Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 20, 2026) - Gold Hart Copper Corp. (TSXV: HART) (the "Company", "Gold Hart", "Gold Hart Copper", or "HART") is pleased to provide an update in regards to its acquisition of Rhyolite Resources Ltd. and the concurrent financing.

Per the Company's prior announcement (Feb. 17, 2026), Gold Hart Copper signed an agreement to acquire Rhyolite Resources Ltd. concurrent to a financing of a minimum of $4-Million up to a maximum $10-Million. The Company currently intends to upsize this financing, and will likely close on approximately $10-Million up to a maximum of $15-Million, although there has been demand well in excess of that number.

Gold Hart Copper believes the upsized financing can significantly accelerate exploration at its portfolio of properties. Gold Hart is currently amongst the largest independent land owners surrounding major miners where the famous Maricunga Gold Belt meets the emerging Vicuña Copper Belt - with the Tolita, Toro, Zelma, Cachitos, and Casale Sur properties. Additionally, HART recently completed a roll-up of four historic assets on the Domeyko Fault System just west of Kinross' La Coipa Gold Mine, known as the Nessa Complex and comprised of four primary mining claims Nessa, Ringo, Manto Carolina, and Rebecca with high grades on surface and including 14 historic artisanal gold & copper mining pits.

Tolita - North of Lundin's Caserones and BHP-Filo-Lundin Vicuña Joint-Venture - Vicuña District
Tolita hosts a large 4.5km² IP anomaly, recently expanded 76% from the initial 2.4km² anomaly. In 3 historic shallow (200m) RC drill holes, Tolita was shown to have long intercepts of gold & copper in all 3 holes, including 150m & 164m of mineralization in the 2 better holes. Gold Hart added 2 diamond drill holes of approximately 600m each, confirming the presence of a porphyry system, and 360m and 231m of gold, copper, and molybdenum mineralization, respectively. Gold Hart is currently in the process of completing its deepest drill hole yet, expected to exceed 1km, and hopes to be in a position to announce completion of the hole in the coming days.

In addition to the encouraging drilling and large geophysical anomaly, Tolita has had 5,600m of trenching, including many intercepts of gold grades on surface. For example, 9 long trenches averaged 95m each with an average gold grade of 0.21g/t, including up to 1.71g/t gold. Tolita also hosts higher grades on surface, with up to 52g/t gold equivalent including 3.99% copper.

As prior announced, Gold Hart intends to add an additional drill rig at Tolita's highest-grade trench - with up to 52g/t gold equivalent including 3.99% copper on surface - within 10m of 8.61g/t gold. Gold Hart expects to have this drill rig on site by early March. This will be an RC drill rig to completement the diamond drill already on site. The objective of the RC campaign is to demonstrate higher grade pockets closer to surface, beyond the larger porphyry target being targeted with the diamond drill. Gold Hart owns Tolita with no royalties.

Gold Hart Vice President, Rodrigo Díaz Tillería (P.Geo), commented, "Our focus remains the large-scale porphyry potential of Tolita. But Tolita also offers the rare opportunity to target and hopefully prove a high-grade shallower component of the asset. In the Vicuña District where 1g/t gold on surface is rare, we have 52g/t gold and simply put we need to test it. RC drilling is significantly faster and cheaper, does not require water to operate, and is well suited to the characteristics of this target. Our current geological model assumes that this high-grade trench at Tolita may only be a fraction of the size of the larger system, but we do believe it hosts potential for generating higher grade intercepts close to surface and therefore potential to add high grade ounces, thereby demonstrating another facet to the Tolita asset." HART anticipates launching its RC drill campaign at this trench in early March.

Gold Hart recently hosted a site visit which included tours of the Tolita & Nessa assets. Gold Hart board and advisory board members including the honourable John R. Baird, Mark Kucher, and Aleta Shiff were also in attendance. In this 360-degree immersive video — which allows you to interactively toggle views — Gold Hart co-founder Jonathan Warner explains the diamond drilling process
https://cloud-va.insta360.com/share/va/374Q7q0e1K66213G4421719040 also accessible on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lw3fGWwQH2Q.

Gold Hart Copper - Portfolio of Assets in Vicuna and Domeyko

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Gold Hart - Tolita High Grade Gold Copper Trench On Large IP Anomaly

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Toro - Surrounded by Penoles & Fresnillo - Vicuña District
Toro had 6 holes drilled by a prior optionor, with all holes intercepting gold & silver. Toro is believed to have potential as a low to moderate sulfidation epithermal system. In contrast to the 2.5km length of the Tolita IP anomaly, Toro is 800m - 1km, so considerably smaller. However, the Company believes Toro has potential to be a standalone asset with potential for higher grade ounces relatively close to surface. The prior optionors did not have the benefit of the IP Survey and did not intercept the anomaly discovered by Gold Hart. With the additional funds on hand, Gold Hart is well positioned to add a drill rig at Toro. Gold Hart owns Toro with no royalties.

