Mr. Ben Pullinger reports

ATEX REFLECTS ON A TRANSFORMATIVE YEAR AND PROVIDES 2025 OUTLOOK WITH FIFTH DIAMOND DRILL RIG MOBILIZED TO VALERIANO PROJECT

Atex Resources Inc. has provided an outline of key achievements in 2024 and an update on its phase V exploration program at the Valeriano copper-gold project, located in the Atacama region, Chile.

2024 highlights:

• Phase 4 drill program resulted in updated geological interpretation: potential for a significantly larger, simpler and more continuous intrusive system than previously contemplated in the 2023 mineral resource estimate;
• Drill holes of significance included ATXD16A and ATXD26: ATXD16A demonstrated that the high-grade porphyry core was open to the southeast with the potential for extension while ATXD26 located above the porphyry body, closer to surface and in a previously untested area could significantly derisk potential project economics;
• Robust copper and gold recoveries: second-stage metallurgical total copper and gold recoveries ranging from 92 per cent to 95 per cent and 90 per cent to 97 per cent, respectively, at a coarser grind, support significant operational and capital efficiencies;
• New equity partner cleans up balance sheet: Agnico Eagle Mines invested $55-million, shoring up Atex's balance sheet to finance the phase 5 drill program and beyond; concurrently, Atex settled its debt outstanding with key long-term shareholders on the same terms as the strategic investor;
• Achieved 100-per-cent ownership of Valeriano ahead of plan: Atex wholly owns the Valeriano project, satisfying its final financial commitment to the previous project owners through the issuance of equity, thereby preserving cash for exploration efforts;
• Management and board strengthened: Atex management and board have grown to match the needs of the project, with experienced individuals adding to its technical, financial and sustainability skill sets.

2025 outlook:

• Five rigs currently operational at Valeriano: news flow from the phase 5 drill program is expected to pick up during first quarter 2025 into the second half of the year, with all five planned rigs currently at site and operational;
• Initially targeting ATXD23A and ATXD16B: first set of results expected in January from holes ATXD23A and ATXD16B that are testing extensions to the high-grade breccia zones and to the high-grade early porphyry core, respectively; the holes are still in progress; however, both have intersected targeted mineralization;
• Stepout drilling to expand known mineralized footprint: drilling toward the north, northwest and southeast where the deposit remains open with the limits of mineralization still unknown; this includes the completion of two holes, ATXD25A and ATXD27, from the phase 4 drill program;
• Updated geology model and mineral resource estimate in second half 2025: an updated geological model and mineral resource estimate will incorporate all phase 4 and phase 5 drilling, with the plan to upgrade the current inferred mineral resource to an indicated resource category.

2024 highlights -- a transformative year

Two thousand twenty-four was a meaningful year for Atex with the phase 4 drill program demonstrating continuity of the higher-grade porphyry mineralization within the broader system, leading to an updated geological interpretation. The new interpretation outlined a larger, more continuous and potentially higher-grade intrusive target. Previously, the 2023 mineral resource estimate reported 1.4 billion tonnes at a grade of 0.67 per cent copper equivalent (0.50 per cent copper, 0.20 gram per tonne gold, 0.91 g/t silver and 64 g/t molybdenum) with a higher-grade core of 200 million tonnes at a grade of 0.84 per cent CuEq (0.62 per cent Cu, 0.29 g/t Au, 1.25 g/t Ag and 55.7 g/t Mo). This estimate contemplated approximately 300 million tonnes of the intrusive unit within three separate bodies, with the rest totalling 1.1 billion tonnes of wall rock.

By the end of the phase 4 program, Atex had outlined a continuous, multiphase intrusive system measuring roughly 1.2 kilometres along strike (northwest), 500 to 600 metres in width, and with a current vertical extent of 500 to 700 metres that remains open along strike and at depth and demonstrates the potential for a significantly larger, simpler and more continuous intrusive system than previously contemplated in the 2023 mineral resource estimate.

The two drill holes of significance in the phase 4 program were ATXD16A and ATXD26. ATXD16A demonstrated that the high-grade porphyry core was open to the southeast with the potential for extension in the phase V drill program. ATXD26 was the final drill hole completed in phase 4, and not only did it yield the highest-grade interval seen on the project to date, including 68 metres at a grade of 2.02 per cent CuEq (1.39 per cent Cu, 0.60 g/t Au, 3.81 g/t Ag and 473 g/t Mo), but it also discovered a new style of enriched and overprinted breccia-hosted mineralization not identified at the project previously. This mineralization is also located above the porphyry body, closer to surface and in a previously untested area corresponding to a much larger feature imaged in geophysical surveys. This mineralization could represent the potential for a stand-alone starter mine that would significantly derisk potential project economics, bring forward cash flow, fund development and expansion of production from the porphyry-related mineralization at depth.

Toward the end of 2024, Atex completed and announced the second round of metallurgical testwork on the project yielding results that were in line with the first program and a significant improvement compared with recovery factors assumed in the 2023 MRE, including 90-per-cent recovery for copper and 70 per cent for gold. Both rounds of metallurgical testing completed on the project have been able to demonstrate recoveries of up to 95 per cent for copper and 97 per cent for gold through standard industry practices of flotation and leaching. A key differentiator of the second phase of metallurgical work was demonstrating that coarser grinding at 200 microns did not have a negative impact on recoveries, which potentially supports significant operational and capital efficiencies for the project in the future.

