TORONTO, May 19, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blossom Gold Inc. ("Blossom" or the "Company") (TSX: BGAU) is pleased to announce that all initially planned metallurgical drill holes at its Rosebud Project in Pershing County, Nevada have been completed. Blossom and Kappes, Cassiday & Associates ("KCA") are now coordinating on the selection of sample intervals to initiate metallurgical test work with the first of several core shipments having arrived at KCA for preparation and initiation of test work.
Eight, larger diameter metallurgical holes totaling approximately 4,000 feet (~1,200 meters) of PQ core have been drilled, targeting all principal host rock types spatially distributed across the Rosebud deposit. Blossom, in coordination with KCA, is in the process of selecting 50-foot intervals of core to provide mineralized samples for bottle roll and column testing to establish precious metal leaching, recovery and material handling information for further heap leach design and engineering. The first five of several sample intervals have been received by KCA and work is underway to prepare samples for testing. Bottle roll testing will begin generating results in 30 to 45 days, providing initial precious metal recovery estimates of the sample intervals in associated columns. Column leaching will begin generating meaningful results in three to six months as mineralization recovery curves are established. As a result, initial column recovery results are anticipated to be available beginning in September and continue through the end of 2026.
"Shipping our first metallurgical core to KCA marks a significant step in derisking the Project and unlocking the economic potential of Rosebud," stated Rick Winters, Blossom Gold's CEO. "KCA are widely recognized as among the foremost experts in heap leach testing and design, and have always been my go-to experts when evaluating heap-leach opportunities. This test work will provide the data and information required for continued design and as input to feasibility studies. We anticipate positive precious metal recovery results based on what we have seen in core and look forward to sharing results with the market as they become available."
Current drilling at Rosebud is focused on: 1) geochemistry requirements to initiate long lead, humidity cell testing for environmental assessment; 2) hydrological and geotechnical holes to support environmental assessment and feasibility studies; and 3) exploration drilling to expand and upgrade the Rosebud deposit. We expect to begin generating assay results on exploration drilling beginning in June and continuing through the end of 2026.
About Blossom Gold Inc.
Blossom is a Canadian-based precious metals exploration and development company that recently began trading on the TSX under the symbol BGAU. Blossom acquired the Rosebud Project in connection with the TSX-listing and will be focused on the exploration and development of the project. The Rosebud Project includes the former Rosebud Mine, where mining was conducted from 1997 through 2000 by the Rosebud Mining Company, a Newmont-Hecla joint venture, using underground mining methods where the mine operated at a cut-off grade of approximately 0.2 opt Au (6.8 g/t Au), when gold prices ranged from US$250 to US$350/oz; with mined material truck-hauled approximately 120 miles to an existing Newmont oxide mill for processing.
The current vision for the Rosebud Project is to evaluate the remaining higher-grade mineralization and the surrounding larger volume of lower grade mineralization as a potential open pit mining operation with on-site, heap-leach processing and recovery of gold and silver. The Rosebud Project currently hosts an Inferred Mineral Resource of 70.755 million tons grading 0.62gAu/t (0.018opt Au) and 6.49gAg/t (0.189opt Ag) for 1.28 million ounces of gold and 13.4 million ounces of silver. The mineral resource estimate was open pit constrained using long term gold and silver prices of US$2,500 and US$35 per ounce respectively. The deposit is open in all directions.
Further details on Blossom and the Rosebud Project, including the technical report titled "Mineral Resource Estimate for the Rosebud Property, Pershing County, NV, USA" by Northern Lights Mining LLC, with a report date of December 17, 2025 and an effective date of November 1, 2025, can be found under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com and the Company's website at www.blossomgold.com.
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dino Titaro, P.Geo., a Director of Blossom who is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
For further information, please contact:
Brandon Throop
Vice President, Corporate Development & Investor Relations
Direct: 1-647-646-7824
Email: bthroop@blossomgold.com
Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this news release constitute forward-looking information, including but not limited to statements regarding the Company's plans, prospects and business strategies, including its senior leadership team, its core drilling program and advancing the Rosebud Project, permitting and commencing construction, and its vision regarding the Rosebud Project. Terminology such as "plan", "expect", "schedule", "estimate", "forecast", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "may" or "will" and similar expressions identify forward-looking information. By identifying such information in this manner, Blossom is alerting the reader that such information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Blossom to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, Blossom has made certain assumptions. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information are the following: the inability of Blossom to achieve any one or more of the key catalysts on the timeline expected, or at all, and any changes in the development of the business of Blossom, as well as those risk factors more generally set out in Blossom's AIF, which is available under Blossom's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein. Although Blossom believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is provided as of the date of this news release, and Blossom does not undertake to update any forward-looking information that is contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws.
