Category: Base Metals

Central Bank Gold Reserves: Biggest Changes (2020–2025)

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Key Takeaways

• China, Poland, and Türkiye led global gold buying among central banks between 2020 and 2025.
• Rising gold prices and currency risk pushed many countries to boost gold reserves, while a smaller group reduced holdings.

Gold prices soared past $5,500 an ounce in late January as weakness in the U.S. dollar continued to steer investors toward hard assets. Since 2020, gold prices have risen by more than 230%, increasing the appeal of bullion for central banks seeking stability during a volatile economic period.

This visualization highlights which central banks made the biggest changes to their gold reserves between 2020 and 2025. The data for this visualization comes from the World Gold Council.

China and Eastern Europe Lead Gold Buying

China recorded the largest increase in gold reserves over the period, adding more than 350 tonnes. This reflects a broader strategy to diversify reserves away from the U.S. dollar and strengthen financial independence. Poland followed closely, increasing its gold holdings by over 300 tonnes as part of a long-term push to bolster monetary security.

Türkiye and India also ranked among the top buyers. Both countries face persistent inflation pressures and currency volatility, making gold an attractive hedge within official reserves.

Most gold purchased	2020-2025 (tonnes)	Most gold sold	2020-2025 (tonnes)
China	357.1	Philippines	-65.2
Poland	314.6	Kazakhstan	-52.4
Türkiye	251.8	Sri Lanka	-19.1
India	245.3	Germany	-16.3
Brazil	105.1	Mongolia	-15.9
Azerbaijan	83.6	Tajikistan	-11.9
Japan	80.8	Euro Area (average)	-10.8
Thailand	80.6	Colombia	-9.2
Hungary	78.5	Finland	-5.4
Singapore	77.3	Curaçao & St. Maarten	-3.9
Iraq	74.6	Solomon Islands	-0.6
Qatar	73	Suriname	-0.4
Czech Rep.	62.8	Malta	-0.3
Russia	55.4	Ethiopia	-0.2
United Arab Emirates	51.7	Switzerland	-0.1

Emerging Markets Step Up Accumulation

Beyond the largest buyers, several emerging markets made notable additions. Brazil added more than 100 tonnes, while Azerbaijan’s increase came through its sovereign wealth fund, the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Japan, Thailand, Hungary, and Singapore also expanded reserves, signaling broader global interest in gold as a stabilizing asset during periods of economic uncertainty.

Who Reduced Gold Holdings?

On the selling side, the Philippines recorded the largest reduction, cutting reserves by over 65 tonnes. Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka also saw significant declines, often linked to domestic liquidity needs or reserve rebalancing.

Several European countries, including Germany and Finland, posted modest reductions. Switzerland’s change was minimal, underscoring its generally stable approach to gold management compared with more active buyers elsewhere.

Source: https://elements.visualcapitalist.com/central-bank-gold-reserves-biggest-changes-2020-2025/?mc_cid=c1654a012b&mc_eid=5c5bffba2f

• Forecast 240 koz deficit for 2026 follows deep 1,082 koz deficit in 2025
• Depleted above ground stocks projected to remain at just over four months’ worth of global demand through 2026
• Total bar and coin investment demand to jump 35% to 725 koz, with gains expected across all markets and India emerging as a new growth market
• While exchange traded fund (ETF) and exchange stocks are expected to remain at elevated levels, the significant inflows seen in 2025 are not expected to repeat, resulting in total demand coming in 8% lower than in 2025 at 7,619 koz
• Industrial demand to rebound, increasing 11% to 2,124 koz as glass capacity expansion resumes, helping to offset respective 3% and 12% reductions in automotive and jewellery demand
• Total platinum supply to increase by 2% as recycling supply grows 10%, incentivised by higher prices, while mine supply is projected to be flat

LONDON, March 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The World Platinum Investment Council – WPIC® – today publishes its Platinum Quarterly for the fourth quarter of 2025 and full year 2025, with a revised forecast for 2026.

