Ms. Isabelle Proulx reports

STELMINE PROVIDES GEOLOGICAL UPDATE OF THE MERIDIAN OROGENIC GOLD ZONE AT THE MERCATOR PROPERTY

Stelmine Canada Ltd. has provided a geological update on its 100-per-cent-owned Mercator property located in northeastern Quebec. Stelmine completed a maiden diamond drilling campaign in 2022 totalling 1,950 metres in 13 holes collared on the gold-bearing Meridian zone located at the core of the property.

Project highlights:

• Meridian zone mineralization traced on surface over 2,500 m by 500 m;
• Drilling returned multiple lenses of gold mineralization;
• Early-stage exploration in newly identified Caniapiscau gold district;
• Multiple zones of gold mineralization hosted in iron formations;
• Large gold deposits are associated with iron formations such as Musselwhite, Meadowbank, Lake Amaruq and Back River;
• Bulk-tonnage and high-grade mineralization potential;
• Large land package in the positive mining and exploration jurisdiction of Quebec.

Mercator is a rare occurrence of an Archean orogenic-type mineralization associated with granulite-facies and silicate iron formations. Iron formations (IF) are highly sought-after targets for gold exploration because of their potential to host high-grade, large-tonnage deposits.

From the initial INAA (instrumental neutron activation analysis) results obtained from drilling campaign, a subset of samples (less than 10 per cent) were resubmitted by the fire assay analysis method. Variations in the gold results were deemed small and the highlights of the updated drill intersections are presented below and the table entitled "Significant gold intercepts from the 2022 drilling campaign."

Drilling highlights:

Drilling results correlate well with surface channel, grab and soil samples obtained on the project since 2018. Channel sampling returned gold intersections greater than one gram per tonne (g/t) for 11 of the 22 channel sites.

Channel sample highlights:

• 2.07 g/t Au (gold) over 27.50 m (R21025);
• 2.27 g/t Au over 7.60 m, including 4.25 g/t Au over three m (R21033);
• 2.16 g/t Au over 7.60 m, including 3.64 g/t Au over four m (R21027);
• 2.13 g/t Au over 12.5 m, including 3.54 g/t Au over six m (R21034);
• 2.66 g/t Au over 11.5 m, including 5.1 g/t Au over 4.1 m (R21010).

Grab sample highlights:

• 18.2 g/t Au, 9.27 g/t Au, 7.6 g/t Au and 6.93 g/t Au.

Isabelle Proulx, president and chief executive officer, says, "Stelmine believes the Mercator project, particularly the 2.5-kilometre by 500 m gold-rich Meridian zone, has the potential to develop into a major high-tonnage body."

The property lies near the gold-prospective structural contact of the La Grande and Opinaca subprovinces, extending 500 km in an east-west direction from the Eeyou Itschee James Bay territory to the Caniapiscau district. There are several gold-bearing IF prospects situated along this highly prospective shear contact, such as the Orfee, Pontois, Lac Guyer and Bourdon. These large-scale structural features provide fluid pathways for gold migration and deposition. Gold occurrences on the property are associated with pyrrhotite, pyrite, arsenopyrite-lollingite plus or minus chalcopyrite sulphide mineralization. In Quebec, other gold-bearing granulitic IF interstratified with metasediments are currently found in the Lilois sector within the Ashuanipi subprovince.

A northern view of the Meridian zone shows three roughly parallel 1.4 km long, northeast-southwest-oriented gold mineral zones, exposed on a hill crest and valley floor, dipping shallowly to the northwest and open in both directions. The IP (induced polarization) survey section indicates most of the gold mineralization is spatially associated with high-chargeability envelopes. A preliminary 3-D model built in the IP section area also reveals two mineralized layers dipping north-northwest, crossing high-chargeability zones.

There are several examples of world-class deposits in Archean IF within the Superior province of Canada, such as the four-million-ounce (Moz) Au Meadowbank deposit and the Lake Amaruq mine (2.7 Moz Au), both in the Medialine district of Nunavut, and the Northern Ontario Musselwhite deposit, with measured and indicated resources of 3.7 million tonnes (Mt) at 3.55 g/t Au.

Stelmine continues to apply a combination of geophysics, geochemistry and drill targeting techniques to effectively explore the Meridian zone and other orogenic gold occurrences on the Mercator property. Mineralizing structures have been identified and will be targeted with the planned 2023 diamond drilling program. Further, structural analyses from detailed mapping will assist in understanding structural controls and guide exploration efforts on the property. The highly experienced team at Stelmine realizes that successful exploration requires a thorough understanding of the target areas, as well as careful planning and execution of exploration work programs.

Qualified person

The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Michel Boily, PGeo, PhD. Mr. Boily is the qualified person responsible for the scientific and technical information contained herein under National Instrument 43-101 standards.

Quality assurance/quality control protocol

Stelmine implemented a strict QA/QC protocol in processing all rock samples collected from the Mercator property. The protocol included the insertion and monitoring of appropriate reference materials, in this case high-concentration and low-concentration certified gold standards, blanks and duplicates, to validate the accuracy and precision of the assay results. All collected rock samples were put in sturdy plastic bags, tagged and sealed in the field under the supervision of geologists in training. Sample bags were then put in rice pouches and kept securely in a field tent before being sent by floatplane to the city of Fermont. Transport to Actlabs laboratories in Ancaster, Ont., was made by truck from dependable transport companies. Gold was analyzed by fire assay (1A2_ICP_50 g) or the INAA plus ICP-OES (inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry) (1H) methods. Note, however, the gold intersections presented above were calculated with Au concentrations obtained by the fire assay method. Other trace element concentrations were obtained via the 1H method.

About Stelmine Canada Ltd.

Stelmine is a junior mining exploration company pioneering a new gold district (Caniapiscau) east of James Bay in the underexplored eastern part of the Opinaca metasedimentary basin where the geological context has similarities to the Eleonore mine. Stelmine has 100-per-cent ownership of a metasedimentary basin where the geological context has similarities to the Eleonore mine. Stelmine has 100-per-cent ownership of 1,782 claims, or 938 square km, in this part of Northern Quebec, highlighted by the Courcy and Mercator projects.

We seek Safe Harbor.