Mr. Christopher Anderson reports

GREAT ATLANTIC RESOURCES PROVIDES UPDATE ON DRILLS OF MASSIVE SULPHIDES AT OPTIONED PILLEY'S ISLAND PROJECT

Great Atlantic Resources Corp. has provided an update on diamond drilling by HM Exploration Corp. at Great Atlantic's Pilley's Island project at Pilley's Island, north-central Newfoundland. HM Exploration holds an option to earn a 100-per-cent interest in the project. HM Exploration has provided an update for the first five drill holes completed this year at the project (see HM Exploration news release of June 4, 2026). HM Exploration refers to their project area as the Lewis Pilley's project. HM Exploration states the first five holes of the maiden drilling program represent 1,088 metres of a planned minimum 2,500 metres of diamond drilling. These five holes were all drilled within the area of Great Atlantic's Pilley's Island project.

"We are very pleased to see HM Exploration advancing the Pilley's Island project with a disciplined and well-executed maiden drill program," stated Christopher Anderson, chief executive officer of Great Atlantic Resources. "The early visual observations reported by HM Exploration are encouraging, particularly as they support the geological model being tested at the Clifford Jones area. We appreciate the technical work, commitment and professionalism that HM Exploration is bringing to the project, and we look forward to the receipt of assay results and further updates as exploration progresses."

Highlights of this drilling as stated by HM Exploration include:

• Three of the first five drill holes intersected massive, semi-massive and disseminated sulphide mineralization;
• Copper-bearing sulphide-clast debris flow mineralization successfully intersected in drilling, confirming the targeted geological model;
• Angular chalcopyrite-bearing clasts observed in multiple holes, potentially indicating limited transport from source and proximity to a hydrothermal vent environment;
• Multiple mineralized intervals encountered, including 6.27 metres in PI-26-001, 8.00 m in PI-26-002 and 6.98 m in PI-26-005;
• Assays pending; HM looks forward to providing updates as drilling continues.

"The goal of our first drill program is to test the VMS-style debris flow mineralization visible at surface," said Nick Rodway, CEO of HM Exploration. "Three of the first five holes successfully intersected zones of massive, semi-massive and fine-grained disseminated sulphide mineralization, including sizeable angular chalcopyrite-bearing clasts. Surface grab samples from this area have returned values of over 16 per cent copper, and we are encouraged to see similar mineralization now intersected in drilling. The angular nature of the mineralized clasts may indicate relatively limited transport from their source and is consistent with proximity to a hydrothermal vent environment."

As stated by HM Exploration, drilling was focused on evaluating the continuity of the mineralized system below known surface showings and along strike of Clifford Jones zone to improve HM Exploration's understanding of the geological controls on mineralization. Visual observations from the initial five holes indicate that the targeted copper-bearing debris flow was successfully intersected, with zones of alteration and massive to semi-massive sulphide mineralization observed in the drill core. Core samples for the first five holes have been submitted to the laboratory for analysis. Assay results will be released once they have been returned to HM Exploration.

HM Exploration states that three of five holes intersected a wide range of massive, semi-massive and disseminated sulphide mineralization over the following drill core lengths*:

• PI-26-001:
  • From 10.74 to 16.56 metres downhole; 5.82 m drilled length;
  • From 51.48 to 57.75 m downhole; 6.27 m drilled length.
• PI-26-002
  • From 10.00 to 18.00 m downhole; 8.00 m drilled length.
• PI-26-005
  • From 14.00 to 18.00 m downhole; 4.00 m drilled length;
  • From 34.04 to 41.02 m downhole; 6.98 m drilled length.

HM Exploration states that mineralization can be described as clast-dominated debris zones consisting of subangular to angular fragments of massive sulphide (approximately 85 per cent of intercept) composed of Cpy plus Py plus or minus Sph plus or minus Gn suspended in interstitial fine-grained disseminated sulphides (Py plus Cpy plus or minus Sph plus or minus Gn) and milled felsic plus or minus mafic rock. Matrix-dominated debris flow composed of fragments of subrounded to angular clasts of massive sulphide (Py plus Cpy plus or minus Sph plus or minus Gn) and felsic plus or minus mafic lithic fragments suspended in a matrix of fine-grained sulphide (Py plus Cpy plus or minus Sph plus or minus Gn) and milled felsic plus or minus mafic rock. More detailed classifications for individual intercepts are referenced in Table 2.

* The company cautions that the presence of visible sulphides and visual estimates of mineral abundance are not indicative of grade and should not be considered a substitute for laboratory analysis. Assay results are pending.

