Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 11, 2026) - American Tungsten Corp. (CSE: TUNG) (OTCQB: TUNGF) (FSE: RK90) ("American Tungsten" or the "Company") today announces initiation of an auger drilling program in the historical lower tailings impoundment on the IMA Mine site, Lemhi County Idaho. Drilling activities will be conducted over 30 acres of historical tailings left from previous mine activities.
Preliminary samples of historical tailings collected in shallow trenches average 0.25% WO3 and 0.48 oz/t Ag, as reported January 20, 2026. American Tungsten has contracted Haz-Tech Drilling Inc, of Nampa, ID, to conduct hollow stem auger drilling in the tailings area. Currently, 35 drillholes are planned totaling approximately 370 feet to delineate tailings thickness and collect samples for assay and in-situ density. The duration of the drilling program is approximately 1 week.
"The tailings drilling program is a key component of our strategy, to unlock value and fully define the opportunity at the historic IMA Mine," said Ali Haji, CEO of American Tungsten Corp. "Initial sampling continues to support our view that the tungsten grades within the tailings are broadly representative of the remaining material on site. With modern processing technologies far more efficient than those available in the 1950s, we believe there is a clear pathway to significantly improve historical recoveries. The tailings represent a compelling, low-cost early-production opportunity that can generate near-term cash flow while advancing meaningful site restoration as part of our overall development plan."
Lower Tailings Sampling
Historical tailings from past mining activities are present over an area of approximately 30 acres on the IMA Mine's land package within the Pahsimeroi valley, known as the Lower Tailings Impoundment. Historical operators estimated the Lower Tailings Impoundment to contain 222,000 cubic yards of tailings. As reported previously, preliminary sampling of tailings materials in 5 shallow test pits averaging 3.5 ft deep spaced approximately 500 ft apart average 0.235 % WO3 and 0.45 oz/t Ag. These samples were submitted to Sepro Laboratories for preliminary metallurgical test work in January 2026. Results will be announced when test work is completed.
Figure 1: CME 850 Drill rig in the lower tailings area, IMA Mine.
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Figure 2: Lower Tailings Impoundment showing planned drillholes and previously reported tailings sample locations.
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Table 1: Tailings sampling results1,2 (previously reported, January 20, 2026)
| Sample ID | Location | Type | Length (ft) | WO3_% | MoS2_% | Ag opt | Cu % | Pb % | Zn % |
| 1103820-1103824 | Lower Tailings | Composite |
| 0.253 | 0.019 | 0.476 | 0.033 | 0.082 | 0.087 |
| 1103820 | Lower Tailings | Test Pit | 1.5 | 0.158 | 0.011 | 0.19 | 0.02 | 0.03 | 0.04 |
| 1103821 | Lower Tailings | Test Pit | 3.5 | 0.414 | 0.014 | 0.93 | 0.05 | 0.20 | 0.09 |
| 1103822 | Lower Tailings | Test Pit | 3.5 | 0.187 | 0.019 | 0.41 | 0.03 | 0.05 | 0.05 |
| 1103823 | Lower Tailings | Test Pit | 3.5 | 0.112 | 0.016 | 0.25 | 0.02 | 0.03 | 0.02 |
| 1103824 | Lower Tailings | Test Pit | 6 | 0.303 | 0.027 | 0.46 | 0.04 | 0.07 | 0.16 |
1) Composite values are length weighted average values of sub-samples collected from continuous channel transects and represent true widths
2) WO3 and MoS2 % values are calculated from ppm analyses based on stoichiometry factors of 1.2611 and 1.668 |
Strengthening Our Team
American Tungsten also announces that Max Baker has joined the Company as an Advisor to its geological team. With more than 45 years of global exploration experience across Australia, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, Max has played key roles in multiple significant mineral discoveries and has advanced projects from early-stage exploration through resource definition and development.
