Sitka Commences 60,000 Metre Diamond Drilling Program at Its Flagship RC Gold Project, Yukon

• Fully-funded 60,000 m diamond drill program has commenced at RC Gold; drilling planned for this year will effectively double the total meters drilled to date

• 30,000 m of drilling allocated to the newly discovered Rhosgobel gold deposit, which is open in all directions, where initial drilling has intersected consistent gold mineralization in all 43 holes drilled to date over a strike length of 1.1 km.

• Gold mineralization begins at surface at the Rhosgobel target which is defined by a large 1.5 x 2 km gold-in-soil anomaly, much of which remains largely undrilled

  • Highlights from Rhosgobel include hole DDRCRG-25-010 returning up to 235.9 m of 1.11 g/t Au, including 40.0 m of 2.01 g/t Au, from surface

  • Significant tungsten mineralization has been observed in drilling at Rhosgobel which could be an economic by-product of potential future production

  • Initial Mineral Resource Estimate for Rhosgobel anticipated in Q1 for 2026 based on approximately 13,000 m completed across 43 diamond drill holes completed to date

• 15,000 m of drilling planned for the Blackjack-Saddle-Eiger corridor to further expand existing gold deposits, following up on higher-grade gold zones discovered at depth at Blackjack and Eiger and the higher-grade near surface gold zone discovered at Saddle

  • Highlights from Blackjack include hole DDRCRG-24-068 returning up to 678.1 m of 1.04 g/t Au, including 93.0 m of 2.37 g/t Au and 5.5 m of 17.59 g/t Au, from surface

  • The Saddle zone, located within the conceptual pit limits of Blackjack, has returned up to 47.6 m of 2.09 g/t Au, including 8.0 m of 5.7 g/t Au,in DDRCCC-25-087

  • Eiger drilling highlights include hole DDRCCC-25-109 which returned up to 121.0 m of 0.75 g/t Au including 26.0 m of 0.58 g/t Au

• 10,000 m of drilling planned for the Pukelman-Contact zone, located partway between the Blackjack / Eiger gold deposits and the Rhosgobel gold deposit. Drilling to date has intersected gold mineralization over a 900 m x 650 m area from surface to a depth of 430 m.

  • Highlights from this zone include up to 119.0 m of 1.01 g/t Au from surface including 10.7 m of 4.10 g/t Au and 3.9 m of 5.51 g/t Au in DDRCCC-25-113

• 5,000 m of drilling planned to follow up on several other high-priority targets, including the Bear Paw breccia target where Sitka’s first drill hole last year returned up to 21.0 m of 1.05 g/t Au, including 10.0 m of 1.64 g/t Au and including 3.5 m of 2.29 g/t Au, in DDRCCC-25-117

• Additional exploration of several other drill targets within or proximal to known Tombstone Suite intrusions that have received either limited or no diamond drilling that will comprise the remainder of the 2026 drill campaign.

Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – February 18, 2026) – Sitka Gold Corp. (TSXV: SIG) (FSE: 1RF) (OTCQB: SITKF) (“Sitka” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has commenced its 2026 diamond drilling program, with up to 60,000 metres of drilling planned, at its road accessible, 100% owned RC Gold Project (“RC Gold” or the “Project”) located in the prolific Tombstone Gold Belt in Yukon. The primary focus of the 60,000 metre drilling program at RC Gold this year will be to continue expanding known gold deposits, all of which begin at surface and remain open in all directions, and to further test high-priority drill targets within the Clear Creek Intrusive Complex (CCIC) and elsewhere across the district-scale, 431 square kilometre property (see Figure 2). Of the 60,000 metres of drilling planned for this year, 30,000 metres has been allocated to further expand the newly discovered Rhosgobel gold deposit which lies within a large 1.5 x 2.0 kilometre gold-in-soil anomaly, much of which remains untested with diamond drilling. Up to 15,000 metres of drilling is planned across the Blackjack-Saddle-Eiger corridor to further expand the Blackjack and Eiger gold deposits and follow up on newly discovered higher-grade gold zones, including the near surface higher-grade gold zone discovered at Saddle. Up to 10,000 metres of drilling is also anticipated for the Pukelman-Contact zone where drilling to date has intersected gold mineralization over a 650 m x 900 m area from surface to a depth of 430 metres. Up to 5,000 metres of drilling has been allocated to follow up on several other high-priority targets that have received limited to no diamond drilling to date. These include the Bear Paw, Josephine, Big Creek, Barney Ridge, May-Qu and Alp targets, which have all been shown to host reduced intrusion-related gold mineralization.

