Axion Minerals Commences Phase 1 Exploration at Cranberry Creek

Axion launches Phase 1 drilling at Cranberry Creek, targeting high REE anomalies.

What the company is saying

Axion Minerals Corp. (CSE:AXN) has started its Phase 1 exploration at the Cranberry Creek REE Property, located 23 kilometres south of Revelstoke, British Columbia. The company frames this as a methodical follow-up to 2025 surface sampling, emphasizing that the current program is based on recommendations from an independent technical report dated June 3, 2026. The announcement highlights the use of portable backpack drilling to test locations with elevated 2025 rare earth element values, and details a multi-pronged approach including geological mapping, infill soil sampling, stream-sediment sampling, and ground geophysical surveys. CEO Christopher Hill is quoted to reinforce the focus on verifying high-priority targets and collecting data to inform future work. The company is transparent about the early stage of the project, explicitly stating that no mineral resource or reserve has been defined. Axion also discloses it holds an option to acquire a 100% interest in the 2,673.19-hectare property.

What the data suggests

The company has mobilized its field team as of October 10, 2026, with fieldwork expected to last 4–5 weeks, making results imminent. The 2025 exploration program collected 208 samples (86 rock, 110 soil, 12 stream-sediment), with rock samples returning total rare earth element values ranging from 15 ppm to over 5,700 ppm. The property covers 2,673.19 hectares across three contiguous claims in the Kamloops Mining Division. The technical report describes localized heavy rare earth and yttrium responses and elevated zirconium, but all results are from reconnaissance surface sampling. No subsurface continuity, grade, or thickness has been established, and no resource or reserve exists. The Phase 1 program is designed to gather shallow subsurface data to refine future targets, with no economic assessment or production scenario presented. Axion's option to acquire 100% of the property remains in place, but no details on exercise timing or cost are given. All technical information has been reviewed by a Qualified Person under NI 43-101.

Analysis

The announcement is factual and proportionate, describing the commencement of Phase 1 exploration at the Cranberry Creek REE Property. The language is measured, with no exaggerated claims about discovery, resource size, or economic potential. The release clearly states that no Mineral Resource or Reserve has been defined and that the current work is follow-up on prior surface sampling. Forward-looking statements are limited to operational next steps (fieldwork, sampling, analysis), all of which are routine and near-term. There is no mention of large capital outlays, production targets, or financial projections. The technical data disclosed (sample counts, assay ranges, program scope) is specific and appropriate for an early-stage exploration update. There is no evidence of narrative inflation or overstatement.

Risk flags

• ●There is no defined mineral resource or reserve at Cranberry Creek, meaning the project is still at a high-risk, early exploration stage; surface anomalies do not guarantee economic mineralization at depth.
• ●The current program's success depends on the ability to verify and extend surface REE anomalies through shallow drilling, but the limited scope and shallow nature of backpack drilling may not provide sufficient data to establish continuity or grade.
• ●Weather and logistical factors could delay or disrupt the fieldwork, as the company explicitly states completion is dependent on these variables; such delays could push back analysis and next steps.

Bottom line

Axion Minerals Corp. has begun its first subsurface exploration at Cranberry Creek, following up on promising 2025 surface results with a focused, short-duration field program. The technical data—sample counts, assay ranges, and property size—are specific and transparent, but the project remains at a very early stage with no resource, reserve, or economic assessment. The company's narrative is measured, with no overstatement of results or project potential. Investors should recognize that while initial fieldwork results are imminent, any pathway to value creation depends on successful follow-up, deeper drilling, and ultimately, resource definition. The most important takeaway is that Axion is moving methodically but remains years away from demonstrating economic viability at Cranberry Creek.

Announcement summary

(CSE:AXN) Axion Minerals Corp. has commenced its Phase 1 exploration program at the Cranberry Creek REE Property, located approximately 23 kilometres south of Revelstoke, British Columbia. The field team mobilized to the property on October 10, 2026, and expects to complete the fieldwork portion in 4-5 weeks, depending on weather and logistics. The Phase 1 program is based on recommendations from the Independent Technical Report on the Cranberry Creek REE Property, effective June 3, 2026. Initial fieldwork is focused on verifying and following up priority targets identified from the 2025 exploration program. Axion plans to test a limited number of selected locations associated with higher 2025 REE values using a portable backpack drill to collect shallow subsurface material for geological logging and analysis. The November 2025 exploration program included prospecting, geological mapping, ground and airborne geophysical surveys, and the collection of 208 samples: 86 rock, 110 soil, and 12 stream-sediment samples, including field duplicates. Rock samples from 2025 returned total rare earth element (TREE) values ranging from approximately 15 ppm to more than 5,700 ppm. The report also describes localized heavy rare earth element and yttrium responses, as well as locally elevated zirconium values. The 2025 results are reconnaissance surface-sampling results and are being used to guide follow-up exploration; they do not establish the source, subsurface grade, thickness, or continuity of any mineralization. No Mineral Resource or Mineral Reserve has been defined for the property. Phase 1 work includes detailed geological mapping and prospecting, follow-up rock and infill soil sampling, additional stream-sediment sampling in under-tested drainages of Cranberry Creek and Mulvehill Creek, and ground radiometric surveying. Ground magnetic and/or VLF-EM surveys may also be completed over selected target corridors. Axion will integrate geological, geochemical, and geophysical information to refine and rank targets for future work. Christopher Hill, Chief Executive Officer of Axion Minerals Corp., stated that the 2025 sampling outlined several locations that merit closer investigation and that the company is following up selected higher REE values with focused backpack drilling. The Cranberry Creek REE Property comprises three contiguous mineral claims covering approximately 2,673.19 hectares in the Kamloops Mining Division of British Columbia. The property is underlain principally by high-grade metamorphic rocks of the Monashee Complex, including muscovite- and biotite-rich gneiss, quartzite, and schist, with local granitic and pegmatitic intrusions. Axion holds an option to acquire a 100% interest in the property. The technical information in this release has been reviewed and approved by Afzaal Pirzada, P.Geo., a consultant to the company and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.

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