Scottie Resources kicks off 2026 drill results with high-grade Blueberry hit, eyes 2028 production

## The headline result

The first assays from Scottie Resources' 2026 program at the Scottie Gold Mine project in British Columbia's Golden Triangle came in high-grade. Released on September 9, the headline hole at the Blueberry contact zone returned 9.7 grams per tonne gold over 18 metres, including a higher-grade sub-interval of 26.2 g/t gold over 2.45 metres. The Blueberry contact zone is one of the anchors of the project's resource base, and the hit also clipped the Lamophie vein — a "two birds with one stone" outcome the executive chairman says the team is actively targeting.

## A program running ahead of plan

The company is running eight drill rigs — Brad Roark, the executive chairman, calls it "the biggest program I remember you guys ever doing" — and is on track to exceed the 50,000-metre budget. As of the interview, the team had roughly 44,000 metres drilled, with about three weeks of the season remaining. Drilling has been efficient enough that the company expects to land somewhere between 52,000 and 56,000 metres on roughly the same budget as 50,000, helped by good weather and no major rig downtime despite higher diesel, food, and labour costs. Investors should expect a steady stream of assays for months.

## Three-pronged drilling strategy

The 2026 program is built around three objectives, in order of priority:

1. **Infill and confidence**: upgrade inferred ounces to the indicated category at Blueberry so they qualify for the upcoming feasibility study. 2. **Expansion**: extend known veins, particularly down-dip at Blueberry, where the contact hosts the highest grades and where existing holes "do double duty" — increasing confidence while continuing deeper to expand the resource. 3. **Step-outs and new targets**: roughly 15,000 metres allocated to testing new ground, with the long-anticipated Domino target — sharing Blueberry's geophysical signature — a clear focus. Deep holes were drilled there this season; assays are pending and the rocks are queued behind resource holes so the geology can catch up to the feasibility work.

The Blueberry depth extension is, in Roark's view, the "low-hanging fruit" — the existing resource traceable downward — while lateral step-outs continue along the trend.

## Why indicated matters now

The feasibility study is the binding constraint on moving Scottie from developer to producer. Engineering for the mine is essentially complete, Roark says; the open item is geology. Pushing Blueberry and the surrounding zones into the indicated category is what unlocks the study, and the updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) that will follow. Roark expects C and D veins to be captured in the upcoming MRE, with a portion of the P zone likely included as well. Once the FS and updated MRE are out — Roark suggests "in 10 months' time" — Scottie will have its 50,000-metre program, a feasibility, and an updated MRE alongside a clear line of sight to production.

## The Scottie Gold Mine footprint

Beyond Blueberry, the broader Scottie Gold Mine area holds multiple parallel vein sets — the host rock at Scottie is andesite, with rhythmic pyrite veins running through it. New zones like the Wolf vein and P zone are still being advanced toward the resource. The company now holds underground permits for the Scottie mine, which Roark argues is the more efficient path to adding ounces once drilling moves underground.

## Direct-ship mining model

Scottie's pivot from explorer to producer is built around a "direct-ship" model that avoids building an on-site mill. The plan: crush ore to roughly 3-inch size, run it through a Steinert ore sorter, and ship it — either to Ocean Partners via barge from a deep-water port, or potentially to a nearby existing mill. The bulk sample last year was the proof of concept: roughly 4,600 tonnes at 14.5 g/t, hand-sorted by a geologist with a dump truck and an excavator, generated close to $9 million in profit at a time when the company was only aiming for 3,000 tonnes at 10 g/t. Roark calls the economics "extraordinary" and notes the contract with Ocean Partners is flexible enough to pivot to a local milling option if that proves better for the community. Ocean Partners is also Scottie's largest equity holder.

## Permitting and the path to 2028

Long-lead permitting items are progressing. The two-year environmental baseline study is more than halfway complete. Impact Benefit Agreements are being finalized with the Nisga'a and Skii km Lax Ha First Nations, with no friction reported. Once the FS, MRE, and environmental baseline are in hand, Scottie will apply for the Joint Amendment Permit (JAPA) — the same permitting route Ascot Resources used, which took about eight months. Production in 2028 is the working target. Roark describes the current provincial stance as "quite pro mining" for the first time in several years but says the company is not relying on fast-tracking.

## What it means for investors

At roughly a $250 million market cap, with feasibility, an updated MRE, and roughly 50,000 metres of assays still to come over the next several months, the company is positioning through one of the more catalyst-rich stretches in its five-year history. The bulk-sample economics, the eight-rig drill program, and the multiple zones in play create a stack of news flow the chairman says will deliver roughly double last year's assay announcements. The risk is the usual one for a single-asset developer: everything rides on the geology clearing the bar for the feasibility study, the assay backlog delivering on grade, and the JAPA permit arriving on the timeline assumed.