Mr. Adrian Lamoureux reports

VITAL BATTERY METALS FULFILLS OPTION AND INCREASES LAND POSITION TO 123 KM SUPERSCRIPT 2 AT THE STING COPPER PROJECT IN WESTERN NEWFOUNDLAND

Vital Battery Metals Inc. has completed its earn-in on the option agreement to acquire a 100-per-cent interest in additional mineral tenure at the Sting copper project located 14 kilometres south of the town of Trout River in the province of Newfoundland. The additional acquired mineral tenure consists of three mineral licences that cumulatively encompass a land area of approximately 87 square kilometres.

Recently, the company reported multiple assay results of grab samples at its Sting copper project including up to 17.0 per cent Cu and 4.1 grams per tonne gold. The company believes these results adequately confirmed the historically reported copper mineralization at the Jumbo Lode prospect and validates the prospectivity for adjacent mineralized zones. With this, the company intends on moving forward with more extensive exploration programs throughout the project.

Acquisition highlights

After earning in under the agreement, Vital will have a commanding 123 square km land package, making the company the largest mineral tenure holder in the York Harbour district.

The new tenure covers an unexplored regional fault structure that is outlined by a magnetic high and located west of the Gregory River fault zone. Together with the new tenure, the project area now hosts over 40 base and precious metal occurrences that have undergone limited exploration work along a 50 km corridor known for hosting significant volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS), copper quartz vein lode and low sulphation epithermal gold showings, mines and projects.

Vital believes that the York Harbour area has lacked detailed exploration since the past exploration campaigns of the early to mid 1900s and believes that the abundance of mineral occurrences in the area is vastly underestimated.

Peers in the region have shown significant high-grade drill intercepts of copper and zinc in similar geological formations to those present on the project, including the new tenure.

Vital is currently formulating a detailed exploration program to further explore the historical mineral occurrences on the property and generate additional targets in areas that have seen no documented exploration.

Adrian Lamoureux, chief executive officer and president of Vital, commented: "We are happy to have become the largest land holder in the York Harbour district. Our early work programs at the project have returned very promising high-grade copper and gold results, which we strongly believe justify further expansion to our land package. Our technical team has reviewed current and historical data and believes there are several high-priority targets that need further exploration. We look forward to announcing further exploration programs that will target these high-priority areas."

The new tenure consists of three mineral licenses encompassing a total land area of approximately 87 square km (8,700 ha) and is situated within an approximate 10 km radius of the centre of the originally acquired Sting mineral tenure. The west mineral licence is underlain geologically by Cambrian to Ordovician mafic intrusions and ophiolitic terrane with a prominent northeast-trending fault that is identifiable by a major change in magnetic susceptibility evident in Newfoundland and Labrador government residual magnetic data. The area has many mineral occurrences that coincide with magnetic highs, including York Harbor Metals' York Harbor project located just 22 km to the southwest. The west block has had little exploration conducted on it and thus merits more detailed work. The east mineral licences are situated just one km from the original southernmost Sting tenure. They are mapped geologically as mafic intrusions, Ordovician in age.

The project hosts multiple historic Newfoundland and Labrador government-documented mineral occurrences and is located within a 50 km corridor known for significant volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS), copper quartz vein lode and low sulphation epithermal gold showings, mines and projects including York Harbour Metals' York Harbour VMS project with recent diamond drilling results of 5.25 per cent Cu over 29 metres (see York Harbour Metals news release dated March 26, 2022) and 2.70 per cent Cu and 9.0 per cent Zn over 25 metres (see York Harbour news release dated Feb. 14, 2022).

One of the most significant historical mineral occurrences located at the project is the Jumbo. The Jumbo mineral occurrence is located along Jumbo Brook, 14 km south of the town of Trout River, Western Newfoundland. It can be accessed by muskeg trail from Trout River and is only eight km from tidewater. Exploration work on the Jumbo dates to 1922 when it was first trenched by Reid Nfld. Co. Ltd., followed by two adits dug in 1953 by Cape Copper Mines. In 1970, Noranda geologically mapped, soil sampled and conducted multiple geophysical surveys on the showing. In 1979 to 1980, some small exploration programs were executed by several companies including Chevron Minerals, Teck Corp., RioCan, Placer Development, Utah Mines Ltd. and Noranda Exploration Co. Ltd.

Chip and channel sampling completed in 1922 was briefly described as being composed mineralogically of chalcopyrite, chalcocite, pyrite and quartz over an area of approximately 30.5 m by 12.1 m. Highlights of sampling done in 1922 can be seen in the attached table.

In addition to the Jumbo and Red Lode mineral occurrences, there are over 40 other mineralized showings that can be seen along the Gregory River fault that have not yet been adequately sampled or drill tested. The recent diamond drilling success at York Harbour Metals' York Harbour project located 27 kilometres to the south and along strike indicates that the area has significant potential and validates that more detailed geological work is warranted.

Terms of the option agreement

Under the terms of the agreement, the company acquired a 100-per-cent interest in the new tenure by paying the optionors a cash payment of $40,000 and issuing the optionors a total of 2.5 million common shares in the capital of the company. The optionors agreed to remove the requirement of the company to incur $100,000 of exploration expenditures on the new tenure on or before the one-year anniversary of the execution date. The optionors will retain a 2-per-cent net smelter returns royalty on the new tenure, of which the company may purchase at any time one-half, being 1 per cent, for a price of $1.5-million.

National Instrument 43-101 disclosure

Nicholas Rodway, PGeo, is a consultant and shareholder of Vital and a qualified person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Rodway supervised the preparation of, and approved, the technical information in this news release.

About Vital Battery Metals Inc.

Vital Battery Metals is a mineral exploration company dedicated to the development of strategic projects comprising battery, base and precious metals in stable jurisdictions. The company is working to advance its Sting copper project and its Vent copper-gold project. The Sting project covers approximately 123 square kilometres (12,700 hectares) and hosts multiple historic Newfoundland and Labrador government documented mineral occurrences and is located within a 50 km corridor known for significant volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS), copper quartz vein lode and low sulphation epithermal gold showings. The Vent copper-gold project covers 1,562 hectares in British Columbia. Vital continues to evaluate value-add assets to bolster its project portfolio.

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