Dr. Diane Nicolson reports

AMARC ANNOUNCES COMMENCEMENT OF 2026 AURORA & JOY COPPER-GOLD DISTRICT DRILLING

Aurora Minerals Ltd. (AML), the joint venture company in which Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc. and Amarc Resources Ltd. hold 60-per-cent and 40-per-cent interests, respectively, has recently commenced the 2026 field program at the Joy copper-gold district in north-central British Columbia. The program will be fully financed by Freeport through AML and includes work on the Joy district and adjacent tenures held under option by AML (see Amarc's May 27, 2026, press release). Amarc is the primary contractor managing AML's exploration programs at Joy.

"The 2026 field season has officially begun with a drill-focused program designed to continue to unlock the world-class potential of the Joy district," said Dr. Diane Nicolson, president and chief executive officer of Amarc. "Like our investors, our team continues to look forward to further exploration of Aurora, a deposit with a strong gold and copper endowment that remains open to expansion. Importantly, the Joy district is also host to the significant Twins and Canyon copper-gold porphyry discoveries, the Pine and Brenda deposits, and a high-potential pipeline of deposit targets that we have yet to fully explore. Amarc believes we have just scratched the surface of the potential of this extensive copper-gold district and that the high-grade, near-surface Aurora deposit discovery stands to be the key to the development of the entire Toodoggone region."

The 2026 Joy district program includes:

• Continued focus on the gold-rich Aurora porphyry copper-gold-silver deposit:
  • Stepout drilling to continue to assess the extent and tenure of the Aurora deposit: drilling in 2025 expanded the deposit over an area measuring 1.4 kilometres by 0.8 kilometre, which remains open to expansion (see Amarc's press release dated May 27, 2026); promising mineralization was also intersected in holes JP25114 and JP25120, located 550 metres to the south and 350 metres to the north, respectively, of the current known extent of Aurora, which remains open to expansion; these two holes may indicate substantial further expansion of the Aurora deposit or highlight the broader potential of the four-square-kilometre Northwest Gossan (NWG) mineral system in which it lies to host additional deposits;
  • Early-stage metallurgical and other preliminary project development studies at Aurora;
• Follow-up of the Twins copper-gold discovery:
  • Additional drilling at the Twins discovery, located approximately 17 kilometres south of Aurora, on the 10-kilometre-long Pine porphyry trend; Twins occurs within an extensive 8.5-square-kilometre sulphide system; the highly anomalous gold intercepts from very widely spaced and relatively shallow reconnaissance drill holes previously released by Amarc within this target and 2025 results in hole JP25106, which intercepted, at depth, 300 metres at 0.51 gram per tonne gold and 0.23 per cent copper, including 243 metres at 0.59 gram per tonne gold and 0.26 per cent copper, 135 metres at 0.86 gram per tonne gold and 0.38 per cent copper, and 45 metres at 1.08 grams per tonne gold and 0.47 per cent copper (see Amarc's Feb. 19, 2026, press release), highlight the potential for development of another significant porphyry copper-gold deposit;
• Exploration of the further potential of the Joy district:
  • Geological, geochemical and geophysical surveys across the district to refine the emerging pipeline of porphyry copper-gold deposit targets for drill testing.

About Amarc Resources Ltd.

Amarc is a mineral exploration and development company with an experienced and successful management team focused on developing a new generation of long-life, high-value porphyry copper-gold mines in British Columbia. By combining high-demand projects with dynamic management, Amarc has created a solid platform to create value from its exploration-stage and development-stage assets.

Amarc is advancing the Joy, Duke and Ike porphyry copper-plus-or-minus-gold districts located in different prolific porphyry regions of Northern, central and Southern British Columbia, respectively. Each district represents significant potential for the development of multiple and important-scale, porphyry copper-plus-or-minus-gold deposits, such as the important Aurora deposit copper-gold discovery located within the Joy district. Importantly, each of the three districts is located in proximity to industrial infrastructure -- including power, highways and rail.

At Joy, Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada, a wholly owned subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Inc., earned, under the mineral property earn-in agreement, an initial 60-per-cent interest in the Joy district by financing $35-million under an accelerated time frame (see Amarc's press releases dated May 12, 2021, and May 29, 2025). The district is now being advanced through Aurora Minerals (AML), a private joint venture corporation held 60 per cent by Freeport and 40 per cent by Amarc (see Sept. 4, 2025, press release). Freeport has elected to earn a further 10-per-cent interest in the Joy district by financing an additional $75-million in staged expenditures. While Freeport is now the operator of Joy, Aurora Minerals, the joint venture company, has appointed Amarc as the primary contractor to continue to manage the Joy exploration programs under a separate services agreement. In support of this momentum, Amarc executed, on behalf of AML, an expanded exploration program exceeding $16-million in 2025, completing substantial expansion drilling at the Aurora deposit and across other discoveries and deposit targets.

At the Duke district, Boliden Mineral Canada Ltd., an entity within the Boliden group of companies, continues its participation having sole financed $30-million of exploration expenditures though to the end of 2025. Boliden and Amarc have now entered a 60/40 joint venture, under which the parties must finance exploration activities on a pro rata basis or dilute their interest in the Duke JV. Amarc is the operator at the Duke district.

Amarc owns a 100-per-cent interest in the IKE copper-gold and copper-molybdenum district in Southern British Columbia. Amarc completed self-financed drilling at its Empress copper-gold deposit in the Ike district in 2024. Amarc is the operator at the Ike district.

Amarc's exploration is led by an internationally successful team of experienced geologists specializing in porphyry copper-gold deposits. Members of this team have been involved in and have tracked porphyry copper-gold exploration advancements in the Toodoggone region, where the Joy district and the Aurora deposit are located, since 1990. Their experience and early recognition of the porphyry potential at the NWG target in terms of a shallowly overburden covered and underexplored transitional epithermal-porphyry geological setting led to the discovery of the gold-rich Aurora porphyry copper-gold-silver deposit.

Amarc is associated with HDI, a diversified, global mining company with a 35-year history of porphyry copper deposit discovery, development and transaction success. Previous and current HDI projects include some of British Columbia's and the world's most important porphyry deposits -- such as Pebble, Mount Milligan, Southern Star, Kemess South, Kemess North, Gibraltar, Prosperity, Xietongmen, Newtongmen, Florence, Casino, Sisson, Maggie, Pine, Ike, Duke and Aurora. From its head office in Vancouver, Canada, HDI applies its unique strengths and capabilities to acquire, develop, operate and monetize mineral projects.

Amarc works closely with local governments, indigenous groups and stakeholders in order to advance its mineral projects responsibly and in a manner that contributes to sustainable community and economic development. The company pursues early and meaningful engagement to ensure its mineral exploration and development activities are well co-ordinated and broadly supported, address local priorities and concerns, and optimize opportunities for collaboration. In particular, Amarc seeks to establish mutually beneficial partnerships with indigenous groups within whose traditional territories the company's projects are located, through the provision of jobs, training programs, contract opportunities, capacity financing agreements and sponsorship of community events. All Amarc work programs are carefully planned to achieve high levels of environmental and social performance.

Qualified person

Mark Rebagliati, PEng, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved all technical and scientific information related to the Joy project contained in this news release. Mr. Rebagliati is not independent of the company.

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