Mr. James Withall reports

RUPERT RESOURCES REPORTS NEW DRILLING FROM IKKARI AND IKKARI NORTH. 2023/2024 DRILLING PROGRAMME COMMENCES

Rupert Resources Ltd. has released drill results from its 2022/2023 exploration program at its multimillion-ounce Ikkari gold discovery at the 100-per-cent-owned Rupert Lapland project in northern Finland. In November, 2022, the company published a mineral resource estimate (MRE) and a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the project demonstrating the potential for a high-margin, low-impact mine with a life of over 20 years (see Nov. 28, 2022, press release).

Highlights

Ikkari -- further results from infill and extension program:

• No. 123027 intersected 2.1 grams per tonne gold over 52 metres from 228 m, including 4.4 g/t Au over 10.0 m from 249 m, highlighting higher-grade mineralization within the felsic unit in the northern part of the deposit.
• No. 123047 intersected 4.2 grams per tonne gold over 72 m from 235 m, including six g/t gold over 10.3 m from 247 m and 13.1 g/t over four m from 277 m, confirming the high-grade core in the central portion of Ikkari.
• No. 123055 intersected 1.7 g/t Au over 52 m from 108 m, confirming the continuity of mineralization in an area of inferred mineral resources within the felsic sediment unit to the west of the deposit. The hole also intersected 1.9 g/t Au over 24 m at depth from 424 m, including 8.4 g/t Au over 1.0 m and 8.8 g/t Au over 2.0 m, up dip from previously reported mineralization at depth in the west of Ikkari.
• No. 123063 intersected 5.9 g/t over nine m from 540 m (420 m vertical), including 49.6 g/t Au over one m, extending the western-plunging mineralization at depth with a stepout from hole No. 123026 (1.3 g/t Au over 88.7 m from 487.3 m, including 3.1 g/t Au over 13.0 m from 495 m) reported earlier in the spring (see May 23, 2023, press release).
• No. 123080 intersected 1.3 g/t Au over 43 m from 565 m (445 m vertical), confirming the presence of wide zones of mineralization beyond 450 m vertical depth in the eastern parts of the deposit.

Ikkari North (0.5 kilometre north of Ikkari)

New drilling at Ikkari North successfully targeted the eastern continuation of mineralization hosted within an east-west structural corridor. Within this trend, multiple intense breccia zones host gold and pyrite mineralization. Drilling during winter 2023 has extended the footprint of the mineralization 200 m to the east from previous drilling during winter 2022 (see previous press release dated Aug. 17, 2022):

• No. 123059 intersected 2.7 g/t Au over 35.1 m from 233.1 m (165 m vertical), including 56.6 g/t Au over 1.0 m.
• No. 123069 intersected 1.1 g/t Au over 14.6 m from 291.4 m, including 4.3 g/t Au over 0.5 m.

James Withall, chief executive officer of Rupert Resources, commented: "Diamond drilling for the 2023/24 season has commenced on several targets, with the base-of-till program set to resume in September after the summer break. The results published today highlight the potential of the mineralizing system in area 1 to yield more discoveries. A significant portion of the drilling in 2022/23 was allocated to infill drilling to upgrade the confidence level of Ikkari resource ahead of the upcoming prefeasibility study; with this work behind us, the focus can switch back to exploration, both in area 1 and along the 15-kilometre structural corridor extending eastwards from the multimillion-ounce Ikkari discovery, where new base-of-till and geophysical anomalies have been identified."