Geology and mineralization (as stated by HM Exploration)

The property is located within the Notre Dame subzone of the Dunnage Tectonostratigraphic zone. Of note, most of the property is underlain by Ordovician submarine volcanic rocks of the Roberts Arm Group, which is regionally identified as part of a mature arc sequence referred to as the Buchans-Roberts Arm belt that also hosts the historic Buchans mine (after Dunning et al., 1987). Mineralization occurs as lower grade (Spencer's Dock); medium grade (Old Mines); and high-grade (3B-zone/Clifford Jones) deposits that are of both subseafloor replacement and exhalative varieties. The deposits are often flanked by extensive chlorite, sericite, silica, K-feldspar and epidote alteration often observed in bimodal-felsic VMS systems. The Spencer's Dock area displays sericite/silica alteration that generally increases in intensity near mineralized zones, while the 3B/Old mine areas display sericite/silica alteration that is abundant but less widespread and is more intense when proximal to mineralized zones (after Kerr, 1996).

VMS deposits are a globally significant source of copper, zinc, lead, silver and gold. The property's geology shares key characteristics with known volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) districts in Newfoundland, including the past-producing Buchans, Ming and Rambler Mines, supporting the exploration potential of the property.

About Lewis Pilley's project (as stated by HM Exploration)

The property is road accessible and situated approximately 25 km east of the town of Springdale, approximately 55 km southeast of Firefly Metals' Green Bay project, and approximately 150 km from the Pine Cove Mill and Port by way of major roads.

The property has a long history of mining and exploration dating back to the late 1800s when the Pilley's Island PyritecCompany Ltd. produced approximately 450,000 tonnes of massive pyritic ore from the Pilley's Island Mine-Old Mines (after Kerr, 1996).

The property hosts a cluster of VMS systems and prospects with demonstrated high-grade Zn-Pb-Cu-Ag (zinc-lead-copper-silver) plus/minus Au (gold) intersections. Mineralization is typical bimodal-felsic VMS, with both massive sulphide and sulphide-clast breccias (Thurlow, 1996). The geological setting is directly analogous to the Buchans camp (Thurlow, 1996), and the presence of sulphide-clast breccias is a strong vector toward proximal massive sulphide lenses.

Most of the historic showings that fall within the extents of the property have not seen systematic exploration. Many of the historic drill holes were shallow and drilled in a vertical orientation limiting the geological knowledge of the extents of the underlying lithology and mineralization. Work is being planned to validate historic assay results as well as collect new data from the 3B-zone, Clifford Jones (Bull Road) extension, Bouzanne shaft, Henderson, Mansfield and Pilley's Cove showings.

Sampling, preparation and QA/QC (quality assurance/quality control) (as stated by HM Exploration)

Drill collar locations were determined from hand-held GPS (NAD83-Zone 21N) and the drill rig was aligned using a Reflex TN-14 Gyrocompass alignment tool. All samples are given a unique sample ID and number and shipped directly to Eastern Analytical Ltd. (403 Little Bay Rd., Springdale, Nfld.), a commercial laboratory that is ISO/IEC 17025 accredited and completely independent of HM Exploration and Great Atlantic. Analytical methods include ICP-OES (34 element) with four-acid digestion, Au fire assay (30 g) with AA finish, and ore grade assay (multiacid digestion) with AA finish. HM Exploration inserts standard, blank and duplicate samples as part of its standard QA/QC procedures.

National Instrument 43-101 disclosure (as stated by HM Exploration)

Nicholas Rodway, PGeo (licence No. 46541) (permit to practice No. 1000359) is chief executive officer and director of HM Exploration, and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Rodway has supervised the preparation, verified and approved the technical content in this news release. Verification included review of drill logs, sample tags, chain of custody procedures and analytical protocols. No limitations were noted during the verification process.

David Martin, PGeo (New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador), a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 and vice-president, exploration, for Great Atlantic, reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. Great Atlantic has not verified sulphide bearing drill core intervals stated in this news release.

About Great Atlantic Resources Corp.

Great Atlantic Resources is a Canadian exploration company focused on the discovery and development of mineral assets in the resource-rich and sovereign risk-free realm of Atlantic Canada, one of the No. 1 mining regions of the world. Great Atlantic is currently surging forward building the company utilizing a project generation model, with a special focus on the most critical elements on the planet that are prominent in Atlantic Canada, gold, copper, zinc, nickel, cobalt, antimony and tungsten.

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