Mr. Ali Haji reports

AMERICAN TUNGSTEN INITIATES DRILLING IN HISTORICAL TAILINGS AND STRENGTHENS ITS GEOLOGICAL TEAM

American Tungsten Corp. has initiated an auger drilling program in the historical lower tailings impoundment on the Ima mine site in 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 per cent WO3 (tungsten trioxide) and 0.48 ounce per ton silver, as reported Jan. 20, 2026. American Tungsten has contracted Haz-Tech Drilling Inc. of Nampa, Idaho, to conduct hollow stem auger drilling in the tailings area. Currently, 35 drill holes are planned, totalling approximately 370 feet, to delineate tailings thickness and collect samples for assay and in situ density. The duration of the drilling program is approximately one 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, chief executive officer of American Tungsten. "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 five shallow test pits averaging 3.5 feet deep, spaced approximately 500 feet apart, averaged 0.235 per cent WO3 and 0.45 ounce per ton 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.

Strengthening the company's team

American Tungsten also announces that Max Baker has joined the company as an adviser to its geological team. With more than 45 years of global exploration experience across Australia, Asia, Europe and the Americas, Mr. Baker 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, chief executive officer. "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."

Mr. Baker resides in Idaho and currently consults on uranium, tungsten, lithium, gold and base metal projects in the northwestern United States. He is a co-founder of Chariot Corp. (Australian Securities Exchange listed) and previously served as vice-president, exploration and co-founder of Integra Resources, where he helped expand the DeLamar-Florida Mountain resource to approximately five million ounces gold equivalent 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 million thermal units of WO3 and was subsequently explored for molybdenum and tungsten by various operators between 1960 and 2010. American Tungsten is currently conducting an exploration drill program and assessing potential for restart of underground tungsten mining operations at the Ima mine.

Quality assurance/quality control and sample analysis

American Tungsten's 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's laboratory in Twin Falls, Idaho, for preparation. Samples were crushed to 70 per cent passing a two-millimetre screen, rotary splitting 250 grams and pulverized to 85 per cent passing a 75-micrometre screen. Samples were analyzed by ALS Minerals in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Samples were analyzed by four-acid digest with ICP-MS finish. Samples exceeding 200 parts per million tungsten were analyzed by XRF (X-ray fluorescence) with lithium borate fusion preparation. Samples exceeding 50 ppm 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. Austin Zinsser, PG, SME-RM, vice-president, exploration, for the company and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release.

About American Tungsten Corp.

American Tungsten 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-per-cent royalty) and has expanded its land position with 113 additional federal claims covering nearly 2,000 acres.

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