Trevor Raymond, CEO of the World Platinum Investment Council, comments:

“The key drivers of platinum’s price rally in 2025, namely strong supply/demand fundamentals, a depletion of above ground stocks, and macropolitical uncertainty-driven precious metals demand, are expected to persist in 2026. Consequently, market tightness is likely to continue, maintaining investor interest in platinum, and further supporting bar and coin and ETF demand throughout the year. One item not yet captured in the supply/demand balance is any exchange stocks warehoused with the Guangzhou Futures Exchange, which could potentially deepen the deficit versus current projections once these are made publicly available.”

View the full press release.

Disclaimer

Neither the World Platinum Investment Council nor Metals Focus is authorised by any regulatory authority to give investment advice. Nothing within this document is intended or should be construed as investment advice or offering to sell or advising to buy any securities or financial instruments and appropriate professional advice should always be sought before making any investment.

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Edmonton, Alberta–(Newsfile Corp. – February 26, 2026) – Grizzly Discoveries Inc. (TSXV: GZD) (FSE: G6H) (OTCQB: GZDIF) (“Grizzly” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that preliminary results have been received from Peter E. Walcott and Associates from an Induced Polarization (IP) program conducted in February 2026 to follow up excellent prior results from both surface sampling and historical drilling at the Sappho Critical Minerals Target (Figure 1). In light of the current escalating metal prices for critical minerals/metals including copper (Cu), platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), gold (Au) and silver (Ag), the Sappho Skarn/Porphyry Target warrants follow-up exploration including drilling. A total of four lines of IP for 4.5 line-kms were completed. Further IP work is being planned prior to the commencement of drilling. Due to current weather conditions and the desire to complete more IP, the fully funded drilling of 4 to 6 drillholes and about 1,500 to 2,000 m at Sappho is slated to commence approximately early to mid-April.

Highlights

• The IP survey has yielded a significant near surface conductivity anomaly on Lines 9600 and 9700 North coincident with Main Showings and the Skarn intersected in drilling in holes 10SP02 and 10SP03 in 2010 (Figures 2 and 3).
• Follow-up drilling (fully funded) is planned to test the conductive zone this April.
• The IP Survey has detected a new significant deeper chargeability anomaly on the southeast part of the grid – likely up against one of the Main Sappho faults (Figures 4 to 6). The chargeability anomaly is not closed off and is on the order of 20 to 30 millivolts per volt and is consistent with a number of porphyry targets that have yielded new discoveries in BC recently.
• Five (5) new sulphide showings were discovered during 2022 field work, with 4 of the 5 showings yielding rock grab samples with >1% copper (Cu) up to as high as 7.25% Cu (Figure 1 and see Grizzly news release dated November 3^rd, 2022).
• A total of 17 rock grab samples returned values >1% Cu up to 9.06% Cu, many also with anomalous gold (Au), silver (Ag), platinum (Pt) and palladium (Pd).
• A total of 11 samples have yielded >500 parts per billion (ppb) Pt and Pd up to 4.64 grams per tonne (g/t) Pt and up to 2.28 g/t Pd.
• The Geological Setting is the East Fault Contact of the Toroda Graben with numerous pyroxenite-monzonite-diorite (older) and younger QFP-diorite (Tertiary) intrusions into intermediate-mafic volcanics along with a complex magnetic feature at the Sappho CG area (Figure 1).
• The East and West Faults of the Toroda Graben likely played a role in controlling the Au-Ag mineralization for the Buckhorn Skarn and Mine to the southwest and the Cu-Au-Ag mineralization for the Motherlode/Greyhound skarns to the north (Figure 2).
• Skarn and porphyry style alteration and mineralization along with Cu-PGE’s-Au-Ag are observed in outcrop and drill core along with a complex magnetic signature in the Main Sappho CG area.

The Sappho area is being targeted for copper-gold skarn and porphyry type targets associated with a Jurassic alkalic intrusive complex and several younger diorite intrusions (Figure 1). A total of five new showings of copper oxide mineralization were found during the 2022 program (Figure 1). Previous surface sampling and drilling by Grizzly has yielded significant anomalous copper, gold, silver along with platinum and palladium. Numerous historical and new rock grab samples have yielded greater than 1% Cu, 1 g/t Au, 1 g/t Ag, 1 g/t Pt and 1 g/t Pd (Figure 1).

