Mr. Blaine Monaghan reports

PACIFIC RIDGE TO ACQUIRE PORTFOLIO OF U.S. COPPER PORPHYRY PROJECTS

Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd. entered into option agreements with Bronco Creek Exploration Inc. (BCE) on Jan. 7, 2025 (the effective date), a wholly owned subsidiary of EMX Royalty Corp., to acquire a portfolio of copper and gold projects located in the United States.

Highlights:

• Exclusive option to acquire a 100-per-cent interest in four projects: the Mineral Hill gold project, located in Wyoming; the Red Star copper project, located in Utah; the Ripsey West copper project, located in Arizona; and, the Royston copper project, located in Nevada.
• Diversification of the company's existing porphyry copper project portfolio to create one of North America's leading copper exploration companies with projects located in premier copper mining districts in America and Canada.
• Plans to unlock shareholder value by spinning out Pacific Ridge's gold projects in the Yukon, the Mariposa gold project, the Eureka Dome gold project and the Gold Cap project, and the Mineral Hill gold project to create a new North American gold-focused exploration company.

"We are very pleased to have come to an agreement with EMX to acquire this portfolio of highly prospective copper and gold projects located in the U.S.," said Blaine Monaghan, president and chief executive officer of Pacific Ridge. "With the option to acquire Red Star, Ripsey West and Royston, we have diversified our existing copper porphyry project portfolio to become one of North America's leading copper exploration companies. All of these projects are road accessible, where we can conduct exploration year-round and are located in mining-friendly states. In fact, according to the Fraser Institute's 2023 annual mining survey, Utah was the top jurisdiction in the world, Nevada was second and Arizona was seventh. Further, BCE's exceptional technical team have already developed exploration models and targets that are ready to be drill tested."

The addition of these projects to Pacific Ridge's portfolio expands the company's footprint into areas that include some of the world's largest porphyry copper mines and complement Pacific Ridge's existing portfolio of porphyry copper projects in British Columbia: the Chuchi copper-gold project, the Kliyul copper-gold project, the Onjo copper-gold project, the RDP copper-gold project and the Redton copper-gold project. The company now owns or controls eight porphyry copper projects in premier copper mining districts in America and Canada.

About the projects

Mineral Hill

Mineral Hill is over 902 hectares in size (comprising 19 patented lode and placer claims, and 177 unpatented federal lode mining claims) and is located in eastern Wyoming in the Black Hills gold province, which has produced more than 40 million ounces of gold from the Homestake gold mine alone. Tertiary alkalic intrusive centers and domes follow an 80-kilometre-long west-northwest-trending belt across the Black Hills. Low- to intermediate-sulphidation epithermal gold-silver mineralization is currently being mined 18 km east of Mineral Hill at Coeur Mining Inc.'s Wharf mine. Targets at Mineral Hill include high-grade epithermal gold veins and disseminated and stockwork veined porphyry gold-copper mineralization. The company believes Mineral Hill represents a fully intact upright alkalic porphyry gold-copper system and near-surface epithermal transition zone that is associated with a three by two km composite alkaline intrusive centre. Known gold-copper mineralization at historical Interocean mine is related to cross-cutting quartz-sulphide veins in a 300-metre-long north-south-trending corridor that has been drill-tested to about 200 m vertical depth and remains open in every direction. Epithermal gold target areas lie 600 to 750 m west and southwest of the Interocean zone.

Red Star

Red Star is approximately 3,005 hectares in size (398 unpatented federal lode mining claims) and is adjacent to the Star mining district, Utah. Surface alteration and mineralization suggests the presence of a porphyry copper system beneath postmineral cover composed of volcanics and alluvium. Polymetallic (Pb-Zn-Ag-Cu-Au) (lead-zinc-silver-copper-gold) fissure veins, mantos and local Zn rich skarn are hosted in east-tilted and fault-repeated Paleozoic carbonate rocks in the Star mining district. These fissure veins may be analogous to fissure veins found in the periphery of the Bingham and Tintic districts. Red Star also shares a similar regional geophysical signature with Bingham and Tintic porphyry copper deposits, each lying within east-northeast-trending aeromagnetic domains considered to be representative of Tertiary batholiths. The timing of Tertiary magmatism in Utah youngs southward such that the age of an undiscovered porphyry system at Red Star would likely be approximately 34 to 27 Ma. At Red Star, known polymetallic fissure veins and replacement mantos, and a copper-zinc skarn occurrence (Moscow mine), define a WSW trending vector toward a 2.0 by 1.5 km porphyry target area with anomalous geophysics (Spartan IP-MT and UAV magnetics). The primary target zone starts about 1.5 km west of the Moscow mine skarn.

