Mr. Chad Peters reports

RIDGELINE MINERALS ANNOUNCES $9.9M IN PARTNER-FUNDED 2026 EXPLORATION BUDGETS AT THE SWIFT AND SELENA PROJECTS

Ridgeline Minerals Corp. has provided 2026 budget guidance of $9.5-million (U.S.) in partner-financed exploration between the Selena and Swift projects. Drill program details are highlighted below.

The Selena project is a silver-lead-zinc-gold-copper carbonate replacement (CRD) style exploration project operated by Ridgeline Minerals and financed by a wholly owned subsidiary of South32 Ltd. The project is currently operating under phase I of an exploration earn-in agreement totalling up to $10-million (U.S.) in qualifying expenditures over a five-year period. South32 has approved a year 3 work program and budget of $4.4-million (U.S.) that, once financed and executed, is expected to satisfy phase I of the exploration earn-in agreement (for more details see Aug. 22, 2024, press release).

The Swift project is Carlin-type gold exploration project being operated by Nevada Gold Mines (NGM) under phase I of an exploration earn-in agreement totalling up to $20-million (U.S.) in NGM expenditures over a five-year period. NGM has approved a 2026 exploration budget of $5.5-million (U.S.) for a projected total of $20-million (U.S.) in qualifying expenditures, which will satisfy phase I of the exploration earn-in agreement (for more details see Sept. 22, 2024, press release).

Chad Peters, Ridgeline's president, chief executive officer and director, commented: "Selena and Swift continue to exhibit strong exploration potential with our partner-funded budgets continuing to increase year over year. Two thousand twenty-six represents our largest partner-funded exploration budget in company history and provides our shareholders with exposure to gold, silver and base metal discoveries in mining friendly Nevada, while also reducing risk and minimizing shareholder dilution through our hybrid exploration model."

Mr. Peters continues: "Our 2025 CRD discovery at Chinchilla sulphide was a significant milestone for the Selena project and supports our belief that Selena represents one of the more compelling silver and base metal discoveries in the United States since the discovery of the Hermosa Taylor deposit in 2015. Drilling will commence at Selena in April, followed by Swift in May, where we will continue to build on high-grade drill intercepts at both projects."

Selena project ($20-million (U.S.) South32 earn-in)

South32 has approved a year 3 (July, 2026, to June, 2027) work program and budget of approximately $4.4-million (U.S.) across an initial three core holes for a projected total of $10-million (U.S.) in qualifying expenditures under phase I of the exploration earn-in agreement. The work program is projected to be completed on or before Dec. 31, 2026.

• Drilling will take a phased approach in 2026 with the program starting with three deep holes targeting the Chinchilla sulphide discovery:
  • The first hole will test for bedding controlled manto CRD mineralization between discovery hole SE25-053 (see Dec. 18, 2025, PR) and SE25-054 (see March 16, 2026, press release).
  • The second hole will test between SE25-053 and the company's 2022 RC (reverse circulation) drill hole SE22-038 that intercepted 1.5 metres grading 97.4 grams per tonne (g/t) silver (Ag), 5.0 per cent lead-zinc (Pb-Zn) and 0.4 g/t gold (Au) in the same oxide upper horizon as SE25-054 but did not drill deep enough to test the projection of the same sulfide CRD horizon that was intercepted in SE25-053.
  • The third hole will test a new target concept adjacent to the Butte Valley Cu-Au-Ag-Zn (copper-gold-silver-zinc) porphyry system with the goal of intersecting copper-silver enriched skarn mineralization.
• Borehole electromagnetic (BHEM) surveys will be completed in late June in holes SE25-053 and SE25-054 to assist in the 3-D modelling of conductive sulphide-rich zones at depth and laterally from the drill holes. It is anticipated that results from the BHEM surveys will help guide additional future drilling at the project.

Swift project ($30-million (U.S.) NGM earn-in)

NGM has approved a 2026 exploration budget of $5.5-million (U.S.) across five to six deep core holes for a projected total of $20-million in qualifying expenditures on or before Dec. 31, 2026.

• NGM will begin drilling in May to complete core tails at SW25-010 and SW25-012, and continue testing the high-grade mineralized horizon at the SW Swift target, which intersected 1.1 m grading 10.4 g/t Au in SW24-006.
• The remaining three to four holes will be split between the Aquila and Pegasus targets which will be testing the down-dip projection of the Carbon thrust at Aquila while Pegasus will test the shallower projection of the Unicorn Window (previously referred to as the Mill Creek corridor).

QA/QC (quality assurance/quality control) procedures

Selena HQ and NQ size core samples are split by core saw with one-half the sample retained at the company warehouse and the other one-half bagged and submitted to American Assay Laboratories (AAL) of Sparks, Nev., which is a certified and accredited laboratory, independent of the company. Independent check samples are shipped to Paragon Geochemical Labs (PAL) of Sparks, Nev. Samples are prepared using industry-standard prep methods and analyzed using FA-PB30-ICP (Au; 30 g fire assay) and ICP-5AM48 (48-element suite; 0.5 g five-acid digestion/ICP-MS) methods. AAL also undertakes its own internal coarse and pulp duplicate analysis to ensure proper sample preparation and equipment calibration. Ridgeline's QA/QC program includes regular insertion of CRM standards, duplicates and blanks into the sample stream with a stringent review of all results completed by the company's qualified person, Michael T. Harp, vice-president, exploration.

Swift HQ and NQ size core samples are split by core saw with one-half the sample retained at a NGM facility and the other one-half bagged and to ALS Minerals, Elko, Nev., which is a certified and accredited laboratory, independent of NGM. Samples are prepared using industry-standard prep methods and analyzed using Au-AA23 (Au; 30 g fire assay) and ME-MS61 (48-element suite; 0.25 g four-acid digestion/ICP-MS) methods. ALS also undertakes its own internal coarse and pulp duplicate analysis to ensure proper sample preparation and equipment calibration. NGM QA/QC programs include regular insertion of CRM standards, duplicates and blanks into the sample stream with a stringent review of all results completed internally by Nevada Gold Mines technical personnel.

Technical information contained in this news release has been prepared under the supervision of, and approved by, Michael T. Harp, CPG, the company's vice-president, exploration. Mr. Harp is a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About Ridgeline Minerals Corp.

Ridgeline Minerals is a discovery focused precious and base metal explorer with a proven management team and a 200-square-kilometre exploration portfolio across seven projects in Nevada, U.S. The company is a hybrid explorer with a mix of 100-per-cent-owned exploration assets (Big Blue, Atlas, Bell Creek and Coyote) as well as two earn-in exploration agreements with Nevada Gold Mines at its Swift and Black Ridge projects and a third earn-in with South32 at its Selena project totalling up to $60-million (U.S.) in partner-financed exploration expenditures.

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