en.Wedoany.com Reported - White Gold Corp. (TSX.V: WGO, OTCQX: WHGOF, FRA: 29W) has announced the launch of its fully funded 2026 exploration program at the White Gold District in Canada's Yukon Territory. The company stated that the program will focus on the growth and expansion of known gold resources, including the Golden Saddle, Arc, Ryan's Surprise, and VG deposits, which still have room for expansion along strike and dip. The 2026 program will be the largest diamond drilling program in the company's history and will be supported by strategic partner Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (TSX: AEM, NYSE: AEM). In addition to resource growth activities, the program will also cover work on discovery-stage targets and the evaluation of high-priority early-stage prospects within the portfolio.
Initial drilling will focus on four deposits within the White Gold project. At Golden Saddle, the company plans to test the expansion of the high-grade core, evaluate parallel mineralized zones in the hanging wall and footwall, and assess the extension toward Golden Saddle West. At Arc, the drilling program is designed to test the extension of mineralization along dip and strike, beyond the currently defined 1.5-kilometer strike length. The Ryan's Surprise program will focus on expanding mineralization to the east and west of the currently defined area, while drilling at VG will target extensions down-dip and to the east along strike.
White Gold also plans to continue re-logging and sampling previously unsampled drill core from the hanging wall and footwall rocks at Golden Saddle. The company reported that its portfolio includes 15,362 quartz claims across 21 properties, covering approximately 300,000 hectares. In addition to numerous promising gold and critical mineral targets, the portfolio includes the White Gold project, which contains 1,732,300 ounces of gold in the indicated resource category and 1,265,900 ounces of gold in the inferred resource category.
White Gold provided further details on the deposits targeted by the 2026 program. The Golden Saddle deposit contains an open-pit resource of 1,614,000 ounces of gold in the indicated category and 268,700 ounces in the inferred category. The Arc deposit contains 115,800 ounces of gold in the indicated category and 397,000 ounces in the inferred category. The VG deposit contains 296,000 ounces of gold in the inferred category, while the Ryan's Surprise deposit contains 280,300 ounces of gold in the inferred category.
Dylan Langille, Vice President of Exploration at White Gold Corp., stated in a company press release that the company intends to seek growth across all four deposits while advancing near-deposit and district-scale discovery-stage targets. CEO David D'Onofrio noted that three drill rigs will be operating at the company's flagship gold project, while exploration continues at multiple high-priority targets across the entire land package. The company also reported that it is conducting its first Preliminary Economic Assessment for the White Gold project, which is expected to be released in the near term.
According to a June 2 report from Red Cloud Securities' Rocks Daily, as central banks continue to increase their gold holdings and gold prices approach historical highs, gold has surpassed U.S. Treasuries to become the world's second-largest reserve asset. The publication reported that central banks hold over 36,000 tonnes of gold, with reserve levels approaching those seen since the Bretton Woods era. Rocks Daily noted that this shift reflects a broad effort by many countries to diversify their reserve holdings and stated that gold has overtaken U.S. Treasuries in global reserve allocation.
Other commentary from June 2 also highlighted the same trend. According to a June 2 report from The Telegraph citing research from the European Central Bank, gold's share of central bank foreign exchange reserve holdings rose to 27% in 2025, surpassing the 22% share of U.S. Treasuries. The report stated that amid geopolitical concerns, central banks continue to use gold to strengthen their balance sheets. The European Central Bank noted that central banks consider "geopolitics" a significant risk factor and reported that 70% of central banks surveyed in April cited geopolitics as the biggest risk they faced that year. The report also indicated that while physical gold purchases declined from over 1,000 tonnes annually in the previous three years to 850 tonnes in 2025, rising gold prices contributed to its increased share of reserve holdings.
Stewart Thomson wrote on June 2 that after gold's strong performance relative to fiat currencies in 2024 and 2025, gold prices have entered a consolidation phase. Thomson stated, "Gold price consolidation is healthy," and noted that periods of sideways price movement are opportunities for investors to focus on gold's role as money rather than short-term price fluctuations. He also wrote, "Professional gold and silver bulls are more focused on acquiring more metal than on where the price is going next." Thomson further discussed market sentiment toward precious metals and mining stocks, writing, "Gold and silver miners appear ready to show their greatness once again, with prices poised for a new push toward the upper end of the range!" He also stated that mining stock exchange-traded funds and their constituent companies are tools for investors seeking exposure to the gold and silver sector. Overall, these reports reflect the market's continued focus on gold's role in reserve management, ongoing central bank demand, and sustained interest in the broader precious metals sector.
According to comments made by 321gold.com founder Bob Moriarty to Streetwise Reports, the company is led by "world-renowned Shawn Ryan" and controls "approximately 40% of the land in the White Gold District." Moriarty also stated, "Given that Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. is a 19% shareholder, it is easy to speculate that the company will become an early acquisition target." He further noted that the company has "one of the most qualified technical teams in Canada." Moriarty added that the company plans a fully funded 25,000-meter drilling program in 2026 and intends to complete a Preliminary Economic Assessment in the first half of 2026.
In a May 20 report from North of 60 Mining News, A.J. Roan wrote that the company's land package covers approximately 305,102 hectares across 21 properties in the White Gold District, including its flagship White Gold project, located about 95 kilometers south of Dawson City. Roan reported that the company continues to advance its flagship gold project toward its first Preliminary Economic Assessment while also developing a portfolio of copper, molybdenum, tungsten, and other critical mineral targets within the district-scale land package. This portfolio includes the Guilder target on the Loonie property and the Mt. Hart target on the Nolan property, where previous exploration has identified extensive multi-element anomalies and promising mineralized corridors.
According to Roan, the company's fully funded 2026 exploration program is expected to be its largest to date, aimed at increasing gold resources, advancing the Preliminary Economic Assessment process, continuing environmental baseline studies, and supporting the completion of the W2 Critical Minerals spin-out.
White Gold has identified several near-resource and discovery-stage targets requiring additional work in the 2026 program. These include the VG East target (located approximately 1.3 kilometers east-northeast of the VG deposit) and Golden Saddle 2.0 (located approximately 2.5 kilometers east-southeast of the Golden Saddle deposit). The company also plans exploration along the Ryan's Trend, including the Ulli's Ridge target, where previous drilling encountered high-grade gold mineralization. Among discovery-stage claims, White Gold highlighted ongoing work at Chris Creek, where the 2024 drilling program identified a broad zone of gold mineralization. The company stated that the geological characteristics at Chris Creek are very similar to those observed at the Golden Saddle and VG deposits. Other targets identified for future exploration include the Betty property and the Vertigo target on the JP Ross property.
In addition to exploration activities, White Gold reported that the first Preliminary Economic Assessment for its White Gold project is still underway and is expected to be delivered in the near term. The company also highlighted the planned completion of the W2 Critical Minerals Corp. transaction, which aims to spin out its portfolio of copper, molybdenum, tungsten, and other critical mineral claims into a separate publicly listed company, with shares to be distributed to White Gold shareholders.
Management and insiders hold 17.46% of White Gold shares, institutions hold 4.45%, strategic entities hold 18.9%, and the remainder is held by retail investors. White Gold has a market capitalization of C$425.37 million, with 221.55 million shares outstanding and a 52-week trading range of C$0.25 to C$2.38.
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