Mr. Barry O'Shea reports

HIGHLAND COPPER CLOSES SALE OF 34% INTEREST IN WHITE PINE FOR US$30 MILLION

Further to the press releases dated Nov. 25, 2025, and Jan. 13, 2026, Highland Copper Company Inc. has completed the sale of the company's 34-per-cent interest in the White Pine North project to its joint venture partner, Kinterra Copper USA LLC, for aggregate consideration of $30.1-million (U.S.), pursuant to a definitive membership interest purchase agreement dated Jan. 12, 2026.

The total consideration consisted of $18.3-million (U.S.) in cash, net of the outstanding principal and accrued interest on the loan made by Kinterra to the company's wholly owned subsidiary, Upper Peninsula Copper Holdings Inc., which was a total of $11.8-million (U.S.) at closing.

Proceeds from the sale of White Pine will be used to finance planned Copperwood project activities, eliminate the existing debt to Kinterra, pay for the costs of the transaction and finance general working capital.

"In divesting our non-controlling stake in White Pine, we are pleased to demonstrate a clear focus on our 100-per-cent-owned, fully permitted Copperwood project," said Barry O'Shea, chief executive officer of Highland Copper. "The divestment serves to eliminate debt and capitalize Copperwood to a construction decision. With the proceeds, we look forward to progressing detailed engineering, construction readiness and project financing through 2026."

Concurrently with the transaction, the company entered into an amendment to the silver royalty option with OR Royalties Inc. on the Copperwood project that is generally consistent with the silver royalty option already in place. Pursuant to the silver royalty option, OR Royalties has the option to increase its net smelter return royalty on silver produced from the Copperwood project from 11.5 per cent to 100 per cent by paying the company $3.0-million (U.S.) on Dec. 31, 2027, subject to certain conditions and the right of OR Royalties to extend the time for the payment by one year.

Moelis & Company LLC acted as exclusive financial adviser to the company in connection with the transaction and received a fee compliant with the TSX Venture Exchange policies. McMillan LLP acted as legal adviser to the company.

Refiling of financial statements

On Feb. 26, 2026, the company refiled its interim financial statements for the three and six months ended Dec. 31, 2025, to correct the comparative financial information in the statement of changes in equity to include the balance as at Dec. 31, 2024.

About Highland Copper Company Inc.

Highland Copper is a Canadian company focused on exploring and developing copper projects in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. The company also owns surface rights securing access to the Copperwood deposit and providing space for infrastructure at Copperwood as required. The company has 738,188,122 common shares issued and outstanding. Its common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol HI and trade on the OTCQB Venture Market under symbol HDRSF.

We seek Safe Harbor.