VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 07, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Equity-Insider.com News Commentary — Half of every exploration dollar spent on the planet last year went to gold. That is not a typo. S&P Global's latest World Exploration Trends report shows global gold budgets surged 11% in 2025 to US$6.2 billion, a record share of all nonferrous spending^[1]. At the same time, the World Gold Council projects central banks will buy roughly 850 tonnes of bullion in 2026, extending a four-year sovereign accumulation streak that has quietly reset the price floor under the metal^[2]. Budgets are up, sovereign vaults are filling, and the capital is now rotating toward explorers with grade leverage and discovery-stage optionality: Golden Goose Resources (CSE:GGR) (OTCQB:GGRFF), Great Pacific Gold (TSXV:GPAC) (OTCQX:GPGCF), Luca Mining (TSXV:LUCA) (OTCQX:LUCMF), Gold X2 Mining (TSXV:AUXX) (OTCQB:GSHRF), and Nova Minerals (NASDAQ:NVA).

Goldman Sachs has lifted its year-end 2026 gold target to US$5,400 per ounce, citing intensifying private investor hedging and sustained central bank purchases averaging sixty tonnes per month^[3]. With major gold producers forecasting production declines and new discoveries taking more than a decade to reach commercial output, high-grade vein-hosted deposits represent the scarcest, most bankable ounces in a tightening supply pipeline^[4].

Golden Goose Resources (CSE:GGR) (OTCQB:GGRFF) recently kicked off the first phase of field work at its Gran Esperanza gold-silver project in Argentina's Río Negro Province. Geological crews are now on the ground, running systematic mapping and channel sampling across the 44,400-hectare property.

The target is an epithermal vein system, the type of geological structure behind many of the world's highest-grade gold deposits. Teams are sampling exposed quartz veins at roughly 50-metre intervals and mapping the structural geology within key mineralized corridors. The goal is to pin down where gold and silver grades are strongest and most consistent.

What makes this phase important is what it sets up. The data being collected is designed to build the technical case for diamond drilling, which is the step that moves an exploration property from "promising" to something that can carry a formal resource estimate. For a company at this stage, that is the milestone the market watches for.

The historical results explain why the ground work is worth doing. Channel samples from Gran Esperanza have returned 2.0 metres at 24.0 g/t gold, 5.0 metres at 13.1 g/t gold, and 1.3 metres at 11.5 g/t gold, with rock chips grading up to 24.4 g/t gold. A site visit back in December pulled a rock chip at 14.34 g/t gold. Previous work on the property totalled 30 trenches across 2,937 metres of exposed veins, 690 channel samples, and over 10 kilometres of mapped epithermal vein trend.

Location adds context. Gran Esperanza sits adjacent to a gold project currently being drilled by Southern Copper and near the Calcatreu Project, which is already in active development. That kind of neighbourhood confirms the broader district has attracted serious capital and serious operators.

"We are pleased to initiate this important phase of exploration at Gran Esperanza," said Dustin Nanos, CEO of Golden Goose. "This systematic program is designed to generate critical geological and geochemical data that will enhance our understanding of the scale and continuity of mineralization on the Property. Our objective is to methodically advance the Project and establish a strong technical foundation for additional programs including diamond drilling."

The property is accessible year-round and sits two kilometres from a highway, which keeps logistics simple and field costs predictable as the program scales. Beyond Gran Esperanza, GGR holds the Goldfire Property in Quebec near Gold Fields' Windfall Project, and a controlling interest in the El Quemado Project in Salta Province, Argentina.

CONTINUED… Read this and more news for Golden Goose Resources at:

https://equity-insider.com/2026/01/28/two-gold-projects-two-major-neighbors-what-does-this-junior-know-that-the-market-doesnt/

In other industry developments:

Great Pacific Gold (TSXV:GPAC) (OTCQX:GPGCF) recently reported strong drill results from the Kavasuki target at its flagship Wild Dog Project in Papua New Guinea, with hole KVH-03 intercepting 38.40 metres at 2.23 g/t AuEq from 12.3 metres, including a high-grade interval of 2.20 metres at 16.24 g/t AuEq. The results confirm continuity of near-surface mineralization approximately 1 km north of the Sinivit deposit along the Wild Dog structural corridor, supporting a coherent, structurally controlled epithermal system.

"Drill hole KVH-03 was designed as a confirmation hole and has successfully validated our revised structural interpretation at Kavasuki," said Callum Spink, Vice President Exploration of Great Pacific Gold. "The broad zone of mineralization intersected, with higher-grade internal zones, is consistent with what we saw in KVH-01 and confirms we are drilling within a coherent, structurally controlled epithermal system with strong continuity."

