Mr. Robin Dunbar reports

GRID METALS AND BOLIDEN SIGN $10 MILLION EARN-IN AGREEMENT FOR THE THOMPSON EAST COPPER/NICKEL PROJECT IN NORTHERN MANITOBA

Grid Metals Corp. has executed a definitive option and joint venture agreement with Boliden Mineral Canada Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Boliden Group, to explore and develop the Thompson East copper/nickel project in Northern Manitoba, Canada. The Thompson East project sits approximately 15 kilometres east of the eastern edge of the world-class Thompson nickel belt. The focus of the agreement will be the discovery of a Tier 1 magmatic copper-nickel-platinum group metals-cobalt deposit at Thompson East.

The agreement grants Boliden an option to acquire an 80-per-cent interest in Thompson East by financing cumulative expenditures of at least $9.6-million and making staged cash payments of $500,000 to Grid. The agreement is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Robin Dunbar, Grid's chief executive officer and president, stated: "We are pleased to announce a definitive agreement with Boliden, an innovative and globally recognized diversified mine developer and producer. This agreement provides Grid shareholders with exposure to a highly prospective mineral belt in a stable North American jurisdiction with funding from a world-class European mining company. We believe it is testament to the province of Manitoba's ongoing efforts to create an attractive mining jurisdiction, and this is Grid's second major earn-in agreement announced in the province in the last 18 months. Boliden will be an invaluable partner providing dedicated funding and expertise to help unlock the potential of Thompson East."

Hans Areback, director business development, Boliden, stated: "We are excited to partner with Grid on the Thompson East project and look forward to working together and developing the project."

"Our government is excited to see the growing private-sector investment in Manitoba's mining industry, which supports our goal of positioning the province as a global leader in the critical minerals that will shape our future," said Minister of Business, Mining, Trades and Job Creation Jamie Moses. "We look forward to working alongside companies such as Grid Metals Corp. and Boliden Mineral Canada Ltd. to grow the economy in Northern Manitoba and across the province."

Transaction terms

Pursuant to the agreement, Boliden has the option to acquire an 80-per-cent interest in the Thompson East copper/nickel property which consists of two existing mineral exploration licences (MELs) totalling 10,600 hectares and several new adjacent MELs under application totalling an additional 46,500 hectares.

Boliden may exercise the option in the existing two exploration licences by making an aggregate of $500,000 in cash payments and incurring an aggregate of $9.6-million in exploration expenditures over four years, according to the schedule as seen in the attached table.

If Boliden elects to incorporate any mineral rights adjacent to the existing two mineral exploration licences by the start of the third annual program then Boliden will be required to increase expenditures and cash payments to Grid according to the terms as shown in the attached table.

Grid will be the initial manager of the exploration activities and utilize its exploration team as required to undertake the initial programs. A technical committee will be utilized to plan, oversee and complete the exploration programs. Provided that Boliden exercises the option, a contractual joint venture will be formed between Grid and Boliden. Thereafter, each party would finance its pro rata share of future expenditures on the property or incur dilution. The agreement contains other standard terms for an option and joint venture agreement including terms regarding replacement of the operator, sale of a participant interest and the right of first refusal of the other party, a funding deferral for Grid after the option has been exercised and dilution clauses. During the joint venture period, the party with the majority interest has the right to become or designate the operator, and if Boliden arranges project financing for the project, it has the right to purchase a share of Grid's offtake proportional to the percentage of project financing that is being financed.

If a party's interest in the property is diluted below 10 per cent, its interest would be converted to a 1.0-per-cent net smelter return royalty on the property, of which 0.5 per cent could be bought back by the royalty payor at any time following the fifth anniversary of commercial production for a cash payment of $1-million.

The Thompson East copper/nickel project

The Thompson East project has a unique combination of attributes that make it prospective for high-tenor, copper- and platinum-group-element-enriched magmatic sulphide deposits. Key features include:

1. The geological setting is at the margin of the Superior Craton where globally significant base metal deposits occur.
2. Thompson East may be the copper- and PGE-rich "cousin" to the Thompson nickel belt (itself a world-class belt) which is located 20 kilometres to the west.
3. The belt is significantly underexplored compared to the nearby Thompson nickel belt.
4. There are numerous, significant base and precious metal occurrences on the property.
5. Work done by Grid has identified several near-surface, strong conductors associated with good outcropping copper, nickel, PGM and gold mineralization.
6. Access to and infrastructure for the project are very good and continue to improve with upgrades to the rail line to the port of Churchill and to the port-handling facilities -- all of which would support low-cost shipping of future project concentrate to Europe.

Detailed project and geological description

The Thompson East property currently comprises two mineral exploration licences (MELs) totalling 10,600 hectares. The licences are located between 30 and 40 kilometres from the city of Thompson in north-central Manitoba. An additional seven MELs capturing approximately 46,500 hectares were recently applied for (status is pending). The property covers several historical disseminated to massive magmatic sulphide occurrences associated with deformed mafic and ultramafic intrusive rocks all with extremely limited drilling. Recent confirmatory field sampling by Grid returned similar favourable grab sample base and precious metal grades to those seen in the historical samples from the property. Some of the new grab samples occur within ultramafic bodies that are known to be coeval with the ultramafic intrusives that host the numerous high-grade massive nickel sulphide deposits in the adjacent Thompson nickel belt (TNB). The TNB is a world-class nickel sulphide mining district that hosts the Thompson mine, which has been in continuous production since 1961.

