Mr. Randy Buffington reports

NEVADA COPPER PROVIDES UPDATE ON PRODUCTION RESTART AT PUMPKIN HOLLOW AND IDENTIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL COPPER TARGETS

Nevada Copper Corp. has provided an update on restart and operational activities for its Pumpkin Hollow underground copper mine.

Randy Buffington, president and chief executive officer of Nevada Copper, stated: "Our Pumpkin Hollow team is focused on advancing the restart project quickly and safely. We are building on the momentum of the recent achievements by the underground crews as they have progressed through the dike structure and are advancing into the EN zone in anticipation of the underground development contractor arriving on site and commencing development. The technical and leadership teams are in place and committed to executing this restart plan. We are targeting a mill restart in the third quarter with a quick ramp-up to nameplate capacity by the end of 2023."

Production restart highlights:

• Clear line of site to full-scale production:
  • Simple and low-risk pathway to full-scale production established, comprising:
    • Phase 1 Q4 2022 to Q1 2023: Finalize dike crossings to access EN zone initial stoping area (complete), confirm all key technical hires for restart (complete) and award capital projects contract (complete);
    • Phase 2 Q2 2023: Prioritized development of higher-grade EN zone stope area;
    • Phase 3 Q3 to Q4 2023: Restart of proven mill, with surface and underground ore feed developed and short ramp-up to nameplate capacity.
• Phase 1 restart milestones achieved:
  • Development into the EN zone has demonstrated that rock quality is consistent with the company's geotechnical model, which predicted competent ground within the EN zone, and development is progressing at full round lengths and standard ground support;
  • Definition drilling and assaying of all initial EN zone stopes planned for extraction in 2023 is complete, representing approximately 210,000 tons of stope ore, providing significant visibility on quality and grade of ore feed;
  • Contract awarded for completion of capital projects to debottleneck restart of development and underground operations;
  • Development mining contract award well progressed;
  • All key technical positions in place, with substantially strengthened operational leadership team on site.
• Operations significantly derisked:
  • Completion of both critical dike headings, securing the underground mine with full access to the primary EN zone stope area. The third dike crossing is progressing well and, while it is not required to meet 2023 operating objectives, is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023;
  • Building planned surface stockpile of approximately 150,000 tons of run-of-mine ore ahead of mill start-up provides substantial operating buffer for milling operations;
  • Debottlenecking capital projects front-ended to provide additional operating flexibility.

Further details on production restart

Underground development proceeding as planned

The Nevada Copper operations team continues to make rapid progress on all underground activities, including mine development, hoisting, stope preparation and underground projects.

The historically reported dike crossings that provide initial stope top and bottom access into the EN zone were fully established and completed in December, 2022, and development is progressing toward stoping areas. Both key development drives that have crossed the dike have encountered ground conditions at or better than expectation, confirming the geotechnical model that predicted higher-quality rock. Definition drilling of the initial stopes to feed the restart of milling operations in Q3 2023 has been completed and assayed, and confirms rock quality, grade and geometry represented by the geologic and reserve models.

Underground development contractor update

The company has completed the bid process for the development mining contractor and is in the final stages of negotiations for a unit rate contract with an internationally recognized major mining services contractor.

Key components of the development contract include:

• 72,000 feet of lateral capital development over a 24-month contract period;
• Delivery of full development stopes by Q3 2023 to provide sufficient faces and stopes to restart and maintain nameplate milling operations (approximately 5,000 tonnes per day);
• Nevada Copper's operating team will perform all stope mining starting in Q3 2023.

Critical construction projects progressing

The company awarded Dumas Contracting USA Inc. a $12-million construction contract to complete critical capital projects, including the coarse ore bin and installation of an underground jaw crusher, permanent dewatering system, vent shaft stripping, and surface fans. Dumas is a leading full-service underground mining contractor providing mine construction, development, production mining, mine services and engineering early-stage projects through well-established operating mines throughout the Americas.

Vent shaft -- final stripping of the vent shaft commenced in January in preparation for connection of the surface fans, which are expected to be commissioned in early Q2 2023. The stripping is planned to be completed ahead of development contractor mobilization and the vent shaft is expected to provide the necessary ventilation for the life of the mine.

Ore handling system -- the additional ore handling system allows for increased ore throughput rates to the shaft hoisting system, enabling operations to ultimately exceed nameplate production. Engineering for ore handling system has been completed, and all long-lead items are on site, including the jaw crusher. Excavation is under way and planning for the installation of the system has already commenced.

Dewatering system -- the pumps for the permanent dewatering system are on site and ready for installation. Once installed, the additional pumps are expected to provide all dewatering requirements for the life of the mine.

Regional exploration opportunities

The company has completed a thorough review of regional mapping for its Pumpkin Hollow land position and several high-quality targets of interest have been identified. Surface sampling results from the Copper Ridge area have indicated the high-grade potential, highlighted by grades including 5.03 per cent and 5.43 per cent copper that warrant additional investigation. In 2023, detailed mapping, interpretation of recent geophysical analysis and surface sampling are planned to follow up on other identified high-potential targets on the Nevada Copper land position. The grades identified are conceptual in nature as there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the delineation of a mineral resource. Grades were determined through third party labs, as detailed below under "quality assurance and quality control."

Board changes

Kate Southwell will be stepping down as a member of the board of directors, effective Feb. 28, 2023, to pursue other career opportunities. Stephen Gill, chairman of the board, stated: "The board and management team appreciate Kate's valuable input during her tenure, particularly with regard to financing and commercial matters and as chair of the sustainability committee, and wish her well in her future endeavours." The nominating committee of the board is in the process of identifying qualified candidates to fill the vacant role at or prior to this year's annual shareholder meeting.

Qualified persons

The technical information and data in this news release has been reviewed by Steven Newman, registered member -- SME, vice-president, technical services, for Nevada Copper, and Greg French, CPG, vice-president, exploration, of Nevada Copper, who are non-independent qualified persons within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101.

Quality assurance and quality control

The analytical work was performed by American Assay Labs (AAL) located in Sparks, Nev. AAL is an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory. The samples were crushed so that over 80 per cemt passes 10 mesh, followed by pulverizing to over 90 per cent passes 75 less than 150 mesh. Prepared samples were run using a three-acid digestion process and conventional inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy nalysis. Gold determination was via standard atomic absorption (AA) finish 30-gram fire assay (FA) analysis. Blank, standard and duplicate samples were routinely inserted and monitored for quality assurance and quality control.

The historic analytical work was performed by Chemex Labs Inc., currently ALS Geochemistry (ALS), located in Nevada. ALS is an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory. The samples were crushed so that over 80 per cent passes 10 mesh, followed by pulverizing split to less than 150 mesh. Prepared samples were run using an acid digestion process and conventional ICP-AES analysis. Gold determination was via standard atomic absorption (AA) finish 30-gram fire assay (FA) analysis. Nevada Copper detected no significant QA/QC issues during review of the data and is not aware of any sampling or other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to herein.

About Nevada Copper Corp.

Nevada Copper is a copper producer and owner of the Pumpkin Hollow copper project. Located in Nevada, United States, Pumpkin Hollow has substantial reserves and resources, including copper, gold and silver. Its two fully permitted projects include the high-grade underground mine and processing facility, which is now in the production stage, and a large-scale open-pit prefeasibility study-stage project.

We seek Safe Harbor.