Historical 2010 drilling by the Company (4 core holes) yielded up to 0.31% Cu, 0.75 g/t Au, 0.34 g/t Pt, 0.39 g/t Pd and 6.57 g/t Ag over 6.5 m core length in skarn at Sappho (in hole 10SP03), including a 1 m core length intersections of 3.82 g/t Au and 199 g/t Ag, and in a separate sample 1.83 g/t Pt and 2.09 g/t Pd across 1 m – these results all are associated with >1% Cu in those samples. These higher grade zones were contained within a 63.5 m core length zone logged as a pyroxene – sulphide skarn with a grade approaching 0.7% copper equivalent derived from current metal prices for Cu, Au, Ag, Pt and Pd. Drillhole 10SP03 targeted a magnetic anomaly and had no indications of surface mineralization at the time of drilling. One of the new 2022 showings has been found proximal to drillhole 10SP03 and the targeted magnetic anomaly.

Figure 1: Sappho Rock Sampling Summary 2026 and Planned IP and Drillhole Locations.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4488/285545_0a04322da4d288e2_002full.jpg

Brian “Griz” Testo, President & CEO of Grizzly Discoveries, states: “Anomalous ground magnetics and now IP has outlined multiple new targets across the Sappho Project. I am excited to see what the next phase of IP work and drilling might show us – Grizzly will continue to refine these targets to the drill ready stage for drilling in the next couple of months and I look forward to identifying some new discoveries.”

Figure 2: Sappho IP Results Showing Conductivity Anomaly Lines 9600 and 9700.

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Figure 3: Sappho IP Results Showing Modelled Conductivity Anomaly on Line 9600.

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Figure 4: Sappho IP Results Showing Chargeability Anomaly Lines 9400 and 9500.

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Figure 5: Sappho IP Results Showing the Modelled Chargeability Anomaly on Line 9500.

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Figure 6: Sappho 3D IP Model Showing Chargeability Anomaly on Lines 9400 and 9500.

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The Company is continuing with surface exploration in the Greenwood area. Crews from APEX Geoscience Ltd. completed rock sampling in August through to November and again in January. The exploration work is ongoing and includes prospecting and rock sampling at targets in the Rock Creek area, the Midway area, the Copper Mountain area, the Overlander-Attwood area and the Sappho (Figure 7). Additional groundwork including ground geophysical surveys are being planned and will comprise IP, magnetics and Loupe electromagnetics (EM) for the Sappho, the Midway and Motherlode areas (Figure 7). Rock sampling results (>220 samples) from the 2025 fieldwork are pending and will be released as they are received.

Figure 7: Exploration Targets 2026.

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ABOUT GRIZZLY DISCOVERIES INC.

Grizzly is a diversified Canadian mineral exploration company with its primary listing on the TSX Venture Exchange focused on developing its approximately 72,700 ha (approximately 180,000 acres) of precious and base metals properties in southeastern British Columbia. Grizzly is run by a highly experienced junior resource sector management team, who have a track record of advancing exploration projects from early exploration stage through to feasibility stage.

QUALIFIED PERSON STATEMENT

The technical content of this news release and the Company’s technical disclosure has been reviewed and approved by Michael B. Dufresne, M. Sc., P. Geol., P.Geo., who is a non-independent Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

On behalf of the Board,

GRIZZLY DISCOVERIES INC.
Brian Testo, CEO, President

Suite 363-9768 170 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5T 5L4

For further information, please visit our website at www.grizzlydiscoveries.com or contact:

Nancy Massicotte
Corporate Development
Tel: 604-507-3377
Email: nancy@grizzlydiscoveries.com

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.

Caution concerning forward-looking information

This press release contains “forward-looking information” and “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. This information and statements address future activities, events, plans, developments and projections. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information and statements are frequently identified by words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “expect,” “believe,” “estimate,” “intend” and similar terminology, and reflect assumptions, estimates, opinions and analysis made by management of Grizzly in light of its experience, current conditions, expectations of future developments and other factors which it believes to be reasonable and relevant. Forward-looking information and statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause Grizzly’s actual results, performance and achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information and statements and accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed thereon.

Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to vary include but are not limited to the availability of financing; fluctuations in commodity prices; changes to and compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including environmental laws and obtaining requisite permits; political, economic and other risks; as well as other risks and uncertainties which are more fully described in our annual and quarterly Management’s Discussion and Analysis and in other filings made by us with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available at www.sedarplus.ca. Grizzly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements except as may be required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/285545

Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – February 26, 2026) – Riverside Resources Inc. (TSXV: RRI) (OTCQB: RVSDF) (FSE: 5YY0) (“Riverside” or the “Company“), is pleased to announce early 2026 assay and porphyry Cu exploration results at the 100%-owned Ariel Copper Project (the “Ariel Project” or “Ariel”) in Sonora, Mexico. Ariel is a drill-permitted, district-scale porphyry copper-gold set of targets located approximately 18 km east-southeast of the La Caridad copper mining complex in the highly productive Laramide-age Arizona-Sonora copper mining belt.

2026 Exploration Highlights

• High-grade base metals with 5.4% Pb, 320 g/t Ag in veins both as targets and high-level, lateral indicators for the Ariel Porphyry Cu target
• Sampling of veins in the north as shown on maps and cross section below link for the upgrade porphyry Cu target linking Maria Luisa and Ariel targets
• Age dating at Ariel provides similar age to La Caridad and Cananea Mine host rocks further linking the geologic comparisons for the project to major copper districts
• Applying spectral mineral analysis (near-infrared/short-wave infrared methods) to map alteration minerals commonly associated with porphyry and high-sulphidation systems, including advanced argillic assemblages and breccia-related alteration styles documented at Ariel.
• Integrating mapping, alteration interpretation, and regional geophysical datasets to prioritize drill collars within permitted areas with full drive-up easy access.
• Riverside sees the project ready for partnering and moving ahead as it has multiple partnerships with diverse companies on the Riverside portfolio, Ariel is now ready for partnering and drilling toward making a major copper discovery.

Building on Riverside’s consolidation of the Ariel Project through acquisition of the adjacent Maria Luisa concessions, the Company has now conducted expanded early 2026 field work and has received high grade silver and lead samples from veins, porphyry style alterations, and turquoise mines that are all part of the advancing target definition work with detailed mapping, sampling, alteration mineral studies summarized in the graphics below. These high grades are significant because they are comparable to those seen in other major Arizona-Sonora mining camps, where early mining of silver veins later evolved into major copper discoveries at more than a dozen large mines, including Cananea, La Caridad, Bisbee, Resolution, Morenci, and Ray, to name a few.

“Riverside early 2026 field program at the Ariel and Maria Luisa mineral concessions now consolidated into a single, fully permitted drill-ready project area found high grade precious and base metals typical of the major copper mines in the region and now the targets at Ariel continue to improve as the Company derisks the project with systematic fieldwork to sharpen targeting and prepare it for partnering and immediate drilling,” said John-Mark Staude, CEO of Riverside Resources. “The combination of geologic mapping, geochemistry, alteration mineral studies, and integrated geophysics is providing stronger vectors into the most prospective zones. Ariel remains a compelling, undrilled copper district target in a premier belt, with excellent access, safety and infrastructure. The recent geochemistry continues to enhance the porphyry Cu target potential at Ariel.”

Exploration Work and Targeting Progress

Riverside has full mineral title for the Ariel property and has advanced copper exploration through database compilations, field mapping, sampling, remote sensing, mineral concession consolidation and regional geophysical data interpretation, leading to the definition of two principal porphyry target areas (Ariel and Maria Luisa). The project has seen limited to no historical drilling to Riverside’s knowledge, and the Company considers Ariel a high-quality, drill-stage copper district target with extensive exposed targets and additional areas masked by shallow post-mineral cover. The Project is available for partnership per the Company’s business model of project generation; however, the Company could choose to drill the project given the quality exploration district.