A key similarity between the Thompson East mafic to ultramafic magmatic belt (herein referred to as the TEMB) and the TNB is the character of their highly deformed and high metamorphic grade sedimentary host rocks. In both belts, the mafic-ultramafic intrusions that host the known magmatic sulphide deposits and occurrences were emplaced into a former rifted continental margin containing sedimentary sequences featuring sulphur-rich shales and iron formation. The host sediments were subsequently intensely deformed and recrystallized at high temperatures to generate a sequence of paragneiss units. The S-rich members of these sedimentary sequences are believed to have provided a critical source of sulphur that promoted the formation of magmatic sulphides in both belts. In the TNB, the paragneiss host rocks are referred to as the Pipe formation.

A key difference between the two belts is the high Cu and PGE tenors of the TEMB occurrences relative to those in the TNB, which are strongly enriched in nickel relative to Cu and typically have very low PGE grades. Examples of high tenor mineralization in the TEMB include: (1) local Cu- and PGE-rich semi-massive sulphide mineralization such as the Murray Island showing on Wintering Lake, that contains up to 5.2 per cent Cu, 1.3 per cent Ni, 2.05 g/t Pd (palladium), 1.53 g/t Pt (platinum) and 2.0 g/t Au (Manitoba Mines Branch Assessment File No. 94320); and (2) disseminated sulphide mineralization at the margins of a major dike-like ultramafic intrusion at Cuthbert Lake, with peak grades of greater than 1 per cent Cu, greater than 1 per cent Ni, 2.29 g/t Pd, 1.26 g/t Pt and 0.63 g/t Rh (Manitoba Mines Branch Assessment File No. 73740). Sampling completed by the company last fall confirmed the high Cu and precious metal tenors of the Wintering and Cuthbert Lake magmatic sulphide occurrences (see Table 1). Of particular interest is the high Au and Pt tenor of the magmatic sulphide occurrences at Cuthbert Lake.

The prevailing geological concept for the TEMB involves a proto-rift basin located inboard from the TNB and formed during the same magmatic event that produced the TNB mafic and ultramafic intrusives. In this sense, the TEMB is considered to represent the more deeply eroded roots to the TNB magmatism. Taken together, the two belts represent the westernmost edge of the continental-scale Superior Boundary zone. The latter also hosts the company's Fox River belt licences in northeastern Manitoba, the currently producing nickel sulphide deposits in the Raglan camp in Northern Quebec, and a number of advanced exploration stage magmatic sulphide deposits in the Labrador trough on the eastern margin of the Superior Craton.

In 2022, the company completed an airborne EM plus magnetic survey over the two existing MELs. Subsequent modelling of the data identified several previously untested, near-surface, strongly conductive anomalies associated with known magmatic sulphide mineralization and/or prospective mafic-ultramafic bodies.

Despite its excellent geological pedigree, known similarities to the TNB, very favourable access and significant infrastructure (for example, major rail line and hydro power transmission lines pass through the property), the property has seen very limited historical exploration activity.

Initial exploration plans

Initial exploration activities being considered for the property include: (1) new airborne EM and magnetic surveys over parts of the new MELs, assuming they are approved by the Crown; (2) detailed prospecting and sampling over priority geophysical targets; (3) deep penetrating ground EM surveys over the top-ranked airborne EM anomalies. The ground EM surveys do not require an exploration work permit as was recently determined by the Manitoba Mines Branch Permit Office. Given the large amount of geophysical surveying and field work planned, an initial drilling campaign, focused on the highest-ranked targets, is unlikely to occur until later next year.

Qualified persons statement

Dr. Dave Peck, PGeo, is the qualified person for purposes of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this release.

About Grid Metals Corp.

The current focus of Grid Metals is its 100-per-cent-owned Falcon West property which is an emerging cesium discovery. A summary of its mineral properties in southeast Manitoba include:

1. The Falcon West property (lithium-cesium) is located 110 kilometres east of Winnipeg along the Trans-Canada Highway and contains highly anomalous cesium and lithium values in LCT pegmatite including the Lucy South pegmatite dike, the focus of Grid's current exploration efforts.
2. The Makwa property (Ni-Cu-PGM-Co), which is subject to an option and joint venture agreement with Teck Resources Ltd. Teck can earn up to a 70-per-cent interest in Makwa by incurring a total of $17.3-million, comprising project expenditures ($15.7-million) and cash payments or equity participation ($1.6-million) with Grid. Makwa is located on the south arm of the Bird River greenstone belt.
3. The Mayville property (Cu-Ni) is located on the north arm of the Bird River greenstone belt. The property is owned subject to a minority interest. The project contains a National Instrument 43-101-compliant open pit resource of 32 million tonnes grading 0.61 per cent CuEq (copper equivalent).
4. The Donner property (Li-Cs) is adjacent to the Mayville property, and Grid owns 75 per cent of the project. The project contains a NI 43-101-compliant resource of 6.8 million tonnes grading 1.39 per cent Li2O.

All of the company's southeastern Manitoba projects are located on the ancestral lands of the Sagkeeng First Nation with whom the company maintains an exploration agreement.

About Boliden Mineral Canada Ltd.

Boliden contributes to a sustainable future by extracting, producing and recycling metals that are essential to improve society for generations to come. With care for people and the environment, combined with experience gathered over a century and cutting-edge technology, Boliden's 8,000 employees have achieved leading productivity and one of the lowest carbon footprints in the industry.

We seek Safe Harbor.