Zelma - Surrounded by Barrick & Newmont's Cerro Casale / Norte Abierto - Vicuña-Maricunga District
The Zelma Property is surrounded on all 4 sides by Barrick & Newmont's mega Norte Abierto JV containing 53-Million ounces of gold, 14-Billion pounds of copper, and 128-Million ounces of silver. Norte Abierto is widely considered the largest undeveloped gold-copper-silver asset on the continent. Zelma is a historic asset, formerly known as Lobas, hosting a unique aster anomaly, yet has only received one small preliminary geochemical survey conducted by Gold Hart, with the majority of samples taken containing anomalous values of gold, copper, or molybdenum. Gold Hart intends to utilize some of the additional funds for exploration at Zelma. Gold Hart owns Zelma with no royalties.

Casale Sur & Cachitos Properties - SW Corner of Barrick & Newmont's Cerro Casale / Norte Abierto - Vicuña-Maricunga District
Cachitos was personally staked by Gold Hart co-founder Dr. Frutos decades ago, after he was involved in the discovery of the adjacent Cerro Casale / Norte Abierto mega gold-copper-silver deposit. Cachitos was prior optioned for US$6.5-Million plus a royalty. Gold Hart owns Cachitos with no royalties. More recently, Gold Hart was able to add the Casale Sur claims adjacent to Cachitos via the Chilean government mining auction, significantly expanding the property size. Dr. Frutos believes there's potential for a porphyry under cover, and Casale Sur hosts an interesting aster anomaly. With the additional financing, Gold Hart will be well positioned to allocate a budget for exploration on these assets. Gold Hart owns Casale Sur with no royalties.

Gold Hart - Nessa - High Grades Copper Gold Surface

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Gold Hart - Nessa Gold Copper Complex Expansion 3.3X

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Gold Hart - Nessa Expansion - Copper Chunks

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Nessa Complex - S of Codelco's Portrerillos / El Salvador Copper Complex & W of Kinross' La Coipa Gold Mine - Domeyko Fault System

The Nessa properties (Nessa, Ringo, Manto Carolina, and Rebecca) sit on the renowned Domeyko Fault System of Chile, most famous for hosting the Escondida Copper Mine - now the largest copper mine in the world - which was first staked by Gold Hart co-founder Dr. Jose Frutos in the 1970s. Dr. Frutos recognized and personally staked some of the Nessa claims nearly two decades ago, due to the unique surface alteration - visible from satellite imagery - with high grades on surface and several historic mines which exploited gold, copper and silver at or near surface via pits and shallow tunnels. The historic mines coincide with a pervasive yet intense hydrothermal alteration (silicic-argillic to quartz-sericitic with abundant kaolin in the central part) with a halo of propilitic alteration in the periphery, with disseminated gold-copper-silver mineralization throughout.

Gold Hart recently expanded the Nessa property by 330% (3.3X) from an initial property size of 4,100Ha up to a current land position of 13,500Ha (135km²). The Nessa Complex is just south of the massive Codelco El Salvador - Portrerillos copper mining and smelting complex, one of the oldest copper smelting facilities in the country. Nessa is also surrounded by major miners Newmont, Solaris, JX Nippon, and Anglo American, and sits just northwest of Rio2's Fenix gold deposit and just west of Kinross' La Coipa gold mine. In addition to Escondida, the Domeyko Fault System is also home to Chiquicamata and Collahuasi, which are together three of the top five copper mines in Chile. More information about the Domeyko Fault System can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domeyko_Fault.

The Nessa properties were known to host 13 historic artisanal high-grade gold & copper pits, which were mined using mules due to lack of access. Additionally, historic geochemical surveys discovered high grades on surface for gold, copper, and silver, with samples up to 25g/t gold, 3.25% copper, 958g/t silver. However, the Company has now discovered additional copper showings on surface and historic mining pits, and now believes there may be other unknown targets on these assets. Gold Hart recently completed a follow-on geochemical survey and obtained additional high grade samples, including up to 9.7g/t gold, 968g/t silver, and several copper samples exceeding 5000ppm copper. The Company hopes to be in a position to report on the final copper values for those higher grade copper samples, in the coming days.

The Company believes there is potential to allocate funds from the current financing to the exploration and development of Nessa. Specifically, the Company is planning a 500-1,000 sample geochemical survey in the coming weeks, to be followed by trenching and geophysical surveys. Gold Hart hopes to have Nessa drill ready this year, and believes the property may be particularly amenable to shallower and cheaper RC drilling due to the shallow nature of the grades and historic mining pits encountered thus far. Gold Hart owns the Nessa Complex with no royalties.

Please visit the Gold Hart Copper YouTube channel for footage of the road construction and copper oxides at Nessa: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ax6fOStX72c.

