More than 95% of all historical drilling on the 253 km² licence went into the single porphyry centre that hosts the resource. Fourteen ranked targets sit outside it, and the first phase of field work is now underway.

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 29, 2026) - South Pacific Metals Corp. (TSXV: SPMC) (OTCQB: SPMEF) (FSE: 6J00) ("SPMC" or the "Company") is pleased to report the first phase of field work by its technical team at the Kili Teke Copper-Gold Project ("Kili Teke" or the "Project") in the Hela Province of Papua New Guinea ("PNG"), where the program is directed at mineralisation outside the current Mineral Resource. 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 ("NI 43-101") Inferred Resource of 4.2 Moz AuEq (3.14B lbs CuEq)¹, defined on a single porphyry centre. More than 95% of the 36,917 metres of drilling completed on the 253 km² licence to date was directed at that one centre.

• The highest grades on the Project sit outside the resource. The skarns, excluded entirely from the Mineral Resource Estimate, returned 7.8 m at 12.98% Cu and 11.75 g/t Au in historical drilling beneath the resource, with surface chips to 27.5% Cu.

• Fourteen ranked drill targets. Machine-learning re-interpretation 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 field work underway. 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.

Octavio Garcia, Exploration Manager of SPMC, 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 the Current Resource

The Kili Teke Mineral Resource is an NI 43-101 Inferred Resource of 237 Mt grading 0.34% Cu, 0.24 g/t Au and 168 ppm Mo, containing approximately 1.81 Moz gold, 802 kt copper and 40 kt molybdenum - some 4.2 Moz gold-equivalent (0.55g/t AuEq), or 3.14B lbs. copper-equivalent (0.6% CuEq), on a contained-metal basis¹. It is defined as a single porphyry centre with a mapped surface expression of approximately 2.5 km by 1.6 km, exposed at surface, with metal zonation running from peripheral Zn-Ag through to Cu-Au at the core.

More than 95% of the 36,917 metres of drilling completed on the Project to date was directed at that centre. The balance of the 253 km² 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.

Figure 1: Kili Teke porphyry Cu-Au complex - surface geochemical anomalies, the resource block model footprint and the machine-learning subsurface target inventory.

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The skarn corridor. Several skarn bodies covering a combined 26,250 m² 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% Cu and 11.75 g/t Au, within a broader 54 m at 2.1% Cu, 1.82 g/t Au and 3.87 g/t Ag from 878 m down-hole. Fifty-seven surface rock chips average 1.7% Cu, with a peak of 27.5% Cu, 3.4 g/t Au, 37.6 g/t Ag and 3.3% 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 Limited. A soil anomaly with peak values to 9.39 g/t Au is coincident with tellurium above 10,000 ppb and arsenic above 50 ppm, 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 sub-parallel to the interpreted south-dipping east-west structures, with gold grades increasing down-hole 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 1,500-2,000 m long and 200-500 m wide at depth. The single historical hole was drilled sub-parallel 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% Cu and 0.93 g/t Au, and mineralisation grading 1.27% Cu with 0.55 g/t Au at 716 m down-hole. Rising Cu:S 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 proven, 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 SPMC and its wholly owned PNG subsidiary, Kainantu Resources Limited ("KRL"). 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.

SPMC 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 mineralisation 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% of the drilling has gone into that same centre. The resource is the floor. This program is about the rest of it."

Next Steps

Field work 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 H2 2026. An interactive 3D model of the Project is available on VRIFY at https://vrify.com/decks/21678.

