File: '\\swfile\EmailIn\20260814 052446 Attachment Ewk NR Stock Options F 08-14-26.docx'

Suite 600 - 890 West Pender Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 1J9

Telephone: 604.669.3143 Fax: 604.669.3107

Email: info@earthworksinc.com Web: www.earthworksinc.com

TSX-V: EWK

OTCQB: EAATF

NEWS RELEASE

Aug 14, 2026

Earthworks grants options

Vancouver, British Columbia - August 14, 2026 - Earthworks Industries Inc. (TSX-V: EWK, OTCQB: EAATF) ("Earthworks" or the "Company") a critical minerals recycling and recovery company advancing modular systems designed to recover critical minerals and strengthen Western critical mineral supply chains, announces that it has granted an aggregate of 3 million stock options to directors, advisors, employees, consultants and service providers of the Company.

The options are exercisable at a price of $0.05 per common share for a period of five years, expiring August 14, 2031, and vest immediately. The options have been granted in accordance with the Company's stock option plan and remain subject to the policies and approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, as applicable.

David Atkinson, CEO of Earthworks, commented:

"As we advance Earthworks' critical minerals recycling and recovery system, we are focused on leveraging the full range of tools and resources available to the Company to build the team, partnerships and capabilities required to execute our plans. Equity-based compensation allows us to align the interests of the people contributing to Earthworks' growth with those of our shareholders. We believe this alignment is important as we work together to help improve Western critical mineral supply chains."

Addressing the Critical Minerals Supply Gap

The race to build and power artificial intelligence infrastructure, electrify transportation, modernize defense systems and expand advanced manufacturing has created an unprecedented and accelerating demand for critical minerals, including copper, rare earth elements, lithium, cobalt, nickel, tungsten, titanium and many other materials that form the physical foundation of the 21st-century economy.

The problem is supply.

Refining and processing capacity for many of these materials is heavily concentrated in foreign jurisdictions, most significantly China, creating vulnerabilities in Western supply chains that are no longer theoretical, but active and urgent.

Both Canada and the United States have responded with major policy commitments, including Canada's Critical Minerals Strategy and initiatives under the United States Defense Production Act and CHIPS and Science Act, directed at building domestic supply chain resilience.

Primary mining alone cannot close the supply gap quickly enough. New mine development frequently requires a decade or more to advance from discovery through permitting, financing, construction and production.

This is where recycling and secondary recovery become strategically essential.

Many of the materials required by Western economies already exist above ground in significant quantities within end-of-life electronics, industrial scrap, manufacturing byproducts, legacy mine waste, tailings, waste rock and other previously processed materials.

Urban recycling and secondary recovery can provide a faster, lower-impact and potentially more capital-efficient path to production than greenfield mine development. However, domestic recovery infrastructure across North America remains fragmented and undersupplied, creating a need for modular, deployable and digitally managed recovery capacity.

Through its acquisition of the Critical Minerals Recovery System, Earthworks holds a full-stack platform developed to address that need, beginning with copper and intended to expand into battery metals, rare earth elements, precious metals and defense-related materials across Canada and the United States.

About Earthworks Industries Inc.

Earthworks Industries Inc. (tsx.v: EWK, otc: EAATF) is a critical minerals recycling and recovery company advancing modular systems designed to recover strategic metals and strengthen Western critical mineral supply chains. The Company is developing scalable recycling and recovery infrastructure to help address the growing need for domestic critical minerals production.

For further information, contact:

Earthworks Industries Inc.

David Atkinson

President/CEO

604-669-3143

Info@earthworksinc.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this News Release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements made in this news release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, may include forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's plans to develop and deploy modular critical minerals recycling and recovery systems; the proposed development of a pilot copper recycling facility in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia; the expected services and contributions of Fairfax Partners, Fair and Trifecta Capital Corp.; the anticipated ability of the engagements to broaden the Company's audience, improve the rhythm and consistency of its communications, build stakeholder relationships and support business growth; the Company's ability to establish and maintain a consistent communications cadence; the potential expansion of the Critical Minerals Recovery System into additional locations and material streams; and the Company's objective of contributing to more secure and resilient Western critical mineral supply chains.

Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in the development, financing, construction and operation of recycling and resource recovery projects. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the Company's ability to obtain sufficient financing, secure suitable feedstock, identify and acquire an appropriate facility location, procure and commission required equipment, obtain permits and regulatory approvals, enter into strategic partnerships and offtake arrangements, validate anticipated processing performance and successfully commercialize the Critical Minerals Recovery System.

As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.