# Equinox Gold Announces Significant New AI-Supported Gold Discovery 8 km from Valentine Mill and Additional High-Grade Gold Mineralization Outside of Resources at The Valentine Gold Mine, Canada *2026-02-02T06:30:00-05:00* Equinox Gold Announces Significant New AI-Supported Gold Discovery 8 km from Valentine Mill and Additional High-Grade Gold Mineralization Outside of Resources at The Valentine Gold Mine, Canada ## Highlight intercepts include 2.68 g/t gold over 32 metres, 22.10 g/t gold over 6.3 metres, 3.12 g/t gold over 63.9 metres, 7.50 g/t gold over 12.6 metres VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- **Equinox Gold Corp.**(TSX: EQX, NYSE American: EQX) (“Equinox Gold” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce new results from the 2025 diamond drill program at its Valentine Gold Mine (“Valentine”) located in Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada. Drilling has confirmed a **_new gold discovery_**– **_the Minotaur Zone _**– located 8 km northwest of the mill, and broad zones of high-grade. Drilling also encountered continuous gold mineralization in **_the Frank Zone_**, located along trend southwest of the existing Leprechaun open pit. These results further reinforce the Company’s confidence in the potential for new discoveries and resource expansion, underscoring the relatively untapped potential of the district (see previous news releases dated [November 25, 2024](https://www.equinoxgold.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20241124-Calibre-s-Valentine-Gold-Mine-Exploration-Drill-Results-News-Release-Final.pdf)and [February 11, 2025](https://www.equinoxgold.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20250210-Calibre-Valentine-Gold-Frank-Zone-Exploration-Drill-Results-News-Release-Final.pdf)). The 2026 exploration program is targeting approximately 100 km of drilling across the Valentine property, focusing on Frank, Minotaur, resource expansion and additional greenfield discoveries. **Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer of Equinox Gold commented:**“These latest drill results continue to strengthen our confidence in the scale and quality of the Valentine Gold District. At the Frank Zone, located outside of current Resources we are seeing consistent, high-grade gold mineralization over broad widths, supporting the potential for a new open pit capable of contributing to both production growth and mine life extension beyond the current 14-year mine plan. “Early drilling at the newly discovered Minotaur Zone also confirms that significant gold mineralization exists well outside the main Valentine Lake Shear Zone structure. Initial drilling in 2025 defined mineralization over a 700-metre strike length and remaining open in all directions, with step-outs suggesting the potential for the mineralized system to extend over approximately 2 km. While Minotaur exploration is still at an early stage, the presence of surface grab samples with visible gold grading as high at 650 g/t gold and multiple high-grade drill intercepts over meaningful widths underscores the broader, district-scale potential of the property. Given the significance of this new discovery, we are planning 15,000 – 20,000 m of drilling in the Minotaur Zone in 2026. “With less than 15% of the 320-square-kilometre Valentine land package explored to date, results from Frank, Minotaur and other emerging targets continue to demonstrate that Valentine has the potential to support long-term growth well beyond the current mine plan.” **Initial Drilling Highlights from newly discovered Minotaur Gold Zone include****1****:** - 2.68 grams per tonne gold (“g/t Au”) over 32 metres (“m”) and 2.67 g/t Au over 18 m (MT-25-011) – two separate zones - 5.74 g/t Au over 8 m, 1.22 g/t Au over 12 m and 2.03 g/t Au over 8 m (MT-25-019) – three separate zones - 1.78 g/t Au over 39 m (including 4.25 g/t Au over 11 m); 10.08 g/t Au over 1 m (MT-25-024) - 5.85 g/t Au over 3 m (MT-25-022) - 1.67 g/t Au over 7 m and 1.01 g/t Au over 14 m (MT-25-025) - 0.83 g/t Au over 16 m (MT-25-003) - 1.03 g/t Au over 13 m (MT-25-004) **Drill Highlights from Expanding Frank Gold Zone (Outside current Resources) include: ** - 22.10 g/t Au over 6.30 m estimated true width (“ETW”); 1.05 g/t Au over 26.1 m (FZ-25-082) - 3.12 g/t Au over 63.90 m ETW (FZ-25-095) - 7.50 g/t Au over 12.60 m ETW (FZ-25-083) - 1.06 g/t Au over 63.90 m ETW; 2.05 g/t Au over 18.90 m ETW; 10.64 g/t Au over 1.80 m ETW (FZ-25-074) - 2.10 g/t Au over 31.28 m ETW (FZ-23-019-EXT) - 16.45 g/t Au over 3.60 m ETW (FZ-25-085) - 3.56 g/t Au over 16.02 m ETW (FZ-25-084) - 2.36 g/t Au over 19.14 m ETW (FZ-25-100) - 1.13 g/t Au over 30.69 m ETW; 2.92 g/t Au over 11.88 m ETW (FZ-25-075) - 1.84 g/t Au over 21.84 m ETW (FZ-25-112) **Highlights from previously reported drilling at the Frank Zone include**: - 2.43 g/t Au over 172.80 m ETW (FZ-24-048) - 2.12 g/t Au over 95.40 m ETW (FZ-24-046) - 2.26 g/t Au over 78.32 m ETW (FZ-24-040) - 3.08 g/t Au over 48.23 m ETW (FZ-24-062) - At surface, 97.87 g/t Au over 3.89 m ETW; 1.62 g/t Au over 4