Mr. Ryan Hrkac reports

NORTEC OPTION AGREEMENT FOR NEVADA GOLD PROPERTY WITH DRILLING INTERSECTING 2.27 G/T AU OVER 38.1 metres (INCLUDING 15.55 G/T AU OVER 1.53 M PLUS 6.74 AU OVER 1.52 M) RECEIVES TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE APPROVAL

Nortec Minerals Corp. has received approval from the TSX Venture Exchange for the purchase option agreement to acquire 83 federal lode mineral claims (1,364 acres), on an arm's-length basis, located in the Varyville mining district of Humboldt county, Nevada, United States (see news release dated Feb. 25, 2026).

Highlights

• Permitted and drill-ready gold targets: Following an extensive phase of soil sampling, trenching and preliminary drilling, delineated high-priority gold targets are ready for drill testing. All necessary permits are in place for 16 drill sites, 2,020 feet of trenches and 1,500 feet of diamond drilling.
• New discoveries: A 2021 trenching program identified a new zone of mineralization (Pearl zone) returning 2.34 grams per tonne gold over 17.7 metres, including a higher-grade section of 6.49 g/t gold over 2.0 metres (trench 21I).
• Drill results: Recent exploration at the Columbia zone has intersected mineralization, including 2.27 g/t gold over 38.1 m (hole YU21-02) and 11.96 g/t gold over 3.05 m (hole YU22-11).Other recent and notable drill holes include:
  • 15.55 g/t gold over 1.53 metres plus 6.74 g/t gold over 1.52 metres, within 2.27 g/t gold over 38.1 metres (hole: YU-21-02);
  • 13.57 g/t gold over 4.57 metres within 3.03 g/t gold over 25.91 metres (hole YU22-09);
  • 11.96 g/t gold over 3.05 metres within 4.20 g/t gold over 10.67 meter (hole YU22-11).
• Widespread gold potential: Surface grab samples have returned grades up to 150 g/t gold, with a gold-in-soil anomaly traced for roughly two kilometres along strike (see Table 1).
• Strategic location: The Pearl gold project is situated approximately 55 kilometres south of Denio in northern Nevada, a premier mining jurisdiction, and is fully road accessible with power lines on site.
• Proven historical production: Covers the historical Columbia, Bartlett and Juanita mines, which produced high-grade gold from 1870 to 1937, with historical run-of-mine sorted ore assaying over 34 g/t gold.
  • Multiple target profiles: The property hosts both high-grade mesothermal quartz veins and newly identified broad zones of bulk-tonnage potential associated with diorite intrusions.

Pearl gold project details

The Pearl gold project is located in Humboldt county, northern Nevada, approximately 55 km south of Denio in the Varyville mining district. The property covers the historical Columbia, Bartlett and Juanita mines, which produced high-grade gold on a small scale between 1870 and 1937 from veins located more than 1,000 m apart within the same structural corridor. Historical mining only extended down to the bottom of the oxidized zone. Diamond drilling by previous operators in 1981 below the Columbia workings produced a true-width sulphide intersect, which graded 9.60 g/t gold over 3.3 m (hole DDH C2) starting 49 m below surface subsequently no further drilling was completed until 2021.

A reconnaissance program conducted in 2018 focused on three zones -- Columbia, Juanita and Josie. A total of 68 rock geochemical samples were collected during the program. Thirty-five of the 68 rock and/or chip samples collected returned greater than one g/t gold (see Table 1). Significant rock sample results are listed below:

• Columbia -- 150.0, 75.4, 34.9, 10.5, 7.4 and 7.13 g/t gold;
• Juanita -- 11.4, 6.35 and 5.85 g/t gold;
• Josie -- 86.1, 45.2, 42.2, 36.2, 25.7, 21.6, 16.7, 13.1 and 5.49 g/t gold.

Gold mineralization occurs with sulphides (arsenopyrite and pyrite) or their weathered products (scorodite and iron oxides). Only minor amounts of quartz or silica accompany the mineralization. The veins are found in fault/shear zones that cut andesites, andesitic epiclastics and diorites, but seem to be best developed within and on the margins of mapped diorite intrusions. Underground workings were not sampled or mapped during the program.

At Columbia, multiple drill holes (Table 2) confirmed that a broad envelope of gold mineralization flanks the high-grade vein identified by historical miners at Columbia and that a second high-grade vein parallels the structure targeted by historical miners. Highlight intervals include:

• 2.89 g/t Au over 9.14 m from 79.25 m downhole (including 6.74 g/t Au over 1.52 m) (hole YU-21-02);
• 3.63 g/t Au over 15.24 m from 94.49 m downhole (including 15.5 g/t Au over 1.53 m) (hole YU-21-02);
• 3.03 g/t gold over 25.91 m from 79.25 m downhole (including 5.45 g/t gold over 1.52 m and 13.57 g/t gold over 4.57 m) (hole YU-22-09);
• 0.86 g/t gold over 9.14 m from 53.34 m downhole (including 2.20 g/t gold over 3.05 m) (hole YU-22-10);
• 4.2 g/t gold over 10.67 m from 77.72 m downhole (including 13.26 g/t gold over 3.05 m) (hole YU-22-11);
• 11.96 g/t gold over 3.05 m from 105.16 m downhole also in hole YU-22-11.

