Mr. Mario Pezzente reports

GERMANIUM MINING CORP. ENTERS INTO AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE A 100% INTEREST IN THE HISTORICAL AZURE RIDGE MINE, EXPANDING PORTFOLIO IN HIGH-GRADE GERMANIUM-COPPER-ZINC SYSTEM

Germanium Mining Corp. has entered into an agreement to acquire a 100-per-cent interest in the Azure Ridge historic mine (Azure Ridge project), within the historically productive Gold Butte-Million Hills mining district, a region long recognized for its polymetallic base metal and critical mineral endowment, in Clark county, Nevada, United States.

About the historical Azure Ridge mine

The Azure Ridge mine was active in 1918, when it produced two carloads of hand-sorted ore averaging 40 per cent zinc and one carload averaging 35 per cent copper. Early development on the property, formerly known as the Bonelli mine, consists of five adits (totalling over 377 feet), one 11-foot-deep shaft, two open cuts and 10 pits. The property has remained largely inactive since its brief production period.

The Azure Ridge deposit consists of fault-controlled, carbonate-hosted copper-zinc-lead-cobalt-germanium-gallium mineralization, interpreted as Kipushi-type (carbonate-replacement-style) mineralization. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and U.S. Bureau of Mines, as part of a 1994 study, carried out a sampling program at Azure Ridge.

"Forty-three samples taken. Select samples contain as much as 8.99 per cent copper, 33.0 per cent lead, 30.8 per zinc, 471 parts per million cobalt, 3,300 parts per million gold and 142 parts per million silver, 150 parts per million germanium and 75 parts per million gallium. Mineralized rock occurs sporadically over an area about 5,000 feet long by 1,100 feet deep. The structure is as thick as nine feet in outcrop. There is an inferred subeconomic resource of copper-lead-zinc-cobalt-gold-silver-gallium-germanium-bearing material. The occurrence of the mineralized rock in small pod-like bodies makes it unrealistic to attempt to quantify resources on the basis of limited sampling."

"The Azure Ridge historical mine is reported in U.S. Bureau of Mines and U.S. Geological Survey records as hosting high-grade copper and zinc shipments, including historical lots averaging approximately 35 per cent copper and 40 per cent zinc, within a fault-controlled carbonate system that also carries lead, cobalt, 3,300 g/t gold, 142 g/t silver, 75 ppm gallium and 150 ppm germanium," stated Mario Pezzente, president and chief executive officer of Germanium Mining. "These historical results and government assessments, while not verified or relied upon by the company and not compliant with current NI [National Instrument] 43-101 standards, provide valuable geological context and a robust starting point for modern exploration. The opportunity to systematically evaluate and potentially confirm or expand upon these indications -- using today's geophysics, geochemistry and critical mineral processing technologies, in a proven pro-mining Nevada jurisdiction -- positions Azure Ridge as a compelling target for a modern germanium, gallium, copper and zinc discovery."

Geology and mineralization

The Azure Ridge deposit consists of fault-controlled, carbonate-hosted copper-zinc-lead-cobalt-germanium-gallium mineralization, interpreted as Kipushi-type (carbonate-replacement-style) mineralization. The USGS and the U.S. Bureau of Mines have confirmed the area's high mineral potential for these critical and base metals, noting, "A large part of the Million Hills wilderness study area has high potential for undiscovered copper, lead, zinc, cobalt, gold, silver, gallium and germanium in Kipushi-type deposits."

The Apex mine, located near Enterprise, Utah, represents a classic carbonate-replacement deposit that produced germanium-rich zinc-lead-copper ore within Mississippian limestone. The Azure Ridge project exhibits similar geological controls, limestone host rocks, fault-related sulphide replacement and the same Lake Mead metallogenic structural trend, suggesting it may represent an analogue or southern extension of the Apex-style system.

Modern opportunity in a pro-mining America

While the historical records and government surveys relating to the Azure Ridge mine are not compliant with current NI 43-101 standards and have not been verified by a qualified person, they provide a compelling geological foundation for modern exploration.

Early documentation from the U.S. Bureau of Mines (1937) and subsequent USGS assessments (1994 and 2006) describes high-grade copper (35 per cent) and zinc (40 per cent) shipments with accessory gold, silver, cobalt, gallium and germanium values from fault-controlled carbonate horizons -- highlighting the potential for a Kipushi-style, polymetallic replacement system.

With today's advances in geophysical imaging, geochemical targeting and critical minerals recovery technology, Germanium Mining believes the Azure Ridge project represents an opportunity to revisit a historically productive district in the heart of pro-mining Nevada, at a time when the United States is prioritizing domestic supply of strategic elements such as germanium and gallium.

Management of Germanium Mining cautions that all references to historical data, reports, grades, resources or production figures are historical in nature and should not be relied upon as current. These historical estimates have not been verified by a qualified person as defined under NI 43-101 and do not comply with current NI 43-101 standards. The company does not treat these historical estimates as current mineral resources or reserves. They are considered useful solely as a guide for future exploration work. Germanium Mining intends to conduct the necessary geological, geochemical and metallurgical programs to verify and potentially upgrade this historical information to modern reporting standards.

