Mr. Murray Nye reports

NORTH AMERICAN NIOBIUM CORP. ANNOUNCES ADDITION OF MINING EXECUTIVE OLIVIER TAVCHANDJIAN TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS

North American Niobium and Critical Minerals Corp. has appointed Olivier Tavchandjian to the board of directors of the company.

Mr. Tavchandjian currently serves as senior vice-president, exploration and technical services, at Hudbay Minerals Inc., where he leads the execution of the company's exploration strategy aimed at increasing mineral reserves and resources while overseeing technical governance across a global portfolio of operations and development projects. His career spans a wide range of base and precious metals, in both underground and surface mining environments, and across diverse jurisdictions, providing him with a strong technical foundation relevant to the evaluation and development of strategic and specialty metals.

Mr. Tavchandjian brings more than 35 years of experience in mineral resource and reserve estimation, exploration strategy, and technical evaluation, with a strong focus on value creation through disciplined resource growth and long-term mine planning, capabilities that are directly applicable to the advancement of critical mineral projects, including niobium. Throughout his career, Mr. Tavchandjian has been closely involved in the successful development of multibillion-dollar greenfield projects and large-scale mining expansions, contributing to project assessment, optimization and execution. His experience in resource estimation, technical due diligence and life-of-mine planning will support North American Niobium's efforts to responsibly advance its critical mineral assets in alignment with growing North American supply chain priorities.

Prior to joining Hudbay, Mr. Tavchandjian served as vice-president, resource evaluation, at Anemka Resources, the mining portfolio company of a large private investment firm and has worked in management roles at several major mining companies, including ArcelorMittal, Vale and Inco. He holds a PhD in mineral resources from the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi and is a professional geoscientist registered with the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario.

"We are very pleased to welcome Olivier to our board," said Murray Nye, chief executive officer of North American Niobium. "His depth of experience in resource estimation, exploration strategy and the advancement of complex mining projects will be a valuable asset as we continue to position North American Niobium as a future supplier of a critical mineral that is essential to advanced manufacturing, infrastructure and emerging technologies."

With the addition of Mr. Tavchandjian to the board, the company also announces that it intends to form a technical committee. The mandate of the technical committee will be to provide technical oversight and strategic guidance to management and the board in connection with the evaluation and advancement of the company's exploration and critical mineral properties, including review of exploration programs, technical interpretation and project prioritization. The company has recently closed flow-through financings totalling $4.8-million and is fully financed for its 2026 exploration program.

Pursuant to the company's share option plan and subject to regulatory approval, the company has granted stock options to Mr. Tavchandjian. The options are exercisable into common shares in the capital of the company at an exercise price of $1.20 per share for a period of five years from the date of grant of the options. The options will vest in full over 16 months. The shares to be issued upon the exercise of the options will be subject to a hold period of four months and a day from the date of grant.

About North American Niobium and Critical Minerals Corp.

North American Niobium is a North American mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of precious, base and critical mineral assets. Its portfolio includes the Silver Lake property in British Columbia's Omineca mining division and a recently acquired land package in Quebec's Grenville province. The Quebec properties add exposure to rare earth elements (REE), niobium (Nb) and nickel-copper (Ni-Cu) occurrences, expanding the company's footprint into critical minerals that are strategically important for energy and defence applications.

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