Figure 1: Long Section showing target areas from the Blackjack deposit to the Bear Paw target and the proposed drilling allocated as part of the 60,000 metre diamond drilling program planned for 2026.

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“We are excited to be getting another early start to the year as we embark on what will be one of the largest diamond drilling campaigns ever completed in the Yukon,” said Cor Coe, Director and CEO of Sitka Gold. “Since our initial discovery hole was completed at Blackjack in 2021, the drilling at RC Gold has rapidly advanced the Project from a grassroots target to a well-endowed gold camp with several gold deposits that have now been discovered. The Company believes there is significant potential for the discovery of additional gold deposits within RC Gold where 11 known intrusions have been discovered at surface to date, all of which have been shown to host intrusion-related gold mineralization. With up to 60,000 metres of drilling planned for 2026, which will effectively double the total amount of diamond drilling completed to date at the Project, we anticipate another transformational year of rapid resource growth and advancement as we continue to unlock the value at RC Gold.”

2026 Exploration Plans at Rhosgobel
Of the 60,000 metres of diamond drilling planned at RC Gold this year, approximately 30,000 metres will be dedicated to the newly discovered Rhosgobel gold deposit. Discovered at the end of 2024 with an initial two-hole program, the Rhosgobel intrusion target saw significant drilling advancement in 2025 with approximately 13,000 metres of diamond drilling now completed. Drilling has shown strong continuity of robust gold mineralization that begins at surface persists across a 1.1 km strike, with impressive intercepts such as 235.9 metres of 1.11 g/t gold including 40.0 metres of 2.01 g/t gold drilled from surface in hole DDRCRG-25-010 (see news release dated September 18, 2025). Drilling has also discovered the presence of significant tungsten mineralization at Rhosgobel with up to 85.4 metres of 0.138% WO₃ from 94.0 metres, 60.0 metres of 0.134% WO₃ from 202.0 metres, and 35.0 metres of 0.121% WO₃ from 285.0 metres intersected in DDRCRG-25-004, demonstrating the potential for tungsten to be a significant by-product of potential future production at Rhosgobel (see news release dated January 22, 2026).

The deposit, which remains open in all directions, lies within a large 1.5 x 2.0 km gold-in-soil anomaly surface signature, much of which remains untested with diamond drilling, highlighting the potential for this target to host a gold deposit of significant size. The publication of an initial MRE for Rhosgobel is anticipated for Q1 of 2026.

Figure 2: Plan map showing the drilling completed to date at the Rhosgobel discovery where much of the 1.5 x 2 km target area defined by a strong gold-in-soil anomaly remains untested. Up to 30,000 metres of drilling is planned at Rhosgobel in 2026.

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Additional Exploration Plans for 2026
Up to 15,000 metres of diamond drilling this year will be dedicated to the Blackjack-Saddle-Eiger zone to further expand the Blackjack and Eiger gold deposits, both of which still remain open in all directions.

Drilling at Blackjack is anticipated to further expand gold mineralization while following up on the higher-grade gold zone at depth. Past intercepts at Blackjack include up to 678.1 m of 1.04 g/t Au, including 93.0 m of 2.37 g/t Au and 5.5 m of 17.59 g/t Au, from surface in DDRCCC-25-068 (see news release dated October 21, 2024).

