Mr. Michael Rowley reports

STILLWATER CRITICAL MINERALS LAUNCHES EXPANSION DRILL PROGRAM

Stillwater Critical Minerals Corp. has started 2023 expansion drilling at its flagship Stillwater West nickel-platinum-group-element-copper-cobalt and gold project in Montana, United States, and has provided an update on other initiatives including work already under way.

Highlights:

• Drilling will focus on expansion of the National Instrument 43-101 compliant resources announced Jan. 25, 2023, which demonstrated world-class grade and scale with 1.6 billion pounds of nickel, copper and cobalt and 3.8 million ounces of palladium, platinum, rhodium and gold (4E) in a base case study totalling 255 million tonnes (Mt), with a high-grade component of 11.6 Mt grading 1.05 per cent recovered nickel equivalent (as 0.56 per cent Ni, 0.33 per cent Cu, 0.03 per cent Co, 0.54 gram per tonne Pd, 0.27 g/t Pt, 0.15 g/t Au and 0.019 g/t Rh).
• Priority is on expansion of high-grade mineralization at the DR-Hybrid deposit at Chrome Mountain, including:
  • Drill hole CM2021-05, which returned 13.2 metres grading 2.89 per cent recovered nickel equivalent (NiEq) (2.31 per cent Ni, 1.51 g/t 4E, 0.35 per cent Cu and 0.115 per cent Co), starting at 37.6 metres. This high-grade mineralization, contained within 400.8 metres of continuous battery and precious metal mineralization, is of a type not previously identified in the Stillwater district and appears to be related to 8.5 metres of similar high-grade, high-tenor nickel sulphide returned in hole CM2020-04, approximately 125 metres down dip to the west. See news releases from May 3, 2022, and March 3, 2021.
• Drilling is also expected to expand on high-grade targets at the CZ and HGR deposits at Iron Mountain, up to nine kilometres east of Chrome Mountain, as stepouts from the following intercepts:
  • Drill hole CZ2021-01, which returned 63.7 metres grading 0.86 per cent NiEq (0.47 per cent Ni, 0.42 g/t Pd, 0.27 per cent Cu and 0.04 per cent Co as well as significant Pt and Au values), within 367.6 metres of continuous mineralization. This hole was a stepout from hole CZ2019-01 which returned 62 metres grading 0.56 per cent NiEq and also 3.54 metres of 2.67 per cent NiEq (as 1.53 per cent Ni, 0.49 per cent Cu, 0.099 per cent Co and 3.45 g/t 4E) within 399 metres of continuous mineralization, starting at surface. The CZ deposit benefits from a historic resource and positive preliminary metallurgical work completed by Amax in the 1970s. See news releases from Dec. 20, 2021, and Jan. 21, 2020;
  • Drill hole IM2021-05 in the HGR deposit area returned 7.3 metres grading 0.70 per cent NiEq (as 0.45 per cent Ni, 0.51 g/t 4E, 0.17 per cent Cu and 0.026 per cent Co), and 2.4 metres 2.04 per cent NiEq (as 1.55 per cent Ni, 0.85 g/t 4E, 0.17 per cent Cu and 0.087 per cent Co), within 379.2 metres of continuous battery and precious metal mineralization starting at surface. This hole was a stepout from hole IM2019-03, which returned 26.8 metres grading 0.85 per cent NiEq (as 0.34 per cent Ni, 0.15 per cent Cu, 0.019 per cent Co and 1.24 g/t 4E) within 272.5 metres of continuous mineralization. See news releases from July 7, 2022, and Dec. 18, 2019.
• The 2023 campaign will be the first to apply updated geological models which incorporate similar geology from South Africa's Platreef district under the direction of Dr. Danie Grobler, who joined the team in May of 2022 as vice-president, exploration.
• This campaign is financed by the recent 9.99-per-cent strategic equity investment by Glencore and is expected to consist of approximately 5,000 meters of diamond core drilling.

Michael Rowley, president and chief executive officer of Stillwater Critical Minerals, stated: "We are very pleased to announce the arrival of equipment and crews for our 2023 drill campaign with a view to expanding our recent high-grade nickel and copper sulphide discoveries, enriched in cobalt and precious metals. Those intercepts included some of the widest and highest-grade intervals in their respective years and drove a robust and low-cost expansion of our previous mineral resource. We are focused on continuing that trend as we apply our new understanding of the geology of the Stillwater complex from the giant mines of South Africa. The broader fundamentals are stronger than ever for our sector, and the recent strategic investment by Glencore in Stillwater is an important validation of both the project and the underlying fundamentals of U.S. critical mineral supply. We look forward to further announcements from this iconic and expanding American mining district, which has been producing high-grade critical minerals for over 100 years."

