Mr. Stephen Stares reports

BENTON CONFIRMS HIGH GOLD GRADES AND ACQUIRES ADDITIONAL CLAIMS AT THE STONEY CALDERA GOLD ZONE IN NEWFOUNDLAND

Benton Resources Inc. has, subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval, entered into a purchase agreement with an arm's-length Newfoundland prospector to acquire four claim units, covering one square kilometre in Newfoundland. Upon approval, the company will pay the vendor $6,000 and issue 125,000 common shares of the company for a 100-per-cent interest in the property. The vendor will retain a 2-per-cent net smelter return (NSR) royalty while the company will have the right to buy back one-half (a 1-per-cent royalty) of the NSR for $1-million at any time. No finders' fees were paid in connection with this acquisition.

The property is important as Benton's current Stoney Caldera land position surrounds the acquired parcel and is host to a previously discovered gold zone containing visible gold in outcrop that assayed 4.03 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au) (see Aurwest Resources Corp.'s news release dated Dec. 12, 2022). A recent visit by company personnel has confirmed the presence of widespread quartz flooding in a felsic intrusive unit; the company has sampled multiple mineralized areas of quartz and submitted them for assay; the results will be released when received.

As previously announced in the company's news release dated Oct. 16, 2025, the company acquired a 100-per-cent interest in the Stoney Caldera project (SCP), located along the Great Copper Gold corridor directly along strike to the northeast of the Great Burnt project and to the southwest of Sokoman Minerals Corp.'s Moosehead project. Research revealed the SCP possesses multiple high-grade copper and gold occurrences discovered by exploration conducted by previous holders of the SCP. This historical work generated prosecting samples that graded from trace up to 6.41 g/t Au and 0.42 per cent copper (Cu) in local float/subcrop, described as semi-massive sulphides of pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite in a chlorite-rich matrix at the CEC occurrence. Other significant zones include grab samples in outcrop grading from trace up to 2.74 per cent Cu and 0.087 per cent cobalt (Co) in the Reid occurrence (RO) in outcrop with a strike length of more than 25 metres (m) in a limited exposed area. The company is pleased to announce that these areas have been relocated, and recent sampling conducted by the company has confirmed the presence high-grade gold, lead (Pb), copper and cobalt. Selected grab samples from the CEC returned results from trace up to as high as 5.2 g/t Au, 0.5 per cent Cu, 1.77 per cent Pb and 0.032 per cent Co. Sampling at RO returned results grading from trace up to 4.41 per cent Cu and 0.156 per cent Co. These areas have never been drill tested.

Highlights of Benton's Newfoundland project portfolio:

• Large landholdings in Newfoundland, one of Canada's hottest mining jurisdictions;
• Proximal to Equinox Gold, Canterra Minerals Corp., Sokoman Minerals Corp.;
• Dominion Lake hosts new, high-grade base metal and gold showings surrounding Canterra's Daniel's Pond and Bobby's Pond VMS (volcanogenic massive sulphide) deposits, and lies just eight kilometres (km) north of Equinox Gold;
• Victoria West sits directly along strike to the west from Equinox Gold's Valentine gold mine and less than two km from drilling at the Frank zone, which cut 172.8 m grading 2.43 g/t gold, including 90.9 m grading 3.84 g/t gold;
• The new Stoney Caldera project is host to multiple untested areas of high-grade gold and copper, and is situated along the same structural corridor as Benton's Great Burnt Lake and South Pond deposits;
• Wide intercepts of high-grade copper at the Great Burnt deposit over 950 m in strike length;
• Wide intercepts of gold over 2.7 km at the South Pond deposit.

QP (qualified person)

Stephen House, PGeo, vice-president of exploration for Benton Resources, the qualified person under National Instrument 43-101, has approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this news release and prepared or supervised its preparation.

QA/QC (quality assurance/quality control) protocols

Core and rock samples, including standards, blanks and duplicates, are submitted to Eastern Analytical Ltd., Springdale, Nfld., for preparation and analysis. All samples were acquired by sawcut (channels/drill core), with one-half submitted for assay and one-half retained for reference, or hand (rocks) and delivered, by Benton personnel, in sealed bags, to the Springdale lab of Eastern Analytical, which is an accredited assay lab that conforms to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025. Samples are analyzed using Eastern's Au (fire assay) at 30 grams (g) plus ICP-34 method that delivers a 34-element package utilizing a 200-milligram subsample totally dissolved in four acids and analyzed by ICP-OES (inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry) analytical technique. Overlimits are analyzed with Eastern's atomic absorption method, using a 0.200 g to 2.00 g of sample, digested with three acids. All reported assays are uncut. Eastern Analytical Ltd. achieved ISO 17025 accreditation in February, 2014 (for more details on the scope of accreditation, visit the CALA website). Grab samples are selective in nature and may not represent the average mineralization of a bedrock exposure.

About Benton Resources Inc.

Benton Resources is a well-financed mineral exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol BEX. Benton has a diversified, highly prospective property portfolio and holds large equity positions in other mining companies that are advancing high-quality assets. Whenever possible, BEX retains net smelter return (NSR) royalties with potential long-term cash flow.

Benton is focused on advancing its high-grade Great Burnt copper-gold project in central Newfoundland, which has a mineral resource estimate of 667,000 tonnes at 3.21 per cent Cu indicated and 482,000 at 2.35 per cent Cu inferred. The project has an excellent geological setting covering 25 km of strike and boasts six known Cu-Au-Ag zones over 15 km that are all open for expansion. Further potential for discovery is excellent given the extensive number of untested geophysical targets and Cu-Au soil anomalies. Phase 1 and 2 drill programs returned impressive results, including 25.42 m of 5.51 per cent Cu, including 9.78 m of 8.31 per cent Cu and 1.00 m of 12.70 per cent Cu. Drilling at the South Pond gold zone, approximately 7.5 km north of the Great Burnt copper-gold zone, has confirmed a robust gold-mineralized system over 2.5 km, with results of 74.20 m of 1.43 g/t Au and 43.75 m of 1.62 g/t Au, and is open for expansion in all directions.

We seek Safe Harbor.