"Max joins American Tungsten at a pivotal moment," said Ali Haji, CEO. "His depth of experience in turning geological potential into mine-ready resources will be instrumental as we advance toward production this year. His leadership strengthens our confidence in delivering a domestic tungsten supply in the United States."
Max resides in Idaho, and currently consults on uranium, tungsten, lithium, gold, and base-metal projects in the Northwestern U.S. He is a Co-Founder of Chariot Corporation (ASX-listed) and previously served as VP Exploration and Co-Founder of Integra Resources, where he helped expand the DeLamar-Florida Mountain resource to ~5 Moz AuEq and consolidate a 32,000-acre land package.
About the IMA Mine
The IMA Mine is a past producing underground tungsten mine situated on 22 patented claims located in East Central Idaho. Between 1945 and 1957, the property produced approximately 199,449 MTUs of WO3 and was subsequently explored for molybdenum and tungsten by various operators between 1960-2010. American Tungsten Corp is currently conducting an exploration drill program and assessing potential for re-start of underground tungsten mining operations at the IMA Mine.
QA/QC and Sample Analysis
American Tungsten Corp's Quality Assurance and Quality Control QA/QC program applies industry standard best practices to ensure data quality and integrity for the IMA Mine project, including maintaining chain of custody, secure sample transport and storage, adherence to data collection protocols and inclusion of certified reference, blank and duplicate quality assurance samples in laboratory submissions.
Samples were collected by professional geologists and efforts were made to ensure geological representativity of samples. Samples were submitted to ALS Global laboratory in Twin Falls, Idaho, for preparation. Samples were crushed to 70% passing 2 mm screen, rotary splitting 250g and pulverized to 85% passing a 75 μm screen. Samples were analyzed by ALS Minerals in the Vancouver, BC, Canada. Samples were analyzed by four acid digest with ICP-MS finish. Samples exceeding 200 ppm W were analyzed by XRF with lithium borate fusion preparation. Samples exceeding 50ppm Ag were analyzed by fire assay with gravimetric finish.
Qualified Person
Technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI-43-101"). Austin Zinsser, P.G., SME-RM, Vice President, Exploration for the Company, and a Qualified Person as defined by NI-43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release.
About American Tungsten Corp.
American Tungsten Corp. is a Canadian exploration company focused on high-potential tungsten and magnetite assets in North America. The Company is advancing the IMA Mine Project in Idaho to commercial production, addressing critical metal scarcity in North America. The Company's IMA Mine Project is a historic and high-quality underground tungsten past-producing property on private-patented land well above the water table with significant infrastructure. The Company holds an exclusive option to acquire full ownership (subject to a 2% royalty) and has expanded its land position with 113 additional federal claims covering nearly 2,000 acres.
For further updates, visit www.americantungstencorp.com or investor relations, Joanna Longo at ir@americantungstencorp.com.
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(CSE: TUNG)
(OTCQB: TUNGF)
(FSE: RK90)
The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.
This news release includes "forward-looking information" that is subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Forward-looking statements may include but are not limited to, statements relating to anticipated results of pending analyses, future work plans, additional sampling and preliminary metallurgical test work to be carried out on the Lower Tailings Impoundment, and all the risks and uncertainties normally incident to such events. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future events and that actual events or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements represent management's best judgment based on information currently available. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Company undertake no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.
Statements concerning historical mineral resources, production, and exploration results on the property have been obtained through both public and private sources, and are believed to be substantially factual and relevant in that they demonstrate the tenor of exploration targets on the property. Historical resource estimates pre-date the implementation of NI 43-101 and do not use categories stipulated by CIM. Prior operators assigned confidence categories which differ from those stipulated by CIM, as they may not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimates should not be relied upon until they have been verified. Neither American Tungsten Corp., or its Qualified Person, has done sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources or to verify historical information regarding past production, sampling or drilling. American Tungsten Corp. is not treating the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. Exploration Targets discussed are conceptual in nature; it is uncertain whether a mineral resource will be delineated based on potential exploration.
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