Mr. John Banning reports

LION COPPER AND GOLD CORP. SECURES US$31M MILESTONE FUNDING TO ADVANCE FEASIBILITY STUDY AND MINE PERMITTING FOR THE YERINGTON COPPER PROJECT

Nuton LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto, and Lion Copper and Gold Corp. have agreed to proceed to Stage 3 under the option to earn-in agreement relating to Lion Copper's flagship copper assets in the Yerington, Nev., region, and relatedly Nuton has exercised the option to earn in to the Yerington copper project.

Under Stage 3, Nuton will provide up to $31-million (U.S.) to progress a definitive feasibility study, mine permitting and associated work programs aimed at advancing copper cathode production and supporting the commercial deployment of the Nuton technology, Nuton's proprietary bioheap leach copper extraction technology, at the Yerington copper project.

To date, Nuton has invested approximately $28-million (U.S.) toward resource definition drilling, baseline environmental studies, completion of a preliminary economic assessment in first quarter 2024 and a prefeasibility study in third quarter 2025. Collectively, these activities constituted stages 1 and 2 under the agreement (see press release dated March 21, 2022).

John Banning, chief executive officer of Lion Copper, commented: "Nuton's decision to advance to Stage 3 marks a pivotal milestone for the Yerington copper project's direction and timeline as it moves forward with mine development, permitting and general project derisking and a strong vote of confidence in both our team and the district's potential as a meaningful near-term domestic copper supplier. With two decades of investment and derisking at Yerington, Lion CG has built a deep understanding of the resource, the community and the path to responsible development. Nuton's continued commitment reinforces this shared confidence and brings additional technology, expertise and momentum as we progress permitting, engineering and the technical work ahead. Together, we are accelerating Yerington toward potential production and advancing a scalable, lower-impact copper solution at a time when domestic refined copper supply has never been more important."

"Nuton's decision to advance the Yerington copper project reflects our confidence in its potential as a major copper-producing district. Lion CG's extensive work and commitment have significantly derisked the project and built a strong foundation of resource knowledge, community engagement and responsible development principles. Together, we aim to meet rising copper demand with innovative, scalable and low-impact solutions," added Adam Burley, Nuton's chief executive officer.

Next steps

During Stage 3, the parties will undertake:

• Work on a definitive feasibility study, incorporating the results of the recent prefeasibility study and final optimization of mining, metallurgy, hydrology and engineering studies;
• Submission of final permitting and regulatory applications required under U.S. federal and Nevada state law;
• Detailed engineering design, cost estimation and development planning, with the objective of positioning the project for efficient and effective commercial production;
• Additional evaluation studies of the Yerington copper district's scaling opportunities.

Lion Copper looks forward to providing timely updates regarding key feasibility and permitting milestones, as well as any potential commercial and investment agreements, as the project advances through development, permitting and financing.

About Lion Copper and Gold Corp.

Lion Copper is a junior mining company advancing its Yerington, MacArthur and Bear projects in Lyon county, Nevada, through an option earn-in agreement with Nuton. The project is focused on accelerating production from its long-life, low-strip-ratio, brownfield-advantaged Yerington copper project utilizing modern processing technologies.

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