Mr. Layton Croft reports

CAROLINA RUSH-OCEANAGOLD PARTNERSHIP TO COMMENCE DEEP DRILLING AT BREWER IN JANUARY 2026

All required approvals have been received in connection with the earn-in option agreement between Carolina Rush Corp. and Oceanagold Corp., all conditions were satisfied, and the agreement became active on Nov. 26, 2025 (see news releases of Sept. 16, 2025, and Nov. 27, 2025, for more information).

The newly formed joint technical committee, comprising two members of each of the companies, has held its first meeting and approved the Stage 1 exploration program and budget, which includes approximately 3,000 metres of drilling beginning Jan. 5, 2026. This Stage 1 exploration program and budget formally commences phase 1 of the agreement, during which Oceanagold must spend a minimum of $1.5-million (U.S.). To earn a 50-per-cent interest in the Brewer project, Oceanagold must spend a total $8-million (U.S.) by the end of 2027.

Layton Croft, president and chief executive officer of Carolina Rush, stated: "Our partnership with Oceanagold is off to a great start. Combined technical expertise and knowledge of the large, complex Brewer system helps us derisk and plan our inaugural deep drill program in alignment together. Our aim is to test Brewer's porphyry copper-gold potential."

Stage 1 program overview The initial deep-drilling campaign will test high-priority porphyry copper-gold targets defined through geologic mapping, geochemistry and the MT-IP (magnetotelluric/induced polarization) geophysical survey:

• DDH A-1 -- approximately 1,500 metres planned: oriented to test the strongest portion of the low-resistivity body interpreted as a potential porphyritic intrusion beneath and west of the former Brewer mine;
• DDH A-2 -- approximately 1,500 metres planned: contingent on A-1 results, this hole will test the southern margin and core of the deep-resistivity anomaly, collared in quartz-sericite-pyrite altered volcanic rocks exposed on surface;
• DDH B-1 -- approximately 1,000 metres planned: designed to evaluate a separate deep MT-IP anomaly to the north-northwest, in an area with anomalous molybdenum, topaz and trace chalcopyrite-bornite mineralization never previously drill tested at depth.

These holes collectively aim to determine whether a copper-gold porphyry system underlies the high-sulphidation epithermal mineralization historically mined at Brewer.

Qualified person

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements as set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed and approved by Patrick Quigley, MSc, CPG-12116, the company's senior geologist and exploration manager and a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101.

About Carolina Rush Corp.

Carolina Rush is a southeastern-U.S.-focused exploration company advancing the Brewer gold-copper project in South Carolina, which is now under an earn-in option agreement with Oceanagold. Brewer is a large, underexplored system with demonstrated near-surface gold-copper epithermal mineralization and potential for deeper porphyry-style mineralization. Brewer is located 13 kilometres from Oceanagold's producing Haile gold mine, which has 2025 production guidance of 170,000 to 200,000 ounces of gold (source: the Oceanagold website).

The information disclosed from nearby properties is not necessarily indicative to the mineralization at Brewer.

We seek Safe Harbor.