Mr. Michael Murphy reports

SOUTH PACIFIC METALS TARGETS EXPLORATION UPSIDE OUTSIDE THE 4.2 MOZ AUEQ (3.14B LBS. CUEQ) INFERRED RESOURCE AT KILI TEKE; FIRST ROCK SAMPLES DISPATCHED

The first phase of fieldwork by South Pacific Metals Corp.'s technical team at the Kili Teke copper-gold project in the Hela province of Papua New Guinea, where the program is directed at mineralization outside of the current mineral resource, is under way. The first rock samples collected at the project since the previous operator ceased work are being dispatched for laboratory analysis (see news release dated June 25, 2026).

Highlights:

• A large resource on a barely drilled licence: Kili Teke hosts a National Instrument 43-101 inferred resource of 4.2 million ounces gold equivalent (3.14 billion pounds copper equivalent), defined on a single porphyry centre. More than 95 per cent of the 36,917 metres of drilling completed on the 253-square-kilometre licence to date was directed at that one centre.
• The highest grades on the project sit outside of the resource: The skarns, excluded entirely from the mineral resource estimate, returned 7.8 metres at 12.98 per cent copper and 11.75 grams per tonne gold in historical drilling beneath the resource, with surface chips to 27.5 per cent Cu.
• 14 ranked drill targets: Machine learning reinterpretation of the historical database, undertaken with the University of British Columbia's mineral deposit research unit, has ranked 14 drill targets across the licence, six of them rank 1. The current program is validating them in the field.
• First phase of fieldwork under way: Exploration manager Octavio Garcia and PNG-based geologist Andreas Wramuku confirmed access to the principal work areas, and assessed each of the project's established target areas.
• 52 rock samples collected: Samples are being dispatched to the laboratory; no assay results are available as at the date of this news release.
• Welcomed by the community: Landowners received the team at site on the day of arrival with a formal welcome and blessing lasting approximately two hours.

Mr. Garcia, exploration manager of South Pacific, commented: "This is a licence that has been drilled in one place and looked at almost everywhere else. The skarns sit at surface, carry the highest copper and gold grades reported on this property, and are excluded from the resource entirely. We are not starting from a blank map. The targets are already ranked, and this program is about walking them and cutting that list down to what we drill."

Exploration upside outside of the current resource

The Kili Teke mineral resource is a National Instrument 43-101 inferred resource of 237 million tonnes grading 0.34 per cent copper, 0.24 gram per tonne gold and 168 parts per million molybdenum, containing approximately 1.81 million ounces gold, 802,000 tonnes copper and 40,000 tonnes molybdenum -- about 4.2 million ounces gold equivalent (0.55 g/t AuEq), or 3.14 billion pounds copper equivalent (0.6 per cent CuEq), on a contained metal basis. It is defined as a single porphyry centre with a mapped surface expression of approximately 2.5 kilometres by 1.6 kilometres, exposed at surface, with metal zonation running from peripheral zinc-silver through to copper-gold at the core.

More than 95 per cent of the 36,917 metres of drilling completed on the project to date was directed at that centre. The balance of the 253-square-kilometre licence has been mapped, sampled, flown and modelled, but not drilled. The machine learning work has ranked 14 drill targets across it, six of them rank 1. Four areas carry the current field effort.

The skarn corridor: Several skarn bodies covering a combined 26,250 square metres are mapped at surface adjoining the resource porphyry and are excluded entirely from the current mineral resource estimate. Historical drilling returned bornite-chalcopyrite-magnetite intercepts of 7.8 m at 12.98 per cent Cu and 11.75 g/t Au, within a broader 54 m at 2.1 per cent Cu, 1.82 g/t Au and 3.87 g/t Ag from 878 m downhole. Fifty-seven surface rock chips average 1.7 per cent Cu, with a peak of 27.5 per cent Cu, 3.4 g/t Au, 37.6 g/t Ag and 3.3 per cent Zn. The skarns are strongly magnetic at roughly twice background, so close-spaced ground magnetics offer a low-cost route to near-surface drill targets.

The Ridge gold area: An alkalic gold target of Porgera style, located approximately 40 km from the Porgera gold mine, operated by Barrick Niugini Ltd. A soil anomaly with peak values to 9.39 g/t Au is coincident with tellurium above 10,000 parts per billion and arsenic above 50 parts per million, a pathfinder signature characteristic of alkalic epithermal gold systems. At Porgera, the Roamane fault zone has been reported by that mine's operators to have hosted 5.1 Moz at 27 g/t Au. The two historical holes at Ridge Gold were collared in the footwall and drilled subparallel to the interpreted south-dipping east-west structures, with gold grades increasing downhole in one. The target has not been effectively drill tested.

