Mr. Cameron Tymstra reports

TARGA BEGINS EXPLORATION CAMPAIGN AT OPINACA GOLD PROJECT

Targa Exploration Corp. has commenced its fully financed 2024 exploration program at its flagship Opinaca gold and lithium project located in the James Bay region of Quebec.

Highlights

• Till sampling crew mobilized to camp and beginning work this week;

• Plan to take a total of 3,000 till samples up-ice from identified gold and lithium anomalies;

• Geology team arriving in next five days to begin boulder and outcrop prospecting;

• Condensing two phases of work into one to fast-track data collection and results;

• Fieldwork to be completed by July 7 with lab results expected in August.

"We are incredibly excited for the field team to be returning to Opinaca for the first time since multiple gold-in-till and lithium-in-till anomalies were identified on the project," commented Targa chief executive officer Cameron Tymstra. "Till sampling crews have arrived at camp with the helicopter mobilizing today. The crews will be continuing the survey up-ice of the two gold anomalies to narrow down potential bedrock source locations. Our geology prospecting team will be arriving in a few days to begin prospecting for mineralized boulders and outcrops. We are grateful to continue working with Kenorland Minerals who are acting as project operators. Their previous success in discovering the Regnault gold deposit using the same till sampling and prospecting strategy, and the high-quality anomalies they helped us identify at Opinaca last year give us great confidence in the field team and potential for making discoveries at Opinaca in 2024."

Opinaca exploration program

The primary goals of the exploration program at Opinaca are to narrow down the search area of the possible bedrock sources of the gold and lithium anomalies identified in 2023 till sampling and progress toward identification of drill targets. Kenorland Minerals will act as project operators for the duration of the 2024 exploration program, providing invaluable logistics, planning and early-stage exploration experience in Quebec.

Till sampling

Originally planned as a two-phase program, both the regional tills (one-kilometre line spacing) and in-fill samples (250-metre line spacing) will take place back-to-back to speed up delivery of results and allow for at least 400 additional samples to be taken with the original $1.35-million budget. The additional samples will provide greater coverage over the 85,000-hectare project and greater data density. A total of approximately 1,650 regional and 1,350 infill fine fraction till samples are planned for this program.

A portable X-ray fluorescence machine will be stationed in camp where samples will be prepped for scanning. Results from the 2023 till sampling showed a very strong correlation between gold and arsenic values. With arsenic values being much higher than gold and the element being easier to read with a portable XRF device, scanning in camp will allow for real-time data feedback from the regional-spaced samples. This will allow for positioning of the infill sample grids over the heads of the till trains without waiting for lab results and help direct where the prospecting team should focus its attention.

Heavy mineral concentrate samples

A total of 40 heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) samples will be taken in the areas of the gold and lithium anomalies. The 10-kilogram samples of the till will be sent to a lab for separation into density fractions and analyzed under a microscope to look for and count gold grains to assess their quantity and shape. Gold grain shape can indicate possible travel distances and aid in narrowing down bedrock source locations. Spodumene grains will also be looked for in samples taken in the area of the 2023 lithium-cesium till anomaly to determine if the anomalous values are a result of the local presence of spodumene-bearing pegmatites.

Boulder and outcrop prospecting

A four-person geology and prospecting crew will be in the field starting June 15 to begin an extensive prospecting and mapping program up-ice from the gold and lithium anomalies. The crew will be focused on searching for and sampling any mineralized boulders or outcrops that may be the source of the till anomalies, with the discovery of mineralized outcrops that could help identify future drill targets being the ultimate goal of the field program.

The geology team will also undertake mapping of the target areas to better understand the local geology and what geological units or structures may be related to the elevated gold values seen in till. There has been no historic mineral exploration conducted at Opinaca to Targa's knowledge and government geology maps of the region were produced with limited field stations, leaving many unknowns as to the detailed geology of the project area.

Fieldwork is expected to be completed by July 7 with lab results of the till samples and any outcrop or boulder samples expected in mid-August. This will leave a window of opportunity in September to return to Opinaca for any necessary follow-up work, dependent on lab results and success during the June/July program.

About the Opinaca project

The Opinaca project is located in the James Bay region of Quebec, approximately 40 km south of Patriot Battery Metals' Corvette lithium discovery, 45 km south of the all-season Trans-Taiga Road and 120 km northwest of the Renard diamond mine. The Opinaca project covers 85,267 contiguous hectares of the Opinaca geological subprovince, dominantly a metasedimentary region with neoarchean-aged igneous intrusions including of the Vieux Comptoir suite of granites. Till sampling in 2023 uncovered a five km by four km gold/arsenic/tungsten anomaly in the centre of the project as well as a higher-grade gold and lithium anomaly to the east.

About Targa Exploration Corp.

Targa Exploration is a Canadian exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of gold and lithium mineral properties with headquarters in Vancouver, B.C. Targa's project portfolio consists of 15 projects in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan and covers over 400,000 hectares of prospective ground, most of which has never been explored previously for lithium or gold.

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