Mr. Mark Luchinski reports

EARTHWISE MINERALS APPROVES 2026 DRILL PROGRAM TO ADVANCE TALON ZONE AT IRON RANGE GOLD PROJECT

Earthwise Minerals Corp. has approved a 2026 exploration program at the Iron Range gold project in southeastern British Columbia, where it holds an option to earn up to an 80-per-cent interest from Eagle Plains Resources Ltd., which will operate the program.

The approved program includes a minimum of 1,200 metres of diamond drilling targeting the Talon zone, where historical drilling has intersected broad intervals of gold, silver, lead and zinc mineralization. The Iron Range project is owned 100 per cent by Eagle Plains, and Earthwise holds the exclusive option to acquire up to an 80-per-cent interest in the project.

The Iron Range project is considered prospective for structurally controlled gold-silver mineralization as well as iron oxide copper/gold (IOCG) and sedimentary-exhalative (sedex) lead-zinc-silver systems. Terralogic Exploration Inc. will manage and support the execution of the drill program.

Drilling will focus on the Talon zone structure, where previous drilling intersected strong and continuous mineralization, including significant gold, silver, lead and zinc mineralization (see historical drill results below).

The program is expected to consist of three drill holes, with two holes designed to crosscut the Talon structure and one hole testing mineralization along strike and at depth. Drilling is scheduled to commence in mid-May, 2026.

Historical drill results -- Talon zone

Historical drilling (drill hole IR10-010, total depth 313.80 m) at the Talon zone has defined a mineralized shear zone of significant thickness, including 56.5 metres grading 1.9 grams per tonne gold (Eagle Plains Resources news release dated Dec. 21, 2010), within which multiple higher-grade gold shoots have been intersected. Notable higher-grade intercepts include:

• 14.0 metres grading 5.1 g/t gold, 1.86 per cent Pb, 2.10 per cent Zn and 75.3 g/t Ag (Eagle Plains Resources news release dated Dec. 21, 2010);
• 7.1 metres grading 8.13 g/t gold, 2.84 per cent Pb, 3.07 per cent Zn and 86.6 g/t Ag (Eagle Plains Resources news release dated Dec. 21, 2010).

These results demonstrate a broad mineralized corridor hosting discrete higher-grade zones within a structurally controlled system.

Established exploration foundation

The Iron Range gold project has been supported by extensive historical exploration, including:

• 21,593 metres of diamond drilling (87 holes);
• 2,482 line kilometres of airborne and surface geophysical surveys;
• More than $8-million in historical exploration expenditures.

Geophysical surveys, including VTEM (versatile time-domain electromagnetic) and induced polarization (IP), have identified chargeability anomalies associated with known mineralization as well as additional untested targets along the structural corridor.

Soil geochemical surveys at Talon have identified coincident arsenic, lead and zinc anomalies consistent with sulphide-bearing mineralization intersected in drilling.

Project location and regional context

The Iron Range gold project comprises approximately 21,437 hectares near Creston in southeastern British Columbia, within a well-established mining jurisdiction. The property is accessible via Highway 3 and supported by regional rail, power and natural gas infrastructure.

The project is situated within the Proterozoic Belt-Purcell supergroup and along the Iron Mountain fault zone, a major regional structural corridor extending approximately 90 kilometres, of which more than 50 kilometres are covered by the property. The Talon zone is located within this structural corridor, where deformation and hydrothermal activity are associated with sulphide mineralization.

Iron Range lies within the same regional stratigraphic succession that hosts the historic Sullivan deposit, underscoring the geological fertility of the broader belt. The Sullivan deposit is referenced for regional geological context only and is not indicative of mineralization at the Iron Range gold project.

Management cautions that historical results were collected and reported by past operators and have not been verified or confirmed by a qualified person but form a basis for continuing work on the subject properties. Management cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate land are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the subject properties.

Iron Range option agreement details

To exercise the option, Earthwise must make a series of cash payments and share issuances to Eagle Plains and finance exploration expenditures on the project. These payments, share issuance and expenditures are separated into two phases, with the first option entitling the company to acquire a 70-per-cent interest in the project by paying $250,000, issuing an aggregate of 1.5 million common shares to Eagle Plains and financing $4-million in exploration expenditures on the project over a four-year term. Pursuant to the second phase of the option, the company may acquire an additional 10-per-cent interest in the project (for an 80-per-cent total interest) by notifying Eagle Plains of its intent to increase its interest to 80 per cent and making an additional one-time payment of $1-million cash and completing a bankable feasibility study on the property before the eighth anniversary of the option.

If the first option or the second option is exercised, a 2-per-cent smelter returns royalty will be granted to the Eagle Plains over the entire property, 1 per cent of which may be repurchased for $1.5-million.

Eagle Plains will serve as operator under the terms of option and will reserve the right to use Terralogic Exploration as geoscience consultant. Following the exercise of either first option or the second option, Earthwise and Eagle Plains shall then form a 70/30 or 80/20 joint venture to further explore and develop the property.

Qualified person

Charles C. Downie, PGeo, a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and an officer and director of Eagle Plains Resources Ltd., has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this news release.

About Earthwise Minerals Corp.

Earthwise Minerals is a Canadian junior exploration company focused on advancing the Iron Range gold project in southeastern British Columbia near Creston, B.C. The company holds an option to earn up to an 80-per-cent interest in the fully permitted project, which is road-accessible and situated within a prolific mineralized corridor. The property covers a 10-kilometre-by-32-kilometre area along the Iron Range fault system and hosts multiple high-grade gold showings and large-scale geophysical and geochemical anomalies.

We seek Safe Harbor.