A second porphyry target: A second porphyry target has been identified on the same licence and remains effectively undrilled. Earlier trench and surface rock chip results in this area included material sampled from float rather than in situ outcrop and are being evaluated. Magnetic inversion modelling has defined north-south elongate porphyry targets 1,500 to 2,000 m long and 200 to 500 m wide at depth. The single historical hole was drilled subparallel to the interpreted structures and did not effectively test the target.

Depth extension: The resource porphyry remains open at depth. Historical drilling includes an intercept of 152 m at 1.17 per cent Cu and 0.93 g/t Au, and mineralization grading 1.27 per cent Cu with 0.55 g/t Au at 716 m downhole. Rising copper to sulphur ratios are interpreted to indicate a copper-enriched core beneath the modelled shell.

The current field program is directed at converting the ranked target inventory into a drill-ready short list. Access is settled, the camp is operational, crew rotation is proved and the first samples are on their way to the laboratory.

Community and landowner engagement

The welcome at site follows a sustained program of community engagement by South Pacific and its wholly owned PNG subsidiary, Kainantu Resources Ltd. Community awareness meetings were held in Tari earlier this year with landowners, the Hela provincial government, the Koroba-Kopiago district and the Awi-Logayu local level government. The company acknowledges the continued support of the Hela government, and engagement with landowners and all levels of government has been maintained throughout the current field program. Field activities are conducted with the agreement of the customary landowners of the licence area.

South Pacific has also employed field technicians from the surrounding communities, several of whom worked at Kili Teke during earlier campaigns. They bring detailed knowledge of the terrain, the old cut lines and the access routes, and the program relies on it.

Sample collection

A total of 52 rock samples were collected during the program and are being prepared for dispatch to an independent laboratory. Assay results will be reported once received, validated and interpreted.

No assay results are available as at the date of this news release. Readers are cautioned that the collection of samples does not of itself indicate the presence of mineralization of any grade, quantity or economic significance.

Executive chairman Michael Murphy commented: "Putting our own technical people back on Kili Teke is the milestone we have been working toward since we acquired the project, and the support of the landowners and the Hela authorities made it possible. Shareholders should be clear on what sits behind this work: a 4.2-million-ounce gold equivalent resource defined on one porphyry centre, on a licence where more than 95 per cent of the drilling has gone into that same centre. The resource is the floor. This program is about the rest of it."

Next steps

Fieldwork continues year-round, with further mapping and sampling planned as the ranked target inventory is validated. Assay results will be reported as they are received and validated. The company is targeting its first drill campaign at Kili Teke in second half 2026. An interactive 3-D model of the project is available on VRIFY.

Qualified person

The technical and scientific information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Darren Holden, BSc (honours), PhD, FAusIMM, a technical adviser and consultant to the company, and a qualified person as defined under National Instrument 43-101. Resource information is drawn from the independent technical report dated Nov. 18, 2022, prepared by Graeme J. Fleming, BAppSc, MAIG, available under the company's profile on SEDAR+.

About South Pacific Metals Corp.

South Pacific is an emerging gold-copper exploration company operating in the heart of Papua New Guinea's proven gold and copper production corridors. South Pacific has four exploration properties:

• Ontenu (Osena): bordering K92 to the southwest; drilling under way on K92-style targets with drill hits to five metres at 12.84 g/t Au, including two m at 27.45 g/t Au;
• Anga: bordering K92 to the northeast, along strike from K92's Arakompa discovery; soils to 1,080 ppb Au, 3,397 ppm Cu and stream samples up to 281.8 g/t Au;
• Kili Teke: 4.2 Moz AuEq* National Instrument 43-101 inferred resource (effective Nov. 18, 2022) containing 1.81 Moz Au, 802,000 tonnes Cu and 40,000 tonnes Mo; results outside of resource include drilling 7.8 m of 12.98 per cent Cu plus 11.75 g/t Au, and surface samples up to 27.5 per cent Cu;
• May River: district-scale system beside Frieda River; high-grade drilling includes 19 m of 11.47 per cent Cu and 2.17 g/t Au and 109 m of 1.53 g/t Au.

* Gold equivalent contained ounces based on equal recoveries of Au and Cu only and prices of $3,300 (U.S.) per oz Au and $4.45 (U.S.) per pound Cu. Preliminary metallurgical testwork by Harmony Gold shows gold reporting to copper minerals, indicating the two can be co-recovered. Molybdenum is not included in the gold equivalent figure.

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