Highlights:

• Permits received: Visionary has received two exploration work permits from the Province of Manitoba, valid through December 31, 2028, covering the Pine Bay and its adjoining Alberts Lake property.
• Free to advance Pine Bay: The newly issued permits authorize surface diamond drilling, line cutting, geophysics and trail clearing, positioning Visionary to advance the Project's planned exploration at an appropriate time, through December 31, 2028.
• High-grade copper on a mineral lease: The Rainbow deposit hosts an Indicated Mineral Resource of 3.44 Mt grading 3.59% CuEq and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.28 Mt grading 2.95% CuEq, located 16 km from Flin Flon with road access and proximity to existing processing facilities.
• Advancing Rainbow toward potential early production: The newly issued exploration permits authorize drilling at the Rainbow deposit to support its advancement toward potential early production. Visionary has completed and submitted an Advanced Exploration Permit (AEP) application, supported by detailed engineering plans for ramp access and a proposed 10,000-tonne bulk sample. The AEP application remains pending.
• Exploration upside: Includes six targets outlined in 2025, some with previous intersections of 5.33% Cu over 3.05 m and 38.50 g/t Au over 3.0 m, which offer high-grade copper and gold discovery upside.

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 20, 2026) - Visionary Copper and Gold Mines Inc. (TSXV: VCG) (OTCQB: VCGMF) (the "Company" or "Visionary") is pleased to announce that it has received its previously pending exploration work permits from the Province of Manitoba for its Pine Bay Project (the "Project"), located 16 km from Flin Flon in the Flin Flon Mining District of Manitoba (Pine Bay Camp Plan View). The permits are valid through December 31, 2028, cover the ground hosting the Company's high-grade copper Rainbow deposit and the exploration drilling target areas the Company outlined in 2025.

Pine Bay Project Regional Overview

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The permits approve the work programs submitted by the Company to the Government of Manitoba in December 2024 and April 2025 and authorizes diamond drilling, line cutting, geophysics and access trail clearing on Crown land in two areas of the Project:

• Pine Bay: a renewed work permit covering Mineral Lease 59, which hosts the Rainbow and Pine Bay deposits, and 77 contiguous mineral claims in the Sourdough Bay area of Lake Athapapuskow; and
• Alberts Lake: an amended work permit covering the adjoining Alberts Lake property, which the Company holds under an option agreement with Evolve Royalties Ltd. (previously Voyageur Mineral Explorers Corp.) (see news release dated August 8, 2024).

With the permits in hand, Visionary is now in a position to advance the Project, including the Rainbow deposit and the exploration target areas described below. The Company will determine the timing and scope of future work at the Project in the context of its broader portfolio, including its ongoing project advancement programs at Pt. Leamington, Newfoundland.

Max Porterfield, President and CEO of Visionary, stated, "I am pleased that the Manitoba Government has issued these exploration permits as they give Visionary the ability to advance Pine Bay at an appropriate time through to December 31, 2028. Rainbow is a high-grade copper deposit on a mineral lease, 16 kilometres from Flin Flon, with the engineering for an AEP ramp access and associated environmental baseline work already done. We believe that makes it a potential near-term source of high-grade copper. Around Rainbow, the targets our team outlined last year, from the historic Leo copper deposit to Amulet on the Rainbow horizon, give us meaningful exploration upside. Pine Bay gives Visionary a second high-grade copper and gold opportunity alongside our Pt. Leamington deposit in Newfoundland."

Rainbow - A Near-Term High-Grade Copper and Polymetallic Production Opportunity

Rainbow is a high-grade, copper-rich volcanogenic massive sulphide ("VMS") polymetallic deposit discovered by the Company in 2020. Rainbow and the Pine Bay deposit, approximately 900 m apart, are both located on Mineral Lease 59 and make up the Project's maiden NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate prepared by Kirkham Geosystems Ltd. (see news release dated July 10, 2023) (Pine Bay Project Block Models Projected to Surface). Rainbow hosts an Indicated Mineral Resource of 3.44 Mt grading 3.59% CuEq containing 272.4 Mlb CuEq and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.28 Mt grading 2.95% CuEq containing 83.4 Mlb CuEq (Table 1).

