Saskatchewan)

Wollaston Copper is a >30 sq km property in north-central Saskatchewan south of the Athabasca Basin, where Transition describes two sediment-hosted base metal target opportunities. The company cites historic drilling by Noranda (1990) including 10.82 m grading 0.25 percent copper and 7.4 m grading 0.49 percent copper (both within 40 m of surface), and a separate zinc showing with 17.0 m grading 2.52 percent zinc and 4.0 m grading 7.18 percent zinc, within the Wollaston Supergroup.

Pipestone (Ontario)

Pipestone is a 33 sq km gold project in the Porcupine camp ~25 km north of Timmins, covering ~13 km of interpreted strike extension of the Pipestone structure (one of two main structural breaks recognized in the Timmins camp). The property is subject to a participating joint venture with Gowest Gold, with provisions for dilution to a 2 percent NSR (with a 1 percent buyback for $1 million).

Bancroft (Ontario)

Bancroft is a southern Ontario nickel-coper-cobalt-PGM greenfield land package that has benefited from ~$5 million in exploration expenditures and includes drilling intersections of 5.05 m averaging 1.98 g/t PGM and 60 m of 1.34 g/t PGM. It comprises 2,789 hectares of mining claims and is located less than a 2-hour drive from Toronto.

Management Team

Scott McLean – President, CEO and Co-founder

Scott McLean has over 30 years of experience in mineral exploration and corporate leadership. He spent 23 years with Falconbridge Limited where he was involved in the discovery of the Nickel Rim South deposit in Sudbury, Ontario. For this work, he was named Prospector of the Year (2004) by the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada. McLean is responsible for corporate vision, capital structure, governance and investor relations, and also serves as an executive director of SPC Nickel Corp.

Greg Collins – Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder

Greg Collins is a professional geologist with more than 25 years of experience across gold and base metals exploration, resource estimation, mine planning, operations and management. His career spans Canada and international jurisdictions. Collins is a founding partner and COO of Transition Metals and is also CEO of Canadian Gold Miner.

Carmelo Marrelli – Chief Financial Officer

Carmelo Marrelli is a chartered professional accountant and principal of The Marrelli Group of Companies. He acts as CFO for a number of public issuers on the TSX, TSX Venture Exchange and CSE, bringing financial, governance and regulatory expertise. Marrelli holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.

Bill Stormont – Business Development

Bill Stormont is a capital markets executive with experience in institutional equity (buy-side, sell-side and fund management), investor relations and stakeholder engagement. He has served in equity analyst and institutional sales roles, worked as a European equity fund manager, and supports business development, partnerships and strategic communications for Transition Metals. Stormont holds an MBA from the University of British Columbia.

Tom Hart – Chief Geologist

Tom Hart is an award-winning geologist with over 40 years of exploration experience across government and industry, including Inco and the Ontario Geological Survey. He specializes in lode gold and base metal systems and has expertise in soil, till and rock analytical methods. Hart was co-recipient of the Northwestern Ontario Prospectors Association’s Discovery of the Year Award (2004).

Benjamin Williams – Exploration Manager Geologist

Benjamin Williams has more than 10 years of geological experience and has been with Transition Metals since 2018. He obtained a BSc with Honours in Geology from Saint Mary;s University, Halifax, followed by Graduate work at Carleton University in Ottawa, where his work focused on igneous petrology and isotope geochemistry. Prior to joining Transition Metals, Mr. Williams worked in collaboration with the Northwest Territories Geological Survey, as a Senior Mapping and Research Assistant, where he conducted various value-added mapping and isotopic research programs on Neoarchean volcanic belts within the Slave Craton, with a focus on VMS-style mineralization.

Sarah Reese – Project Geologist

Sarah Reese is a geological engineer with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Geological Engineering from Queen’s University. She contributes to field programs and geological interpretation, while developing her professional expertise through ongoing education and field experience.

