Mr. Caleb Stroup reports

HEADWATER GOLD PLANS DRILL PROGRAM WITH OCEANAGOLD AT JAKE CREEK PROJECT, NEVADA

Headwater Gold Inc. has received drill permits and is planning an initial drill program at its 100-per-cent-owned Jake Creek project in Nevada. The program is fully financed by OceanaGold Corp. (Toronto Stock Exchange: OGC, New York Stock Exchange: OGC) pursuant to the earn-in agreement announced Oct. 15, 2025, with drilling expected to commence in late May, 2026.

The program is anticipated to consist of approximately 3,500 metres of drilling in eight to 10 holes, utilizing a combination of reverse circulation (RC) and core drilling to test multiple high-priority target areas identified through the integration of geological mapping, geophysics, surface geochemistry and reanalysis of historical drilling data.

Highlights:

• Drill permits received: Permits have been approved for the initial program at Jake Creek with drilling expected to commence in late May, 2026.
• 3,500-metre drill program planned: The planned program consists of eight to 10 holes designed to test multiple high-priority targets across the property.
• Discovery corridor target: Core drilling will focus on the area of blind mineralization discovered by historical drilling which has not been adequately followed up.
• New target areas: The majority of drilling will test newly defined and untested targets, including Pete's vein and additional structurally controlled zones across the property.
• Expanded land position: An additional 23 claims have been staked, bringing the total to 212 claims across the district-scale opportunity.

Caleb Stroup, president and chief executive officer of the company, states: "We are excited to move Jake Creek into the drilling phase following completion of our initial targeting work and receipt of drill permits. Historic drilling demonstrated the presence of blind gold mineralization, but the structural framework controlling that mineralization was not understood and it was never adequately followed up. Over the past year we have focused on building that geological understanding through mapping, relogging, geochemistry and geophysics, and we are now in a position to test that model with drilling. The Discovery corridor is the highest-priority target, where we will use angled core holes to better understand the geometry of mineralization and test for feeder structures beneath the broad zone intersected in historical drilling. The majority of the drill program will be testing new targets that have seen no historical drilling. We view Jake Creek as a district-scale epithermal system with multiple opportunities for discovery and this initial program is designed to begin systematically testing that potential."

2026 Jake Creek drill program

The initial drill program at Jake Creek represents the first systematic drill campaign focused on epithermal gold mineralization and is designed to test multiple high-priority targets across the property.

A portion of the program will focus on the Discovery corridor, where historical drilling intersected broad zones of gold mineralization at the Tertiary unconformity, including 11.30 grams per tonne Au (gold) over 1.53 metres within a broader interval of 45.73 m grading 0.98 g/t Au (hole JC-005 1). This mineralization was not adequately followed up, and the current program integrates new geological and geophysical data sets to guide targeted core drilling of this zone.

West-directed angled core holes will be drilled in this area to better define the geometry of mineralization and test for potential feeder structures beneath or adjacent to the known mineralized zone.

The majority of the planned drilling will be directed toward newly defined target areas across the broader land package. These include Pete's vein, a zone of outcropping high-level epithermal quartz veining identified through recent mapping in the northern portion of the project, as well as several additional structurally controlled targets defined through geologic mapping, soil geochemistry and geophysical surveys.

In total, the program is expected to test approximately five target areas distributed across the property, reflecting the emerging view that Jake Creek represents a district-scale epithermal system rather than a single isolated occurrence.

Final drill targeting is under way, with drilling expected to commence in late May, 2026.

Targeting and exploration model

Headwater's recent work has significantly improved the understanding of the geological and structural framework at Jake Creek. Integration of detailed geological mapping, relogging of historical RC drill chips, soil geochemistry and CSAMT, and gravity geophysics has defined a series of structurally controlled target zones aligned along the western margin of the Northern Nevada Rift.

These data sets indicate that mineralization is associated with a broader epithermal system developed along a network of northwest- and northeast-trending structures. The Discovery corridor represents the most advanced target within this system, while Pete's vein and additional targets provide opportunities to test new, undrilled structures across the full extent of the project.

About the Jake Creek project

The Jake Creek project is 100 per cent owned by Headwater and consists of 212 unpatented lode mining claims on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land in Humboldt county, Nevada, located 65 kilometres northwest of Winnemucca and eight km east of the Nevada Gold Mines' Turquoise Ridge mine complex. A portion of the project is subject to a 1-per-cent NSR (net smelter return), half of which can be purchased for $1-million at any time. For further information see Headwater news release dated March 3, 2025.

The project covers 2,400 acres (1,000 hectares) on the western margin of the Northern Nevada Rift, a north-northwest-trending structural corridor known for hosting significant precious metal mineralization including Hecla's past-producing Midas mine and Hollister mine. The geology is dominated by mid-Miocene bimodal volcanic rocks, including rhyolite to dacite flows and welded tuffs, unconformably overlying Paleozoic sedimentary rocks at depths of 50 to 300 m.

Historic drilling by Evolving Gold Corp. in 2010 and 2011 (13 RC holes total) intersected widespread epithermal mineralization at the Tertiary unconformity, with notable intercepts such as 11.3 g/t Au over 1.52 m within 45.72 m grading 0.98 g/t Au from 210.3 m in hole JC-005. This mineralization, associated with silicification, clay alteration and banded quartz veining, suggests a robust low-sulphidation epithermal system with potential for high-grade feeder zones at depth or along strike.

About Headwater Gold Inc.

Headwater Gold is a technically driven mineral exploration company focused on exploring for and discovering high-grade precious metal deposits in the Western United States. Headwater is actively exploring one of the world's most well-endowed, mining-friendly jurisdictions, with a goal of making world-class precious metal discoveries. The company has a large portfolio of epithermal vein exploration projects and a technical team with diverse experience in capital markets and major mining companies. Headwater is systematically drill testing several projects in Nevada and has strategic earn-in agreements with OceanaGold Corp. on its TJ, Jake Creek and Hot Creek projects, Newmont Corp. on its Spring Peak and Lodestar projects, and Centerra Gold Inc. on its Crane Creek project in Idaho. In August, 2022, and September, 2024, Newmont and Centerra acquired strategic equity interests in the company, further strengthening Headwater's exploration capabilities.

Qualified person

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Stephanie Grocke, PGeo (EGBC licence No. 58217), an independent qualified person (QP) as defined in National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

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