Qualified Person

The technical and scientific information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Darren Holden, B.Sc. (Hons), Ph.D., FAusIMM, a technical advisor 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 18 November 2022, prepared by Graeme J. Fleming, B. App. Sc., MAIG, available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

¹ The Kili Teke NI 43-101 Inferred Mineral Resource of 237 Mt grading 0.34% Cu, 0.24 g/t Au and 168 ppm Mo contains approximately 1.81 Moz gold, 802 kt copper and 40 kt molybdenum, equivalent to approximately 4.2 Moz gold-equivalent, or 3.14B lbs. copper-equivalent, on a contained-metal basis. Copper-equivalent ("CuEq") and Gold-equivalent ("AuEq") assumes equal co-recovery of gold and copper using US$3,300/oz gold and US$4.45/lb. copper and is provided for indicative comparison only; readers are directed to the 18 November 2022 technical report for the underlying assumptions. Individual drill, trench and surface results referred to in this news release are historical and/or selected high-grade results, are not necessarily representative of the deposit as a whole and have not been independently verified by the Company's Qualified Person beyond the resource dataset. Information regarding the Porgera gold mine is historical, has been sourced from public disclosure of its operator, relates to a property in which the Company holds no interest, and is not necessarily indicative of mineralisation at Kili Teke. Exploration targets outside the current Mineral Resource, including the ranked drill targets referred to in this news release, are conceptual in nature; there has been insufficient exploration to define them as Mineral Resources, and it is uncertain whether further exploration will result in their delineation as Mineral Resources.

About South Pacific Metals Corp.

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

• Ontenu (Osena) - Bordering K92 to the southwest. Drilling underway on K92-style targets with drill hits to 5m at 12.84 g/t Au, including 2m 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* NI 43-101 Inferred Resource (effective 18 November 2022) containing 1.81 Moz Au, 802 kt Cu and 40 kt Mo; results outside of resource include drilling 7.8 m @ 12.98% Cu plus 11.75 g/t Au, surface samples up to 27.5% Cu.

• May River - District-scale system beside Frieda River; high-grade drilling includes 19 m @ 11.47% Cu, 2.17 g/t Au and 109 m @ 1.53 g/t Au.

* Au-equivalent contained ounces based on equal recoveries of Au and Cu only and prices of US$3,300/oz Au and US$4.45/lb. Cu. Preliminary metallurgical test work by Harmony Gold shows gold reporting to copper minerals, indicating the two can be co-recovered. Molybdenum is not included in the Au-equivalent figure.

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SPMC common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: SPMC), the OTCQB Marketplace (OTCQB: SPMEF) and Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE: 6J00).

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by words and phrases such as "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", "potential", "proposed", "subject to" and similar expressions, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would" or "will" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information in this news release includes, among other things, statements regarding the Company's planned and ongoing drilling and exploration programs, the timing and expected results of those programs, the interpretation of geological, geochemical and geophysical data, and the potential for mineralisation on the Company's properties.

Forward-looking information is based on the Company's current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections, as well as assumptions that the Company considers reasonable as of the date of this news release. These assumptions include, among others: the continuity of mineralisation; the accuracy of the Company's interpretation of geological, geochemical and geophysical data; the timing and results of planned and ongoing drilling and exploration; the timeliness of assay results from third-party laboratories; the Company's ability to obtain and maintain required permits and regulatory approvals; the continued support of local communities and government stakeholders in PNG; the availability of equipment, personnel and consultants; continued access to project sites; and general business, economic and capital market conditions.

Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. These risks and uncertainties include, among others: risks inherent in mineral exploration and development, including that exploration may not result in the discovery of an economically viable mineral deposit; the risk that drilling results, assays and geological interpretations may not be indicative of the presence, continuity or grade of mineralisation; delays in receiving assay results or in the progress of exploration programs; the risk that historical results and third-party data may not be verified or replicated; uncertainties relating to mineral resource estimates, including the Kili Teke Inferred Mineral Resource; the risk that planned exploration activities may be delayed, modified, suspended or terminated; risks relating to title, permitting and access to mineral properties; risks relating to operations in Papua New Guinea, including political, security, infrastructure, community-relations and logistical risks; the Company's ability to fund its business and exploration activities; commodity price volatility; currency fluctuations; and the other risks described in the Company's public disclosure documents filed under its profile on SEDAR+.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is made as of the date hereof, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

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