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Investor Insight

Sun Summit Minerals is targeting the delineation of a multi-million-ounce gold-silver resource at its flagship JD project. With strategic positioning in an emerging consolidation hotspot, compelling valuation metrics, and a track record of discovery, Sun Summit is primed to deliver substantial value creation in the coming quarters.

Overview

Sun Summit Minerals (TSXV:SMN,OTCQB:SMREF) is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on developing its district-scale gold and copper projects in British Columbia.

The company has completed its 2025 exploration programs at the flagship JD Project and its inaugural exploration program at the Theory Project, located in the Toodoggone District.

Complementing JD and Theory is the company’s Buck project, a large, bulk-tonnage gold-silver system near Houston, BC, with an initial NI 43-101 resource estimate and significant exploration upside.

With capital in hand, a five-year exploration permit secured, and a camp established at JD, Sun Summit is executing a focused strategy to build scale, unlock resource potential and drive shareholder value. Under the leadership of its new CEO, the company has re-focused its strategy with a sharpened vision, a strengthened technical and leadership team, and a portfolio of high-quality, strategically located assets positioned to drive long-term shareholder value.

Company Highlights

  • Tiered Exploration Strategy: Sun Summit Minerals is advancing a focused portfolio in British Columbia with its flagship JD Project in the Toodoggone District as the primary discovery driver, supported by early-stage exploration at the nearby Theory Project, and complemented by the Buck Project in central BC, a strategic asset with a published mineral resource estimate.
  • Strategic Location: Sun Summit’s assets are located in well-established and mining-friendly regions of British Columbia. The flagship JD project and early-stage Theory Project are situated in the prolific Toodoggone district—home to Thesis Gold and Centerra’s Kemess Mine, while Buck lies in Central BC near the Blackwater, Huckleberry, and Equity Silver mines.
  • Potential for Multiple Expansion: Trading at approximately US$38/oz gold equivalent (EV/oz) based on Buck alone, with no value currently ascribed to the JD Project, the company represents a deep value opportunity compared to its next-door neighbour, Thesis Gold, which trades at approximately US$136/oz. Success at the drill bit from ongoing exploration at JD could support a higher valuation over time.
  • Experienced, Capital Markets-Savvy Leadership: CEO Niel Marotta brings 30 years of capital markets acumen, including experience from Fidelity and Orezone. The broader team includes senior geologists and advisors with decades of success in gold discoveries and mine development in BC.
  • Positioned for Consolidation: With majors like Freeport, Centerra, and Skeena investing heavily in adjacent properties, Sun Summit’s flagship JD Project is strategically located and advancing at the right time in the Lassonde Curve to benefit from industry-wide M&A and consolidation trends.

Key Projects

JD & Theory Projects

The JD & Theory projects span more than 25,000 hectares in the heart of the Toodoggone mining district in north-central BC, one of Canada’s most prospective belts for epithermal gold-silver and porphyry copper-gold systems. The district is home to Thesis Gold’s Ranch and Lawyers deposits (4.6 Moz gold equivalent, C$700 million market cap), Centerra’s Kemess underground development, and TDG Gold’s Shasta-Baker project. Infrastructure around the project includes hydroelectric grid access, the nearby Sturdee airstrip and all-season roads.

Results from the 2025 drill campaign at Creek Zone

The JD project hosts a 4.5 km mineralized corridor, known as Creek-Finn, with multiple underexplored targets showing evidence of both high-grade veins and broad disseminated gold systems. Historic and recent drill highlights include:

  • 2.1 grams per ton (g/t) gold over 122.5 m including 121 g/t gold over 1.5 m (CZ-24-004)
  • 11.7 g/t gold over 22 m including 61.2 g/t gold over 4 m (CZ97-008)
  • 7.3 g/t gold over 35.7 m including 215.4 g/t gold over 1 m (JD95-0472)

The Creek Zone features high-grade epithermal veins within broader disseminated zones, supported by strong IP anomalies and gold-in-soil results up to 12.2 g/t gold. The Finn Zone hosts near-surface mineralization with extensive historical drilling (~270 holes) and is open in all directions. Other targets include McClair (porphyry copper), East McClair (copper-gold skarn) and Moosehorn.