Project Highlights

• District-scale, consolidated footprint: Ariel totals 1,640 hectares (16 km²) across five fully titled concessions in good standing, including the Maria Luisa area, providing multiple priority target zones for drill testing.
• Two priority target styles defined: Ongoing work continues to refine (1) a porphyry copper target with near surface copper sulphides and oxides, and (2) an epithermal arget interpreted as the upper portion of a porphyry system, consistent with alteration, veining and breccia styles with walk up safe, easy access on private ranch land.
• Modern scientific exploration tools improving vectoring: Riverside is applying portable geochemical and mineralogical tools (including portable XRF and short-wave/infrared spectral mineral scanning) to distinguish vein and alteration assemblages and prioritize drill-ready areas.
• Strategically located in the Sonora, Mexico Laramide copper belt and less than 20km from the La Caridad Cu-Mo porphyry mining complex, with additional regional porphyry prospects in the district.
• Ariel is underlain by Late Cretaceous volcanic rocks of the Tarahumara Formation intruded by Paleocene (ca. 57 Ma) porphyritic intrusions comparable in age to regional porphyry mineralization events similar to many of the mines in the Arizona- Sonora Belt which includes over 10 significant copper operations.

2026 Sampling North Area – “Maria Luisa” Epithermal Target

New exploration geochemistry results from the early 2026 program for the Maria Luisa part of the Ariel Project have high grade Ag and Pb typical of lateral expressions of porphyry copper like those in Arizona at Resolution, Globe-Miami and Bingham in Utah. Here, silver values reach up to >10 oz/t Ag and Pb values reach up to 5.4%, along with gold anomalies of up to 0.4 g/t Au, as shown in the Table, Summary Map, and Cross Section figures in this news release. The sampling showed multiple sets of parallel veining consistent with what is common in major copper districts. Chip samples ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 m were taken by cutting the veins perpendicularly. Some select sample results include:

Sample Number	Assays
RRI-12911	0.42 g/t Au, 0.07%Pb
RRI-12912	1.36% Pb, 0.36 g/t Au,
RRI-12913	3.14% Pb, 0.14% Zn
RRI-12914	1.03% Pb
RRI-12918	138 g/t Ag, 5.39% Pb, 0.34 g/t Au
RRI-1412	225 g/t Ag
RRI-1419	320 g/t Ag
RRI-1425	161 g/t Ag
RRI-1545	200 g/t Ag, 0.657 g/t Au, 1% Pb
RRI-11122	0.5 g/t Au, 0.131% Pb

Table 1. Highlights of rock sampling in the northern zone of the Ariel project at Maria Luisa target with high silver and lead typical of the Arizona Sonora major copper operating districts by Riverside.

Figure 1. Drone photo looking NNE up the cross-section line from Ariel porphyry in the south toward the yellow loop and the Maria Luisa epithermal shown in blue loop in the north with epithermal Ag-Pb veins and overall distal parts of the drill ready porphyry target.

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Figure 2: Map of the rock chip assays and sampling locations of recent results and other Riverside assay exploration data with expanded area showing some detail of the Maria Luisa high grade veins. Rock chip geochemical samples collected in 2026 (red) and similar results from previous sampling (yellow) part of epithermal target in the north and porphyry copper target of Ariel in the south.

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Figure 3. Schematic section showing copper porphyry in red and epithermal in yellow cross hatch color to the north and over top with assays of >5% Pb and >130 gpt Ag typical for the high sulfidation veins potentially emanating from a related porphyry copper

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QA – QC, Sampling Management

Rock chip sampling at Ariel was taken generally of 1.5m chip channel and select pieces of rock materials from outcrops. Samples were then shipped for analysis by ACT Labs in Zacatecas, Mexico. Samples were analyzed for by gold fire assay, with pulps analyzed with Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mas Spectrometry (“ICP-MS”) following four-acid digestion to determine silver, base metals, and pathfinders. Samples were maintained in chain of custody being delivered to the laboratory in sealed bags. Standards and blanks were inserted every 20 samples and the laboratory also did duplicates every 20 samples as additional check on the quality control. The QA/QC was analyzed with a check for any variations in the standards beyond 2 standard deviations and the standards passed. Historic samples were analyzed using the same procedures with samples delivered to Bureau Veritas (Hermosillo, Sonora) for gold fire assay, with pulps forwarded to Vancouver, Canada for Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mas Spectrometry (“ICP-MS”) following four-acid digestion to determine silver, base metals, and pathfinders.

