Mr. Stephen Stares reports

BENTON ANNOUNCES $2 MILLION NON-BROKERED UNIT FINANCING WITH INVESTMENT BY ERIC SPROTT

Subject to all regulatory approvals, Benton Resources Inc. will complete a non-brokered private placement financing with investor Eric Sprott. The private placement consists of 28,571,429 units of the company at seven cents per unit for gross proceeds of $2-million, with each unit consisting of one common share of the company and one common share purchase warrant, with each warrant being exercisable for an additional common share of the company at an exercise price of 10 cents for 36 months from the date of issue.

Mr. Sprott, a long-time investor and largest shareholder of the company, will acquire the 28,571,429 units pursuant to the private placement for total consideration of $2-million, such participation constituting a related party transaction within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101, Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions. The company expects that such participation will be exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 pursuant to applicable exemptions thereunder, including the exemption for transactions not exceeding 25 per cent of the company's market capitalization.

The private placement is expected to close on or before June 15, 2026.

Stephen Stares, president and chief executive officer of the company, stated: "Benton is pleased to have Eric Sprott's continued support as our largest shareholder. This financing positions us to advance our recently acquired natural hydrogen and helium prospects in Newfoundland, in partnership with Metals Creek Resources, while also supporting progress across our broader portfolio of critical minerals projects in the province."

All securities issued pursuant to the private placement will be subject to a four-month-and-one-day hold period.

The proceeds from the sale of the units will be used to advance Benton's recently acquired hydrogen prospects in Newfoundland that are held on a 50/50 basis with Metals Creek Resources Corp. and for working capital purposes.

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.

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, Benton Resources retains net smelter return (NSR) royalties with potential long-term cash flow.

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

We seek Safe Harbor.