Mr. Brian Thurston reports

COPPER QUEST EXPANDS ITS KITIMAT COPPER GOLD PROJECT

Copper Quest Exploration Inc. has been granted an additional 3,847.41 hectares of claims contiguous to its Kitimat project increasing the project size by 130 per cent. The Kitimat copper-gold project now covers 6,801.41 hectares within the Skeena mining division of northwestern British Columbia. The project is year-round road accessible through a network of logging and mineral exploration roads extending north from Kitimat. The property benefits from exceptional infrastructure, being within 10 kilometres of tidewater, 1.5 km of rail and six km of high-voltage hydroelectric transmission lines.

The new land package encompasses the historic Bowbyes target area, as well as providing a generous land position surrounding the large artificial-intelligence-generated buried conductive body measuring approximately 1.5 km by 1.5 km in lateral extent (see press release dated March 5, 2026). The anomaly demonstrates strong vertical continuity to at least one-kilometre depth (the maximum limit of the analysis) and begins at just 50 metres below surface, concealed beneath sedimentary cover. The conductor is situated within a pronounced magnetic gradient/dipole corridor, with a spatial relationship suggestive of an intrusive contact or alteration boundary and lies in proximity to documented volcanic-hosted sulphide mineralization.

Brian Thurston, chief executive officer of Copper Quest, stated: "Copper Quest is pleased with the timely granting of these recently staked claims, which allows planned geophysical studies to be expanded across the newly acquired prospective ground. The AI-driven analysis at Kitimat identified characteristics consistent with a potentially concealed intrusive porphyry center, creating an opportunity to strategically increase our land position. Historical drilling in the vicinity intersected near-surface copper-gold mineralization over intervals exceeding 100 metres, grading more than 0.5 per cent Cu and one g/t Au, with mineralization remaining open. The size and location of the anomaly support our geological interpretation that these previously drilled copper-gold intercepts may represent the outer expression of a much larger porphyry system, potentially centred on the target identified through our AI-assisted analysis."

The Kitimat project hosts two target areas of mineralization, the Jeannette Cu-Au and the Bowbyes copper-molybdenum target areas. Based on geology as well as styles of mineralization, alteration and structure, the Jeannette target is classified as a low-level intermediate to low-sulphidation epithermal Cu-Au occurrence peripheral to a porphyry Cu-Au zone. These same observations in the Bowbyes target suggests this area be classified as low-grade disseminated to vein-hosted Cu-Mo occurrences associated with a porphyry Cu-Au zone.

The Jeannette target hosts significant historical copper-gold drill intersections, mostly completed by Decade Resources Ltd. in 2010. Notable intervals include 117.07 metres grading 0.54 per cent Cu and 1.03 g/t Au (hole J-7), 103.65 m grading 0.55 per cent Cu and 1.00 g/t Au (hole J-1), 107.01 m grading 0.45 per cent Cu and 0.80 g/t Au (hole J-2) and 112.20 m grading 0.33 per cent Cu and 0.41 g/t Au (hole J-8).

The geology of the Bowbyes target area is dominated by upper Paleozoic intermediate volcanic to metavolcanic and volcaniclastic rocks with lesser chert beds. These rocks are intruded by bodies of diorite, quartz monzonite and granodiorite that are likely associated with the Coast plutonic complex. These Triassic and Jurassic units are crosscut by east-northeast-trending intermediate feldspar porphyry dikes and subsequently crosscut by north-northeast-trending felsic and mafic dikes. Quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration is spatially associated with the east-northeast-trending feldspar porphyry dikes in the mapping area.

Mineralization in the Bowbyes target area consists of multiple showings that include localized zones of magnetite-pyrite-chalcopyrite skarnification, as well as localized zones of silicification associated with weakly anomalous gold and one- to three-centimetre quartz-pyrite-chalcopyrite veins. The halos to these veins contain fine-grained disseminated pyrite and chalcopyrite. The southern portion of the Bowbyes target area contains massive to semi-massive sphalerite and lesser amounts of pyrite and chalcopyrite that is hosted by a 30-centimetre-wide south-southeast-trending shear zone.

Alteration assemblages in the Bowbyes target area is dominated by sericite-quartz and disseminated pyrite that occurs in a north-northeasterly elongated band through the target area, parallel to the volcaniclastic bedding.

Copper Quest announced its strategic partnership with United States-based Exploration Technologies Inc. on Dec. 1, 2025, to deploy generative artificial intelligence across its project portfolio, beginning with the Kitimat copper-gold project in British Columbia. Using the ExploreTech platform, historical information from the Kitimat project was integrated and reprocessed, including historical diamond drilling (including 2010 Jeannette Cu-Au zone drilling), government airborne magnetics, VTEM conductivity data, structural and lithological interpretations, 2025 field observations, and alteration mapping, as well as soil and rock geochemistry. The platform integrated this historical information into a unified probabilistic 3-D geological framework while the AI system generated thousands of subsurface geological scenarios, ranking probability clusters for concealed intrusive centres and sulphide-rich alteration zones.

Qualified person

Mr. Thurston, PGeo, the company's president and chief executive officer, and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects), has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release.