Qualified Person

The technical content of the news release has been reviewed and approved by Freeman Smith, P.Geo. (British Columbia), a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 who is non-independent and the Vice President Exploration for the Company.

About Riverside Resources Inc.:

Riverside is a well-funded exploration company driven by value generation and discovery. The Company has a strong balance sheet with over C$5,000,000 cash, no debt and tight share structure with a strong portfolio of gold-silver, copper, and REE assets and royalties in North America. Further information about Riverside is available on the Company’s website at www.rivres.com.

ON BEHALF OF RIVERSIDE RESOURCES INC.

“John-Mark Staude”

Dr. John-Mark Staude, President & CEO

For additional information contact:

John-Mark Staude President, CEO Riverside Resources Inc. info@rivres.com Phone: (778) 327-6671 Fax: (778) 327-6675 Web: www.rivres.com

Eric Negraeff Investor Relations Riverside Resources Inc. Phone: (778) 327-6671 TF: (877) RIV-RES1 Web: www.rivres.com

Certain statements in this press release may be considered forward-looking information. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology (e.g., “expect”,” estimates”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “plans”). Such information involves known and unknown risks — including the availability of funds, the results of financing and exploration activities, the interpretation of exploration results and other geological data, or unanticipated costs and expenses and other risks identified by Riverside in its public securities filings that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.

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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/285478

Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – February 23, 2026) – West Point Gold Corp. (TSXV: WPG) (OTCQB: WPGCF) (FSE: LRA0) (“West Point Gold” or the “Company“) is pleased to announce that it has been recognized as a 2026 Top 50 Company by the TSX Venture Exchange (“TSXV”).

The TSX Venture 50™ is an annual ranking of the top performing companies from the past year on TSXV based on three equally weighted criteria: market capitalization growth, share price appreciation and trading value. The TSX Venture 50™ showcases the top 50 of the over 1,600 TSXV issuers.

“We are honoured to be recognized as a member of the 2026 TSX Venture 50™. This recognition reflects the hard work of the team and West Point Gold, which resulted in strong share price performance in 2025. Following the completion of our recent financing, we are well-funded to continue creating value for shareholders in 2026. We thank our shareholders for their ongoing support, and hope to connect with many of them at upcoming events.”

Over the past year, the Company has advanced exploration and technical programs at its flagship Gold Chain project in Arizona, and acquired the Baxter Spring property, expanding its Nevada portfolio. West Point Gold remains focused on operational discipline and building lasting shareholder value.

Upcoming Events
West Point Gold is pleased to be attending the Red Cloud Pre-PDAC event on February 26^th – 27^th, exhibiting at the Metal Investors Forum (“MIF”) — Toronto, on February 27^th – 28^th, and will be exhibiting at the Prospector’s and Developers International Convention (“PDAC”) being held March 1^st – 4^th, 2026 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (“MTCC”) in Toronto, Canada.

February 26 – 27 – Red Cloud Pre-PDAC
West Point will attend the conference at The OMNI King Edward Hotel, and CEO and President Derek Macpherson is scheduled to present from 4:00-4:20 PM in Vanity Fair on Thursday, February 26^th. For more information about the event and registration, please visit the Red Cloud website.

February 27 – 28 MIF Toronto
West Point will be exhibiting at the conference held at the Delta Hotel, where CEO and President Derek Macpherson is scheduled to present at 3:10 PM on Saturday, February 28^th. For more information about the event and registration, please visit the MIF website.

March 1 – 4 PDAC Booth Location
West Point Gold will be exhibiting at booth 3005 in the Investors Exchange located in the MTCC South Building, Level 800. For more information about PDAC and registration, please visit the PDAC website.

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About West Point Gold Corp.
West Point Gold is an exploration and development company focused on unlocking value across four strategically located projects along the prolific Walker Lane Trend in Nevada and Arizona, USA, providing shareholders with exposure to multiple discovery opportunities across one of North America’s most productive gold regions. The Company’s near-term priority is advancing its flagship Gold Chain Project in Arizona.