Ripsey West

Ripsey West is over 2,161 hectares in size (comprising 36 unpatented federal lode mining claims and eight Arizona state leases) and is located 23 km south of the Ray mine in Arizona. The principal target at Ripsey West is a high-grade Laramide porphyry copper system. An ENE trending target area measures approximately 3.5 by 1.5 km and has potential for both hypogene mineralization and supergene enrichment.

The Ripsey West exploration model is for a porphyry copper system that's been episodically faulted and tilted 90 degrees eastward and buried under alluvial cover in a half graben basin. The porphyry target area lies between a two km long ENE trending stock-shaped magnetic low feature in the west thought to be associated with a Laramide pluton, and a magnetic high feature in the east demarking the faulted basin edge. A zone of QSP alteration and D-veins associated with ENE trending Laramide porphyry dikes extends for 900 m east outside the basin margin, and base metal mineralization and veins in historical drilling continue for approximately two km. These provide a vector towardsa porphyry core in the west under the postmineral alluvium.

Royston

Royston is over 1,855 hectares in size (comprising 227 unpatented federal lode mining claims) and is located 30 km northwest of Tonopah in Nevada. The principal target at Royston is a porphyry copper system within a 2.8 by 1.8 km target area which contains a significant zone of quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP) alteration and mineralization. A five-hole reconnaissance reverse circulation drill program completed in late 2023 confirmed the presence of a strongly westward tilted and fault segmented porphyry of significant scale containing intense QSP alteration and base metal mineralization. Two of the holes were cased and are ready to be followed up with diamond core tails under the active drill permit at Royston.

Gold project spinout

In H1 2025, Pacific Ridge will look to unlock shareholder value by spinning out the company's gold projects in the Yukon (Mariposa, Eureka Dome and Gold Cap) and Mineral Hill to create a new, North American gold-focused exploration company.

Terms of the agreements

Subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, Pacific Ridge can acquire a 100-per-cent interest in the projects by making an initial payment in the aggregate amount of $240,000 (U.S.) and issuing a total of 800,000 common shares (on a postconsolidation basis, as described and defined below) and making certain option payments, incurring exploration expenditures and issuing common shares as summarized in the attached table.

Upon option exercise, each project will be subject to a 3-per-cent production royalty. The royalty can be reduced to 2 per cent by making two payments totalling $4.0-million (U.S.) ($1.0-million (U.S.) for the first 0.5 per cent and $3.0-million (U.S.) for the second 0.5 per cent). The projects are also subject to annual advanced royalty payments that begin on the first anniversary after Pacific Ridge has exercised its option to acquire a project. A payment of $25,000 (U.S.) is due on the first anniversary and increases by $10,000 (U.S.) each year, up to a maximum of $75,000 (U.S.) per year per project.

In addition, each project is subject to the following milestone payments in the event of completion of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA), prefeasibility study (PFS) and/or feasibility study (FS) respectively as shown in the attached table.

Consolidation

The board of directors of the company has recommended and authorized a consolidation of the company's outstanding common shares on the basis of one postconsolidation common share for 10 preconsolidation common shares. The consolidation remain subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval. The effective date and further details of the consolidation will be disclosed in a subsequent news release following receipt of all requisite approvals.

About EMX Royalty Corp.

EMX is a precious and base metals royalty company. EMX's investors are provided with discovery, development and commodity price optionality, while limiting exposure to risks inherent to operating companies. The company's common shares are listed on the NYSE American Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol EMX.

About Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd.

Pacific Ridge is one of North America's leading copper exploration companies. The company owns or controls eight porphyry copper projects in premier copper mining districts in America and Canada.

The technical information contained within this news release has been prepared under the supervision of, and reviewed and approved by, Danette Schwab, PGeo, vice-president, exploration, of the company, and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

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