Mr. Simon Clarke reports

AMERICAN CRITICAL MINERALS PROVIDES UPDATE ON PROCESS AND TIMELINES TO LAUNCH CONFIRMATION DRILL PROGRAM PLANNED FOR ITS GREEN RIVER POTASH & LITHIUM PROJECT

American Critical Minerals Corp. has provided an update on planning and preparations for its coming initial drill program at the Green River potash and lithium project in Utah's Paradox basin.

Highlights:

• After recently closing a bought deal offering (including full exercise of the underwriter's option) and concurrent non-brokered offering for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $7,451,000, the company is capitalized to pay final bonding and launch drilling.
• With the appointment of Dean Pekeski and with the existing technical and advisory team, the company now has the in-house expertise and technical capability to drill and develop this project.
• The company has three drill holes within its State of Utah potash mineral leases (SITLA (School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration) leases), which are fully permitted and bonded for drilling.
• The company has four drill holes, within its recently granted BLM potash exploration licences, which are authorized, subject to bonding, under its approved plan of operations. With the U.S. government shutdown now concluded, the final bonding process is under way and should be completed shortly.
• Drill target selection is complete based on recommendations from the company's technical team and the company's recently filed National Instrument 43-101 technical report prepared by Agapito Associates.
• The initial drill program (two to three holes targeted) is designed to validate historic drill data and test, through coring and brine sampling, key potash horizons as well as clastic zones for lithium and bromine in the Paradox and Leadville formations.
• The initial drill program is also designed to position the company to complete maiden resource estimates (MREs) and prefeasibility studies (PFS) or preliminary economic assessments (PEAs) for potash, lithium and bromine.
• The drill contractor evaluation and selection process is advancing to ensure execution of the appropriate and optimal drill program for validating historic oil and gas well data across the project's 32,530-acre land package.
• The company is targeting Q1 2026 for mobilization of site preparation and drilling.

Simon Clarke, president and chief executive officer, stated: "With our recent financing closed and Dean Pekeski now on board as senior adviser, we are driving forward with our phase 1 drill program. The detailed approach outlined in our recently filed [NI] 43-101 technical report provides a clear road map for confirming the historic data from 22 oil and gas wells within and adjacent to our project. This will enable maiden resource estimates and prefeasibility studies/preliminary economic assessments for potash, lithium and bromine, thereby confirming that nearby potash production and lithium pilot operations are indeed evidence of the potential of our project.

"We are taking the time to ensure that we have the right contractors, equipment specifications and operational plans in place to execute this key program as efficiently and safely as possible while optimizing results. Our focus is on delivering high-quality confirmation drilling that will validate historic data and enable us to drive the project through development and beyond."

Market awareness program

The company also announces that it has amended its existing engagement with Machai Capital Inc. to further expand its digital marketing and market awareness initiatives as the company moves to launch its phase 1 drill program. Under the amended terms, the budget allocated to Machai has been increased by an additional $500,000. Machai will continue to provide comprehensive digital marketing services, including the development and execution of in-depth campaigns focused on corporate branding, investor education, market awareness, and social media and e-mail outreach, all as agreed by the company.

Machai remains an arm's-length marketing, advertising and public awareness firm based in Vancouver, B.C. The engagement is for a term of up to 12 months, ending Sept. 18, 2026, and the company does not intend to issue any securities to Machai as consideration for its services. For further information regarding the engagement of Machai, readers are encouraged to review the news release issued by the company on Sept. 23, 2025.

About American Critical Minerals' Green River potash and lithium project

The Green River potash and lithium project is situated within Utah's highly productive Paradox basin, located 20 miles northwest of Moab, Utah. It has significant logistical advantages, including close proximity to major rail hubs, an airport, roads, water, towns and labour markets. It also benefits from close proximity to the agricultural and industrial heartland of America and numerous potential end-users for its products.

The history of oil and gas production across the Paradox basin provides geologic data from historic wells across the project and the wider basin, validating and derisking the potential for high-grade potash and large amounts of contained lithium. Wells in and around the project reported lithium up to 500 parts per million, bromine up to 6,100 parts per million and boron up to 1,260 parts per million (Gilbride and Santos, 2012). These data are reinforced by nearby potash production and the advanced stage of neighbouring lithium projects. The Paradox basin is believed to contain up to 56 billion tonnes of lithium brines, potentially the largest such resource in the United States.

The company's NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, potash exploration target consists of 500 million to 950 million tonnes of sylvinite (the most important source for the production of potash in North America) grading from 12 per cent to 18 per cent potassium oxide based on elog (eK2O equal to 19 per cent to 29 per cent potassium chloride based on elog (eKCl)). Its exploration targets for lithium and bromine are 2.1 billion cubic metres (brine volume) grading from 71.6 to 216.3 parts per million lithium and 2.1 billion cubic metres (brine volume) grading from 3,656 to 4,741 parts per million bromine.

The company holds a 100-per-cent interest in 11 State of Utah (SITLA) mineral and minerals salt leases covering approximately 7,050 acres, 1,094 federal lithium brine claims (BLM placer claims) covering 21,150 acres and 11 federal (BLM) potash prospecting permits covering approximately 25,480 acres. Through these leases, permits and claims, the company has the ability to explore for potash, lithium and potential byproducts across the entire Green River project (approximately 32,530 acres). The company is authorized to drill a total of seven drill holes across the project (pending bonding the recently approved four drill holes).

Intrepid Potash Inc. is America's largest potash company and only U.S. domestic potash producer and currently produces potash from its nearby Moab solution mine, which the company believes provides strong evidence of stratigraphic continuity within this part of the Paradox basin. Anson Resources Ltd. has advanced lithium development projects contiguous to the northern boundary of the company's Green River project and neighbouring to the south. Anson has a large initial resource and robust definitive feasibility study and has recently completed successful piloting operations through its partnership with Koch Technology Solutions as well as an offtake agreement with LG Energy Solution. The Anson exploration targets encompass the combined Mississippian Leadville formation and the Pennsylvanian Paradox formation brine-bearing clastic layers, which also underlie American Critical Minerals' entire project area.

In 2022, the United States imported approximately 96.5 per cent of its annual potash requirements, with domestic producers receiving a higher sales price due to proximity to market (Intrepid Potash Aug. 15, 2024, investor presentation). In March, 2024, the U.S. Senate introduced a bill to include key fertilizers and potash on the U.S. Department of Interior list of critical minerals, which already includes lithium, and this process is well advanced with potash being added to the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) draft critical minerals list. In August, 2025. Recent market estimates suggest that the global potash market is over $50-billion (U.S.) annually and growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of close to 5 per cent. Annual lithium demand is now estimated to be over one million tonnes globally and continuing to grow rapidly.

Qualified person

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dean Besserer, PGeo, the chief operations officer of the company and a qualified person for the purposes of NI 43-101.

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