Sun Summit Minerals has completed its 2025 21-hole, 6,864 -meter drill program, successfully intersecting gold mineralization in all holes. The results have defined a northwest-trending, structurally controlled zone measuring approximately 750 meters by 300 meters and extending to a vertical depth of around 150 meters. The zone remains open both along strike and at depth, highlighting significant potential for further expansion. A five-year permit secured in April 2025 provides exploration continuity through 2030.

Sun Summit can earn 100 percent of the JD project by making staged cash/share payments and completing work commitments through 2029. Following the completion of its 2025 exploration program, the company closed an $11.5 million financing on December 23, 2025, fully funding the 2026 exploration program and strengthening its ability to advance the earn-in without near-term dilution.

Buck Project

The 100 percent owned Buck project spans 52,000 hectares and is located near key deposits, including Artemis Gold’s Blackwater (8 Moz gold), Imperial’s Huckleberry copper mine, and Newmont’s historic Equity Silver mine. Buck features near-surface bulk-tonnage gold-silver mineralization with porphyry copper-molybdenum potential at depth.

In February 2025, Sun Summit published its inaugural NI 43-101 mineral resource:

  • Indicated: 1.15 Mt @ 0.519 g/t gold equivalent (19,100 oz)
  • Inferred: 52.2 Mt @ 0.489 g/t gold equivalent (820,400 oz)

Mineralization remains open in all directions.

Buck is considered a strategic asset providing leverage to rising gold prices and future transaction potential, but currently receives minimal capital allocation as JD is prioritized.

Sun Summit can earn 100 percent of the JD project by making staged cash/share payments and completing work commitments through 2029. With ~C$6 million earmarked for the project this year alone, Sun Summit is expected to fulfill its 2025 and 2026 earn-in obligations without additional equity raises.

Management Team

Niel Marotta – Chief Executive Officer and Director

Niel Marotta has three decades of capital markets experience, including a successful tenure at Fidelity (FMRCo.), where he managed the top-performing Select Gold Fund and oversaw >$1 billion in AUM. He was previously VP at Orezone Resources, where he helped lead its C$350 million acquisition by IAMGOLD. Marotta has raised over $1 billion in financing and is driving Sun Summit’s transition from a legacy explorer to a discovery-focused value generator.

Brian Lock – Executive Chairman

A veteran of the mining industry with 40+ years of executive experience, Brian Lock has led multiple public companies, including Castle Peak Mining and Scorpio Gold. His expertise spans project development, M&A and corporate governance.

Waseem Javed – Chief Financial Officer

A seasoned mining CFO, Waseem Javed ensures disciplined capital deployment and financial controls. His experience spans junior explorers and mid-tier producers across Canada and the US.

Ken MacDonald – VP Exploration

Ken MacDonald is a registered professional geologist with over 30 years in mineral exploration and permitting in BC. Formerly with the BC Mines Branch and multiple juniors, he leads Sun Summit’s technical programs and NI 43-101 compliance.

Christopher Leslie – Technical Advisor

An expert in porphyry and epithermal systems, Christopher Leslie led the discovery of the 8 Moz Blackwater deposit while at Richfield Ventures, and later served as VP exploration for Tower Resources. He was instrumental in advancing the JD-Theory project during its prior ownership.

Robert D. Willis – Senior Advisor

Founder of several successful exploration companies, including Pioneer Metals and Manhattan Minerals, Robert Willis has 35+ years of technical and executive experience across North and South America.

Terry Salman – Strategic Advisor

Founder of Salman Partners and one of Canada’s most influential mining financiers, Terry Salman has backed dozens of successful juniors over a 40-year career in mining investment banking.

