Mr. Robert Brown reports

FINLAY MINERALS ANNOUNCES FULLY FUNDED 2026 EXPLORATION PROGRAMS AT PIL AND ATTY - FREEPORT TO FUND PRIORITY DRILLING AT Pil AND CONTINUED WORK AT Atty

Finlay Minerals Ltd. has planned a fully financed $4.3-million 2026 exploration program for its Pil and Atty properties in the Toodoggone district pursuant to its earn-in agreements with Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc. Building on a highly successful 2025 field season that generated multiple priority targets, the 2026 program is designed to advance drilling at Pil and continue systematic fieldwork at Atty, underscoring the scale and discovery potential of both properties.

The 2026 program at Pil will focus on drilling the highest-priority targets generated in 2025, particularly Reef, Pil South and Gold. At Atty, planned work will continue to refine targets through induced polarization (IP) surveying, mapping and surface sampling.

At Reef, drilling will test an IP anomaly that appears to trend west-southwest toward Freeport and Amarc Resources Ltd.'s drill hole JP25120, which intersected 33 metres grading 0.58 gram per tonne gold, 0.22 per cent copper and 5.4 grams per tonne silver from 564 metres depth, with the hole ending in mineralization. JP25120 is located 200 m south of the Pil boundary. Situated 500 to 2,000 m northeast of the Aurora discovery, Reef ranks among the company's highest-priority targets for 2026.

Pil South, located east of Reef, represents another significant target. The 2025 IP survey outlined a 1,200-metre-by-2,300-metre chargeability-high and resistivity-low anomaly coincident with a magnetic high and a strong copper-gold geochemical anomaly. While 2024 drilling intersected porphyry mineralization, the target was not tested at sufficient depth.

The Gold target, located east of the Saunders fault in a setting comparable with Aurora and Reef, further supports the broader discovery potential at Pil. An IP survey identified a 900-metre-by-1,400-metre chargeability-high and resistivity-low anomaly coincident with a 900-metre-by-1,800-metre multielement soil geochemical signature containing copper, gold, molybdenum, selenium and bismuth, suggesting a possible porphyry source. Historic shallow drilling also returned elevated gold and anomalous copper, silver and zinc.

2026 Pil program highlights:

• 2,800 metres of diamond drilling planned to test the high-priority Reef, Pil South and Gold targets generated by the 2025 program;
• Continued fieldwork and mapping across secondary targets identified in 2025, including Copper Ridge, Silver Ridge, NW, Central and Spruce, to build an even stronger target pipeline;
• Finlay continues to act as operator on Pil and will earn an operator fee;
• Total approved 2026 Pil budget of $3.5-million.

2026 Atty program highlights:

• Up to 16 kilometres of IP surveys planned across the Wrich, Valley, and Pyramid East and West zones to define and prioritize drill-ready targets;
• Continued mapping and surface sampling aimed at refining drill targets across Wrich, Wrich Hill, Pyramid East and West, and Valley zones;
• Finlay continues to act as operator on Atty and will earn an operator fee;
• Total approved 2026 Atty budget of $800,000, including $300,000 of unspent residual from the 2025 Atty exploration budget.

The company further reports receipt of all Year 1 cash payments and completion of all Year 2 expenditures by Freeport. Both the Pil and Atty earn-in agreements remain in good standing and are now in Year 2 of their six-year terms, providing Finlay with a strong foundation for continued advancement of these highly prospective assets.

Pil area of interest adds strategic upside

Freeport may acquire an 80-per-cent interest in the Pil property from the company upon completion of the six-year Pil earn-in agreement. Freeport is also party to a joint venture agreement with Amarc on the neighbouring and contiguous Joy project, underscoring Pil's strategic position within an active and emerging discovery corridor.

Approximately 32 per cent (42.34 square kilometres) of the Pil property mineral claims area lie within an area of interest (AOI) under the Freeport-Amarc agreement. Amarc has exercised its right to bring the AOI into the Joy joint venture held through Aurora Minerals Ltd., in which Freeport holds a 60-per-cent interest and Amarc holds a 40-per-cent interest. Freeport is responsible for financing expenditures required under the Pil property earn-in agreement with Finlay, and expenditures incurred within the AOI will also be credited toward the Joy joint venture agreement with Amarc. If Freeport completes its earn-in on Pil and acquires its 80-per-cent interest, Amarc could hold up to a 24-per-cent interest in the AOI portion of the Pil property under the Freeport-Amarc joint venture.

Freeport's earn-in agreements with Finlay are in Year 2 of their six-year terms.

Qualified person

Wade Barnes, PGeo, vice-president, exploration, for Finlay Minerals and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has approved the technical content of this news release.

About Finlay Minerals Ltd.

Finlay is a TSX Venture Exchange-listed mineral exploration company advancing a portfolio of copper-gold porphyry and gold-silver epithermal projects in Northern British Columbia and central British Columbia, including Atty, Pil, JJB, Say and Silver Hope. The company's properties are located in highly prospective mineral districts marked by recent exploration success, infrastructure development and strong potential for new discoveries.

Finlay trades under the symbol FYL on the TSX-V and under the symbol FYMNF on the OTCQB.

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