Mineralization remains open to depth, and mineralizing systems of this character often extend to great depths. Columbia also remains open along strike as the most southerly drill hole, YU-21-01, was abandoned short of target depth. The most northerly hole, YU-21-03, was drilled on the north side of a cross fault that appears to offset the Columbia zone approximately 160 metres to the northeast. Surface grab samples collected along the projected northern extension of Columbia, 100 m along strike to the northeast of hole YU-21-03, have returned assays including 7.18 and 7.13 g/t Au. In addition, Trench D returned 7.4 m of 0.43 g/t gold 420 m along strike from YU-21-03.

The Juanita target hosts various underground workings and the Juanita mine, which was once owned and operated by notable Nevadan prospector Josie Pearl. Many of the previous workings have yet to be mapped and sampled. Surface sampling at Juanita has returned grab samples grading 57.7 g/t gold and 11.4 g/t gold (see Table 1) while a shear zone exposed in a nearby road cut graded 11.9 g/t gold over one m. Drilling has targeted mineralization to the south of the main shaft, intersecting:

• 0.99 g/t Au over 30.48 m, including 3.44 g/t Au over 6.1 m, starting 60.96 m downhole in hole YU-21-07;
• 0.23 g/t Au over 22.86 m from 102.11 m downhole in hole YU-21-14.

Hole YU-22-14 undercut hole YU-21-07 and terminated before reaching target depth due to mechanical issues. The last sample of the interval graded 0.52 g/t gold over 1.52 m.

The Josie target is a large area located south of the former Juanita mine that contains scattered historical diggings, which requires further investigation for bulk tonnage potential. Mineralization at the Josie target was collected over a 500 m long by up to 200 m wide area, from structures that trend oblique to the Columbia/Juanita system. Most samples at Josie were taken from vein exposures or float, but a two m chip sample, mapped as weathered andesite with minor iron oxide, contained 1.84 g/t gold. Two significant chip samples of vein exposures from partially collapsed trenches graded 45.2 g/t gold over 0.35 m and 42.2 g/t gold over 0.4 m. The limits of the Josie target have not been defined.

Trench I, located to the east of Josie, returned 2.34 g/t Au over 17.7 m (including 6.49 g/t Au over two m). This discovery lies 500 m east of the closest drill hole and consists of multiple structures that cut highly altered granodiorite, lending to the bulk tonnage potential in this part of the project.

Results to date indicate that gold mineralization is more widespread than documented in the limited historical data and may occur in undocumented structural settings as well as broad zones of lower grade gold mineralization which would not have been of interest to historical miners.

In addition to drilling and trenching, completed geophysics include an airborne total magnetic field and radiometric survey, a ground based HLEM survey and widespread soil geochemical surveys.

Transaction details

The agreement was entered into on Feb. 24, 2026, between Trifecta Gold Ltd., who holds a 100-per-cent interest in the property (the seller) and Nortec, on an arm's-length basis, pursuant to which Nortec will have the sole and exclusive right to purchase from the seller a 100-per-cent interest in and to the mineral claims comprising the property, in consideration for the issuance or payment by Nortec to the seller:

1. On the earlier of (i) the date that is four months from Feb. 24, 2026, and (ii) Nortec concluding an equity financing of at least $200,000, paying to seller the amount of $25,000 in cash or, at the election of Nortec, common shares of Nortec, subject to the deemed price per share not being less than five cents per share;
2. Making the following annual payments to seller in either cash or up to 50-per-cent shares at Nortec's election, provided that if the election is made to satisfy any portion in shares, the shares will be issued at a deemed price equal to the volume-weighted average price of the shares on the exchange (or, if the shares are no longer traded on the exchange, such other stock exchange on which the shares are principally listed and posted for trading) for the 10 trading days immediately preceding but excluding the applicable payment date, subject to such deemed price not being less than five cents per share:
   1. $50,000 on the first anniversary of the agreement;
   2. $150,000 on the second anniversary of the agreement;
   3. $300,000 on the third anniversary of the agreement;
   4. $500,000 on the fourth anniversary of the agreement;
   5. $1-million on the fifth anniversary of the agreement.

The transaction was approved by TSX Venture Exchange on April 7. 2026.

Qualified person

The scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed, verified and approved by Neil Pettigrew, MSc, PGeo, a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101, and a consultant to Nortec.

About Nortec Minerals Corp.

Nortec is a mineral exploration company focused on identifying properties with high discovery potential and advancing those projects to create outsized shareholder value. Current property holdings comprise 100-per-cent interests in two exploration stage critical mineral (zinc) projects, namely the Sturgeon Lake VMS (volcanogenic massive sulphide) and the Mattagami River zinc properties, both located in Ontario, Canada. Additionally, the company holds a 16.4-per-cent interest in the Tammela gold in southwest Finland.

We seek Safe Harbor.