Mr. Elmer Stewart reports

COPPER FOX COMMENCES PEA AND GROUNDWATER FLOW MODELING TO SUPPORT FUTURE PERMITTING AT VAN DYKE ISCR PROJECT

Through Copper Fox Metals Inc.'s wholly owned subsidiary Desert Fox Van Dyke Co., the company has provided an update on the planned preliminary economic assessment (PEA) and groundwater flow model on its 100-per-cent-owned Van Dyke in-situ copper recovery (ISCR) project located in the Globe-Miami mining district, Gila county, Arizona, approximately 90 miles east of the recently commissioned Florence Copper project.

The Van Dyke ISCR project is recognized as a potential near-term, mid-size, environmentally friendly, sustainable copper project with a 17-year mine life and a production capacity of 85 million pounds of Grade A 99.99-per-cent pure copper cathode per year. Based on the previous PEA completed in 2020 ("NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment Technical Report for the Van Dyke Copper Project", effective date Dec. 30, 2020, prepared by Susan C. Bird, MSc, PEng, Bob Lane, PGeo, and Tracey Meintjes, PEng, of Moose Mountain Technical Services, and Jim Norine, PE, of Ausenco Ltd.), the project is expected to provide approximately 500 direct and indirect jobs in the Miami-Globe area, inject approximately $1.07-billion (U.S.) into Arizona economies and contribute approximately $355-million (U.S.) in mineral, state and federal taxes over its mine life. The project has significant resource expansion potential and benefits from access to local infrastructure that includes a copper rod plant, highways, rail lines and electrical power.

Activities

• Preparation for the 2026 PEA has commenced and is estimated to cost $300,000.
• Preparation of a preliminary semi-regional 3-D numerical groundwater flow model is under way, results of which are expected to be included in the PEA.
• Daily collection of hydrogeological data and quarterly groundwater sampling from the existing four monitoring wells to augment the project's hydrogeological and water quality database and support future permitting is continuing.

Elmer B. Stewart, president and chief executive officer of Copper Fox, stated: "Our focus in the first half of 2026 is completion of an updated PEA. The PEA is focused on establishing the current technical understanding of the project, optimizing the 2025 PFS execution plan and outlining the environmental permitting required to complete activities identified in the PEA. The permitting for development stage projects includes an aquifer protection permit (APP) and underground injection control (UIC) permit and key steps in obtaining these permits includes developing a robust, calibrated hydrogeological model to demonstrate to stakeholders and regulatory agencies that the hydrogeology and groundwater quality of the project and area surrounding the project is well understood, potential impacts have been evaluated, and that appropriate monitoring and mitigation would be included in a future mine operating plan."

Updated PEA

Copper Fox has commissioned Moose Mountain Technical Services to prepare an updated PEA on the Van Dyke copper project in accordance with the Canadian disclosure requirements of National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards and Disclosures for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) and the requirements of Form 43-101F1.

Preliminary groundwater flow model

RGC Hydro Services LLC has been contracted to prepare a preliminary semi-regional 3-D numerical groundwater flow model for the Van Dyke project (and greater Miami area) using project and hydrogeological data from the area surrounding the project. Updating the model is planned as additional hydrogeological data becomes available.

The model is expected to locate hydrogeological and water quality monitoring wells in subsequent drilling programs and can be used to simulate mine development, predict hydrogeologic impacts, support the design and construction of monitoring and mitigation systems, placement of monitoring wells, and is expected to play a prominent role in a future permitting strategy. As the project advances, the model can be used as a tool for running operational scenarios, looking at well spacing, sweep efficiency estimations, well-field optimization, to characterize baseline groundwater conditions and define site-specific water quality conditions for permitting, such as alert levels (ALs) and aquifer quality limits (AQLs).

Modeling objectives

• Describe the extent of the local and regional groundwater systems around the Van Dyke deposit;
• Define the mine-scale geologic and structural controls that may bound and limit hydrogeologic interaction with the regional hydrologic system and define possible mechanisms for hydrologic interconnection;
• Predict local and broader scale hydrologic features that may potentially become impacted by the mine development and dewatering;
• Demonstrate with reasonable confidence the areas of the regional groundwater system that will be unimpacted by the mine project;
• Provide a preliminary basis for negotiating a reasonable hydrologic monitoring and mitigation plan as part of the future permitting process;
• Provide support for Arizona Department of Environmental quality aquifer protection and underground injection control permitting processes, as well as discussions with Pinal Creek Group and other stakeholders.

Qualified person

Elmer B. Stewart, MSc, PGeol, president and chief executive officer of Copper Fox, is the Company's non-independent, nominated qualified person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has reviewed and approves the scientific and technical information disclosed in this news release.

About Copper Fox Metals Inc.

Copper Fox is a Canadian resource company focused on copper development and exploration in the United States and Canada. Copper Fox and its subsidiaries own 100 per cent of the Van Dyke ISCR project, a development stage, potential near-term, mid-size copper mine in Arizona and a 25-per-cent interest in the Schaft Creek joint venture with Teck Resources Ltd. (75-per-cent interest and operator) which hosts the Schaft Creek copper-gold-molybdenum-silver project in British Columbia's Golden Triangle. In addition, Copper Fox owns 100 per cent of the resource stage Eaglehead polymetallic porphyry copper project in northwestern British Columbia and the Sombrero Butte and Mineral Mountain advanced exploration stage porphyry copper projects located in the prolific Laramide age copper province in Arizona.

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