Mr. Caleb Stroup reports

HEADWATER GOLD MOBILIZES GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS AT JAKE CREEK PROJECT, NEVADA AND PROVIDES UPDATE ON EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES

CSAMT (controlled-source audio-frequency magnetotelluric) resistivity and ground gravity geophysical surveys are under way at Headwater Gold Inc.'s 100-per-cent-owned Jake Creek project in Nevada. The surveys are fully financed pursuant to the earn-in agreement with Oceanagold Corp. announced on Oct. 15, 2025.

Highlights:

• CSAMT and gravity geophysical surveys under way: 12.5-line-kilometre CSAMT and 600-station gravity survey designed to define structural controls and prioritize drill targets;
• New surface vein discovery: detailed mapping identified a new zone of outcropping high-level epithermal quartz veining (Pete's vein) in the northern portion of the project;
• Soil sampling and geological mapping completed: 500-sample soil survey and comprehensive geologic mapping have significantly refined the structural and stratigraphic framework of the project;
• Drilling planned for summer 2026: an initial drill program is currently scheduled for early summer 2026; the continuing geophysical surveys will inform the final target areas and program scope.

Caleb Stroup, president and chief executive officer of the company, stated: "Historic drilling at Jake Creek confirmed the presence of blind gold mineralization at moderate depth, including 11.3 grams per tonne gold over 1.52 metres within a broader 45.72 metres grading 0.96 g/t Au in hole JC-005. What has been missing is a clear understanding of the structural framework controlling that mineralization, which is a key reason the system was never adequately followed up. Our current program of detailed mapping, relogging, soils and rock sample geochemistry, and modern geophysics is focused on defining the fault architecture and district-scale fluid pathways responsible for mineralization. As we refine this structural and geological model, we are generating increasingly well-constrained, high-quality drill targets in advance of an initial drill program, funded by Oceanagold and scheduled for early summer 2026."

Jake Creek geophysical surveys

Headwater has engaged geophysical service providers to perform CSAMT and gravity surveys at Jake Creek, including:

• CSAMT -- a CSAMT resistivity survey totalling 12.5 line kilometres on five parallel lines that align with soil survey lines and one perpendicular (northwesterly) line: The main array is designed orthogonal to the primary set of northwest-oriented faults that align with the margin of the Northern Nevada Rift and are interpreted by Headwater geologists to be the main control of epithermal mineralization. The northwest-oriented CSAMT line is designed to pinpoint the location of a significant northeast-striking fault that bounds a modern basin at the southern portion of the property. Structural intersections between northwest- and northeast-striking faults are important centres of mineralization at the nearby Hecla Midas and Hollister mines.
• Gravity -- a ground gravity survey consisting of 600 stations on a 200-metre-spaced grid with 400-metre spacing along the margins (total survey footprint of 28 square kilometres) to cover the entire project area: Headwater geologic mapping demonstrates the property comprises a series of fault blocks at the edge of the Northern Nevada rift. Detailed gravity data will permit further refinement of property-wide structural trends and identify fault segments that have potential to serve as mineralized epithermal feeder structures.

2025 exploration program update

The 2025 exploration program at Jake Creek consisted of detailed geologic mapping, relogging of historic reverse circulation (RC) drill chips, rock-chip sampling and a 500-sample soil geochemistry survey. The objective of this work was to refine the geological model, better understand structural controls, and prioritize areas for follow-up with geophysical surveys and drilling.

Mapping and RC chip relogging confirm that Jake Creek is situated along the western margin of the Northern Nevada rift and is characterized by west-dipping fault blocks that control volcanic stratigraphy and mineralization. The work has improved understanding of the Tertiary unconformity and its relationship to epithermal mineralization intersected in historic drilling.

Reconnaissance mapping in the northern portion of the project identified a linear array of outcropping chalcedonic quartz-opal veins and crackle breccias hosted within flow-banded rhyolite. These veins exhibit classic high-level epithermal textures, including local bladed quartz-after-calcite and are associated with strongly anomalous arsenic, mercury, antimony, molybdenum, tungsten and manganese geochemistry. This represents the first significant outcropping veining identified at Jake Creek.

The soil survey, completed on 50-metre-spaced samples along broadly spaced orientation lines, highlights coherent pathfinder element anomalies that align with mapped northwest-trending structures and areas of silicification and clay alteration. These results provide important vectors for drill targeting, particularly where geochemical anomalies coincide with mapped or inferred structures, such as in the area of Pete's vein in the northern project area.

About the Jake Creek project

The Jake Creek project is 100 per cent owned by Headwater and consists of 189 unpatented lode mining claims on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land in Humboldt county, Nevada, located 65 kilometres northwest of Winnemucca and eight kilometres east of Nevada Gold Mines' Turquoise Ridge mine complex. A portion of the project is subject to a 1-per-cent NSR (net smelter return) royalty, half of which can be purchased for $1-million at any time. For further information, see Headwater's news release dated March 3, 2025.

The project covers 3,700 acres on the western margin of the Northern Nevada rift, a north-northwest-trending structural corridor known for hosting significant precious metal mineralization, including Hecla's past-producing Midas mine and Hollister mine.

The geology is dominated by mid-Miocene bimodal volcanic rocks, including rhyolite to dacite flows and welded tuffs, unconformably overlying Paleozoic sedimentary rocks at depths of 50 to 300 metres. North-northwest- and east-northeast-trending faults, likely related to the rift's 14-million-to-16-million-year extension, bisect the property and may control mineralization.

Historic drilling by Evolving Gold Corp. in 2010 and 2011 (13 RC holes total) intersected widespread epithermal mineralization at the Tertiary unconformity, with notable intercepts such as 11.3 g/t Au over 1.52 m within 45.72 m grading 0.96 g/t Au from 210.3 m in hole JC-005 (see Headwater news release dated March 3, 2025). This mineralization, associated with silicification, clay alteration and banded quartz veining, suggests a robust low-sulphidation epithermal system with potential for high-grade feeder zones at depth or along strike.

About Headwater Gold Inc.

Headwater Gold is a technically driven mineral exploration company focused on exploring for and discovering high-grade precious metal deposits in the Western United States. Headwater is actively exploring one of the world's most well-endowed, mining-friendly jurisdictions, with a goal of making world-class precious metal discoveries. The company has a large portfolio of epithermal vein exploration projects and a technical team with diverse experience in capital markets and major mining companies. Headwater is systematically drill testing several projects in Nevada and has strategic earn-in agreements with Oceanagold on its TJ, Jake Creek and Hot Creek projects, with Newmont on its Spring Peak and Lodestar projects, and with Centerra on its Crane Creek project. In August, 2022, and September, 2024, Newmont and Centerra Gold Inc. acquired strategic equity interests in the company, further strengthening Headwater's exploration capabilities.

Qualified person

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Gregory Dering, PGeo, AIPG, CPG (No. 12298), a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Dr. Dering is the company's vice-president of exploration and is not independent.

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