Land and environmental context

The Azure Ridge project partially overlaps areas designated as wilderness study areas (WSA) under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA). The company emphasizes that mining and exploration and development activities are permitted within WSAs under current U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) policy, provided environmental and reclamation standards are met, as is the case with all advanced projects on BLM ground.

The transaction

The company has entered into an agreement with Nicholas Price, an arm's-length mineral prospector, to acquire a 100-per-cent interest in eight unpatented mining claims comprising 160 acres for making the following payments, subject to regulatory approval:

• Payment of $5,000 (U.S.) within three business days of the prospector providing BLM claim serial numbers;
• $5,000 (U.S.) paid quarterly for the next 24 months after completion of due diligence;
• Subject to a 1.5-per-cent NSR (net smelter return) royalty.

Qualified person

William Feyerabend, CPG, a consulting geologist and a qualified person under NI 43-101 has reviewed this news release and approves the technical and scientific content.

About Germanium Mining Corp.

Germanium Mining holds an option to acquire a 100-per-cent interest in the Lac du Km 35 property comprising 75 claims covering an area of 4,150 hectares (41.5 square kilometres), further to its news releases dated Jan. 14 and Jan. 24, 2025. The Lac du Km 35 germanium property is approximately 40 kilometres east of the mining town of Chibougamau in the Nord-du-Quebec region of Quebec and has excellent access through Highway 167 and a main lumber road that transects the whole property from the west to the east as well as a network of secondary roads.

The property is underlain by the volcano-sedimentary sequence of the Roy group and its metamorphic equivalent, the Laganiere gneissic complex, which hosts the Lac Dore intrusive suite, which is a mafic-to-ultramafic stratiform and synvolcanic intrusion, and the later-stage Duberger felsic pluton; all these rock units belong to the northeastern portion of the Abitibi greenstone belt subprovince of Archean age. To the west of the property, rocks were metamorphosed at the greenschist facies, where the chlorite mineral is ubiquitous, while the eastern portion has reached the amphibolite metamorphism grade.

A prominent structural element is the ductile Faribault shear zone (FSZ), oriented east-southeast and located toward the eastern part of the property. The FSZ dips to the south-southwest and ends to the Grenville front, which extends to the southwest-northeast for several hundreds of kilometres. The Grenville front separates the Abitibi greenstone belt from younger Mesoproterozoic rocks and is only a few kilometres to the east of the property. The FSZ is an important feature that could have been joined by other permeable zones at depth as a preferential conduit for hydrothermal fluids.

Discovered by government geologists in 1998 and never followed up, the Laganiere germanium showing consists of a peridotite outcrop within the Laganiere gneissic complex that comprises amphibolites and hornblende and biotite gneisses. The Laganiere showing returned a value of 0.02 per cent (186 parts per million) germanium and is currently the highest germanium value ever reported from an outcrop in the whole Quebec.

The Laganiere germanium showing is located right alongside the main lumber road and immediately adjacent to the south to a cluster of electromagnetic anomalies of roughly 400 metres by 400 metres in size that were never tested. The Laganiere germanium showing is also 450 m northeast of the FSZ, 800 m from the southern margin of the Duberger felsic pluton and approximately two km to the west of the Grenville front. Apart from regional mapping and sampling of government geologists, the Laganiere germanium showing area remains vastly underexplored and overlooked and constitutes the prime focus for the company.

Recent exploration work performed in 2024, consisting of prospecting and sampling, allowed to collect 39 outcrop samples. Values up to 0.27 per cent nickel, 0.04 per cent cobalt, 0.24 per cent copper and 0.21 gram per tonne gold were obtained from these samples. The highest zinc value is 0.07 per cent and only three samples had overall zinc values over 0.05 per cent. Due to the digestion method selected, germanium values were deemed not reliable.

About germanium

Germanium is a hard, greyish and brittle metalloid that shares characteristics of both metal and non-metal properties. Germanium has many growing applications in electronics and solar, fibre optics, and infrared optics for civil and military uses. One of the growing and key applications for germanium is autonomous vehicle driving system, where germanium is used for thermal imaging cameras and night vision devices.

China's share of germanium global output in 2024 was estimated between 70 and 75 per cent. According to the USGS survey in a 2024 report, there is high degree of uncertainty regarding world primary production of germanium. In 2022, the USGS estimated that world production of primary germanium reached 210,000 kilograms while China's primary production capacity of germanium is 309,000 kilograms.

Germanium is in the list of critical metals in Canada, the United States and the European Union. Since Dec. 3, 2024, China, the largest producer of refined germanium, has banned germanium exports to the United States. The challenge will be securing new or alternative supplies of germanium. Germanium is not an openly traded commodity and recent spot prices have germanium over $4,000 (U.S.) per kilogram.

We seek Safe Harbor.