For further information regarding this press release, please contact:

Aaron Paterson, Corporate Communications Manager
Phone: +1 (778) 358-6173
Email: info@westpointgold.com

Stay Connected with Us:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/west-point-gold
X (Twitter): westpointgoldUS
Facebook: facebook.com/Westpointgold/
Website: westpointgold.com/

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance and the proposed Offering. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company’s private placement, future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. The use of any of the words “could”, “intend”, “expect”, “believe”, “will”, “projected”, “estimated” and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company’s current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events including, among others, assumptions about future prices of gold, silver, and other metal prices, currency exchange rates and interest rates, favourable operating conditions, political stability, obtaining government approvals and financing on time, obtaining renewals for existing licenses and permits and obtaining required licenses and permits, labour stability, stability in market conditions, availability of equipment, availability of drill rigs, and anticipated costs and expenditures. The Company cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company’s control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the Company’s ability to complete any payments or expenditures required under the Company’s various option agreements for its projects; and other risks and uncertainties relating to the actual results of current exploration activities, the uncertainties related to resources estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and projections in relation to production, costs and expenses; risks relating to grade and continuity of mineral deposits; the uncertainties involved in interpreting drill results and other exploration data; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities; uncertainty related to the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results may vary from those expected; statements about expected results of operations, royalties, cash flows, financial position may not be consistent with the Company’s expectations due to accidents, equipment breakdowns, title and permitting matters, labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties with or interruptions in operations, fluctuating metal prices, unanticipated costs and expenses, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future and regulatory restrictions, including environmental regulatory restrictions. The possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with adjacent properties and the Company’s expectations; operational risks and hazards inherent with the business of mining (including environmental accidents and hazards, industrial accidents, equipment breakdown, unusual or unexpected geological or structural formations, cave-ins, flooding and severe weather); metal price fluctuations; environmental and regulatory requirements; availability of permits, failure to convert estimated mineral resources to reserves; the inability to complete a feasibility study which recommends a production decision; the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results; fluctuating gold prices; possibility of equipment breakdowns and delays, exploration cost overruns, availability of capital and financing, general economic, political risks, market or business conditions, regulatory changes, timeliness of government or regulatory approvals and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, and those risks set out in the filings on SEDAR+ made by the Company with securities regulators. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this corporate press release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities legislation.

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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/284850

Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – February 19, 2026) – West Point Gold Corp. (TSXV: WPG) (OTCQB: WPGCF) (FSE: LRA0) (“West Point Gold” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced “commercially reasonable efforts” private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately C$25 million (the “Offering”) for 22,727,300 common shares (the “Shares”) at an issue price of C$1.10 per Share (the “Issue Price”) with SCP Resource Finance LP, as lead agent, together with ATB Cormark Capital Markets, Red Cloud Securities Inc., Paradigm Capital Inc. and Canaccord Genuity Inc. (collectively, the “Agents”).

As consideration for their services, the Agents received an aggregate cash commission of C$837,470, which is equal to 5% of the gross proceeds of the Offering, other than Shares sold to purchasers on the Company President’s List, which were subject to a reduced cash commission of 2%. Each of SCP Resource Finance LP and Red Cloud Securities Inc. elected to receive 50% of their cash commission in Shares, representing 264,162 Shares at the Issue Price (“Agent Option Shares“). The Agents were also paid an advisory fee of C$34,741. As additional consideration for their services, the Agents were also issued 1,045,456 broker warrants (“Broker Warrants“) equal to 5% of Shares sold, except that no broker warrants were issued for Shares sold to purchasers on the President’s List. Each Broker Warrant issued is exercisable to purchase one Share at the Issue Price until February 19, 2028 (“Broker Warrant Shares“).

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering for exploration and advancement of the Company’s Gold Chain Project in Arizona, USA, and for general corporate and working capital purposes.