Gold Hart - Nessa Expansion - Historic Mines

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Gold Hart - Nessa Expansion - Visible Copper Manto

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Gold Hart - Nessa Expansion - High Grades on Surface

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About Gold Hart Copper

Gold Hart Copper is one of the largest independent land owners surrounding major miners where the famous Maricunga Gold Belt meets the emerging Vicuña Copper Belt in Chile. HART is actively acquiring, exploring and developing its portfolio of gold, copper & silver properties adjacent to the largest gold and copper assets on the continent.

HART has rolled-up a portfolio of historically significant assets surrounding majors, in some cases personally staked by the very same geologists who made the adjacent mega-discoveries, since the early 1990s. Some of the Gold Hart properties have already undergone a first phase of drilling, with highly encouraging results of gold, copper, silver, and molybdenum. Gold Hart properties are controlled 100% and not subject to any royalties whatsoever.

HART believes it may be sitting on one of the only fully-preserved untested large-scale gold-copper-silver porphyry targets in the Vicuña District - an asset that was first recognized for its uniquely high grades of gold and copper on surface - and staked by one of the Maricunga-Vicuña district's pioneering geologists³ in 1993. Gold Hart Copper is fully funded for its planned drill campaign.

HART's team of geologists were personally involved in pioneering exploration in the region, leading to some of its greatest gold, copper, and silver deposits, and include the country's former Geological Survey National Deputy Manager Dr. Professor José Frutos. Specifically, senior Gold Hart geologists were personally involved in the Escondida copper discovery, now the largest copper mine in the world¹ controlled by Rio Tinto and BHP, as well as Cerro Casale, the largest gold-copper discovery in Chile² acquired by Barrick and Newmont (GoldCorp) with 59-million ounces of gold and 12.5-billion pounds of copper.

In addition to its large land position in the Vicuña District, Gold Hart recently acquired the Nessa properties just northwest on Chile's Paleocene-Eocene Belt on the famous Domeyko Fault System, which is home to some of Chile's largest gold, copper, and silver assets including Escondida, Chuquicamata and Collahuasi. The Nessa properties host several historic gold and copper artisanal mines with high grades of gold, copper, and silver on surface, with a large alteration and magnetic anomaly extending approximately 6km. Kinross' La Coipa Gold Mine sits just east of Nessa.

Gold Hart Copper - Upsizing of Financing

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About Gold Hart Copper's Tolita Gold-Copper-Molybdenum-Silver Target

The Tolita property is a historically significant gold-copper asset which was first recognized and staked in 1993 - by one of the pioneering geologists of the Maricunga-Vicuña district - for its uniquely high grades of gold and copper on surface³. Geochemical surveys revealed gold, copper, silver, and molybdenum anomalies, which led to trenching. Tolita has had significant trenching (5,600m / 5.6km) with the highest grade trench returning grades up to 52g/t gold equivalent including 4% copper. Tolita has undergone helicopter mag surveys which identified 4 unique anomalies as well³.

In 1996, a third party company optioned the property and drilled 3 short 200m RC holes, without any geophysics, and yet still hit gold and copper in all 3 holes, including long intercepts of gold and copper (150m and 164m, respectively) close to surface in 2 of the 3 holes. At the time, gold was approximately $300/oz and copper traded below $1.00/lb, and large scale sulphide porphyry deposits with both gold and copper were often considered less favorable than smaller scale gold-only oxide deposits. As a result, and due to general market sentiment for junior exploration companies in 1997-1998, Tolita was only drilled to a depth of 200m with 3 short RC holes (out of a planned 8 hole campaign)³.

When Gold Hart acquired the property, a full geophysical survey was conducted by a recognized geophysics firm, and a large high-chargeability and conductive anomaly was discovered that is near surface and almost 2.5km² in size and "interpreted as a copper-gold or gold-copper porphyry system that certainly warrants additional exploration and drilling⁴". Gold Hart Copper has therefore launched diamond drilling and is fully funded for this planned campaign.

Most recently (April-May 2025), the Company completed two holes of approximately 600m each, confirming that Tolita indeed hosts a fertile porphyry system. Gold Hart geologists observed early stage veining near surface, providing the first clear evidence of a porphyry related system within zones of moderate chargeability. The mineral intercepts occur within a multi-generation stockwork vein system hosted by a series of multi-phase porphyry intrusions. Multiple alteration types have been identified, overprinting the original potassic alteration of the porphyry system. At greater depth, the potassic alteration becomes increasingly dominant, accompanied by more intense and continuous veining across locally moderate to stronger chargeability amplitudes. The newly acquired geophysical data indicates that the system may even extend several hundred meters further at depth. Effectively, the Company, and various visiting geologists have all concluded the presence of a porphyry, and Gold Hart is now focused on exploration to find the richer grades and potential limits of the system. Please visit the Gold Hart Copper YouTube channel for footage regarding the mobilization and drill pad expansion: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/M5ovBFOgQTU.

