Mr. Brian Thurston reports

COPPER QUEST PROVIDES 2026 EXPLORATION UPDATE

Copper Quest Exploration Inc. has provided an update from its 2026 exploration programs including an extensive 20-square-kilometre geophysical program at its 100-per-cent owned Stars property, permitting and structuring of several properties, and a phase 2 drill program at the Rip property.

Brian Thurston, chief executive officer of Copper Quest, stated: "Copper Quest has had a productive summer of exploration, working several of our properties. We are looking forward to the results of this labour and using the collected data to advance each of our projects. The company is now focused squarely on the advancement and development of its seven 100-per-cent-owned properties, advancing past-producing gold mines, as well as taking previously drilled exploration targets to the next level of exploration and discovery stage."

Stars geophysical program

Copper Quest is pleased to announce that it has completed a 20-square-kilometre 3-D induced polarization (IP) geophysical survey on its 100-per-cent-owned Stars property. Stars is a porphyry copper-molybdenum (Cu-Mo) project covering 9,693 hectares (ha) in the Stikine region of British Columbia, situated approximately 60 km north of Imperial Metals Corp.'s past-producing Huckleberry Cu-Mo mine, 50 km north-northeast of Surge Copper Corp.'s advanced stage Berg copper project and 30 km north-northwest of Vizsla Copper Corp.'s Poplar copper-gold project. Imperial Metals is exploring Huckleberry and its surrounding claims for additional Cu-Mo resources.

This very large IP survey has been applied across the full extent of the main Stars property, including over the Tana zone discovery area and its along-strike extensions. Induced polarization is a proven method for detecting sulphide mineralization, the type of copper-bearing material found at Stars, at depth and at distance from known drill holes. By imaging the full 20 square km footprint of the magnetic anomaly, the company aims to determine the true scale of the mineralized system in terms of strike length, width and depth, and to identify potential new drill targets both in and beyond the current Tana zone. The company is awaiting the final report from this work and will update shareholders once that report is received and interpreted.

Alpine permitting

The company has been moving forward with permitting on its 100-per-cent-owned Alpine project which includes the extension of the company's current exploration and drilling permit, as well as permitting of the road access from two different routes.

The company has been engaged with consultants and manufacturers regarding sorting and processing equipment for ore from the Alpine property. Further, the company has actively been pursuing both partnerships and potential ownership opportunities with various milling operations.

Kitimat permitting

The company has been moving forward with permitting on its 100-per-cent-owned Kitimat project which includes plans to complete geophysical and drilling programs over the Jeannette Cu-Au target area as well as the artificial-intelligence-generated target proposed by Exploration Technologies Inc. and described in a previous press release by the company posted on March 24, 2026.

Thane permitting

The company plans to commence permitting of its 100-per-cent-owned Thane property and is actively looking for a partner to explore this property.

Auxer and Nekash properties

The company has formed a wholly owned subsidiary to hold its 100-per-cent-owned United States properties. The transfer of ownership of both the past-producing Auxer gold mine and the Nekash copper project is now in process and expected to complete shortly. The company is actively looking for partners to explore these properties.

Rip phase 2 drilling

The phase 2 drill program of the Rip project was first announced by the company on May 11, 2026. The company successfully completed 1,654 metres of drilling from five holes on the property. Samples from this drill program have been sent to ALS laboratory in Terrace, B.C., for storage prior to preparation and assaying. On June 2, 2026, the company and ArcWest Exploration Inc. began negotiations on amending the current option agreement entered into on Nov. 27, 2023, where Copper Quest has the option to acquire up to 80 per cent of the Rip property. Until the negotiations are concluded, the company does not plan to complete assaying the samples from this most recent drill program.

Qualified person

Brian G. 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 Quest Exploration Inc.

The company's landholdings comprise eight projects that span almost 50,000 hectares in great mining jurisdictions of Canada and the U.S. 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 Stock 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 g/t Au and an average grade of 16.52 g/t Au, that represents an inferred resource of 142,000 oz of gold (McCuaig and Giroux, March 6, 2018, National Instrument 43-101 technical report for the Alpine property, B.C., Canada. Further drilling is necessary by the company to upgrade/verify the estimate. The QP 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 veins 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 Cu over 195.07 m 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 6,801.41 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 metres 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, U.S., along the prolific Idaho-Montana porphyry copper belt that hosts world-class systems such as Butte and Cumo. The project is fully road-accessible via 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.

We seek Safe Harbor.