Mr. Chris Paul reports

HERCULES METALS INTERSECTS 670 M OF 0.45% COPPER, 4 G/T AG AND 95 PPM MO, INCLUDING 213 M OF 0.67% COPPER, 10 G/T AG, 128 PPM MO AT THE LEVIATHAN PORPHYRY SYSTEM IN IDAHO

Hercules Metals Corp. has released additional drill results from its 2025 exploration campaign at the Leviathan porphyry copper system, located on its 100-per-cent-owned Hercules property in western Idaho.

Highlights:

• Assays to 842.65 metres depth for drill hole HER-25-18 have been received, returning the longest interval to date at Hercules:
  • 670.44 m of 0.45 per cent copper, 4.0 grams per tonne silver and 95 parts per million molybdenum;
  • Including 212.81 m of 0.67 per cent Cu, 10.2 g/t Ag and 128 ppm Mo;
• Represents a 200-metre stepout southwest of recently reported drill hole HER-25-15, which intersected 420.62 m of 0.60 per cent Cu, 6.0 g/t Ag and 65 ppm Mo;
• Hole now being extended beyond 842.65 m as part of the 2026 campaign;
• Upon completion of HER-25-18's extension, a further 200-metre stepout will be drilled from precollared hole HER-25-21.

Drill hole HER-25-18 has returned the longest mineralized interval encountered to date at Leviathan, intersecting 670 metres grading 0.45 per cent copper, 4.0 g/t silver and 95 ppm molybdenum, including 212.81 metres grading 0.67 per cent copper, 10.2 g/t silver and 128 ppm molybdenum. The intercept begins at a true vertical depth of approximately 150 metres below surface and remains open farther downhole, with drilling currently being extended beyond 842.65 metres.

HER-25-18 was drilled as a 200-metre stepout to the southwest of previously reported hole HER-25-15 and now demonstrates strong continuity of copper mineralization across the rapidly growing footprint of the Leviathan system. The hole intersected sustained copper mineralization over a broad interval, with higher-grade zones occurring on either side of a larger mineralized envelope, consistent with the company's evolving porphyry model.

Drilling remains continuing in HER-25-18, which was paused in mineralization at the end of the 2025 season. A further 200-metre stepout is planned to be completed next, using precollared drill hole HER-25-21, to target the continuation of mineralization along the same southwestern trend.

Chris Paul, president and chief executive officer of Hercules Metals: "HER-25-18 represents a significant leap forward in terms of scale and continuity at the Leviathan system. Intersecting 670 metres of continuous mineralization in a 200-metre stepout demonstrates dimensions well beyond our previous understandings of the system.

"In addition, we are now further extending the high-grade upper portion of the system, where mineralization begins at relatively shallow depths, and continuing to see strong potential for continued growth along strike to the southwest.

"With additional stepouts planned at Leviathan and a growing pipeline of high-priority targets across several kilometres of untested strike, we are focused on continuing to systematically expand the Leviathan discovery while vectoring in on new and exciting targets across our broader land package this season."

2025 reconnaissance drilling

A series of reconnaissance drill holes were completed south of Leviathan, following an initial phase I magnetotelluric (MT) survey completed at the start of the 2025 field season. The phase I survey outlined a corridor of elevated conductivity associated with the Leviathan copper porphyry system, which also extends for another five kilometres to the south.

Subsequent phase II MT surveying, completed at higher resolution at the end of 2025, refined this anomalous corridor into a series of discrete, vertically extensive conductive centres. One of the most prominent, the Southern Flats target, has emerged west of the 2025 reconnaissance holes HER-25-06, HER-25-16, HER-25-22 and HER-25-23.

HER-25-06, the westernmost hole for which assays have been received, did not reach the intended target depth for porphyry mineralization but was drilled immediately adjacent to the newly delineated Southern Flats conductive centre and returned significant silver-lead-zinc mineralization within the overlying cover sequence, including the following previously reported intervals:

• 10.7 m of 257.2 g/t Ag, 2.18 per cent lead and 4.62 per cent zinc (420.5 g/t silver equivalent);
• Within 119.9 m grading 31.2 g/t Ag, 0.29 per cent Pb and 0.86 per cent Zn (59.7 g/t AgEq).

Drilling to the east, in other reconnaissance holes HER-25-16, HER-25-22 and HER-25-23, encountered strong concentrations of epithermal pathfinder elements in the cover sequence and distal skarn alteration in the underlying porphyry target sequence, consistent with the outer margins of a potential porphyry copper centre.

Interpretation of these reconnaissance holes, in conjunction with the newly delineated Southern Flats conductive centre, signals a vector toward increased prospectivity to the west, as is now being tested by the currently in-progress drill hole, HER-25-25.

Sample analysis and quality assurance/quality control

All drill core samples were prepped and analyzed at MSA Labs in Elko, Nev., and/or Langley, B.C., an ISO 17025- and ISO 9001-certified laboratory. Samples were dried and crushed to two millimetres, from which a 250-gram subsample split was then pulverized to 85 per cent passing a 75-micron sieve. Following preparation, assays were determined by the IMS-230 method. A 0.25-gram aliquot of the prepared pulp was digested in a four-acid solution consisting of hydrochloric, nitric, perchloric and hydrofluoric acids. Four-acid digest is a near-total digest and only the most highly resistant minerals are not dissolved. The resulting solution was analyzed by ICP-MS and ICP-ES for 48 elements and was corrected for interelement spectral interferences. Lower detection limits for this procedure are 0.01 ppm for silver, 0.5 ppm for lead, two ppm for zinc and 0.2 ppm for copper. Mercury is not reported due to volatilization in reaction with hydrofluoric acid and gold is not reported due to the small, 0.25-gram aliquot size being insufficient to overcome the nugget effect.

Samples with initial results beyond the upper detection limit of the IMS-230 method were analyzed by procedures ICF-6Ag, ICF-6Cu, ICF-6Pb and ICF-6Zn. The thresholds are 100 ppm for silver and greater than 1 per cent for copper, lead and zinc.

A 30-to-50-gram split from the crushed and pulverized samples are composited into larger 300-to-500-gram composite samples (consisting of 10 continuous samples) and analyzed for gold utilizing CPA-Au1 photon assay method. Certain material gold results from the composite samples are then selected for reanalysis, by individual sample, as a 30-gram fire assay (FAS-111 method).

MSA Labs employs internal quality control standards, duplicates and blank samples at set frequencies.

Blind certified reference materials (CRMs) and blank samples were systematically inserted by the company into the sample stream and analyzed as part of the company's quality assurance/quality control protocol.

Qualified person

The scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved for disclosure by Dillon Hume, PGeo, and vice president, exploration, for the company. Mr. Hume is a qualified person for Hercules Metals within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About Hercules Metals Corp.

Hercules Metals is an exploration company focused on developing America's newest porphyry copper district in Idaho.

The 100-per-cent-owned Hercules project, located northwest of Cambridge, hosts the newly discovered Leviathan porphyry copper system, one of the most important new discoveries in the country to date. The company is well positioned for growth through continued drilling, supported by a strategic investment from Barrick Mining Corp.

With the potential for significant scale, the company's management and board of directors aims to deliver value to shareholders through proven discovery success.

We seek Safe Harbor.