About copper

Copper is an essential industrial metal at the heart of the global energy transition and modern infrastructure. It plays a critical role in electrification, renewable energy systems, electric vehicles, data centres and smart technologies. With global demand rising and new supply challenged by declining grades, complex permitting and underinvestment, the copper market faces persistent deficits and growing geopolitical scrutiny. Recent U.S. policy announcements, including import tariffs and initiatives to secure domestic and allied supply chains, underscore copper's strategic importance and the need for resilient, localized resource exploration, development, production and processing capacity.

About Copper Quest Exploration Inc.

The company's landholdings comprise eight projects that span over 46,000 hectares in great mining jurisdictions of Canada and the United States. Copper Quest is committed to building shareholder value through acquisitions, discovery-driven exploration and responsible development of its North American portfolio of assets. The company's common shares are principally listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol CQX.

Copper Quest has a 100-per-cent interest in the past-producing Alpine gold mine located approximately 20 kilometres northeast of the city of Nelson, B.C., spanning 4,611.49 hectares with a 2018 National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects) historical inferred resource of 268,000 tonnes, estimated using a cut-off grade of 5.0 grams per tonne gold and an average grade of 16.52 g/t Au, that represents an inferred resource of 142,000 ounces of gold (McCuaig and Giroux, March 6, 2018, NI 43-101 technical report for the Alpine property, British Columbia, Canada. Further drilling is necessary by the company to upgrade/verify the estimate. The qualified person has not done sufficient work to make the resource current, and the company is not treating the estimate as current). Apart from the Alpine mine itself, the property hosts four other less explored significant vein systems, including the past-producing King Solomon vein workings, the Black Prince and the Cold Blow vein system, and the Gold Crown vein system. The company has not yet completed sufficient work to verify the 2018 historic inferred resource results.

Copper Quest has a 100-per-cent interest in the road-accessible Stars porphyry copper-molybdenum property, spanning 9,693 hectares in central British Columbia's Bulkley porphyry belt with Tana zone discovery drill intersection highlights of 0.466 per cent copper over 195.07 metres in drill hole DD18SS004 from 23.47 m, 0.200 per cent Cu over 396.67 m in drill hole DD18SS010 from 29.37 m and 0.205 per cent Cu over 207.27 m in drill hole DD18SS015 from 163.98 m. This highly prospective, approximately five-by-2.5-kilometre annular magnetic anomaly is interpreted to represent an altered monzonite intrusion and surrounding hornfels.

Copper Quest has a 100-per-cent interest in the road-accessible Kitimat copper-gold property, spanning 2,954 hectares within the Skeena mining division of northwestern British Columbia located northwest of the deepwater port community of Kitimat, B.C. The property benefits from exceptional infrastructure, being within 10 km of tidewater, 1.5 km of rail and six km of high-voltage hydroelectric transmission lines. Exploration on the Kitimat property dates to the late 1960s, with the most significant historical work conducted by Decade Resources Ltd. (2010), which completed 16 diamond drill holes totalling 4,437.5 metrs in the Jeannette Cu-Au zone, and drill intersection highlights of 0.54 per cent Cu and 1.03 g/t Au over 117.07 m in hole J-7 from 1.52 m, 0.55 per cent Cu and 1.00 g/t Au over 103.65 m in hole J-1 from 9.15 m, 0.45 per cent Cu and 0.80 g/t Au over 107.01 m in hole J-2 from 6.10 m, and 0.33 per cent Cu and 0.41 g/t Au over 112.20 m in hole J-8 from 11.89 m.

Copper Quest has a 100-per-cent interest in the past-producing, road-accessible Auxer gold mine, spanning 1,087 hectares located in Bonner county, Idaho, United States. This orogenic gold opportunity is positioned along one of the region's most significant structural corridors located within the prolific Hope Fault system. Historical exploration has demonstrated exceptional gold grades, with the 1936 Platts report documenting up to 21.0 g/t Au in surface samples and underground workings showing consistent mineralization over 4.3-metre widths averaging 9.42 g/t Au at an 18-metre depth.

Copper Quest has a 100-per-cent interest in the Nekash copper-gold project, a porphyry exploration opportunity located in Lemhi county, Idaho, United States, along the prolific Idaho-Montana porphyry copper belt that hosts world-class systems such as Butte and Cumo. The project is fully road accessible through maintained U.S. highways and forest service roads and consists of 70 unpatented federal lode claims covering 585 hectares.

Copper Quest has a 100-per-cent interest in the road-accessible Stellar property, spanning 5,389-hectares in British Columbia's Bulkley porphyry belt contiguous to the Stars property.

Copper Quest has a 100-per-cent interest in the Thane project located in the Quesnel terrane of Northern British Columbia spanning over 20,658 hectares with 10 priority targets identified demonstrating significant copper and precious metal mineralization potential.

Copper Quest has an earn-in option of up to 80 per cent and joint venture agreement on the road-accessible Rip porphyry copper-molybdenum project, spanning 4,700 hectares located in the Bulkley porphyry belt in central British Columbia.

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