Mr. Tiago Cunha reports

SOUTH STAR ANNOUNCES SANTA CRUZ OPERATIONAL UPDATE; FIRST SHIPMENT OF GRAPHITE SHIPPED

South Star Battery Metals Corp. has released its June operational results from the Santa Cruz plant in Brazil.

Santa Cruz project -- operational highlights

This update outlines the operational progress of the Santa Cruz mine. Key takeaways include the following.

Throughput improvements:

• ROM (run-of-mine) feed increased substantially once again:
  • April, 2026: 1,337.5 tonnes;
  • May, 2026: 3,798.5 tonnes;
  • June, 2026: 4,920.1 tonnes.

From May to June, ROM feed to the plant increased by approximately 30 per cent, while graphite concentrate production doubled, demonstrating a significant improvement in overall process efficiency. These results reflect the positive impact of continuing operational optimization initiatives, enhanced process stability and improved plant performance as the operation continues to ramp-up:

• Reagent consumption (the highest-cost production input) remained well controlled despite the higher production rate, which indicates that the process is becoming increasingly efficient as throughput continues to ramp-up.
• Plant utilization improved significantly, demonstrating greater operational continuity and more effective utilization of the installed capacity.
• Over all, the key performance indicators confirm that the operation is progressing toward anticipated targets, with consistent improvements in plant productivity, metallurgical recovery, concentrate quality and moisture control.
• The Santa Cruz operation has successfully established a stable operating regime for the production of 95 per cent carbon grade flake graphite. All flake concentrates currently produced meets commercial specifications.
• The plant achieved a significant improvement in both flake and fines concentrate grades. During June, 100 per cent of the graphite concentrate produced met commercial specifications, representing an important operational milestone and demonstrating the increasing stability and effectiveness of the processing plant.

Over 4,000 process and quality data points are collected on a regular basis at the Santa Cruz plant, providing a solid foundation for process optimization, rapid identification of deviations and continuous improvement initiatives.

Tiago Cunha, interim chief executive officer, states: "Our COO, Rogerio Barcellos, continues to deliver positive operational results. The plant is being monitored regularly and consistently in order to attain a production capacity of 5,000 tpa of graphite concentrate. The early indications highlight that the team is steadily learning how to adjust the plant through regular monitorization of data points, which is demonstrating positive results thus far."

Qualified person statement

The technical and scientific information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Marc Leduc, PEng, director, a qualified person as defined under National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About South Star Battery Metals Corp.

South Star is a Canadian battery metals project developer focused on the selective acquisition and development of near-term production projects in the Americas. South Star's Santa Cruz graphite project, located in southern Bahia, Brazil, is the first of a series of industrial and battery metals projects that is anticipated to be put into production. Brazil is the second-largest graphite producing region in the world with more than 80 years of continuous mining. With excellent infrastructure and logistics, Santa Cruz is slated to be the newest graphite producer in the Americas. South Star trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol STS and on the OTCQB under the symbol STSBF. South Star is committed to a corporate culture, project execution plan and safe operations that embrace the highest standards of ESG (environmental, social and governance) principles, based on transparency, stakeholder engagement, continuing education and stewardship.

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