Ikkari deposit drilling

The 2022/2023 infill and exploration drill program at Ikkari successfully extended the mineralized envelope at depth to the west and across the strike extent of the deposit. Infill drilling successfully targeted areas of inferred resources present within the open pit defined in the preliminary economic assessment and down to approximately 450 m vertical depth. The database for assays to be included in an updated National Instrument 43-101 MRE, the basis of a prefeasibility study to be completed in the first half of 2024, was closed at the end of June, 2023, and the aim is to complete the update in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Ikkari North

The Ikkari North target was identified from the MT/IP (magnetotelluric/induced polarization) survey conducted in spring 2022 and was the first discovery made in area 1 that was not identified using base-of-till sampling. The survey identified a strong, north-dipping chargeability anomaly that projects toward surface approximately 500 m to the north of the Ikkari deposit. The recent drilling has expanded the footprint of this discovery 200 m farther east. Drilling at Ikkari North is constrained to the winter season, and further follow-up drilling is restricted at this time.

2023/2024 exploration campaign

The 2023/2024 exploration drilling program has now commenced. Following a further update to the company's geological model and structural interpretation of area 1, and the completion of the immediate requirements for Ikkari infill drilling, the focus of the drilling is returning to exploration.

Drilling to date outside of the Ikkari deposit has been limited and focused on testing surface anomalies identified through base-of-till drilling. The aim for the upcoming season is to systematically explore the potential extensions to the key mineralizing structures identified from the updated geological model at Ikkari. The work in this area will include extension testing of the Ikkari deposit to the west and along the contact with black shale to the east; potential for continuity between Ikkari North and Heina South; and extensions of the Heina Central system southward.

Further exploration is also under way at a number of targets that have been identified along the original 20 km domain boundary, the initial regional target structure identified in 2019. Base of till was completed on these targets as part of the 2022/2023 program, and systematic drilling of these has now begun where access is possible in the summer and will be continued during the winter.

Ikkari project update

The prefeasibility study for the Ikkari project has now begun and is being led by Rupert's team and consultancy firm, WSP. The PFS metallurgical testwork is now under way, and the mineral resource update for the Ikkari deposit should be concluded by the end of Q4 2023. In conjunction with the PFS, the company's environmental impact assessment (EIA) program work is also under way, and feedback from stakeholders has recently been received, allowing the evaluation of additional work required to be incorporated into the preparation of the EIA report in mid-2024.

The company has continued to add to the strength of the Ikkari development team with the recruitment of Tuula Roimaa as principal process engineer. Mr. Roimaa previously held the roles of chief metallurgist for Boliden's Kevitsa base metals operation and chief metallurgist at Agnico Eagle's Kittila mine, and has extensive experience in both gold and base metals recovery.

Geological interpretation

Ikkari was discovered using systematic regional exploration that initially focused on geochemical sampling of the bedrock/till interface through glacial till deposits of five m to 40 m thickness. No outcrop is present, and topography is dominated by low-lying swamp areas.

The Ikkari deposit occurs within rocks that have been regionally mapped as 2.05-billion-to-2.15-billion-year-old Savukoski group, greenschist-metamorphosed, mafic-ultramafic volcanic rocks, part of the Central Lapland greenstone belt (CLGB). Gold mineralization is largely confined to the structurally modified unconformity at a significant domain boundary. Younger sedimentary lithologies are complexly interleaved, with intensely altered ultramafic rocks, and the mineralized zone is bounded to the north by a steeply north-dipping cataclastic zone. Within the mineralized zone lithologies, alteration and structure appear to be subvertical in contrast to the wider area 1, where lithologies are generally dipping at a moderated angle to the north.

The main mineralized zone is strongly altered and characterized by intense veining and foliation that pervasively overprint original textures. An early phase of finely laminated grey ankerite/dolomite veins is overprinted by stockwork-like irregular siderite plus or minus quartz plus or minus chlorite plus or minus sulphide veins. These vein arrays are often deformed with shear-related boudinage and in situ brecciation. Magnetite and/or hematite are common, in association with pyrite. Hydrothermal alteration commonly comprises quartz-dolomite-chlorite-magnetite (plus or minus hematite). Gold is hosted by disseminated and vein-related pyrite. Multiphase breccias are well developed within the mineralized zone, with early silicified cataclastic phases overprinted by late, carbonate iron-oxide-rich, hydrothermal breccias which display a subvertical control. All breccias frequently host disseminated pyrite, and are often associated with higher gold grades, particularly where magnetite or hematite is prevalent. In the sedimentary lithologies, albite alteration is intense and pervasive, with pyrite-magnetite (plus or minus gold) hosted in veinlets in brittle fracture zones.