All Shares, including the Agent Option Shares, and Broker Warrants and Broker Warrant Shares issued under the Offering are subject to a statutory hold period in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws, expiring June 20, 2026. The Offering remains subject to the final acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Directors of the Company including Andrew Bowering, Anthony Paterson and Conrad Nest participated in the Offering and acquired 659,600 Shares for C$725,560. The participation of these insiders in the Offering constitutes a Related Party Transaction within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (“MI 61-101“). The board of directors of the Company, with Messrs. Bowering, Paterson and Nest abstaining, determined that the transaction is exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements based on the exemptions contained in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 for the related party transaction, as neither the fair market value of securities issued to the insiders nor the consideration paid by the insiders exceeded 25 percent of the Company’s market capitalization. The Company did not file a material change report in respect of the transaction 21 days in advance of the closing of the Offering because insider participation had not previously been confirmed and the shorter period was necessary in order to permit the Company to close the Offering in a timeframe consistent with usual market practice for transactions of this nature.

About West Point Gold Corp.
West Point Gold Corp. (formerly Gold79 Mines Ltd.) is a publicly listed company focused on gold discovery and development at four prolific Walker Lane Trend projects covering Nevada and Arizona, USA. West Point Gold is focused on developing a maiden resource at its Gold Chain project in Arizona, while JV partner Kinross is advancing the Jefferson Canyon project in Nevada.

For further information regarding this press release, please contact:
Aaron Paterson, Corporate Communications Manager
Phone: +1 (778) 358-6173
Email: info@westpointgold.com

Stay Connected with Us:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/west-point-gold
X (Twitter): @westpointgoldUS
Facebook: facebook.com/Westpointgold/
Website: westpointgold.com/

looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities legislation.

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.

Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States. Not an offer of securities for sale in the United States.

Source: West Point Gold Corp.

Tokenization Was Supposed to Stop Fraud. It Didn’t. Here’s Why.

For the last decade, tokenization has been the “big fix” everyone was promised.

One legacy card rail has issued more than 10 billion tokens. Another states, of its ~5 billion tokens issued, one in four of its transactions is now tokenized and growing. Analysts project that more than 80% of global ecommerce will be tokenized within a few years.

And tokenization delivered real gains. Breach liability shifted away from merchants. PANs stopped sitting in databases where they didn’t belong.

Defenders will point to lower fraud rates on tokenized transactions – and they’re right. But when absolute fraud dollars keep climbing year after year, “less bad” isn’t good enough.

But here’s the problem: fraud keeps climbing.

U.S. card fraud hit $14.3B last year, up from $13.6B the year before.
In the U.S., card-not-present fraud – where tokenization was supposed to help most – now represents 65–70% of all fraud losses. Roughly $10B a year.

During Cyber 5 alone, over 4% of ecommerce transactions were flagged as suspected fraud attempts. And for guest checkout – nearly half of all e-commerce – tokenization doesn’t even apply. The PAN still travels in the clear.

So if token adoption is exploding…why isn’t fraud collapsing?

Because tokens didn’t remove the problem.

They relocated it. A token is still a credential – a value that exists, travels, and can be intercepted or replayed. It still maps back to a PAN – and every system that touches that mapping becomes an attack surface.

Tokens don’t expire in any meaningful way. They sit in merchant systems for months, years – persistent targets waiting to be found.

When attackers find the seams – replay vulnerabilities, wallet provisioning exploits, fallback-to-PAN routing – the fraud vector reopens. Tokenization reduces certain categories of fraud.

But it doesn’t address the root cause:
We still move reusable credentials through the system.

Attackers don’t care whether the credential is a PAN, a token, or a session key. If it works tomorrow, it’s worth stealing today.

That’s why even as tokenization expands, the U.S. remains the global outlier – 25% of global card volume, but 42% of global fraud.

You still pay the price: time lost, accounts frozen, funds drained through a system that was never designed for today’s attack surface.

Tokenization wasn’t a breakthrough. It was a bandaid for decades of payment infrastructure debt – a failure of imagination dressed up as innovation.
It solved the edges. It never solved the architecture.

And it was built for a world before quantum computing and effective artificial intelligence. That world is ending faster than legacy networks or merchants can keep up.

The real question was never “How do we protect credentials?”

It was: Why do credentials need to exist at all?

Next week: No PAN. No token. No problem.

Source: https://mica.io/perspectives