The Project benefits from a mineral lease, water, hydroelectric power, a historic shaft and direct road access to an idle processing facility in Flin Flon, located 16 km away (see news release dated September 3, 2024), together with two other large concentrators within trucking distance. Pine Bay Project site access is via Provincial Highway 10 and the fully serviced Northstar Road.

Working with AECOM Canada ULC, an engineering consulting firm that has been key in permitting numerous Manitoba mines including Hudbay's Lalor and Reed mines, and Tala Consulting, the Company has completed engineering for a ramp to the Rainbow deposit to allow extraction of a 10,000-tonne bulk sample for metallurgical testwork and also to provide a platform for underground exploration and definition drilling. Environmental baseline studies, including terrestrial (wildlife and vegetation), water and sediment quality and species-at-risk assessments, and a closure plan have also been completed.

In March 2025, the Company submitted its application to the Province of Manitoba for an Advanced Exploration Permit ("AEP") for Rainbow (see news release dated March 20, 2025) (Rainbow Deposit Preliminary Underground Mine Arrangement). The AEP is the precursor to an Environment Act Licence, which is required for construction and production. The AEP application remains under review.

Rainbow remains open at depth (see news release dated September 12, 2023). Massive sulphides have been intersected from 100 m below surface to a depth of 897 m, over a strike length of 310 m and a maximum horizontal thickness of 32 m. Along the Rainbow horizon, the Poseidon target area lies 1,300 m along strike to the north, and the historic Amulet deposit lies 3 km along strike to the northeast within the same felsic volcanic stratigraphy (see "Previously Announced Target Areas" below).

The Company cautions that it has not completed a preliminary economic assessment, pre-feasibility study or feasibility study on Rainbow and has not established Mineral Reserves. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. No production decision has been made; any future decision would depend on, among other things, receipt of the AEP and an Environment Act Licence, the results of technical and economic studies, and financing. The Company continues to evaluate the potential to process ore from a bulk sample at one of the three copper and zinc concentrators within trucking distance of the Rainbow deposit.

Pine Bay Project Mineral Resource Estimate

Table 1: Pine Bay Project Mineral Resource Estimate at 1.3% CuEq Base Case Cut-off

Rainbow Deposit Indicated Mineral Resource

Rainbow Deposit and Pine Bay Deposit Inferred Mineral Resource

Source: Kirkham Geosystems Ltd., "NI 43-101 Technical Report - Pine Bay Project - Flin Flon, Manitoba", dated August 24, 2023.

Notes:

1. Mineral Resources, which are not Mineral Reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability.
2. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing or other relevant issues.
3. The Mineral Resources were estimated using the CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (2014) and the CIM Best Practice Guidelines (2019). It cannot be assumed that all or any part of the Inferred Mineral Resources will be upgraded to Indicated or Measured Mineral Resources as a result of continued exploration.
4. The Inferred Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than that applied to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of the Inferred Mineral Resource could be upgraded to an Indicated Mineral Resource with continued exploration.
5. The Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources use a cut-off grade of 1.3% CuEq.
6. CuEq was calculated using metal prices of US$3.25/lb Cu, US$1.20/lb Zn, US$1,850/oz Au and US$22.50/oz Ag, and a foreign exchange rate of C$1.00 = US$0.75.
7. Metallurgical recoveries were assumed to be 80% Cu, 80% Zn, 40% Au and 40% Ag.
8. Mineral Resource estimates do not account for mineability, selectivity, mining loss or dilution.
9. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate; numbers may not add precisely.

Previously Announced Target Areas

In 2025, the Company outlined six target areas across the Project, including historic near-surface copper and gold deposits on the Alberts Lake property and VMS targets on the horizons that host the Rainbow and Pine Bay deposits (see news releases dated February 27, 2025 and March 25, 2025) (Pine Bay Camp Regional VTEM Survey).

