Mr. Duane Parnham reports

CRITICAL ONE ENERGY CONFIRMS BROAD NEAR-SURFACE ANTIMONY MINERALIZATION IN FIRST DRILL HOLE AT HOWELLS LAKE ANTIMONY-GOLD PROJECT

The first diamond drill hole at Critical One Energy Inc.'s flagship Howells Lake antimony-gold project has confirmed broad near-surface antimony mineralization with multiple zones of visible stibnite across approximately 100 metres of core length. The phase 1 drill program has commenced at the historic Howells Lake East antimony zone, located in the Thunder Bay mining division of Northwestern Ontario, approximately 120 kilometres west of the Ring of Fire access corridor.

Highlights:

• First hole of the phase 1 diamond drill program (HWL-2026-001) completed to a depth of 201 metres, the first modern drilling since the original discovery in 1979;
• Visual inspection confirms broad near-surface mineralization with multiple zones of stibnite mineralization and strong alteration within the first 100 metres, starting at just 24 metres downhole;
• Disseminated to semi-massive stibnite stringers observed along rock foliation and in brecciated quartz-carbonate veins within chlorite-fuchsite altered feldspar porphyry and proximal lithologies, consistent with the company's geological model for the East zone;
• Pyrite-pyrrhotite-sphalerite sulphide mineralization also observed disseminated throughout the drill hole, indicating a broader sulphide-bearing system;
• Core logging, photography, cutting and sampling under way; samples submitted to Agat Laboratories in Thunder Bay for processing and analysis; results will be reported once received.

"We put our first hole into a deposit that hasn't been drilled in over 45 years, and the system delivered visible antimony mineralization from near surface, right where we expected it," said Duane Parnham, founder, executive chairman and chief executive officer of Critical One. "This is the first of approximately a dozen planned holes, and we are off to a strong start. At a time when antimony is critical to military and defence supply chains and trading at levels that didn't exist when first discovered, we have a full program ahead of us, and we look forward to reporting assays and further results as they become available."

Drill hole observations

Visual logging of HWL-2026-001 has confirmed broad antimony mineralization, alteration and veining within the first approximately 100 metres. Stibnite occurs as disseminated to semi-massive stringers along rock foliation and in brecciated quartz-carbonate veins within chlorite-fuchsite altered feldspar porphyry and proximal lithologies, the same host lithology and mineralization style documented in the original 1979 discovery work. The drill hole was oriented to intersect the East zone target. The relationship between core length and true width will be confirmed as additional holes and survey data become available.

The following intervals are highlighted as representative of the stibnite zones within the broader 100-metre mineralized envelope:

• 24.0 m to 26.5 m (2.5-metre core length): semi-massive stibnite in stringers along quartz vein boundaries with patches up-to-four-centimetre diameter within a zone of chlorite-fuchsite alteration, quartz veining, an estimated 3 to 10 per cent stibnite and minor pyrite-pyrrhotite;
• 35.0 m to 37.0 m (2.0-metre core length): disseminated stibnite up to an estimated 6 per cent locally concentrated along foliation in chlorite-altered feldspar porphyry within a wider zone of an estimated 2 per cent stibnite;
• 75.0 m to 78.0 m (3.0-metre core length): an estimated 1 to 5 per cent stibnite with the highest concentrations associated with five- to 15-centimetre quartz-carbonate veins.

These observations are based on visual logging only and remain subject to assay confirmation. Samples have been submitted to Agat Laboratories in Thunder Bay for processing and analysis.

Phase 1 program

The phase 1 program is designed to confirm and expand the historic high-grade antimony-gold zones at Howells Lake. Drilling will continue in the vicinity of the East zone before advancing to the West antimony-gold zone, where historical drilling reportedly returned higher gold grades in addition to antimony.

The Howells Lake project represents one of Canada's largest known undeveloped antimony systems, with a historical resource of 1.7 million tons at a grade of 1.4 per cent antimony with associated gold mineralization (Themistocleous, 1980)*. Historical drilling includes individual assays of up to 75 per cent antimony and over 14 grams per tonne gold, as well as intervals such as 5.37 per cent antimony over 8.35 metres and associations with high-grade gold. The project spans a substantial land package of approximately 25,000 hectares across a 30-kilometre strike in a proven greenstone belt, positioning it as a key asset in addressing North America's growing demand for critical minerals amid supply chain constraints and elevated antimony prices.

* Note: Historic geological and assay information contained in this document requires verification, and the qualified person responsible for the technical disclosure in this release is unable to determine if any of those data would meet current National Instrument 43-101 regulations regarding disclosure of scientific and technical information. Additionally, the QP has not done sufficient work to make the resource current. The historical resource uses inferred plus speculated categories which are not comparable with or compliant with Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum definitions of resources. Drill intersections in the historical report are reported as downhole intervals, and no true width could be determined at this time. Historical grades will need to be replicated and expanded upon with new drilling where uniform and dense drill intercepts, a defined orientation and size to the orebody, and cut-off grades are to be established to meet modern resource standards. The information in the data recovered is considered of value and relevant to the company's project. However, the issuer is not treating the estimate as current.

Qualified person

Matthew Trenkler, PGeo, chief geological officer, Critical One, a qualified person under NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical content of this news release. All technical information in this release pertaining to historical data cannot be verified by the QP. Visual identification of mineralization without assays does not guarantee grades. Assays must be reported to confirm the presence and grade of antimony and/or gold.

About Critical One Energy Inc.

Critical One is a forward-focused critical mineral and upstream energy company, powering the future of clean energy and advanced technologies. The Howells Lake antimony-gold project focuses the company's exposure on antimony, one of the most in-demand critical minerals, as well as gold, which is known to occur at numerous locations on the Howells Lake project. Backed by seasoned management expertise and prime resource assets, Critical One is strategically positioned to meet the rising global demand for critical minerals and metals. Its mine exploration portfolio is led by antimony-gold exploration potential in Canada and uranium investment interests in Namibia, Africa. By leveraging its technical, managerial and financial expertise, the company upgrades and creates high-value projects, thereby driving growth and delivering value to its shareholders.

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