Mr. Ryan Hrkac reports

NORTEC MINERALS COMMENCES BEDROCK TRENCHING AND COMPLETES DRONE MAGNETIC AND LIDAR SURVEY AT BARKER BAY GOLD PROJECT, NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO

Bedrock trenching and sampling have commenced following completion of a drone magnetic and lidar survey at Nortec Minerals Corp.'s 100-per-cent-owned Barker Bay gold project, located approximately 55 kilometres south of Dryden, Ont.

Targets and rationale:

• Nortec completed a drone magnetic and light detection and ranging (lidar) survey over the Barker North and Petrie target areas and has commenced bedrock trenching, mapping and sampling to test interpreted structures associated with anomalous gold-in-soil geochemistry and drone magnetics.
• The trenching is designed to expose bedrock; characterize structure, lithology, alteration and potential mineralization at surface; and prioritize the strongest targets ahead of drilling.
• Results will be used to rank targets and design a focused, derisked and cost-effective drill program.

Highlights:

• The Barker Bay gold project is built around two historical gold showings, Barker and Petrie, where historical grab samples returned up to 24.5 grams per tonne gold and 11.3 g/t Au, respectively (see "Historical results and verification"). The project includes multiple interpreted, subparallel structural corridors prospective for shear-hosted gold mineralization.
• The drone magnetic and lidar surveys cover both the Barker and Petrie target areas, providing higher resolution, more continuous coverage highlighting gold-hosting structures over a broader area than the previous ground magnetic survey.
• The new magnetic data coincide with a coherent, greater-than-700-metre, northwest-trending gold-in-soil anomaly at the Barker North trend. This anomaly is defined on multiple survey lines, with several values above 0.2 g/t (200 parts per billion) Au. Magnetic responses aid in mapping lithological contrasts and magnetic minerals associated with interpreted gold-bearing structures, allowing for higher-confidence trench targeting.
• Trenching, mapping and bedrock sampling are now under way to directly test interpreted mineralized structures, with results intended to derisk and refine targets ahead of a maiden drill program.
• Barker Bay is a 100-per-cent-owned, road-accessible gold exploration project comprising 4,650 hectares, located approximately 55 kilometres south of Dryden, Ont.

Geological context

The Barker Bay project sits within the Eagle-Wabigoon-Manitou greenstone belt of the Western Wabigoon subprovince, a gold-endowed Archean volcanic belt in Northwestern Ontario. The belt hosts several significant gold deposits, including Dryden Gold Corp.'s Kenwest deposit (Gold Rock project), where historical drilling returned 3,497 g/t Au over 8.45 metres, including 53,700 g/t Au over 0.55 metre (drill hole KW-11-26) (Ontario Mineral Inventory Record MDI52F07NE00002: Big Master, Kenwest). The Western Wabigoon subprovince hosts the Cameron Lake deposit, which contains mineral resources of 515,000 ounces Au measured and indicated plus 740,000 ounces Au inferred (2026 NI 43-101 technical report, Cameron property, 2026; Seva Mining Corp.).

At Barker Bay, gold occurrences are interpreted to be structurally controlled and associated with steep shear zones, quartz veining, sulphide-bearing wallrock and favourable mafic-felsic lithological contacts. Nortec's current work is focused on confirming the geometry and continuity of these structures at surface before drill testing. The project was mined at a small scale in the 1890s, with shafts sunk on the Barker and Petrie showings, but has seen limited follow-up work and has never been drill tested.

Historical sampling from the Barker Bros. shaft, which represents the interpreted southeastern strike extent of key structures, returned high-grade gold (see "Historical results and verification" below), highlighting the project's prospectivity.

Drone magnetic and lidar survey

The drone magnetic and lidar survey is an efficient, low-cost exploration tool used to better define structures and lithologies associated with the anomalous gold-in-soil trend at Barker North, and within the Petrie deformation corridor. The survey was designed to define magnetic units, lithological contacts and structural breaks associated with potential mineralization.

The survey highlighted northwest-trending magnetic features coinciding with a greater-than-700-metre, northwest-trending gold-in-soil anomaly, defined on multiple survey lines and with several values above 0.2 g/t (200 ppb) Au; the company interprets these as an expression of northwest-trending, subparallel gold-bearing structures requiring follow-up trenching, sampling and mapping. Magnetic and lidar responses reflect physical rock properties and terrain and are not, by themselves, indicative of gold mineralization; the significance of these features will be tested by the current trenching and sampling program.

The company's earlier ground magnetic survey was limited to approximately 500 metres of the Barker trend (see news release dated May 20, 2026); new drone magnetic data, together with historical work, soil geochemistry and mapping, will help refine trenching locations and prioritize targets for future drill testing.

Trenching and sampling

The trenching and bedrock sampling program is designed to test the Barker North and Petrie target areas, by exposing bedrock beneath coincident northwest-trending gold-in-soil anomalies, magnetic features and interpreted structural corridors. The work will allow the company to assess lithology, structure, alteration and potential mineralization of bedrock at surface. Trenching also helps to understand the geometry, continuity and grade of potential mineralized structures.

Results will support conversion of geochemical and geophysical targets into ranked drill-ready structural targets. By confirming which structures are mineralized at surface, Nortec can better plan a maiden drill program and reduce the risk and cost of early-stage drill testing.

Historical results and verification

Historical records and assessment files report selective historical samples from the Barker, Petrie and eastern Price Lake areas. At Barker, a sample of quartz vein material from the muck pile adjacent to the Barker shaft reportedly assayed up to 24.5 g/t Au (Ontario Mineral Inventory Record MDI52F06SE00002: Barker). At Petrie, historical records report 13 shaft samples ranging from 0.096 to 0.33 ounces per ton Au (3.29 to 11.31 g/t Au) (Ontario Mineral Inventory Record MDI52F06SE00003: D.C. Petrie). At the old shaft east of Price Lake (the Mystery shaft), quartz veins near the shaft reportedly assayed up to 494 ppb Au (0.49 g/t Au) (assessment report 52F06NE0002). These historical grab sample results are selective in nature and are not necessarily representative. They have not been verified by the company and are included here as they are considered relevant to the project's prospectivity.

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 gold and copper properties with high discovery potential and advancing those projects to create outsized shareholder value. Property holdings comprise:

• Pearl gold project, located in Nevada, United States, a past-producing high-grade gold mine, under option:
  • Drilling at the Columbia zone has intersected mineralization, including 2.27 g/t Au over 38.1 m (hole YU21-02) and 11.96 g/t gold over 3.05 m (hole YU22-11);
• Barker Bay gold project, located in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, having historical (turn-of-the-century) mine workings and no exploration/drilling:
  • Multiline gold-in-soil anomaly along more than 700 metres of the Barker Bros. mine trend;
  • Several gold-in-soil values above 0.2 g/t (200 ppb) Au;
  • New magnetic survey data coincides with the anomalous soil trend, mapping lithological contrasts and magnetic minerals associated with interpreted gold-bearing structures;
• 100-per-cent interests in two exploration-stage critical mineral (zinc) projects, namely the Sturgeon Lake VMS (volcanogenic massive sulphide) property and the Mattagami River zinc property, both located in Ontario, Canada; additionally, the company holds a 16.4-per-cent interest in the Tammela gold property in southwestern Finland.

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