Drilling will also focus on the high-grade, near-surface gold mineralization discovered at the Saddle zone, which is located within Blackjack’s conceptual pitshell, partway between Blackjack and Eiger, and has the potential to add significant gold ounces to Blackjack’s mineral resources (see Figure 1). Recent intercepts at Saddle include up to 47.6 m of 2.09 g/t Au, including 8.0 m of 5.7 g/t Au, in DDRCCC-25-087 (see news release dated June 17, 2025).

Meanwhile, drilling at Eiger will continue to delineate that gold deposit where much of the host intrusion remains untested and results from 2025 drilling appear to show a higher-grade gold zone materializing at depth (see Figure 3). Recent drilling at Eiger returned up to 121.0 m of 0.75 g/t Au including 26.0 m of 0.58 g/t Au in DDRCCC-25-109 (see news release dated December 2, 2025).

For additional information on the Blackjack and Eiger gold deposits, please see the About the RC Gold Project section in this release.

Figure 3: Cross section showing the existing resources at the Blackjack and Eiger deposits, both of which remain open in all directions. Initial winter drilling at Blackjack will follow up on the higher-grade zone of gold that has been discovered at depth.

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* Simpson, R. January 21, 2025. Clear Creek Property, RC Gold Project, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Dawson Mining District, Yukon Territory
** Simpson, R. January 19, 2023.. Clear Creek Property, RC Gold Project, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Dawson Mining District, Yukon Territory

Up to 10,000 m of drilling will also follow up on the recent Pukelman-Contact discovery, where drilling in 2025 returned strong gold values such as those seen in DDRCCC-25-113 which returned 119.0 metres of 1.01 g/t gold from near-surface, including 10.7 metres of 4.10 g/t gold, 3.9 metres of 5.51 g/t gold, and 1.2 of 24.80 g/t gold (see news release dated November 12, 2025). Drilling to date has now intersected strong gold mineralization across a 650 m x 900 m area beginning at surface to a depth of 430 metres with mineralization remaining open in all directions (see Figure 4).

Figure 4: Plan map showing drilling and soil sampling completed at the Pukelman-Contact target. Drilling to date has intersected gold mineralization across a 650 m x 900 m area beginning at surface and extending to 430 m in depth.

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Drilling will also follow up at the Bear Paw breccia target, a 500 m x 200 m mineralized breccia zone previously defined by soil sampling and shallow drilling. Sitka completed one drill hole at Bear Paw last year which confirmed the presence of significant gold mineralization with up to 21.0 m of 1.05 g/t Au, including 10.0 m of 1.64 g/t Au and including 3.5 m of 2.29 g/t Au, returned in DDRCCC-25-117 (see news release dated January 20, 2026). Additional drilling is planned this year to further expand the mineralized zone at Bear Paw.

Additional work is also planned for several other RIRGS targets, including Josephine, Big Creek, Barney Ridge, May-Qu, ALP and Mahtin, all of which have been shown to host gold mineralization with characteristics similar to those seen at the Project’s existing deposits, along with follow up work at other regional exploration targets located across the fertile RC Gold property (see Figure 5).

Figure 5: A plan map showing the Clear Creek Intrusive Complex (CCIC) location within the district-scale RC Gold Project along with the updated resource areas at Blackjack and Eiger, the newly discovered Rhosgobel deposit and several other high-priority drill targets and multiple exploration targets. The map highlights the numerous drill targets that Sitka has outlined within the CCIC which all are connected by the existing road network on the Project and occur in an area measuring approximately five (5) km north-south and twelve (12) km east-west. Several regional exploration and drill targets are also highlighted across the project area (yellow and orange stars). 

