Blossom Gold receives Approval from the USBLM to initiate metallurgical, resource expansion and confirmation core drilling at the recently acquired Rosebud Project

Blossom Gold receives Approval from the USBLM to initiate metallurgical, resource expansion and confirmation core drilling at the recently acquired Rosebud Project

TORONTO, March 12, 2026 /CNW/ - Blossom Gold Inc. (formerly, 1290448 B.C. Ltd.) ("Blossom" or the "Company") (TSX: BGAU) is pleased to announce that Investmin Resources (Nevada) Inc., Blossom's wholly owned subsidiary, has received approval from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management ("USBLM" or "BLM") to begin work under the Notice of Intent ("NOI") filed with the BLM on February 12, 2026 for the initiation of core drilling and permitting evaluation for the recently acquired Rosebud Project ("Rosebud" or the "Project") in Pershing County, Nevada.

Blossom's planned disturbance under the NOI reflects the construction of 29 drill pads that will be used for both metallurgical sampling (8 PQ core holes) and resource drilling (HQ core) across the resource pit shell of its current 70.8 Mton inferred mineral resource, as well as along its margins, to expand the open pit resource and upgrade its resource classification. Additionally, these locations will be used to drill geotechnical, geochemical and hydrological holes in support of the Project's Plan of Operations, Environmental Impact Statement and Feasibility Study.

Earthworks associated with establishing a laydown area to support the drilling operations has begun and will be followed by the systematic construction of drill pads. Major Drilling has been contracted to provide services with four drill rigs for an expected 80,000 feet (24,384m) of core drilling. The first rig is expected to arrive, and the first metallurgical hole collared, the week of March 16th. The additional rigs will then arrive and be assigned zones to drill. All four rigs are expected to be in operation by mid-April with the entire drilling program expected to be completed by the end of Q2 2026.

Drill core will be transported approximately 45 miles to Blossom's core processing facility outside Winnemucca, Nevada for cleaning, photography, logging, cutting and sampling. Metallurgical samples will be cleaned, photographed, logged, and cut with ¼ kept for sample preparation and ¾ delivered to Kappes Cassiday Associates in Reno for bottle roll, column leaching, material characterization and environmental testing. All metallurgical holes are expected to be under leach in columns by the end of April 2026. Expansion and confirmation holes will be prepped, sampled and shipped to Reno and Elko, Nevada for assay and geochemical analysis. Geotechnical holes will be located to obtain the information necessary to meet the standards and requirements for permitting and Feasibility studies. All work will meet QA/QC standards under NI 43-101 for collection, preparation, transportation and sampling.

Rick Winters, Blossom Gold's CEO, commented, "Now is when the rubber hits the road and the truth sticks will soon be turning. Our core handling and preparation facilities are nearing completion outside Winnemucca. Geologists are arriving. Our earthworks contractor began mobilizing earlier this week in anticipation of the receipt of the NOI approval from the BLM. The focus of this +24,000m program is to meaningfully de-risk the Project.

First, we will address questions on leachability with over 1,100m of PQ core to be drilled in eight holes in all host rock types. Mineralization will be under leach in columns by the end of April. We will run bottles rolls in front of the columns to get initial indications of precious metals recovery in 30 to 45 days with the first 90 days of column results expected to begin in July and continue through the end of 2026. Second, we will look to focus on expansion of the existing 70.8 Mton inferred mineral resource by targeting areas obviously requiring greater sample density as well as gaps that become apparent when considering metal prices above US$2,500 and US$35/ounce for gold and silver, respectively. We expect to meaningfully expand our current open pit resource. Finally, we will take the lead of our permitting consultants to conduct the drilling necessary to collect the geotechnical, geochemical and hydrological samples required for the Plan of Operations, Environmental Impact Statement and Feasibility Study.

At Blossom Gold, our task is to: confirm, which we have done with the mineral resource estimation and will complete with our metallurgical testing program; expand, which we will do with over 22,000m of deposit expansion and confirmation drilling; optimize, which will begin with the opening, rehabilitation and establishment of drill stations underground the second half of 2026; and, develop, which drives our permitting efforts to allow construction to begin the second half of 2028 following feasibility, which is scheduled to begin Q1 2027. We are fully funded for the effort and more than excited to execute for the benefit of our shareholders."

About Blossom Gold Inc.

Blossom is a Canadian-based precious metals exploration and development company that recently began trading on the TSX under the symbol BGAU. Blossom acquired the Rosebud Project in connection with the TSX-listing and will be focused on the exploration and development of the project. The Rosebud Project includes the former Rosebud Mine, where mining was conducted from 1997 through 2000 by the Rosebud Mining Company, a Newmont-Hecla joint venture, using underground mining methods where the mine operated at a cut-off grade of approximately 0.2 opt Au (6.8 g/t Au), when gold prices ranged from US$250 to US$350/oz; with mined material truck-hauled approximately 120 miles to an existing Newmont oxide mill for processing.

The current vision for the Rosebud Project is to evaluate the remaining higher-grade mineralization and the surrounding larger volume of lower grade mineralization as a potential open pit mining operation with on-site, heap-leach processing and recovery of gold and silver. The Rosebud Project currently hosts an Inferred Mineral Resource of 70.755 million tons grading 0.68gAu/t (0.018opt Au) and 6.49gAg/t (0.189opt Ag) for 1.28 million ounces of gold and 13.4 million ounces of silver. The mineral resource estimate was open pit constrained using long term gold and silver prices of US$2,500 and US$35 per ounce, respectively. The deposit is open in all directions.

Further details on Blossom and the Rosebud Project, including the technical report titled "Mineral Resource Estimate for the Rosebud Property, Pershing County, NV, USA" by Northern Lights Mining LLC, with a report date of December 17, 2025 and an effective date of November 1, 2025, can be found under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com and the Company's website at www.blossomgold.com.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dino Titaro, P.Geo., a Director of Blossom who is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this news release constitute forward-looking information, including but not limited to statements regarding the Company's plans, prospects and business strategies, including the Company's timeline regarding permitting and commencing construction, and its vision regarding the Rosebud Project. Terminology such as "plan", "expect", "schedule", "estimate", "forecast", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "may" or "will" and similar expressions identify forward-looking information. By identifying such information in this manner, Blossom is alerting the reader that such information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Blossom to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, Blossom has made certain assumptions. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information are the following: the inability of Blossom to achieve any one or more of the key catalysts on the timeline expected, or at all, and any changes in the development of the business of Blossom, as well as those risk factors more generally set out in Blossom's AIF, which is available under Blossom's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein. Although Blossom believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is provided as of the date of this news release, and Blossom does not undertake to update any forward-looking information that is contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws.

SOURCE Blossom Gold Inc.