Mr. John Lee reports

SILVER ELEPHANT TO ACQUIRE HIGH-GRADE ROBINSON-LASHER ZINC-GERMANIUM-GALLIUM PROJECT IN KENTUCKY, 90 MILES FROM PROPOSED US$7.4 BILLION KOREA ZINC SMELTER IN TENNESSEE

Silver Elephant Mining Corp. has entered into a binding definitive asset purchase agreement (the APA) with Cleantech Vanadium Mining Corp. dated June 11, 2026, to acquire the Robinson-Lasher zinc-germanium-gallium project, located in the Illinois-Kentucky fluorspar district (IKFD) in Livingston county, Kentucky, approximately 90 miles north of the planned $7.4-billion (U.S.) Korea zinc smelter in Clarksville, Tenn.

The transaction terms

Subject to the terms and conditions of the APA, Silver Elephant will acquire the Robinson-Lasher project by:

• Issuing 6.3 million common shares of Silver Elephant to Cleantech at a deemed price of 13 cents per share on closing, resulting in Cleantech holding approximately 9.9 per cent of the issued and outstanding common shares of Silver Elephant on a pro forma basis;
• Paying aggregate cash consideration of $1,255,000 (U.S.) in scheduled instalments of: $85,000 (U.S.) on or before Sept. 1, 2026; $85,000 (U.S.) on or before Sept. 1, 2027; $85,000 (U.S.) on or before Sept. 1, 2028; and $1-million (U.S.) on or before Sept. 1, 2029 (subject to the conditions described below).

In addition, on or before Sept. 1, 2029, Silver Elephant must incur a minimum of $2-million (U.S.) in exploration expenditures at the Robinson-Lasher project; and complete an independent technical report prepared by a qualified person. Cleantech through its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, entered into an option to purchase (OTP) the Robinson-Lasher project from an arm's-length third party. The OTP terms are detailed in Cleantech's news release dated Aug. 12, 2025. Title to the Robinson-Lasher project will be transferred to Silver Elephant upon Cleantech fulfilling the OTP terms and Silver Elephant fulfilling the transaction terms.

Completion of the transaction remains subject to a number of conditions, including receipt of all required approvals under applicable securities laws and stock exchange requirements, including any required approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange, including and, as applicable, any required disinterested shareholder approval of each of Silver Elephant and Cleantech. John Lee serves as chief executive officer and a director of both Silver Elephant and Cleantech. Mr. Lee will abstain from board voting in the transaction.

The Robinson-Lasher project

The Robinson-Lasher project comprises approximately 1,524 acres of mineral rights in Livingston county, Kentucky. Zinc and fluorspar mineralization occurs as bedded and replacement-style mineralization in Mississippian-age carbonate rocks along the Robinson Fault structure -- a classic Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) setting, the same style of mineralization as the Tennessee zinc mines that operated for over 50 years, supplying metals concentrate to the Nyrstar zinc smelter (acquired by Korea Zinc in April, 2026) in Clarksville, Tenn. The Robinson-Lasher project has been extensively drilled with 232 historic drill holes. There was an existing 1,270-foot production decline reaching approximately 240 feet of vertical depth, together with a ventilation shaft. There was limited production history and underground access is subject to rehabilitation.

There exists an historic resource estimate of 387,225 tons grading 14 per cent zinc for the Robinson-Lasher project published by U.S. Steel Corp. in 19832.

Critical metal credits

In 2008, Dynamex Resources completed a four-hole, 2,513-foot confirmation drilling program that returned results supportive of historic zinc mineralization. Hole DXHR-01 -- the thickest zinc intercept drilled on the property -- also returned anomalous germanium (10 to 220 parts per million) and gallium (up to 20 ppm), two critical minerals that are reported to be recoverable by Korea Zinc at its proposed smelter project in Clarksville, Tenn.

Robinson-Lasher prime address: new zinc-gallium-germanium smelter hub within 90

On Dec. 15, 20253, Korea Zinc Co. Ltd., which owns and operates the world's largest non-ferrous metals Onsan smelter in Ulsan, South Korea, announced a proposed $7.4-billion (U.S.) integrated zinc and critical minerals smelter to be built in Clarksville, Tenn., through its U.S. subsidiary Crucible Metals LLC and joint venture vehicle Crucible JV LLC. The project is reported to be backed by the U.S. government and private capital, including the U.S. Department of War (the largest voting holder of the joint venture) and the U.S. Department of Commerce, which awarded a $210-million (U.S.) CHIPS Act grant, together with approximately $1.94-billion (U.S.) of equity from the U.S. government and strategic investors and approximately $4.7-billion (U.S.) of debt financing arranged by the U.S. Department of War and J.P. Morgan (J.P. Morgan providing $2,349-million (U.S.)).

The facility is expected to be the first primary zinc smelter built in the United States since the 1970s, constructed on the site of the former Nyrstar Clarksville smelter -- the only operating primary zinc smelter in the U.S. -- which Crucible Metals has acquired. Modelled on Korea Zinc's flagship Onsan complex, the Clarksville facility is designed to produce, at full capacity, approximately 300,000 tonnes of zinc, 200,000 tonnes of lead and 35,000 tonnes of copper annually, plus strategic byproducts including antimony, indium, bismuth, tellurium, germanium and gallium -- 13 products in total, 11 designated as critical minerals by the U.S. government. Phased commercial operations are slated to begin in 2029.

Cleantech estimates this implies a zinc concentrate feed requirement on the order of 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes per year for the smelter. Korea Zinc has publicly stated it intends to prioritize sourcing feedstock domestically within the United States and from Mexico and South America. The company believes the potential zinc-gallium-germanium concentrate production from the Robinson-Lasher project can be a valuable, and highly sought-after feedstock to the new smelter facing declining domestic zinc concentrate feed from dwindling already existing zinc mining projects.

Zinc rally amid tightening zinc mine supply

Zinc is currently trading at multiyear high of approximately $1.6 (U.S.)/pound (based on recent LME cash zinc price quotations) approaching the all-time high of $2.2 (U.S.)/lb in 2006. The recent zinc price strength has been supported by reported supply tightening in both U.S. and global zinc markets as well as logistical bottlenecks and supply disruption from South America:

• Red Dog, the largest zinc mine in the United States and one of the largest in the world, operated by Teck Resources in northwest Alaska, has been reported to close in 2031 based on currently developed reserves, absent the development of additional deposits -- potentially removing a major source of domestic and global mine supply.
• Globally, the zinc market has been on a structurally tighter footing since the shutdown of several major mines, including Australia's Century mine -- formerly one of the world's largest, producing an average of approximately 475,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate per year -- which ceased open-pit production in 2015 with final concentrate shipped in early 2016, alongside the closure of Ireland's Lisheen mine in the same period.

Zinc remains an essential industrial and strategic metal. Its primary application is galvanizing, protecting steel from corrosion across construction, automotive and infrastructure markets, with growing use in die-casting alloys, brass and energy-storage applications.

Qualified person

The technical contents of this news release have been prepared under the supervision of Carlos Zamora, a member of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) and a certified professional geologist (CPG) since 2024, who is an employee of the company and is not considered independent. Mr. Zamora is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. The qualified person has reviewed the disclosure contained herein and, subject to limitations, believes it has been summarized fairly from the source materials available to the company for the purposes of this news release.

About Silver Elephant Mining Corp.

Silver Elephant is a mineral exploration company focused on the development of its silver-lead-zinc project in Bolivia.

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