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~  Global Production Expansion Strengthens Hydrogen and Alternative Fuel System Manufacturing Capacity  ~

Westport Fuel Systems Inc. (‘Westport’) (TSX:WPRT Nasdaq: WPRT), a supplier of alternative fuel systems and components for the global transportation industry, announces the commencement of production at its expanded product development and manufacturing facility in Cambridge, Ontario and its new China Hydrogen Innovation Center and Manufacturing facility in Changzhou, China. Both facilities will support the development of Westport’s GFI-branded fuel system components by advancing Westport’s global hydrogen, CNG and RNG strategies and enabling local manufacturing capacity in China, a market widely cited as the largest in the world for hydrogen commercial vehicle deployment, with Chinese sales of hydrogen buses and trucks exceeding those of all other regions combined in 2024. Initial products were shipped to customers in December 2025, with both facilities continuing to ramp up capacity through the first quarter of 2026.

GFI: Leading Clean Energy Innovation
Westport’s High-Pressure Controls and Systems business (the ‘High-Pressure Business’), with its GFI products, is at the forefront of the clean energy revolution, designing, developing, and producing high-demand components for transportation and industrial applications. The High-Pressure Business specializes in designing and manufacturing safety-critical, high-pressure control components for hydrogen and alternative fuel systems, serving a variety of transportation and industrial markets. Westport’s High-Pressure Business supports automotive, truck, bus, and industrial original equipment manufacturers with GFI precision-engineered regulators, valves, and pressure relief devices for real-world duty cycles. For more information, please visit www.gficontrolsystems.com.

Global Presence and Strategic Expansion
‘Westport’s GFI-branded hydrogen fuel system components have been active globally and especially in China for over a decade, serving both fuel cell and internal combustion engine applications,’ said Dan Sceli, CEO of Westport. ‘These new and expanded facilities align with our growth strategy, enhance our capacity to meet rising global demand for natural gas and hydrogen advanced fuel technologies, and reinforce our regional manufacturing excellence to better service customers adopting high-pressure alternative fuels as a key low-emission transport solution.’     

Westport’s manufacturing expansion in China capitalizes on the nation’s prominent position in hydrogen investment and infrastructure development. The newly established facility is purpose-built to serve Westport’s existing and expanding customer base, providing essential hydrogen components for a range of applications, including commercial vehicles, buses, trains, marine, material handling, and stationary power generation. According to Driving Hydrogen, China is now the world’s largest hydrogen transportation market, achieving close to 50% of global sales in the first half of 2025 primarily due to its focus on commercial hydrogen fleets.

The China facility complements our expanded Cambridge, Ontario site for high-pressure controls. This supports Westport’s North American Innovation Hub and engineering work, improving GFI’s responsiveness and logistics.

About Westport 
Westport is a technology and innovation company connecting synergistic technologies to power a cleaner tomorrow. As a leading supplier of affordable, alternative fuel, low-emissions transportation technologies, we design, manufacture, and supply advanced components and systems that enable the transition from traditional fuels to cleaner energy solutions.

Our proven technologies support a wide range of clean fuels – including natural gas, renewable natural gas, and hydrogen – empowering OEMs and commercial transportation industries to meet performance demands, regulatory requirements, and climate targets in a cost-effective way. With decades of expertise and a commitment to engineering excellence, Westport is helping our partners achieve sustainability goals—without compromising performance or cost-efficiency – making clean, scalable transport solutions a reality.

Westport is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. For more information, visit Westport.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the commencement and ramp-up of production at Westport’s new and expanded facilities, expected manufacturing capacity, anticipated customer demand, the growth of the hydrogen and alternative fuel markets, the strategic benefits of Westport’s global expansion, and the ability of Westport’s technologies and facilities to support future commercial deployments. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions, expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections that, while considered reasonable by Westport management at the date of this release, are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements include, among others, supply chain constraints, delays in facility ramp-up, operational challenges, customer adoption rates, regulatory developments, competitive pressures, economic conditions, and other risk factors detailed from time to time in Westport’s public disclosure filing with applicable securities regulators. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Westport undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements except as required by National Instrument 51-102.

Contact Information

Investor Relations
Westport 
T: +1 604-718-2046

News Provided by GlobeNewswire via QuoteMedia

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