Mr. Hayden Locke reports

MARIMACA COPPER PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND EXPLORATION UPDATE

Marimaca Copper Corp. has provided an update on development activities at the Marimaca oxide deposit (MOD) led by Ausenco Chile, and exploration activities at the Sierra de Medina property block, located approximately 25 kilometres from the MOD. The company has also commenced exploration trenches and surface sampling activities at the Mercedes satellite target, located approximately one km north of the MOD.

Highlights:

• Permit engineering, led by Ausenco, informed by final baseline studies and updated project layout progressing to plan:
  • MOD project permitting submission remains on schedule for early Q3 2024;
  • Project layout is frozen, confirmed by condemnation drilling completed and announced Jan. 16, 2024.
• The DFS (definitive feasibility study) development strategy optimization, led by Ausenco, is near completion:
  • Work stream intended to finalize optimal development strategy for the MOD, focusing on capital intensity and mine planning, and targeting a scale-up from the 2020 preliminary economic assessment (PEA);
  • DFS remains on schedule for completion in late Q4 2024.
• The company is currently considering strategic options to progress immediately into detailed engineering of the MOD post-DFS in 2025:
  • 2024 work plan (permitting and DFS engineering) remains fully financed.
• Definitive feasibility study geo-metallurgical model in final phases of development with confirmatory metallurgical test work program:
  • Expands on acid consumption and operability optimizations identified in Geomet 6 (see news release dated Nov. 6, 2023);
  • To date, four, four-metre height by one m diameter column tests, each stacked with 1,400 kilograms (kg) of green oxide material completed to generate raffinate for final column test program:
    • Four, four m height columns to finalize optimal crush size for green oxide mineral zones;
    • Four, four m height columns to finalize optimal irrigation rate for green oxide mineral zones;
    • Four, four m height columns confirming optimal parameters set in previous columns for green oxide mineral zones;
    • Fourteen, one m height columns confirming optimal leaching parameters for mixed and enriched mineral zones.
• In the parallel regional exploration track, geophysics work is under way at the Sierra de Medina property block, located 25 km from the MOD (see press release dated Feb. 27, 2024):
  • Initial work includes UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) topography, resistivity CS-NSAMT and high-resolution magnetic-drone surveys at key conceptual targets;
  • Geophysics work will be considered and integrated into potential future discovery drilling campaigns.
• Additionally, initial exploration trenching and surface sampling at the Mercedes East satellite target, located approximately one km north of the MOD, has been initiated.

Hayden Locke, president and chief executive officer of Marimaca Copper, commented:

"The Marimaca team, in collaboration with Ausenco and Mitsubishi, is moving rapidly toward our 2024 development milestones at the MOD. We continued to progress the MOD toward construction amidst a very constructive macro back-drop for copper. It is an exciting time to be derisking what is shaping up to be a very high-quality copper development project in the MOD.

"The company is currently strategizing to ensure progression of the MOD directly into FEED (front-end engineering design) in 2025, immediately following the completion of the DFS, which would keep us on track for a targeted construction decision in late 2025.

"On the exploration front, as discussed in our February press release on Sierra de Medina, Sergio Rivera and his team have kicked off initial geophysics to vector on key targets. We are excited about the potential a Sierra de Medina and the implications for Marimaca's exploration pipeline beyond the MOD and its core satellite targets like Mercedes."

Qualified person

The technical information in this news release, including the information that relates to geology, drilling and mineralization, has been reviewed and approved by Sergio Rivera, vice-president of exploration, Marimaca Copper, a geologist with more than 35 years of experience and a registered member of the Comision Minera (Chilean Mining Commission), as well a member of the Colegio de Geologos de Chile, Instituto de Ingenieros de Minas de Chile and of the Society of Economic Geologist USA, and who is the qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.

We seek Safe Harbor.