Dr. Grobler, vice-president of exploration for Stillwater Critical Minerals, said: "It's exciting to be embarking on the 2023 drill campaign, which will be the first ever in the Stillwater igneous complex that incorporates detailed structural and stratigraphic models from very similar mineralization in South Africa's Bushveld igneous complex. Fieldwork, which commenced in June, includes a ground-based, high-resolution magnetic survey which has already provided a clear response to the high-grade massive sulphide zone identified in holes CM2021-05 and CM2020-04 noted above, further defining that target while also delineating stratigraphic and structural controls on mineralization. The world-class size and well-mineralized nature of the Stillwater complex, coupled with our new understanding of the structure and controls on mineralization, has provided us with a large number of targets to guide expansion of the existing resources while also leading us into exciting new areas."

Metallurgy, U.S. geological survey and other initiatives

Sample collection for more detailed metallurgical testing is continuing as part of the expanding development of Stillwater West, with a view to including full metallurgical assessment in future studies. Preliminary metallurgical assessments by Stillwater returned strong nickel tenor in sulphides drilled by the company to date. In addition, favourable historic bench-scale metallurgical results completed historically by Amax at the Iron Mountain target area demonstrate the potential for effective nickel and copper sulphide flotation and PGE recovery.

Two thousand twenty-three fieldwork surface programs including geophysical and geological prospecting and mapping surveys are also planned as part of the 2023 campaign. Some of these programs commenced earlier this year with a view to detailing priority drill targets.

In addition, the company is pleased to report its continuing and expanding engagement with the U.S. Geological Survey which includes new technical programs in addition to continuing consultation and data sharing following multiple onsite meetings, with some programs eligible for funding under the Inflation Reduction Act and other government initiatives.

Carbon capture

All five deposits in the 2023 resource contain desirable nickel sulphide mineralization that has been shown to require a much lower environmental footprint in subsequent processing to nickel metal or nickel sulphate in comparison with the laterite nickel ores that dominate global production. As part of Stillwater's commitment to global sustainability initiatives, the company is also examining the potential for large-scale carbon sequestration with the objective of further reducing and possibly eliminating the carbon footprint of a potential mining operation at Stillwater West.

Carbon sequestration studies are continuing in two channels as reported previously. The first, led by Dr. Greeshma Gadikota at Cornell University with funding by the Department of Energy under the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy program, is focused on novel hydrometallurgical techniques and carbon capture with the objective of increasing the extraction of critical minerals using reduced energy for a carbon negative mining future. The second is via Arca Climate (formerly Carbin Minerals Inc.) and the University of British Columbia with focus on investigating the potential to exploit the presence of certain ultramafic minerals that are known to have high capacity to bind carbon dioxide by a natural process known as mineral carbonation for carbon capture as part of a potential mining operation at Stillwater West.

This work strongly aligns with Stillwater's environmental, social and governance guidelines and principles, and the incorporation of carbon uptake may bring financial benefits via initiatives such as the 45Q tax credit for carbon oxide sequestration that is now in place in the U.S.

About Stillwater Critical Minerals Corp.

Stillwater Critical Minerals is a mineral exploration company focused on its flagship Stillwater West Ni-PGE-Cu-Co plus Au project in the iconic and famously productive Stillwater mining district in Montana, U.S. With the addition of two renowned Bushveld and Platreef geologists to the team and a strategic investment by Glencore, the company is well positioned to advance the next phase of large-scale critical mineral supply from this world-class American district, building on past production of nickel, copper and chromium, and the continuing production of platinum group and other metals by neighbouring Sibanye-Stillwater. An expanded NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate, released January, 2023, delineates a compelling suite of critical minerals contained within five Platreef-style nickel and copper sulphide deposits at Stillwater West, which host a total of 1.6 billion pounds of nickel, copper and cobalt, and 3.8 million ounces of palladium, platinum, rhodium and gold, and remains open for expansion along trend and at depth.

Stillwater Critical Minerals also holds the high-grade Black Lake-Drayton gold project adjacent to Treasury Metals' development-stage Goliath gold complex in Northwestern Ontario, currently under an earn-in agreement with Heritage Mining, and the Kluane PGE-Ni-Cu-Co critical minerals project on trend with Nickel Creek Platinum's Wellgreen deposit in Canada's Yukon.

Quality assessment and quality control

Mike Ostenson, PGeo, is the qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101, and he has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release.

We seek Safe Harbor.