Mr. Brad Peters reports

PACIFIC EMPIRE ANNOUNCES COMMENCEMENT OF 2026 DIAMOND DRILL PROGRAM AT TRIDENT AND PINNACLE

Diamond drilling is under way at Pacific Empire Minerals Corp.'s flagship Trident copper-gold porphyry project, with drilling also planned at the company's Pinnacle project, located immediately to the west of Trident, in north-central British Columbia. The 2026 exploration program is being managed by Equity Exploration Consultants Ltd., which was formally engaged by the company earlier this year to provide technical leadership and project management for the season.

2026 diamond drilling under way at Trident

Diamond drilling is under way at the Trident property, with initial holes testing the Trident Main zone to follow up on the company's 2025 drill results, which included holes DD25-TRI-001, DD25-TRI-005 and DD25-TRI-006.

Following completion of drilling at the Trident Main zone, the drill rig is planned to move to the eastern portion of the Trident property, where the company just completed two ground-based induced polarization lines designed to follow up on an anomalous chargeability response originally identified in a 2014 survey. Interpretation of the expanded IP data set has identified a significantly larger area of anomalous chargeability, which has been prioritized as the next drill target at Trident.

2026 diamond drilling planned at Pinnacle

Following completion of drilling at the Trident Main zone and Trident East IP target, diamond drilling is planned to move to the company's Pinnacle property, where it will test targets identified from the June, 2026, airborne magnetic survey, as well as the Pinnacle South target.

2026 work completed to date

Prior to the commencement of drilling, the following work has been completed at Trident and Pinnacle as part of the 2026 field season:

• Two ground-based IP lines at Trident, expanding on a 2014 chargeability anomaly and identifying a significantly larger area of anomalous chargeability in the eastern portion of the property;
• An airborne magnetic survey across the northern Pinnacle property block;
• Review of historical drill core from Trident and Pinnacle;
• Review of historical exploration data from Trident and Pinnacle.

Pacific Empire's president and chief executive officer, Brad Peters, commented:

"With diamond drilling now under way at Trident, we are excited to begin testing both the follow-up targets from our 2025 program and the substantially larger IP chargeability anomaly identified through this year's geophysical work. The expanded target area in the eastern portion of the property is particularly compelling, and the opportunity it gives us to step out and think big about the scale of this system is exciting. At the same time, results from the airborne magnetic survey at north Pinnacle, when considered alongside historical drilling, are equally encouraging. We believe 2026 will be a pivotal year for both projects and look forward to updating shareholders as results become available."

Qualified person's statement

Ron Voordouw, PGeo, PhD, is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Dr. Voordouw is independent of Pacific Empire as defined in National Instrument 43-101, and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release.

About Pacific Empire Minerals Corp.

Pacific Empire is a copper exploration company based in Vancouver, B.C., and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol PEMC. The company has a district-scale land position in north-central British Columbia.

British Columbia is a green copper jurisdiction with abundant hydroelectric power, access and infrastructure in close proximity to the end market.

We seek Safe Harbor.