The Visionary Target Area: Near-Surface High-Grade Copper with a Flanking Gold System

The Visionary Target Area hosts the historic Leo Lake deposit, interpreted to lie on the same horizon that hosts the Descendent discovery, 3.5 km to the southeast along strike. Historic work by Aur Resources Inc. ("Aur") calculated a historical "inferred mineral inventory" above the 500-foot level of 192,292 metric tons in four zones grading 2.29% Cu and 0.91% Zn, including a combined 79,417 tonnes grading 3.65% Cu and 1.94% Zn in Zones 22-24 (see "Historical Mineral Resource Estimate" below).

Historic drilling has intersected high-grade copper, gold, zinc and silver VMS mineralization near surface over a strike length of 380 m. Based on its 3D model of the historical drilling and past borehole pulse electromagnetic ("BPEM") surveys, the Company interprets the Leo deposit to be open at depth. Selected historical intersections include:

• 5.33% Cu, 0.66 g/t Au and 4.94 g/t Ag over 3.05 m (98-LW-16)
• 3.13% Cu, 10.48% Zn, 10.39 g/t Ag and 1.28 g/t Au over 1.52 m (98-LW-18)
• 1.25% Cu over 11.27 m, including 2.58% Cu over 1.83 m (98-LW-16)
• 1.23% Cu over 3.48m (98-LW-14)

No exploration for VMS-style deposits has occurred in the immediate area since Aur ceased exploration in 1999. A flanking high-grade gold system has been intersected over a strike length of 200 m, remains open at depth and has not been tested since 2005. Selected historical gold intersections include:

• 38.50 g/t Au and 49.80 g/t Ag over 3.0 m (98-LW-16)
• 9.19 g/t Au and 14.84 g/t Ag over 4.57 m (97-LW-1)
• 140.70 g/t Au and 220.00 g/t Ag over 0.4 m (98-LW-14)
• 74.60 g/t Au and 56.00 g/t Ag over 0.36 m (98-LW-20)
• 31.60 g/t Au and 32.00 g/t Ag over 0.30 m (98-LW-17)

Follow-up previously identified by the Company includes reaming historical hole 99-LW-25 for a modern BPEM survey, or drilling a new hole to test a historical BPEM anomaly along the plunge line of the Leo deposit, together with drilling to follow up the historical gold intersections.

The General Target Area: Near-Surface Gold with VMS Potential

The General Target Area hosts the historic Alberts Gold Deposit, where 83 historical holes were drilled over a 500 m strike length to more than 300 m vertical depth. Selected historical drilling results include:

• 204.86 g/t Au and 6.24 g/t Ag over 1.62 m (AL1-16)
• 3.80 g/t Au and 7.21 g/t Ag over 8.50 m (AL1-61)
• 4.27 g/t Au and 9.77 g/t Ag over 8.3 m (AL1-24)
• 6.65 g/t Au and 11.40 g/t Ag over 2.50 m (AL1-37)

The Company believes there is strong potential for gold mineralization at the Alberts Gold Deposit to continue at depth. An induced polarization ("IP") survey, similar to that previously completed at the Visionary Target Area, has been identified as a first step to determine whether a VMS deposit may be associated with the Alberts Gold Deposit.

The Amulet Target Area: Targeting High-Grade Copper on the Rainbow Horizon

The historic Amulet VMS deposit occurs 3 km along strike to the northeast of Rainbow within the same felsic volcanic stratigraphy. It hosts three small near-surface VMS lenses that have not been explored at depth. Hudbay completed most of the historical work, drilling 61 holes between 1945 and 1953; Guggenheim Exploration (1969-1972) and Granges (1980-1984) later drilled a further seven holes, and the area has also been explored by trenching and an adit. Selected historical drilling results include:

• 1.40% Cu, 0.43 g/t Au and 3.99 g/t Ag over 5.42 m (Amulet-2)
• 1.43% Cu, 0.61 g/t Au and 1.97 g/t Ag over 5.33 m (Amulet-11)
• 2.38% Cu, 4.5% Zn, 1.37 g/t Au and 24.59 g/t Ag over 0.79 m (Amulet-15)
• 3.2% Zn, 0.42 g/t Au and 0.42 g/t Ag over 4.26 m (Amulet-6)

The Company believes Amulet has the potential to host another high-grade copper VMS deposit similar to Rainbow. Follow-up previously identified includes drilling down plunge from the historical high-grade mineralization and a modern BPEM survey, which has not previously been used on this deposit.

