Mr. Blaine Monaghan reports

PACIFIC RIDGE HITS PORPHYRY COPPER-GOLD MINERALIZATION IN ALL THREE DIAMOND DRILL HOLES COMPLETED AT THE RDP COPPER-GOLD PROJECT; STEP OUT DRILLING AT DAY TARGET SUCCESSFUL; NEW DISCOVERY AT BIRD TARGET

Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd. has released results from this year's diamond drill campaign at the RDP copper-gold project, located in north-central British Columbia, 40 kilometres west of the company's flagship Kliyul copper-gold project. Antofagasta Minerals SA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Antofagasta PLC, can earn a 75-per-cent interest in RDP by spending $10-million on exploration over eight years and delivering a preliminary economic assessment report (see news release dated Feb. 8, 2022). Pacific Ridge is the operator and supported the diamond drill program from the Kliyul camp.

The 2023 diamond drilling program at RDP totalled 1,428 metres in three drill holes (RDP-23-007 to RDP-23-009) and tested the Day target and the Bird target. Two drill holes were completed at Day (RDP-23-007 and RDP-23-008), where drill hole RDP-22-005 returned 107.2 m of 1.39 per cent copper equivalent or 2.06 grams per tonne gold equivalent (0.63 per cent copper, 1.10 g/t gold and 2.91 g/t silver) within 497.2 m of 0.66 per cent CuEq or 0.97 g/t AuEq (0.37 per cent copper, 0.40 g/t gold and 1.60 g/t silver) (see news release dated Oct. 25, 2022). The two holes completed at Day were large stepouts over 300 m to the northeast and northwest from the collar location for RDP-22-005. In addition, a single diamond drill hole tested Bird (RDP-23-009), located approximately 2.0 km north of Day, where Pacific Ridge discovered porphyry copper-gold mineralization in a stream cutbank in 2022.

Highlights:

• Drill hole RDP-23-007 at Day ended in strong porphyry copper-gold mineralization: 19.0 m of 0.45 per cent CuEq or 0.67 g/t AuEq (0.32 per cent copper, 0.19 g/t gold and 1.08 g/t silver) (see attached table).
• The dimensions of Day are now approximately 290 m east-west, approximately 100 m north-south and up to approximately 600 m vertical depth. It remains open to the east and west and at depth.
• Drill hole RDP-23-009 was the first diamond drill hole to test Bird at depth and returned 18.5 m of 0.43 per cent CuEq or 0.63 g/t AuEq (0.16 per cent copper, 0.38 g/t gold and 0.59 g/t silver) within 111.0 m at 0.23 per cent CuEq or 0.34 g/t AuEq (0.09 per cent copper, 0.20 g/t gold and 0.31 g/t silver).
• Geochemistry and geophysics suggest that a porphyry core may lie approximately 200 m deeper than the mineralization intersected in RDP-23-009.

"This year's diamond drill program at RDP was small but very successful," said Blaine Monaghan, president and chief executive officer of Pacific Ridge. "In addition to hitting porphyry copper-gold mineralization in large stepout holes at Day, we made another porphyry copper-gold discovery at Bird."

Discussion of drill holes RDP-23-007 to RDP-23-009

Day porphyry copper-gold target

Drill holes RDP-23-007 and RDP-23-008 at Day were designed as broad stepouts over 300 m from the RDP-22-005 collar location to test for a large porphyry copper-gold system. In 2022, RDP-22-005 returned 107.2 m of 1.39 per cent CuEq or 2.06 g/t AuEq (0.63 per cent copper, 1.10 g/t gold and 2.91 g/t silver) within 497.2 m of 0.66 per cent CuEq or 0.97 g/t AuEq (0.37 per cent copper, 0.40 g/t gold and 1.60 g/t silver) (see news release dated Oct. 25, 2022). The 2023 drill holes tested the western and southeastern sides of a large (650 m diameter) ring-shaped aeromagnetic-high anomaly interpreted from first vertical derivative (1VD) and 3-D magnetic vector inversion (MVI) models. Porphyry copper-gold mineralization drilled in 2022 lies at the southern part of this interpreted ring anomaly. RDP-23-007 was collared 300 m to the northeast of the RDP-22-005 collar and drilled to the southeast and RDP-23-008 was collared 330 m to the northwest of the RDP-22-005 collar and drilled to the west-southwest. Copper sulphide mineralization was intersected in both RDP-23-007 and RDP-23-008; however the interval in the RDP-23-007 is higher grade over a wider interval and appears to be an extension of RDP-23-005 mineralization 130 m to the east and to 120 m greater depth while still being open at depth.

