Mr. Koby Kushner reports

ATHENA GOLD PROVIDES EXPLORATION UPDATE FROM EXCELSIOR GOLD-SILVER PROJECT, NEVADA

Athena Gold Corp. has provided an exploration update from its Excelsior Springs project in Nevada. Mammoth Minerals Ltd. (formerly Firetail Resources Ltd.) has been aggressively exploring Excelsior, per its option agreement to earn an 80-per-cent interest in the project over five years, providing Athena a free-carry to definitive feasibility study thereafter (see press releases dated June 2, 2025, and Aug. 22, 2025). Recently, Mammoth reported two significant announcements from its continuing exploration campaign (refer to Mammoth Minerals' press releases dated Nov. 24, 2025, and Nov. 26, 2025). As of today, Athena remains a significant (greater-than-5-per-cent) shareholder of Mammoth Minerals.

Key highlights from recent Mammoth diamond drilling (Buster trend):

• There are strong initial results from Mammoth's maiden diamond drilling program at Excelsior, with multiple shallow high-grade gold intercepts in the first three diamond holes at the Buster mine trend, validating and extending the geological model:
  • 14.4 metres at 4.33 grams per tonne gold from 117 m (MEXDD004), including:
    • 3.1 m at 19.10 g/t Au from 119.36 m;
    • 0.95 m at 15.98 g/t Au from 124.5 m;
  • 25.5 m at 1.05 g/t Au from 35.45 m (MEXDD001), including:
    • 0.55 m at 26.7 g/t Au.
• These intercepts successfully tested 50-metre downdip extensions and infill areas around the historic Buster underground mine (past production of 19,000 ounces at 41 g/t Au) and validate Mammoth's targeting model developed from 14.5 kilometres of historical drilling.
• Mineralization remains open at depth and along strike; diamond drilling has thus far targeted approximately 1.1 kilometres of the greater-than-five-kilometre Buster trend strike, with mineralization confirmed to 250 m depth.
• Work has now commenced on an initial mineral resource estimate and exploration target.
• Nine additional diamond holes totalling 1.3 kilometres drilled have assays pending targeting downdip extensions beneath the Buster underground mine and the approximately 350-metre-long-by-25-metre-wide Buster open pit.

Key highlights from high-resolution airborne magnetics (project-wide):

• A high-resolution magnetic survey (40-metre line spacing) was conducted over the Excelsior Springs project, including the additional claims recently staked by Mammoth.
• Per Athena's press release dated Nov. 11, 2025, portions of this newly staked ground fall within the project's five-kilometre area of interest (AOI) buffer around the existing Excelsior claims, automatically incorporating them into the joint venture (JV) upon Mammoth's earn-in.
• The survey defined a large, 5.5-kilometre-by-4.2-kilometre interpreted intrusive complex and associated caldera north of the Buster trend.
• The feature exhibits strong geological and structural similarities to the 4.2-million-ounce Goldfield caldera, located 35 kilometres to the northeast.
• High concentrations of historic workings, shafts, pits and costeans occur along the margins of the intrusion; Mammoth has collected 350 rock-chip samples from these old workings with assays pending.
• Multiple skarn-type targets have been identified within and proximal to the intrusive complex.
• Preliminary structural interpretation has extended the prospective Buster trend geological strike to 7.3 kilometres.

Qualified person statement

The technical information presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Benjamin Kuzmich, PGeo, vice-president of exploration for Athena Gold and the qualified person for exploration at the Excelsior Springs project, as defined by NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Readers are cautioned that historical records referred to in this press release have been examined but not verified by a qualified person. Further work is required to verify that historical records referred to in this press release are accurate. Information contained in this press release was taken from Mammoth Minerals' recent press releases dated Nov. 24, 2025, and Nov. 26, 2025.

About Athena Gold Corp.

Athena is engaged in the business of mineral exploration and the acquisition of mineral property assets. Its objective is to locate and develop economic precious and base metal properties of merit and to conduct additional exploration drilling and studies on its projects across North America. Athena's Laird Lake project is situated in the Red Lake gold district of Ontario, covering over 7,000 hectares along more than 10 kilometres of the Balmer-Confederation Assemblage contact, where recent surface sampling results returned up to 373 g/t Au. This underexplored area is road accessible, located about 10 kilometres west of West Red Lake Gold's Madsen mine and 34 kilometres northwest of Kinross Gold's Great Bear project. Meanwhile, its Excelsior Springs project is located in the prolific Walker Lane trend in Nevada, where it is currently under an earn-in option with Mammoth Minerals (formerly Firetail Resources). The Excelsior Springs project spans over 2,500 hectares and covers at least three historic mines. Athena also holds a 100-per-cent interest in its Oneman Lake gold-VMS (volcanogenic massive sulphide) project in Ontario.

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