Atex's management team has grown to match Valeriano's needs, with experienced individuals adding to its technical, financial and sustainability skill sets. The board of directors brought on board Chris Beer and Rick McCreary, two strong members with decades of capital markets and corporate experience. Agnico Eagle Mines became an equity partner through a significant strategic investment totalling $55-million, shoring up Atex's balance sheet to finance the phase 5 drill program and beyond, and concurrently Atex settled its debt outstanding with key long-term shareholders. As a final achievement to close out the year, Atex achieved a 100-per-cent ownership interest in the Valeriano project ahead of schedule and through the issuance of equity, thereby preserving cash in its treasury for its exploration programs and other project derisking initiatives.

2025 outlook -- five rigs currently drilling at the Valeriano project

Looking ahead to 2025, Atex's largest drill program to date labelled phase 5 is well under way with five drill rigs currently operating at the project in three primary areas. This represents a significant achievement for the Atex team and the Valeriano project. The first set of results is expected shortly from ATXD23A and ATXD16B, with these holes nearing completion. Both holes are testing extensions to the high-grade breccia zones and to the high-grade early porphyry core, respectively. Additional details are below:

• ATXD16B, a daughter hole from ATXD16A, which intersected 852 metres grading 0.82 per cent CuEq (0.60 per cent Cu, 0.28 g/t Au, 0.98 g/t Ag and 72 g/t Mo), including 594 metres grading 0.92 per cent CuEq (0.67 per cent Cu, 0.32 g/t Au, 1.13 g/t Ag and 71 g/t Mo) and 112 metres of 1.42 per cent CuEq (1.01 per cent Cu, 0.57 g/t Au, 2.06 g/t Ag and 46 g/t Mo). ATXD16B has intersected mineralized porphyry from a depth of 1,413 metres and approximately 120 metres to the southeast of ATXD16A, and has a current depth of 1,800 metres.
• ATXD23A is a daughter hole stepping out approximately 100 metres along strike to the north of ATXD263, the highest-grade hole on the project to date that intersected 68.0 metres of 2.02 per cent CuEq (1.39 per cent Cu, 0.60 g/t Au, 3.81 g/t Ag and 473 g/t Mo) within longer intervals of 356.0 metres of 0.98 per cent CuEq (0.7 per cent Cu, 0.29 g/t Au, 1.49 g/t Ag and 180 g/t Mo) and 978.0 metres of 0.75 per cent CuEq (0.54 per cent Cu, 0.21 g/t Au, 1.26 g/t Ag and 145 g/t Mo). The hole drilled into mineralized wall rock and intersected mineralized hydrothermal breccia units with overprinting copper-gold mineralization from approximately 1,200 metres to 1,400 metres downhole. The hole remains in mineralized wall rock approaching 1,800 metres.
• ATXD25A continues from where it was paused at the end of phase 4 at a depth of 1,454 metres and is designed to test the northernmost extensions of the known mineralized porphyry footprint. ATXD25A is a daughter hole stepping out to the north of ATXD25, which intersected 862.2 metres of 0.62 per cent CuEq (0.42 per cent Cu, 0.27 g/t Au, 1.72 g/t Ag and 26 g/t Mo), including 114 metres of 0.88 per cent CuEq (0.54 per cent Cu, 0.48 g/t Au, 2.95 g/t Ag and six g/t Mo), within a broader interval of 350.2 metres grading 0.75 per cent CuEq (0.45 per cent Cu, 0.42 g/t Au, 2.60 g/t Ag and three g/t Mo). At the end of the previous campaign, this hole had entered hydrothermal alteration indicative of proximity to mineralization and will test a cross-section of modelled porphyry, which is expected to hold high-grade mineralization.
• ATXD27A is a daughter hole from ATXD27 that was paused at 944 metres at the end of phase 4. The target for ATXD27A is the northern extension of the breccia corridor, 140 metres to the north of where the target was intersected in ATXD26 and ATXD23A, and in an area never tested in drilling before.
• The fifth rig is drilling hole ATXD22C, a daughter hole designed to infill, to increase confidence in the inferred mineral resource, drilling at nominal 150-metre centres on previously defined high-grade zones within the existing porphyry footprint.
• Initial samples from ATXD23A and ATXD16B were shipped to the lab in mid-December and will continue through to hole completion with results anticipated later this month.

The phase 5 program is expected to ultimately culminate in an updated MRE later in the year. It will also include the updated and improved metallurgical recoveries recently announced.

Qualified person

Dr. Owen Hatton, PhD, MAusIMM, registered with the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, is the qualified person as defined by Canadian Securities' National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects) for the Valeriano copper-gold porphyry project. Dr. Hatton is director of exploration of Atex and is therefore not independent of Atex for the purposes of NI 43-101. He has reviewed and approved the disclosure of the scientific and technical information contained in this press release.

About Atex Resources Inc.

Atex is exploring the Valeriano copper-gold project, which is located within the emerging copper-gold porphyry mineral belt linking the prolific El Indio high-sulphidation belt to the south with the Maricunga gold porphyry belt to the north, located in the Atacama region, Chile. This emerging belt, informally referred to as the Link belt, hosts several copper-gold porphyry deposits at various stages of development, including Filo del Sol (Filo Mining), Josemaria (Lundin Mining), Los Helados (NGEX Minerals/JX Nippon), La Fortuna (Teck Resources/Newmont) and El Encierro (Antofagasta/Barrick Gold). The Valeriano project hosts a large copper-gold porphyry mineral resource: 1.41 billion tonnes at 0.67 per cent CuEq (0.50 per cent Cu, 0.20 g/t Au, 0.96 g/t Ag and 63.80 g/t Mo), which includes a higher-grade core totalling 200 million tonnes at 0.84 per cent CuEq (0.62 per cent Cu, 0.29 g/t Au 1.25 g/t Ag and 55.7 g/t Mo), as reported by Atex on Sept. 12, 2023.

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