About Tolita - Flagship Gold Copper Moly Silver Porphyry Target in Vicuña District - Diamond Drilling Program
Gold Hart geologists - including senior geologists Professor Dr. Jose Frutos, Enrique Viteri, Jonathan Warner, and Rodrigo Diaz Tillería - carefully designed a 10-hole drill plan in order to optimally test Tolita as a potential gold-copper-molybdenum-silver porphyry target. As prior announced, Gold Hart first attempted to drill target #1 known as DDHTOL01 in March of 2025, but after difficulties were encountered under tight time constraints, the team instead elected to drill DDHTOL02 and DDHTOL05. These holes were approximately 600m each and encountered approximately 360m and 230m of gold, copper, and moly porphyry mineralization, respectively. Now, Gold Hart is back to target #1 DDHTOL01 with a more powerful drill rig capable of reaching 1,100-1,200m.

Consequently, there await at least another seven highly attractive diamond drill targets identified across the asset area. These targets are supported by a combination of geophysical characteristics, including chargeability and conductivity, strong geological and structural controls as well as coincident geochemical anomalies.

Tolita is a very large target, with an original 2.5km² geophysical anomaly recently expanded by 76% to 4.5km².The Tolita gold soil sample geochemical surface halo (an approximation of gold on surface above 0.1g/t) alone is nearly 28Ha and the Tolita property is 3,476Ha equal to approximately 34.8km².

Furthermore, as recently confirmed in a follow-up geophysical survey, the Tolita geophysical anomaly expands in both size and intensity at depth, which could translate into an enlarging system at depth. Per the third party geophysicist who conducted the survey, "The vertical extent of the steeply dipping conductor that is likely related to a fault is better defined on the two new deep lines (2600N and 452200E). This surprised me, as I had expected resolution similar to the first lines. This would indicate to me, that the probable structure extends very deeply and has a strong contrast in resistivity with the host rock. Because it is conductive, it should act as good conduit for hydrothermal water flow, which should be good news for mineralization. There is confirmation that the alteration system extends to greater depth and may increase in intensity at depth as it is more conductive. Hopefully, the copper and gold grades would increase correspondingly as well."

Porphyry systems in Chile, and in the Vicuña District specifically, can prove larger and richer as they progress deeper. For example, in Chile, Atex Resources announced one of their most significant drill holes ever (ATXD25C) which graded 2.72% copper equivalent, beginning at 1,558m and ending at a depth of 1,722m. In the Vicuña District, NGEX published "DPDH028, the best hole drilled to date as Lunahuasi, which was drilled deeper and to the west of all previous holes", which included multiple highly compelling intercept including the deepest 53.5m (1,219.5m - 1,273.0m) grading 7.79% copper equivalent. In summary, the Company remains extremely optimistic about this drill hole DDHTOL01, in addition to the future diamond drill targets as well.

HART | Gold Hart Copper Corporation - Social Media Channels

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Qualified Person

The technical information contained in this news release related has been reviewed by Mr. Jonathan A. Warner, Executive Vice President of Gold Hart Copper and a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101.

References & Notes:

1. Escondida is the largest copper mine globally, as defined by producing the greatest number of copper tonnes per annum. Numbers sourced directly from property owner's website and public filings.
2. Norte Abierto is considered the largest gold asset in Chile as defined by hosting the largest number of total gold ounces. Numbers sourced directly from property owner's website and public filings.
3. Please refer to the Company's NI 43-101 Technical Report on Sedar for information pertaining to Gold Hart Copper's properties including historical exploration at Tolita, including but not limited to, the history of the asset and its original staking, geochemical surveys, trenching surveys, helicopter magnetic surveys, and historical RC drilling.
4. Geophysical survey is summarized in the Company's NI 43-101 Technical report available on Sedar. Such geophysical surveys are not definitive, and the results are still at an early stage of interpretation, with no guarantee of a mineral discovery.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves predictions, expectations, interpretations, beliefs, plans projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often, but not always, using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "interpreted", management's view", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "potential", "feasibility", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information and are intended to identify forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management, in light of management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, including, without limitation, assumptions about: the ability of exploration results, including drilling, to accurately predict mineralization; errors in geological modelling; insufficient data; equity and debt capital markets; future spot prices of copper and zinc; the timing and results of exploration and drilling programs; the accuracy of mineral resource estimates; production costs; political and regulatory stability; the receipt of governmental and third party approvals; licenses and permits being received on favourable terms; sustained labour stability; stability in financial and capital markets; availability of mining equipment and positive relations with local communities and groups. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information are set out in the Company's listing statement dated March 14, 2025, a copy of which is available on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) under the Company's issuer profile. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward- looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

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