Mr. Stephen Stares reports

BENTON RESOURCES ACQUIRES STRATEGIC CLAIMS DIRECTLY ALONG STRIKE FROM EQUINOX GOLD'S VALENTINE GOLD MINE IN CENTRAL NEWFOUNDLAND

Benton Resources Inc. has staked four licences totalling 108 claim units directly along strike from Equinox Gold's Valentine gold mine, located in central Newfoundland, Canada. The company has also, subject to regulatory approval, executed a purchase agreement with Quest Inc., an arm's-length private company, for two licences encompassing 33 claim units, bringing its total Victoria Lake land package to 141 claims.

In accordance with the agreement, the company will pay Quest a one-time cash payment of $6,000 and issue 200,000 shares of the company for a 100-per-cent interest in Quest's claims. Quest will retain a 2-per-cent net smelter return (NSR), whereby Benton will have the right to buy back a 1-per-cent royalty for $1.5-million. In addition, the company has granted Quest a 0.25-per-cent NSR on three of the company's staked claims (licences 039488M, 039556M and 039560M) and on a portion of licence 039590M.

A detailed compilation by Benton, using first-derivative magnetics and historical assessment work filed with the government of Newfoundland, along with a public news release from Marathon Gold Corp. (see Marathon Gold's news release dated March 6, 2023), shows that the favourable trend and gold structures continue southwest toward Benton's new Victoria West project. In particular, a soil sampling program completed and released by Marathon Gold highlighted this favourable contact trend with highly anomalous gold values up to 169 parts per billion (ppb) gold (Au) in soils near the water's edge trending toward Benton's newly acquired claims.

Stephen Stares, company president and chief executive officer, commented: "This is yet another fantastic opportunity for Benton and its shareholders as it strategically complements our prospective gold and base metal project portfolio in Newfoundland, one of the world's top-ranked mining jurisdictions. We are pleased to have cost-effectively acquired an excellent land position directly along strike from one of Canada's newest and continually growing gold mines. These opportunities are rare and truly hold significant discovery potential. The company is currently looking at its options for drill targeting on the project."

Qualified person (QP)

Stephen House, PGeo, vice-president of exploration for Benton Resources, the qualified person under National Instrument 43-101, has approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this news release and prepared or supervised its preparation.

QA/QC (quality assurance/quality control) protocols

Core and rock samples, including standards, blanks and duplicates, are submitted to Eastern Analytical Ltd., Springdale, Nfld., for preparation and analysis. All samples were acquired by sawcut (channels/drill core), with one-half submitted for assay and one-half retained for reference, or hand (rocks) and delivered, by Benton personnel, in sealed bags, to the Springdale lab of Eastern Analytical, which is an accredited assay lab that conforms to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025. Samples are analyzed using Eastern's Au (fire assay) at 30 grams (g) plus ICP-34 method that delivers a 34-element package utilizing a 200-milligram (mg) subsample totally dissolved in four acids and analyzed by ICP-OES (inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy) analytical technique. Overlimits are analyzed with Eastern's atomic absorption method, using a 0.200 g to 2.00 g of sample, digested with three acids. All reported assays are uncut. Eastern Analytical achieved ISO 17025 accreditation in February, 2014. Grab samples are selective in nature and may not represent the average mineralization of a bedrock exposure.

About Benton Resources Inc.

Benton Resources is a well-financed mineral exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol BEX. Benton has a diversified, highly prospective property portfolio and holds large equity positions in other mining companies that are advancing high-quality assets. Whenever possible, Benton retains net smelter return (NSR) royalties with potential long-term cash flow.

Benton is focused on advancing its high-grade copper-gold Great Burnt project in central Newfoundland, which has a mineral resource estimate of 667,000 tonnes at 3.21 per cent copper (Cu) indicated and 482,000 at 2.35 per cent Cu inferred. The project has an excellent geological setting covering 25 kilometres of strike and boasts six known Cu-Au-Ag (copper-gold-silver) zones over 15 kilometres that are all open for expansion. Further potential for discovery is excellent given the extensive number of untested geophysical targets and Cu-Au soil anomalies. Phase 1 and phase 2 drill programs returned impressive results, including 25.42 metres of 5.51 per cent Cu, including 9.78 metres of 8.31 per cent Cu, and 1.00 metre of 12.70 per cent Cu. Drilling at the South Pond gold zone, approximately 7.5 kilometres north of the Great Burnt copper-gold zone, has confirmed a robust gold-mineralized system over 2.5 kilometres, with results of 74.20 metres of 1.43 grams per tonne (g/t) Au and 43.75 metres of 1.62 g/t Au, and is open for expansion in all directions.

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