Ikkari North is characterized by broad, 100 m to 200 m wide intersections of fine-grained Savukoski sediments between mafic intrusive bodies. The sediments are pervasively carbonate altered and in places brecciated, such that rafts of the wallrock occur in a carbonate matrix. Variable amounts of disseminated and semi-massive pyrite occur at the contacts to preserved rafts of sediments within the matrix. Assays and observations of visible gold grains indicate that these pyrite zones are variably mineralized with gold. Higher-grade zones are associated with silica-sericite alteration and quartz veining that are confined to siltstone units within the larger brecciated domain.

Review by qualified person, quality assurance/quality control and reports

Craig Hartshorne, a chartered geologist and a fellow of the Geological Society of London, is the qualified person, as defined by NI 43-101, responsible for the accuracy of scientific and technical information in this news release.

The majority of samples are prepared by ALS Finland in either Sodankyla or Outokumpu. Fire assays are subsequently completed in ALS Romania, whilst multielement analysis is completed in Ireland or Sweden. A minority of samples are prepared by Eurofins Laboratory in Sodankyla, and fire assay is carried out on site. A pulverized subsample is then sent to ALS Ireland for multielement analysis. All samples are under watch from the drill site to the storage facility. Samples at both laboratories are assayed using a 50 g fire assay method with aqua regia digest and analysis by AAS for gold. Overlimit analyses (greater than 100 parts per million Au) are conducted using fire assay and gravimetric finish. For multielement assays, ultratrace-level method by four-acid digest (HF-HNO3-HClO4 acid digestion, hydrochloric acid leach) and a combination of ICP-MS and ICP-AES are used. The company's quality assurance/quality control program includes the regular insertion of blanks and standards into the sample shipments, as well as instructions for duplication. Standards, blanks and duplicates are inserted at appropriate intervals. Approximately 5 per cent of the pulps and rejects are sent for check assaying at a second laboratory.

Results presented for hole 123059 include results from screen fire assay (see an attached table). Screen fire assays were requested due to the presence of coarse gold in the drill core and were performed by ALS Romania. Screen fire assays involve the screening of one kilogram at 106 micrometres to separate the sample into a coarse fraction (greater than 106 micrometres) and a fine fraction (fewer than 106 micrometres). After screening, two 50 g subsamples of the fine fraction are analyzed using the normal 50 g fire assay method with aqua regia digest and analysis by AAS for gold. The entire coarse fraction is assayed to determine the contribution of the coarse gold using fire assay and gravimetric finish. The total gold calculation for the one kg sample is based on the weighted average of the coarse and fine fractions and is reported for the indicated samples.

Base-of-till samples are prepared at ALS Sodankyla by dry-sieving method prep-41 and assayed for gold by fire assay with ICP-AES finish. Multielements are assayed at ALS laboratories in either of Ireland, Romania or Sweden by aqua regia with ICP-MS finish. Rupert maintains a strict chain-of-custody procedure to manage the handling of all samples. The company's quality assurance/quality control program includes the regular insertion of blanks and standards into the sample shipments, as well as instructions for duplication.

About Rupert Resources Ltd.

Rupert Resources is a gold exploration and development company. The company is focused on making and advancing discoveries of scale and quality with high-margin and low-environmental-impact potential. The company's principal focus is Ikkari, a new high-quality gold discovery in northern Finland. Ikkari is part of the company's Rupert Lapland project, which also includes the Pahtavaara gold mine, mill and exploration permits. The company also holds a 20-per-cent carried participating interest in the Gold Centre property, located adjacent to the Red Lake mine in Ontario.

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