RDP-23-007 (azimuth of 125 degrees; inclination of minus 70 degrees; length of 573 m) returned 19.0 m of 0.45 per cent CuEq or 0.67 g/t AuEq (0.32 per cent copper, 0.19 g/t gold and 1.08 g/t silver) starting at 554 m. Drilling was terminated in mineralization at 573.0 m. This result extends greater than 0.60 per cent CuEq mineralization another 175 m downplunge to the east of mineralization in RDP-23-005. Results suggest that Day is west striking and steeply north dipping (80 degrees) and has a tabular or lenticular pipe shape with approximate dimensions of 290 m east-west, 100 m north-south and up to 600 m vertical depth.

Mineralization remains open primarily to the east and west and at depth. Mineralization from 554 m to 573 m (end of hole) occurs as chalcopyrite-bornite disseminations and stringer veinlets. It is hosted in monzodiorite with moderate-strength potassic alteration (potassium feldspar, magnetite, quartz and chlorite).

RDP-23-008 (azimuth of 235 degrees; inclination of minus 70 degrees; length of 414 m) returned 4.5 m of 0.18 per cent CuEq or 0.26 g/t AuEq (0.16 per cent copper, 0.03 g/t gold and 0.45 g/t silver) starting at 182 m. Results suggest drilling stepped too far outward from a porphyry centre, as is reflected in the narrow intervals of low grade with low gold-to-copper ratio value (0.17). For comparison, the weighted average gold-to-copper from RDP-22-005 for the 107.2 m interval of 1.39 per cent CuEq or 2.06 g/t AuEq starting at 15.8 m is 1.75, and the value of the deepest reported interval of 60 m at 0.55 per cent CuEq or 0.82 per cent AuEq starting at 321 m is 0.39. As such, it does not appear that there is an annulus of high-grade porphyry mineralization surrounding a 650 m diameter porphyry stock complex and that Day is more tabular in geometry and steeply north dipping as suggested by the RDP-23-007 result. In this case, RDP-23-008 would have drilled 300 m laterally outward into the hangingwall block of Day and encountered narrow distal mineralized intervals.

Mineralization from 182 m to 186.5 m is hosted in volcaniclastic andesite with magnetite-chlorite and weak quartz (silica) alteration. Veinlet-hosted and fracture-hosted chalcopyrite occurs in trace to minor amounts. A three-centimetre-wide quartz vein with chalcopyrite-bornite at 158 m returned 0.40 per cent CuEq or 0.59 g/t AuEq (0.31 per cent copper, 0.11 g/t gold and 1.92 g/t silver) over a one-metre sample.

Bird porphyry copper-gold target

Located approximately 2.0 km north of Day, Bird was last tested in 1974 by a single, shallow drill hole (no results available). In 2022, Pacific Ridge discovered porphyry copper-gold mineralization in a stream cutbank that occurs within a 600 m by 250 m north-northwest-trending aeromagnetic-high anomaly (1VD). The discovery outcrop comprises an approximately 50 m wide exposure of west-trending monzodiorite dikes with potassic alteration and quartz-magnetite-chalcopyrite veins. Outcrop sampling in 2022 returned 0.59 per cent copper, 0.26 g/t gold and 23.1 g/t silver. RDP-23-009 was collared 40 m to the northeast of the surface showing.

RDP-23-009 (azimuth of 290 degrees; inclination of minus 60 degrees; length of 441 m) returned 18.5 m at 0.43 per cent CuEq or 0.63 g/t AuEq (0.16 per cent copper, 0.38 g/t gold and 0.59 g/t silver) within 111.0 m at 0.23 per cent CuEq or 0.34 g/t AuEq (0.09 per cent copper, 0.20 g/t gold and 0.31 g/t silver). This confirmed there is porphyry copper-gold mineralization at Bird. Drilling appears to have intersected the sericitic alteration shell of a porphyry system; however, there are relict windows of potassic alteration (potassium feldspar plus or minus biotite plus or minus magnetite) with early-stage veins (magnetite/chalcopyrite plus or minus quartz). These potassic windows are largely overprinted by a quartz/sericite/calcite/pyrite plus or minus hematite alteration, including sericitization of early biotite halos, crosscutting vein relationships (late cutting early) and partial to wholesale replacement (pyritization) of early-stage veins. The mixed sericitic-potassic zone is most evident between 130 m and 360 m. The deepest part of this zone returned the 18.5 m wide interval of 0.43 per cent CuEq or 0.63 g/t AuEq. However, there are four notable intervals starting from 18.6 m that increase in gold-to-copper ratio with depth, suggesting RDP-23-009 is moving toward a porphyry centre with increasing depth (see attached table).

