Dr. Jacob Verbaas reports

BLACKBIRD CRITICAL METALS SUBMITS DRILL PERMIT APPLICATION, IDENTIFIES ADDITIONAL TARGETS, AND CONFIRMS MASSIVE ILMENITE ON THE TYEE CRITICAL METALS PROJECT

Blackbird Critical Metals Corp. has updated investors on exploration progress on the 100-per-cent-owned, 625-square-kilometre Tyee critical metals project.

Highlights:

• A forestry permit application was made to allow for the clearing of drill pads on Feb. 22.
• The application includes 232 drill pad locations with drill fences over 12 targets, allowing the company to move forward quickly on any one of the targets.
• Optical mineralogy confirms titanium is hosted in massive ilmenite.
• Blackbird has updated its corporate presentation and website.

"Blackbird Critical Metals is expecting an exciting year," stated Dr. Jaap Verbaas, interim chief executive officer of Blackbird. "We will be following up on a series of newly discovered titanium and nickel occurrences in Quebec. We expect to drill 20 holes to a depth of about 60 to 75 metres in a first round of RC [reverse circulation] drilling to confirm mineralization beneath the multiple outcrops that yielded exceptional results in 2023. Our aim is to start drilling in late April, subject to drill permits and weather. The company is fully funded for this exploration with a treasury that will allow it to plan follow up exploration programs without having to raise further capital."

2024 drill program

The company intends to drill approximately 20 holes to a depth of 60 to 75 metres using a helicopter supported RC drill. This type of drilling should lend itself well to the titanium occurrences since all evidence to date points to broad mineralized bodies which can be properly evaluated with 1.5-metre sample intervals. Therefore, shallow holes with a light drill that is easy to move from target to target is an excellent method to efficiently advance our understanding of the most promising targets.

A forestry permit that would allow for the clearing of 232 drill pads was submitted on Feb. 22 through the company's permitting agent in Quebec. This permit will allow the company to drill fences on every target. There was a high correlation between on-site XRF results and lab assay results in the titanium rock samples from 2023. While these XRF results cannot be disclosed as they are considered too preliminary in nature, the XRF will be used as part of the daily chip logging process to help guide the drill program.

Optical mineralogy confirms massive ilmenite

Thin sections taken of select grab samples from the company's 2023 exploration program confirm that the titanium occurrences consist of massive ilmenite. The ilmenite shows exsolution lamella of hematite and locally microscopic rims of sulphides. These rims of sulphides, if connected, may be what makes the ilmenite occurrences conductive and allows them to be discovered using traditional airborne EM (electromagnetic) surveys. Massive ilmenite is a principal ore of titanium in hard-rock titanium deposits and this typical mineralogy is an excellent outcome of the initial microscope work on the samples.

New website and corporate presentation

The company has a new website. The website also contains the new Blackbird Critical Metals corporate presentation.

Qualified person

Ryan Versloot, PGeo, a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release.

HSP region

The HSP complex is an intrusive suite of rocks to the north of Havre-Saint-Pierre, Quebec. The complex contains the Lac Tio titanium mine, the largest solid ilmenite deposit in the world, owned by Rio Tinto. Nickel sulphide occurrences were initially discovered in the northernmost part of the HSP complex in the 1990s. These nickel sulphide occurrences were staked by Go Metals in 2019 and subjected to inaugural drilling in the fall of 2022. Since this time, thousands of square kilometres of claims were staked in a regional staking rush. The core of the Tyee Project was staked in March of 2022 after a detailed geological, geophysical and geochemical review of the HSP complex and in advance of this staking rush. The first comprehensive exploration program at Tyee in 2023 led to the discovery of several nickel and copper and numerous titanium occurrences.

About Blackbird Critical Metals Corp.

Blackbird is a Canadian company listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange, the OTCQB Exchange and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The company is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of critical metal properties containing minerals used in green technologies and the renewable energy sector.

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