Canadian mineral explorers are unveiling their 2026 district-scale exploration strategies, including Zodiac Gold (TSX-V:ZAU) which has begun mobilising two diamond drill rigs at the Ben Ben target in Liberia.
The program will comprise up to 14,000m of drilling, set to kick off this month. The initial holes will target interpreted extensions beneath mineralised zones identified in trenching in 2025 and artisanal mining pits.
Zodiac Gold says drill targeting will be continuously refined as results are received, allowing the program to adapt dynamically as geological understanding improves.
Drilling at Ben Ben, located within the flagship Todi Gold Project, represents the next phase in Zodiac’s systematic evaluation of the 16km gold-in-soil anomaly extending from the Arthington discovery eastwater to Youth Camp.
The company’s 2026 exploration program is focused on demonstrating continuity and scale along the Ben Ben-Youth Camp trend, while simultaneously advancing additional regional targets across its broader land package.
Trenching, geophysics, and surface geochemical sampling will also be conducted within the Todi Project.
Taking an ‘exciting’ step forward
Pan American Energy (CSE:PNRG) has selected primary contractors to support execution of its winter drilling program at the Tharsis Project in the Northwest Territories.
Critical Discoveries has been engaged to provide the drill equipment and crew for the planned for diamond drilling, Heli-Fix has been engaged to provide fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter support for mobilisation and field logistics, and Discovery Mining Services has been engaged to provide camp services and expediting support.
The planned drill program is intended to provide the first direct subsurface test of a principal intrusive centre interpreted from geophysics, and to evaluate whether magnetic signatures correlate with carbonate bodies and potential associated rare earths and niobium mineralisation at depth.
CEO Adrian Lamoureux says this marks an “exciting” step forward as the company moves from surface work into drilling and begins testing the broader potential of the project.
The Tharsis Project has been advanced through geological mapping, high-resolution unmanned aerial vehicle magnetic surveying and sampling programs, together with ongoing refinement of the project-scale exploration model.
Testing a historical discovery
Meanwhile, Libra Energy Materials (CSE:LIBR) has mobilised to site for a maiden drill program at the Stimson Project in Ontario, Canada.
CEO Koby Kushner says an initial scout hole will test a historically unassayed hole which returned three intervals of potential spodumene, located proximal to the same geological subprovince boundary that hosts Power Metals’ (TSX-V:PWM) nearby Case Lake Project.
“With excellent infrastructure access, we expect the drill program to be a cost-effective way to quickly evaluate whether further work would be warranted at Stimson,” Kushner says.
The company will also evaluate the potential for pollucite, which is the main caesium-bearing mineral in lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites.
Stimson represents Libra’s newest acquisition within its Ontario portfolio.
Libra Energy Materials is a critical minerals explorer focused on its project portfolio in Ontario and Québec.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Zodiac Gold & Pan American Energy
