Mr. Max Porterfield reports

VISIONARY COMMENCES PROSPECTING AND ROCK AND SOIL GEOCHEMISTRY OVER FIVE REGIONAL TARGET AREAS AT PT. LEAMINGTON PROJECT, CENTRAL NEWFOUNDLAND

Visionary Copper and Gold Mines Inc. has received its prospecting permits, and has started soil and rock sampling over five priority regional target areas at its 100-per-cent-owned Point Leamington project in central Newfoundland. The five target areas were originally identified and advanced by a joint venture that included Billiton Exploration Canada Ltd. (now BHP) (see news release dated May 21, 2026).

Max Porterfield, president and chief executive officer of Visionary, stated: "With our prospecting permits now in hand, our crew is on the ground and our regional sampling program is under way. This is the first systematic, modern exploration of the Lewis Lake target areas since Billiton and Rubicon walked away more than two decades ago, leaving a series of compelling, drill-ready targets behind. A disciplined grid of soil and rock sampling on 100-metre lines is the right, cost-effective first step to refine these targets ahead of drill testing."

Prospecting permits received

The company has received approval from the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Energy and Mines (mineral lands division) for its planned exploration work permit for prospecting, geochemical sampling and ground-based geophysical surveying (see news release dated June 4, 2026). The permit covers all 21 mineral licences comprising the expanded approximately 30,000-hectare (300 square kilometres) regional land package at Point Leamington, including the Lewis Lake area immediately to the east of the Point Leamington deposit. Receipt of the permit clears the way for the company to conduct systematic ground exploration across the regional land package during the 2026 field season.

Soil and rock sampling program

Visionary has mobilized field crews and commenced a soil and rock sampling program to provide systematic geochemical coverage over the five priority regional target areas. The program is being completed along survey lines spaced 100 metres apart, with soil and rock samples collected at 25-metre increments along each line. This grid-based sampling is intended to define and refine geochemical anomalies, support an updated geological interpretation, and prioritize and vector targets in advance of follow-up ground geophysics and future drill testing.

Soil sampling will be complemented by prospecting and rock (grab and selective) sampling of outcrop, mineralized float and historic showings across the target areas. The program is being conducted concurrently with site preparation for the company's planned phase 2 diamond drilling program at the Point Leamington volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit.

Summary of the five regional target areas

The five target areas were selected from exploration generated by Billiton/Rubicon in the Lewis Lake area from 1999 to 2001 (see the company's news release dated May 21, 2026, for full details and citations).

• Target area 1 -- off-hole electromagnetics conductors (JEN grid): Billiton/Rubicon drilling intersected sulphide-rich argillite/chert horizons in felsic volcanics, including a 50-metre sulphide-rich section in hole LL2000-02 (best values 1.40 metres at 0.185 gram per tonne gold, 0.84 g/t silver, 178 parts per million copper and 459 ppm zinc). Downhole EM confirmed a highly conductive zone off-hole, and a strong off-hole Crone EM anomaly at approximately 170-metre depth in hole LL2000-03 was flagged as a priority follow-up target. Neither off-hole conductor was drill tested.
• Target area 2 -- undrilled 20-channel conductor (NBOG/Northern Bog): A strong, near-surface 20-channel EM conductor that could not be drilled in 2000 and 2001 due to extremely wet bog conditions. Nearby hole LL2000-05 intersected a 5.25-metre section of massive, laminated pyrrhotite with chert and jasper. It is one of the most significant untested targets on the property.
• Target area 3 -- multiple off-hole EM conductors (Fall Pond West): Drilling intersected variably altered, pyrrhotite/pyrite-mineralized basalts and chert-jasper horizons with conductive sources identified predominantly off-hole. LL2000-09 gave a strong off-hole EM response at 75 m coincident with the strongest alteration. LL2000-10 intersected a chert-jasper section with elevated gold (up to 0.182 g/t Au) and arsenopyrite, with an off-hole priority EM response, with LL2000-11 lost in a fault zone with the conductor still not tested, off the end of the hole.
• Target area 4 -- large IP chargeability anomaly: A large, only partially tested, induced polarization chargeability anomaly on the western edge of a circular magnetic high. A single hole (LL2001-15) testing a limited portion of the anomaly, intersected weakly mineralized quartz-feldspar porphyry with chlorite-tremolite-biotite alteration. Other chargeability anomalies within the larger IP grid remain undrilled.
• Target area 5 -- Teddy's Barn surface showing: A copper showing discovered in Rubicon's 1999 prospecting, disseminated chalcopyrite in strongly chlorite-altered, quartz-phyric felsic rocks was traced over a 150-metre strike length with values up to 676 ppm Cu. Adjacent grab samples in banded mafic/sedimentary rocks gave up to 6,334 ppm copper and 1,273 ppm zinc.

