Mr. Tony Giardini reports

TRILOGY METALS PROVIDES UPDATE ON U.S. DEPARTMENT OF WAR STRATEGIC EQUITY INVESTMENT AND EXTENDS CLOSING DEADLINE TO JULY 31, 2026

Trilogy Metals Inc. has provided the following update on the previously announced proposed strategic equity investment of $35.6-million (U.S.) by the U.S. Department of War (DOW). Trilogy and the DOW have agreed to extend the targeted closing date for the investment from May 31, 2026, to July 31, 2026, to account for the time required to finalize definitive documentation. The company expects to close the transaction on or before July 31, 2026.

Preclosing milestones

Since announcing the investment, Trilogy Metals and Ambler Metals LLC, the company's 50/50 joint venture with South32 Ltd., are continuing discussions regarding the transaction. The following key milestones have been completed or are progressing:

• Ambler road framework agreement: Ambler Metals, South32, Trilogy Metals and the U.S. government are discussing a framework agreement that would govern the financing and construction of the Ambler access project (or Ambler road), the proposed 211-mile, industrial-use-only road from the Ambler mining district to the Dalton Highway. As part of these discussions, the parties are exploring potential pathways for financing the Ambler road.
• FOCI (foreign ownership, control or influence) review completed: The U.S. government has completed its FOCI risk assessment of Trilogy Metals, enabling the parties to finalize the definitive agreements required for closing.
• Defense Production Act reauthorized: The U.S. Congress has reauthorized the Defense Production Act, providing the continued statutory foundation for the U.S. government's strategic equity investment program in domestic critical mineral companies, including this investment in Trilogy Metals.
• Definitive documentation progressing: Definitive investment documentation is well under way. The extension to July 31 provides the time needed to finalize and execute the remaining transaction documents.

Tony Giardini, president and chief executive officer of Trilogy, commented: "We are highly encouraged by the progress we have made toward closing this landmark investment. We are extending the closing date to July 31 to allow adequate time to finalize the transaction documents to the standard this agreement deserves. This investment from the U.S. government signifies the strategic importance to American critical mineral supply chain security, and we remain fully committed to closing on this schedule."

Background on the strategic equity investment

In October, 2025, the U.S. government approved the Ambler access project and authorized a potential $35.6-million (U.S.) strategic equity investment in Trilogy Metals pursuant to Title III of the Defense Production Act, administered by the U.S. Department of War. The investment will be structured in part as a direct equity placement in recognition of the Arctic project's critical role in supporting domestic copper supply and reducing U.S. dependence on foreign-controlled critical mineral sources. The Arctic project, located in northwestern Alaska's Ambler mining district, hosts one of the highest-grade undeveloped copper-zinc-lead-gold-silver deposits in North America and is being advanced by Ambler Metals toward mine permitting and a construction decision.

For additional background, readers are directed to the company's prior news releases available on its website, on SEDAR+ and EDGAR.

Arctic project federal permitting update

On May 15, 2026, Ambler Metals announced that the Arctic project had been officially accepted as a covered project under Title 41 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41), and listed on the federal permitting improvement steering council's federal permitting dashboard. The FAST-41 designation triggers a statutory permitting timetable -- within 21 days of listing, lead federal agencies must invite co-operating agencies, and within 60 days, a co-ordinated project plan and permitting schedule must be published -- providing investors, agencies and communities with a transparent, enforceable road map for the Arctic project's National Environmental Policy Act review. The FAST-41 inclusion follows directly from the April, 2026, filing of a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit application with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, initiating formal federal permitting for the Arctic project, and represents a significant parallel milestone alongside the DOW strategic equity investment in advancing the Ambler mining district toward development.

About Trilogy Metals Inc.

Trilogy Metals is a metal exploration and development company holding a 50-per-cent interest in Ambler Metals, which has a 100-per-cent interest in the Upper Kobuk mineral project (UKMP) in northwestern Alaska. On Dec. 19, 2019, South32, a globally diversified mining and metals company, exercised its option to form a 50/50 joint venture with Trilogy Metals. The UKMP is located within the Ambler mining district, which is one of the richest and most prospective known copper-dominant districts in the world. It hosts polymetallic volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits that contain copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver and carbonate replacement deposits, which have been found to host high-grade copper and cobalt mineralization. Exploration efforts have been focused on two deposits in the Ambler mining district -- the Arctic VMS deposit and the Bornite carbonate replacement deposit. Both deposits are located within a land package that spans approximately 190,929 hectares. Ambler Metals has an agreement with Nana Regional Corp. Inc., an Alaska native corporation, that provides a framework for the exploration and potential development of the Ambler mining district in co-operation with local communities. Trilogy Metals' vision is to develop the Ambler mining district into a premier North American copper producer while protecting and respecting subsistence livelihoods.

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