Mr. Chris Hobbs reports

SMOOTH ROCK ANNOUNCES CLOSING OF DEBT SETTLEMENT TRANSACTIONS

Further to its news release dated Jan. 15, 2026, Smooth Rock Ventures Corp. has closed its previously announced debt settlement transactions, in settlement of an aggregate debt of $907,040 owed to certain creditors relating to management fees, contractor fees and certain other obligations.

The debt settlement transactions include the settlement of $400,000 in debt through the issuance of 3,809,520 common shares of Smooth Rock at a deemed price of 10.5 cents per common share and the cancellation of $507,040 of remaining debt owed to the creditors.

The common shares issued pursuant to the shares-for-debt transactions are subject to a hold period of four months following the date of issuance, in accordance with applicable securities laws and TSX Venture Exchange policies.

Multilateral Instrument 61-101 disclosure

The issuance of the common shares to certain insiders pursuant to the debt settlement transactions is considered to be a related party transaction as defined under MI 61-101, Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions. The issuance of the common shares to these insiders is exempt from the formal valuation requirement in Section 5.4 of MI 61-101 in reliance on Section 5.5(b) of MI 61-101 as Smooth Rock is not listed on a specified market within the meaning of MI 61-101. Additionally, the shares-for-debt transaction is exempt from the minority approval requirement in Section 5.6 of MI 61-101 in reliance on Section 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 as neither the fair market value of the subject matter of nor the fair market value of the consideration for the shares-for-debt transaction, insofar as it involves (or is expected to involve) interested parties, exceeds 25 per cent of Smooth Rock's market capitalization.

About Smooth Rock Ventures Corp.

Smooth Rock Ventures is a U.S.-based exploration-stage company engaged in the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties, primarily in the prolific Walker Lane mineral belt located in Nevada. The company owns a 100-per-cent undivided interest in the Palmetto gold project, which consists of 116 unpatented mining claims totalling 2217 acres located in Esmeralda county, Nevada. The project hosts a National Instrument 43-101-compliant mineral resource estimation (WSP Canda Inc., McCraken, Oct. 15, 2020). Palmetto has seen significant exploration work completed to date by numerous companies, including Newmont Gold, Phelps Dodge Corp., Romarco Minerals and most recently ML Gold Corp. The initial discovery hole in 1988 was drilled by Phelps Dodge and bonanza gold-silver veins were subsequently drilled by Romarco Minerals in 1997 to 2002.