Trident Resources Accelerates Winter Exploration Program with the Addition of a Third Drill Rig to the Contact Lake Gold Project in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada

Vancouver, BC, Feb. 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Trident Resources Corp. (TSXV: ROCK) (OTCQB: TRDTF) (“Trident” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that its Winter 2026 drilling program is being accelerated with the mobilization of a third drill rig. The Company is well funded and is highly encouraged with the visual indications of mineralization thus far in the winter program and has decided to add an additional rig to expedite and expand on the initial drilling plan. Trident intends to continue drilling throughout 2026 while also conducting extensive ground exploration through prospecting, geologic mapping and geochemical sampling across its properties in the La Ronge Gold Belt, which now total to over 130,000 hectares.

Trident’s Regional Project Location Map:
https://www.tridentresourcescorp.com/projects/contact-lake-gold-project/#&gid=1&pid=1

Jon Weisblatt, CEO of Trident, commented: "We are happy to report a third drill rig has been mobilized to the Contact Lake Gold Project to expand on our exploration plans in 2026. We felt this necessary as we are very pleased with the visual indications of mineralization early on in this winter program as we follow-up on high-grade drill results from last year as well as test new targets. We anticipate drilling between 30,000 and 40,000 metres at Contact this year representing one of the largest annual drill programs undertaken in the La Ronge Gold Belt in many decades.Thanks to the strength of our balance sheet, Trident is in the enviable position of being able to aggressively advance the Contact Lake project in 2026.With this drilling our goal is to discover new high-grade zones of gold mineralization, to increase the size of the current mineral resource and to follow-up on the previously reported high-grade drill intercepts from last year. We believe this approach provides the best opportunity to continue expanding the scale and quality of the project.”

Trident currently has two drill rigs operating at the past-producing Contact Lake mine site as part of a planned 10,000-metre winter phase of diamond drilling. The addition of a third rig is expected to increase drilling capacity and advance exploration timelines across the Company’s highly prospective land package. The third rig will initially be drilling in the Preview target area, located 2.5 kilometres east of the Contact Lake mine site and host to two deposits that have current NI43-101 compliant Mineral Resource Estimates. The Preview SW and Preview North deposits are part of the Preview trend, a 4-kilometre mineralized corridor hosted in a NE-trending shear zone that is parallel with the Bakos Shear, host to the Contact Lake mine gold mineralization.

Contact Lake Gold Property Map:
http://www.tridentresourcescorp.com/_resources/maps/contact-lake-property-map.jpg

Trident currently has over CAD $32 million in cash and marketable securities, which will be used to expand current gold resources and drill-test highly prospective exploration targets across the Contact Lake Property. The current drilling at Contact Lake will focus on extending high-grade mineralization toward the northeast and will test the BK3 zone, an area that hosts unmined historically defined high-grade gold resources. This drilling includes land-based holes following up on the high-grade zones discovered in the drilling in 2025, as well as drilling to the east on the lake to test zones that haven’t been drilled in almost thirty years.

Contact Lake Drill Collar Location Map:
https://www.tridentresourcescorp.com/_resources/images/Contact-Lake-Gold-Property-20260114.png

The Preview SW deposit, located 2.5 km southeast of the Contact Lake mine site, is hosted in multiple sub-parallel zones within sheared dioritic to gabbroic rocks. The current Mineral Resource Estimate, with an effective date of November 26^th, 2025, outlined 314,700 ounces of gold (Au) in the Indicated category, and 531,900 ounces Au in the Inferred category (see Table 1). The Preview North deposit is located 2.6 km northeast of Preview SW within a quartz-filled dilatant jog in a transpressional shear system that hosts both Preview deposits. Preview North hosts 40,800 ounces Au in the Indicated category and 7,400 ounces Au in the Inferred category (see Table 1). The planned Preview winter drill program will seek to expand the resources at Preview SW and Preview North as well as test several prospective targets along the Preview trend.

Contact Lake Gold Project Overview:

The Contact Lake Gold Project covers approximately 22,790 hectares and includes the past-producing Contact Lake gold mine, which produced approx. 190,000 ounces of gold at an average head grade of 6.16 g/t Au during active mining operations between 1994 to 1998. At the time of mine closure, the price of gold hovered around $300/oz (USD) and Cameco Corporation reported that substantial gold resources were left unmined. Situated in the highly prospective La Ronge Gold Belt of Saskatchewan, the Contact Lake Property also hosts the Preview SW, Preview North and the North Lake orogenic gold deposits. Along with the Greywacke North deposit (located 40km northeast of Contact Lake), these four deposits are wholly-owned by Trident Resources and host current Mineral Resource Estimates (see news release dated November 24^th, 2025) which does not include any ounces from the past producing Contact Lake target area.

Qualified Person:

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed and approved by Cornell McDowell, P.Geo., VP Exploration for Trident Resources and the Qualified Person for Trident as defined by NI 43-101.

About Trident Resources Corp.:

Trident Resources Corp. is a Canadian public mineral exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange focused on the development, exploration and acquisition of advanced-stage gold and copper exploration projects in Saskatchewan, Canada. The Company is aggressively advancing its 100% owned Contact Lake and Greywacke Lake projects which host significant historical gold resources located within the prospective and underexplored La Ronge Gold Belt, as well as the 100% owned Knife Lake copper project which contains a historical copper resource.

Trident Resources Corp.:

Jonathan Wiesblatt, Chief Executive Officer
Email: Jon.Wiesblatt@tridentresourcescorp.com

For further information contact myself or:
Andrew J. Ramcharan, PhD, P.Eng., Corporate Communications

Trident Resources Corp.
Telephone: 647-309-5130
Toll Free: 800-567-8181
Facsimile: 604-687-3119
www.tridentresourcescorp.com

NEITHER THE TSXV NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements.  Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, regulatory approvals, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedarplus.ca for further information.