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About the RC Gold Project
Sitka’s 100% owned, flagship RC Gold Project consists of a 431 square kilometre contiguous district-scale land package located in the heart of Yukon’s Tombstone Gold Belt. The project is located approximately 100 kilometres east of Dawson City, which has a 5,000 foot paved runway, and is accessed via a secondary gravel road from the Klondike Highway which is usable year-round and is an approximate 2 hour drive from Dawson City. It is one of the largest consolidated land packages strategically positioned mid-way between the Eagle Gold Mine and the past producing Brewery Creek Gold Mine.

The RC Gold Project now has pit-constrained mineral resources that are contained in two zones: the Blackjack and Eiger gold deposits with 1,291,000 ounces of gold in 39,962,000 tonnes grading 1.01 g/t gold in an indicated category and 1,044,000 ounces of gold in 34,603,000 tonnes grading 0.94 g/t in an inferred category at Blackjack and 440,000 ounces of gold in 27,362,000 tonnes grading 0.50 g/t gold in an inferred category at Eiger. These resource estimate numbers are supported by the recently updated technical report for RC Gold, prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 standards, entitled “Clear Creek Property, RC Gold Project NI 43-101 Technical Report Dawson Mining District, Yukon Territory”, prepared by Ronald G. Simpson, P. Geo., of GeoSim Services Inc. with an effective date of January 21, 2025. This report is available on SEDAR+ (http://www.sedarplus.ca) and on the Company’s website (www.sitkagoldcorp.com).

Both of these deposits begin at surface, are potentially open pit minable and initial bottle roll metallurgical testing confirmed the non-refractory characteristics of the gold mineralization and returned gold extraction rates averaging around 85%. Further metallurgical testwork in 2024 returned recoveries ranging from 77.6 to 93% for gravity followed by cyanidation.

For the purposes of the current resource model, it is assumed that a likely mill flowsheet would consist of a gravimetric, flotation, and cyanidation circuit.

The company has now completed 165 diamond drill holes for a total of 59,770 metres across the Clear Creek Intrusive Complex (CCIC), and an additional 3 holes for 858 metres in the May-Qu Intrusion. Drilling continues to outline higher grade mineralization at all zones including hole DDRCCC-24-068 at Blackjack which intersected 678.1 metres of 1.04 g/t gold starting from surface (see news release dated October 21, 2024), and hole DDRCCC-25-075 which intersected 352.8 metres of 1.55 g/t gold including 108.9 metres of 3.27 g/t gold and 45.0 metres of 4.52 g/t gold (see news release dated April 22, 2025). Drilling in 2024/2025 has resulted in the discovery of a new higher grade zone at Rhosgobel including hole DDRCRG-25-010 at Rhosgobel which intersected 235.9 metres of 1.11 g/t gold, including 40.0 m of 2.01 g/t gold and 10.0 m of 5.29 g/t gold, from surface (see news release dated September 18, 2025).

RC Gold Deposit Model
Exploration on the Property has mainly focused on identifying an intrusion-related gold system (“IRGS”). The property is within the Tombstone Gold Belt which is the prominent host to IRGS deposits within the Tintina Gold Province in Yukon and Alaska. Notable deposits from the belt include: Fort Knox Mine in Alaska with current Proven and Probable Reserves of 230 million tonnes at 0.3 g/t Au (2.471 million ounces; Sims 2018)⁽¹⁾; Eagle Gold Mine with current Measured and Indicated Resources of 233 million tonnes at a grade of 0.57 g/t Au at the Eagle Main Zone (4.303 million ounces; Harvey et al, 2022)⁽²⁾; the Brewery Creek deposit with current Indicated Mineral Resource of 22.2 million tonnes at a gold grade of 1.11 g/t (0.789 million ounces; Hulse et al. 2020)⁽³⁾; the AurMac Project with an Indicated Mineral Resource of 112.5 million tonnes grading 0.63 gram per tonne gold (2.274 million ounces)⁽⁴⁾ plus an Inferred resource of 280.6 million tonnes grading 0.60 g/t gold (5.454 million ounces)⁽⁴⁾, the Valley Deposit, with a current Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource of 7.94 million oz gold at 1.21 g/t and an additional Inferred Mineral Resource of 0.89 million oz at 0.62 g/t gold⁽⁵⁾, and the Raven deposit with an inferred mineral resource of 1.1 million oz (19.96 million tonnes at 1.67 g/t gold)⁽⁶⁾. The QP has been unable to verify the information regarding the above resource estimations and the information is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization on the property that is the subject of the disclosure.

