CRANBROOK, BC / ACCESS Newswire / July 28, 2026 / Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (TSXV:EPL)(OTCQB:EGPLF) ("EPL" or "Eagle Plains") and American Eagle Gold Corp. (TSXV:AE)(OTCQB:AMEGF) ("AE" or "American Eagle")? are pleased to announce that the parties have entered into an option agreement (the "Option") dated July 24, 2026, pursuant to which American Eagle has been granted the exclusive right to earn up to an 80% interest in the 4,656-hectare Hearne Hill South copper-gold porphyry project ("Hearne Hill South") along with two nearby properties (Jinx and NAK NW), all located approximately 70 km northeast of Smithers. The northern boundary of the Hearne Hill South claims is approximately 4.5 kilometres from American Eagle's flagship NAK copper-gold porphyry project, where a 55,000-metre drill program is currently underway. (AE NR May 8, 2026).
Highlights
Three projects (6,690 ha) optioned to a well-funded partner with extensive Babine district experience
American Eagle has proven exploration success on the nearby NAK project and an established, collaborative relationship with the Lake Babine Nation
Including the American Eagle transaction, EPL currently has 18 projects under option or Joint Venture with 9 different partners
Babine Region Projects Map
The option agreement includes 23 mineral claims and one claim application totalling 6,690 hectares with the Eagle Plains claims representing approximately 72% of American Eagle's 9,283-hectare district scale land position in the Babine, one of the largest and most strategic land positions in the core of one of British Columbia's most active porphyry camps. The claims are owned 100% by Eagle Plains, with no underlying royalties or encumbrances.
The properties are less than 2 km from the Morrison and Hearne Hill deposits, highlighting the significant regional and local potential to host Cu-Au porphyry-type mineralization. The properties can be accessed by truck utilizing a network of forest service roads from Highway 118 at Topley Landing, which are primarily used to service the past producing mines and active logging operations in the area.
Eagle Plains CEO, Charles Downie, commented: "We are excited to partner with American Eagle to explore one of British Columbia's premier copper-gold porphyry districts. The Hearne Hill South project was identified by American Eagle as the most compelling untested opportunity in the Babine camp, with the right geology, supportive geophysics, and virtually no drilling. American Eagle's stellar track record, including exploration success at the NAK, the ability to attract strategic investors like Teck, South32, and Eric Sprott, and a commitment to First Nations and Community relations, in conjunction with $50 million in cash in their treasury, make them the ideal partner to make new discoveries. Using a systematic, low-cost exploration approach to advance the Hearne Hill South Project and attract American Eagle as a partner, once again validates Eagle Plains' project generator model.".
Transaction Summary
To exercise the Option, American Eagle must make a series of cash payments and share issuances to Eagle Plains and fund exploration expenditures on the Project. These payments, share issuance and expenditures are separated into two phases, with the First Option entitling the Company to acquire a 60% interest in the Project by paying CA$400,000, issuing an aggregate of 1,200,000 common shares to EPL and funding CA$4,850,000 in exploration expenditures on the Project over a six-year term. Pursuant to the Second phase of the Option, the Company may acquire an additional 20% interest in the Project (for an 80% total interest) by notifying Eagle Plains of its intent to increase its interest to 80% and making an additional one-time payment of CA$1,000,000 cash, of which half may be paid in American Eagle shares valued at the 10-day VWAP at the time of notification. As part of the option agreement, American Eagle will reimburse Eagle Plains for the 2026 field program at Hearne Hill South.
If the First Option or the Second Option is exercised, a 2% smelter returns royalty will be granted to Eagle Plains over the entire property, 1% of which may be repurchased for CA$2,500,000. Following the exercise of the First or Second Option by the Company, Eagle Plains and American Eagle will form a joint venture which will administer the continued exploration and operation of the Project. American Eagle will serve as Operator during the term of the Agreement and TerraLogic Exploration Inc. will serve as geoscience consultant for all pre-drilling exploration.
The transaction is subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance.
See Hearne Hill South Property Information and Map here
Geology of Hearne Hill South
Like the NAK, Duke and Morrison properties, Hearne Hill South lies within the Babine Porphyry Belt, which is underlain primarily by Upper Triassic Takla Group and Lower Jurassic Hazelton Group volcanic and sedimentary rocks that along with younger volcano-sedimentary sequences such as that at NAK are cut by Cretaceous and Tertiary intrusions. In the Babine District, Eocene intrusions of the Babine Igneous Suite are the main drivers and common hosts for mineralization at NAK, Bell, Granisle, and Morrison, and thus remain the most prospective rocks in the search for porphyry copper-gold mineralization.
Mineralization in the area occurs in two principal forms: (1) stockwork porphyry copper-gold-silver-molybdenum mineralization associated with biotite-feldspar porphyry ("BFP") intrusions, which are typical of many mineralized occurrences in the Babine district; and (2) closely associated and commonly higher-grade copper-gold breccia pipes of the type which form the core of the Hearne Hill porphyry deposit, which lies immediately southeast of Morrison. The BFP intrusions and, to varying degrees, their stratified wall rocks, host chalcopyrite, pyrite, bornite, and minor molybdenite in quartz veins and veinlets, fracture fills, and disseminations, with potassic alteration (biotite, magnetite, potassium feldspar) associated with the best grades. These styles of mineralization are directly analogous to those identified in core logging by American Eagle's geologists at NAK.