The follow-up hole KVH-04 intersected approximately 60 metres of silica flooding, quartz veining, and sulphide mineralization down-dip from KVH-03, with assays pending. Great Pacific Gold's 15-kilometre Wild Dog structural corridor hosts multiple epithermal and porphyry targets being systematically tested through the Company's active 2026 drilling program.

Luca Mining (TSXV:LUCA) (OTCQX:LUCMF) delivered high-grade drilling results from its Tahuehueto gold-silver mine in Durango, Mexico, intersecting 7.6 metres of 16.08 g/t gold equivalent within the Creston vein system, approximately 30 metres below active Level 23 workings. The intercepts exceed current mined grades and confirm strong continuity of breccia-hosted mineralization within development distance of existing underground infrastructure.

"These initial surface holes confirm that high-grade breccia zones within the Creston Vein system remain unmined below current workings," said Paul D. Gray, VP Exploration of Luca Mining. "The results validate our Tahuehueto geological model and highlight the opportunity to expand high-grade mineral resources within development distance of existing infrastructure. With both underground and surface rigs active, and an expanded drill budget, we are well positioned to continue defining high-grade mineralization and demonstrating the broader scale of the Tahuehueto system."

Encouraged by continued strong results, Luca Mining's board of directors approved a 40% increase to the Tahuehueto 2026 drill budget, raising total spending to $3.5 million. The property hosts more than 11 kilometres of prospective vein structures, compared to approximately 4.5 kilometres incorporated into the current mineral resource model, underscoring significant exploration upside.

Gold X2 Mining (TSXV:AUXX) (OTCQB:GSHRF) has delivered a compelling deep-drill result at its Moss Gold Project in Northwest Ontario, intercepting 117m of 1.21 g/t Au including 10m of 4.37 g/t Au within the QES Zone, 280 metres beneath the current pit shell. The headline hole also returned a near-surface Superion Zone intercept of 23m at 1.01 g/t Au, a zone not yet captured in the existing mineral resource estimate.

"The discovery of higher-grade mineralization 280 meters beneath the RPEEE pit represents a transformative development in our exploration process and growth trajectory of the project," said Michael Henrichsen, CEO of Gold X2. "Our team has worked very hard over the past year to advance our understanding of high-grade mineralization distribution within the deposit. This effort has yielded strong results, with our first drill hole confirming higher-grade mineralized shoots at depth."

Gold X2 Mining holds a total resource of 2.46 million ounces indicated and 4.21 million ounces inferred at the Moss deposit, underpinned by a completed PEA. Follow-up wedge holes targeting 50 to 100 metre step-outs will aim to define strike continuity and support a future underground mining study.

Nova Minerals (NASDAQ:NVA) has announced high-grade gold results from its 2025 surface sampling program at the RPM regional and ridgeline area of the Estelle Gold and Critical Minerals Project in Alaska's prolific Tintina Gold Belt, with rock samples grading as high as 24.6 g/t Au and soil samples peaking at 5.5 g/t Au. These results build on earlier reconnaissance that previously returned samples up to 52.3 g/t Au, collectively establishing the RPM ridgeline as a high-priority drill target for the company's 2026 program.

"Integrated geological, geochemical, and geophysical data, including initial interpretations from drone magnetometry 3D inversion processing all support a compelling drill target at the northern extension of the RPM ridge," said Hans Hoffman, General Manager and Geologist of Nova Minerals. "Drill testing of these anomalies is a high priority for our 2026 program, and given its strategic location along access routes to RPM, any success here has the potential to deliver substantial upside to the Estelle Project."

Beyond the RPM corridor, Nova Minerals is simultaneously advancing a newly identified large-scale gold-copper system at West Wing and progressing its critical minerals strategy, fully funded by a US$43.4 million U.S. Department of War award targeting domestic antimony production in late 2026 or 2027.

FURTHER READING: https://equity-insider.com/2026/01/28/two-gold-projects-two-major-neighbors-what-does-this-junior-know-that-the-market-doesnt/

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SOURCES:

https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/research/2026/03/world-exploration-trends-2026-what-the-latest-data-says-about-budgets-risk-appetite-and-the-project-pipeline
https://www.mining.com/central-banks-gold-buying-momentum-carries-into-2026/
https://capital.com/en-int/market-updates/gold-price-forecast-03-03-2026
https://www.gold.org/goldhub/gold-focus/2026/03/you-asked-we-answered-are-we-running-out-gold

High-Grade Gold Just Became the Scarcest Bet in Mining