(1) Sims J. Fort Knox Mine Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, USA National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report. June 11, 2018. https://s2.q4cdn.com/496390694/files/doc_downloads/2018/Fort-Knox-June-2018-Technical-Report.pdf

(2) Harvey N., Gray P., Winterton J., Jutras M., Levy M.,Technical Report for the Eagle Gold Mine, Yukon Territory, Canada. Victoria Gold Corp. December 31, 2022. https://vgcx.com/site/assets/files/6534/vgcx_-_2023_eagle_mine_technical_report_final.pdf

(3) Hulse D, Emanuel C, Cook C. NI 43-101 Technical Report on Mineral Resources. Gustavson Associates. May 31, 2020. https://minedocs.com/22/Brewery-Creek-PEA-01182022.pdf

(4) July 8, 2025,Banyan Gold Corp., News Release. https://banyangold.com/news-releases/2025/banyan-announces-first-indicated-mineral-resources-and-identifies-high-grade-continuous-zones-at-its-aurmac-project-yukon-canada/

(5) https://snowlinegold.com/2025/05/15/snowline-gold-expands-measured-and-indicated-gold-ounces-by-96-in-updated-mineral-resource-estimate-at-its-valley-gold-deposit-yukon/

(6) Jutras, M. 2022. Technical Report on the Raven Mineral Deposit, Mayo Mining District Yukon Territory, Canada, prepared for Victoria Gold Corp and filed on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) with an effective date of September 15, 2022

Corporate Update
The Company also announces that Mr. Stephen Pearce has resigned as Corporate Secretary of the Company. Mr. Pearce will remain as Chief Financial Officer and a director. The Company has appointed Sheryl Dhillon as Corporate Secretary. Ms. Dhillon has worked with the Company for nearly 10 years in a consulting role and is a highly experienced corporate secretary with over twenty years of experience. She has extensive knowledge of corporate governance, as well as strong management skills and excellent corporate communications. Ms. Dhillon acts as Corporate Secretary for several TSXV and CSE listed companies.

About Sitka Gold Corp.
Sitka Gold Corp. is a well-funded mineral exploration company headquartered in Canada with approximately $45 million in its treasury and no debt. The Company is managed by a team of experienced industry professionals and is focused on exploring for economically viable mineral deposits with its primary emphasis on gold, silver and copper mineral properties of merit. Sitka is currently advancing its 100% owned, 431 square kilometre flagship RC Gold Project located within the Tombstone Gold Belt in the Yukon Territory. The Company is also advancing the Alpha Gold Project in Nevada and currently has drill permits for its Burro Creek Gold and Silver Project in Arizona and the Coppermine River Project in Nunavut, all of which are 100% owned by Sitka.

*For more detailed information on the Company’s properties please visit our website at www.sitkagoldcorp.com

The scientific and technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Gilles Dessureau, P.Geo., V.P. Exploration of the Company, and a Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF

SITKA GOLD CORP.

“Donald Penner“

President and Director

For more information contact:

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

Cautionary and Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “intends” or “anticipates”, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “should”, “would” or “occur”. This information and these statements, referred to herein as “forward‐looking statements”, are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, estimates and forecasts and statements as to management’s expectations and intentions and the Company’s anticipated work programs.

These forward‐looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, market uncertainty and the results of the Company’s anticipated work programs.

Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbor.

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