Hearne Hill South and Jinx: Work to Date and Work Going Forward
Eagle Plains has completed substantial first-pass work at Hearne Hill South, including a 2025 field program. This work included a 286 line-kilometre high-resolution airborne magnetic survey, more than 32 line-kilometres of closely spaced soil geochemical sampling, and prospecting that returned copper-mineralized rock samples. These early results indicate that the property hosts underexplored geophysical and geochemical anomalies consistent with the porphyry copper exploration model, yet it has seen no modern drilling. Farther south, the Jinx claim group represents a very compelling early-stage porphyry target. First-pass surface work has identified gold-in-till with grain morphology that suggests a proximal bedrock source, along with a float sample that returned copper and gold values at porphyry tenors. Targeted geophysical surveying and systematic traverses to identify outcrop and complete additional surface sampling will aim to advance this claim group to drill-ready-status.
American Eagle's 2026-2027 program will include compilation of existing exploration data coupled with 3D inversion analysis of the property-wide magnetic data integrated with the Company's district-scale datasets from NAK. These programs will lead to fieldwork including infill soil geochemistry, prospecting, geological mapping, and ground geophysical surveying across priority anomalies, with the aim of defining drill targets.
First Nations, Community and Strategic Support
The American Eagle land package lies within the traditional territory of the Lake Babine Nation (LBN), where American Eagle has operated at NAK since 2022 under an Exploration Agreement that has since been expanded and updated three times, providing for respectful engagement, cooperative planning, and mutual benefit. The Company's established relationships with the LBN, provincial authorities, local contractors, and the communities of Smithers, Houston, and Burns Lake represent a competitive advantage, and American Eagle looks forward to engaging with the LBN on exploration plans across the expanded position. The expansion of its land position was undertaken with the knowledge and support of the Lake Babine Nation and the Company's strategic investors and is consistent with the collaborative approach the Company and the LBN have taken since 2022.
Management cautions that historical results were collected and reported by past operators and have not been verified nor confirmed by a Qualified Person but form a basis for ongoing work on the subject properties. Management cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate land, including the Morrison, Bell, and Granisle deposits, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the subject properties.
Qualified Persons
Charles C. Downie, P.Geo., a "qualified person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and a director of Eagle Plains, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this news release.
About Eagle Plains Resources
Based in Cranbrook, B.C., Eagle Plains is a well-funded, prolific project generator that continues to conduct research, acquire and explore mineral projects throughout western Canada, with a focus on critical metals integral to an increasingly electrified, decarbonized economy.
The Company was formed in 1992 and is the fourth-oldest listed issuer on the TSX-V (and the only one of these four that has not seen a roll-back or restructuring of its shares). Eagle Plains has continued to deliver shareholder value over the years and through numerous spin outs has transferred over $115,000,000 in value directly to its shareholders, with Copper Canyon Resources and Taiga Gold Corp. being notable examples. Eagle Plains latest spinout, Eagle Royalties Ltd. (CSE:"ER") was listed on May 24, 2023, and on October 30, 2025, ER shareholders overwhelmingly approved a three-cornered amalgamation that resulted in a reverse takeover of Eagle Royalties by Summit Royalty Corp. The resulting issuer is named Summit Royalties Ltd. and trades under the symbol SUM on the TSX Venture Exchange with a market capitalization of over $100M.
On October 2, 2024, Eagle Plains announced the formation of a separate division within the Company that will give Eagle Plains' shareholders direct exposure to strategic opportunities in Canadian green energy transition. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Eagle Plains, Osprey Power Inc. ("OP") will focus on identifying and advancing innovative and diverse clean energy project portfolios in target markets throughout Canada, with an initial focus on Western Canada.
Eagle Plains' core business is acquiring grassroots critical- and precious-metal exploration properties. The Company is committed to steadily enhancing shareholder value by advancing our diverse portfolio of projects toward discovery through collaborative partnerships and development of a highly experienced technical team.
Expenditures from 2010-2025 on Eagle Plains-related projects exceed $41M, the majority of which was funded by third-party partners. This exploration work resulted in approximately 50,000m of diamond-drilling and extensive ground-based exploration work facilitating the advancement of numerous projects at various stages of development.
Throughout the exploration process, our mission is to help maintain prosperous communities by exploring for and discovering resource opportunities while building lasting relationships through honest and respectful business practices.
About American Eagle Gold Corp.
American Eagle is advancing the NAK copper-gold porphyry project in British Columbia's Babine Porphyry District, located 4.5 km north of the Hearne Hill South Property. The Company is backed by approximately $50 million in cash and four cornerstone strategic shareholders: South32, Teck Resources Limited, Ore Group, and Eric Sprott. American Eagle is currently conducting a ~55,000-metre drill program, expected to run through April 2027, with three rigs operating continuously across the seasons. Approximately 80 drill holes are planned, and the goal for the season is to significantly expand tonnage while both extending known high-grade zones and discovering new ones. The Company is funded for multiple years from cash on hand, with the current program designed to support future technical studies and demonstrate the viability of NAK as a mine within the current metal cycle.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Eagle Plains
"C.C. (Chuck) Downie, P.Geo"
President and CEO
For further information on EPL, please contact Andrew Wilson at 1 866 HUNT ORE (486 8673)
Email: abw@eagleplains.com or visit our website at https://www.eagleplains.com
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.
SOURCE: Eagle Plains Resources Ltd.
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/metals-and-mining/eagle-plains-and-american-eagle-gold-corp-execute-option-agreement-for-the-hearne-1196961