In addition, the combined interval from 156 m to 360 m directly overlies a narrow subvertical geophysical feature of interest in the 3-D MVI remanent magnetization model that is also seen underlying the mineralization at Day. However, whereas the mineralization at Day lies on either side and across this remanent magnetization feature, the RDP-23-009 drilling at Bird is 200 m to 350 m above it.

Altogether, it appears that RDP-23-009 was successful in intersecting the top of a potassic alteration and mineralization shell where it interfaces with overlying sericitic alteration. Follow-up drilling near this location should test for a steeply dipping tabular-shaped deposit at greater depth than RDP-23-009 was drilled. Furthermore, interpretation of the 3-D MVI remanent magnetization feature suggests that Bird has a north-northwest-trending orientation that shallows to the north over a distance of 200 m from where RDP-23-009 was drilled and toward the northern end of the north-northwest-trending 600 m by 250 m aeromagnetic-high anomaly. This entire 200-metre trend is considered prospective for exploration, much like the 290-metre-long east-west trend currently delineated at Day.

About RDP

Located 40 km west of the company's flagship Kliyul project, RDP is greater than 10,000 hectares in size and lies within the Stikine terrane, which is host to numerous significant porphyry deposits in Northern British Columbia, including Kemess, Red Chris, Kerr-Sulphurets and Galore Creek. The eastern margin of Stikine terrane in this part of north-central British Columbia has been underexplored historically and has seen increased exploration activity since its coverage in the 2017 Geoscience British Columbia Search phase III airborne magnetic and radiometric survey.

RDP contains several porphyry copper-gold targets (Roy, Day, Porcupine and Bird) that have been explored intermittently since the early 1970s, including prospecting and mapping, various geochemical surveys, ground and airborne geophysical surveys, trenching, and a limited amount of drilling. The project is underlain by lower Hazelton group volcanic and sedimentary rocks (Lower Jurassic) of andesitic and dacitic composition and the Gyr rhyolite porphyry and by late Triassic to early Jurassic plutonic rocks, including the Fir gabbro and Roy plutonic suite with porphyritic plugs, sills and stocks of monzodiorite composition.

Quality assurance/quality control

Pacific Ridge's 2023 exploration program was managed by Equity Exploration Consultants Ltd. of Vancouver, B.C. The drill contractor was Dorado Drilling Ltd. of Vernon, B.C. Half-core NQ (47.6 millimetres) sawn samples from continuous intervals throughout drill holes were sealed on site and shipped to ALS Global Laboratories' preparation lab in Reno, Nev., and then to its analytical facility in North Vancouver, B.C. Fire assay and multielement analyses were completed at the ALS analytical laboratory in North Vancouver. Drill core was crushed, pulverized and analyzed for 48 elements using a four-acid digest followed by ICP-MS (ME-MS61), with overlimits by ore-grade four-acid digest followed by ICP-AES (OG62) and with a 30-gram sample analyzed for gold by fire assay and atomic absorption finish (Au-AA23). Samples were no smaller than 50 centimetres and no larger than two m in length, respecting changes in lithology and alteration. Blanks and commercially certified reference materials were inserted blind into the sample stream with an overall insertion rate of 5 per cent. Field duplicates representing a quarter-core split of the original sample are inserted at 2.5 per cent. Pulp and crush duplicates are inserted at 5-per-cent insertion rate by the laboratory. The QA/QC results are reviewed as batches once returned from the laboratory and appropriate actions are implemented where required. The QA/QC results for drill holes from the 2023 drilling program at RDP are acceptable.

The technical information contained within this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Gerald G. Carlson, PhD, PEng, executive chairman of Pacific Ridge and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 policy.

About Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd.

Pacific Ridge's goal is to become British Columbia's leading copper-gold exploration company. Pacific Ridge's flagship asset is its 100-per-cent-owned Kliyul copper-gold project, located in the Quesnel terrane, close to existing infrastructure. In addition to Kliyul, the company's project portfolio includes the RDP copper-gold project (optioned to Antofagasta Minerals), the Chuchi copper-gold project, the Onjo copper-gold project and the Redton copper-gold project, all located in British Columbia. Pacific Ridge would like to acknowledge that its British Columbia projects are located in the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Gitxsan Nation, McLeod Lake Indian Band, Nak'azdli Whut'en, Takla Nation and Tsay Keh Dene Nation.

We seek Safe Harbor.