Quality assurance/quality control protocols

Soil and rock samples, including standards, blanks and duplicates, will be submitted to Eastern Analytical Ltd. in Springdale, Nfld., an ISO/IEC 17025-accredited laboratory, for preparation and analysis. Samples are submitted in sealed bags and analyzed using Eastern's Au plus ICP-34 method, comprising a 30-gram fire assay with an AAS finish for gold and a four-acid digestion with an ICP-OES finish for multielement analysis. Overlimit samples are reanalyzed by atomic absorption. Visionary maintains chain-of-custody procedures consistent with industry best practices and the requirements of National Instrument 43-101.

Point Leamington project

The Point Leamington project is located approximately 37 kilometres by road and trails from the city of Grand Falls-Windsor and approximately 20 km from the provincial power grid. Point Leamington is a felsic-hosted, volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit that dips 70 degrees to the west, and has a strike length of over one km and a maximum thickness of 85 m. Massive sulphides have been intersected to a depth of 360 m below surface from approximately 21,714 m of drilling in 72 holes. Regional government mapping and lithogeochemical sampling indicate that Point Leamington's host volcanic stratigraphy extends beyond the Deposit area.

The Deposit hosts a significant gold, copper, zinc and silver resource, with a pit-constrained indicated mineral resource of 5.0 million tonnes grading 2.5 grams per tonne gold equivalent for 402,000 ounces AuEq (145,700 oz gold, 60.0 million pounds copper, 153.5 Mlb zinc, 2.0 million ounces silver and 1.5 Mlb lead), a pit-constrained inferred mineral resource of 13.7 Mt grading 2.24 g/t AuEq for 986,500 oz AuEq (354,800 oz gold, 110.2 Mlb copper, 527.3 Mlb zinc, 6.2 Moz silver and 7.0 Mlb lead) and an out-of-pit inferred mineral resource of 1.7 Mt grading 3.06 g/t AuEq for 168,500 oz AuEq (65,400 oz gold, 13.3 Mlb copper, 102.9 Mlb zinc, 1.4 Moz Ag and 2.6 Mlb lead) (see news release dated Oct. 25, 2021).

Qualified person

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Peter M. Dimmell, PGeo, a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Dimmell is not independent under NI 43-101 as he is a director of the company. Historical information was verified from geological reports filed with the government by previous operators.

About Visionary Copper and Gold Mines Inc.

Visionary s advancing its portfolio of base- and precious-metal-rich deposits located in established Canadian mining jurisdictions. The focus of the portfolio is highlighted by the 100-per-cent-owned Point Leamington deposit in Newfoundland, located in one of the richest VMS and gold districts in Canada. The company prepared a pit-constrained indicated mineral resource of 5.0 Mt grading 2.5 g/t AuEq for 402,000 oz AuEq (145,700 oz gold, 60.0 Mlb copper, 153.5 Mlb zinc, 2.0 Moz silver and 1.5 Mlb lead), a pit-constrained inferred mineral resource of 13.7 Mt grading 2.24 g/t AuEq for 986,500 oz AuEq (354,800 oz gold, 110.2 Mlb copper, 527.3 Mlb zinc, 6.2 Moz silver and 7.0 Mlb lead) and an out-of-pit inferred mineral resource of 1.7 Mt grading 3.06 g/t AuEq for 168,500 oz AuEq (65,400 oz gold, 13.3 Mlb copper, 102.9 Mlb zinc, 1.4 Moz Ag and 2.6 Mlb lead) (see news release dated Oct. 25, 2021). Additionally, the company is permitting the Rainbow deposit at its rich VMS Pine Bay project located near existing infrastructure in the Flin Flon mining district. The company prepared an indicated mineral resource on the Rainbow deposit of 3.44 Mt grading 3.59 per cent CuEq for 272.4 Mlb CuEq (238.3 Mlb Cu, 56.9 Mlb Zn, 37,600 oz Au, 692,800 oz Ag and 2.3 Mlb Pb), an inferred mineral resource on the Rainbow deposit of 1.28 Mt grading 2.95 per cent copper equivalent containing 83.4 Mlb CuEq (72.1 Mlb Cu, 19.5 Mlb Zn, 11,100 oz Au, 222,200 oz Ag and 800,000 pounds Pb) and an inferred mineral resource at the Pine Bay deposit of 1.0 Mt grading 2.62 per cent Cu containing 58.1 Mlb Cu (see news release dated July 10, 2023). Additionally, the portfolio includes the Nash Creek project located in the VMS-rich Bathurst mining district of New Brunswick. A 2018 preliminary economic assessment generates a strong economic return with a pretax internal rate of return of 34.1 per cent (25.2 per cent posttax) and net present value discounted at 8 per cent of $230-million ($128-million posttax) at $1.25 zinc (see news release dated May 14, 2018).

We seek Safe Harbor.