The Blueberry Target Area: A Potential Near-Surface Discovery

The Blueberry Target Area consists of two anomalies identified from a 2010 versatile time domain electromagnetic ("VTEM") airborne survey, interpreted to lie at the contact between felsic and mafic volcanic rocks on the Pine Bay horizon, which hosts the Pine Bay deposit 2 km along strike to the southeast (Blueberry Plan View). Blueberry sits within a growth fault corridor that also hosts the Amulet and Leo deposits, similar to the corridor immediately to the south that hosts eight VMS deposits, including Rainbow.

Drill hole BLU-111, the Company's first hole at Blueberry, intersected the interpreted Pine Bay horizon with 4.1 m of stringers and bands of red-brown sphalerite in a setting typical of a footwall alteration zone, within a broader altered unit between 223.95 m and 247.25 m downhole. Red-brown sphalerite is often an indication of higher temperatures and close proximity to VMS discharge systems. In 2020, a much narrower 1 m interval of red-brown sphalerite-bearing stringers in drill hole PBM-033, followed by a BPEM survey, led the Company to the Rainbow deposit. The Company cautions that visual observations of mineralization are not a substitute for laboratory assays.

Investor Relations Engagement

The Company also announces that it has entered into an investor relations agreement (the "Agreement") with GRA Enterprises LLC, operating as National Inflation Association ("NIA") to provide investor relations and communications services (the "Services"). In consideration of the Services, the Company will pay NIA a total fee of $75,000 USD, payable as follows: $50,000 USD due on entering into the Agreement, $15,000 USD due on November 4, 2026, and the remaining $10,000 USD due on December 4, 2026.

The initial term of the Agreement is six months until March 5, 2027, and the Company has three options to renew the Agreement for an additional three (3) months for a fee of $50,000 USD, for six (6) months for a fee of $75,000 USD or for one (1) year for a fee of $100,000 USD.

Under the Agreement, NIA will provide a range of investor relations services to the Company, including providing distribution and exposure of the Company's activities through the NIA's Inflation.us email distribution lists, website, and blog posts and distributing reports about the Company and its mineral properties.

GRA Enterprises LLC, operating as National Inflation Association, is an arm's length party, located at 112 Argus Ln, Ste A PMB 113 Mooresville, NC 28117; Email: gerardadamsinflationus@gmail.com; Phone: +19732777674. The Services are expected to be provided by Gerard Adams, the President of NIA. NIA and Mr. Adams are not related parties to the Company, and do not directly or indirectly have any interest in the Company's securities or any right to acquire such an interest.

Historical Information

Historical drilling results and the historical estimate for the Visionary, General and Amulet target areas were reported by previous operators and were previously disclosed by the Company (see news release dated March 25, 2025). The Company cautions that this work was conducted before the implementation of NI 43-101, quality control methods used by previous operators are unknown, and the historical results have not been verified by the Company beyond a review of the available historical reports. Historical intersections are not part of a current mineral resource estimate, and their true widths are unknown.

Historical Mineral Resource Estimate

The historical estimate for the Leo deposit is reported in "The 1997 and 1998 diamond drilling programs on the Lew Property", dated June 1998 and prepared by Aur Resources Inc., which reported an "inferred mineral inventory" of 192,292 tonnes grading 2.29% Cu and 0.91% Zn at the Leo Lake copper deposit. The historical estimate is cited for historical purposes only and uses terminology that is not compliant with current reporting standards. Its reliability is unknown, but the Company considers it relevant as it represents a significant target for future exploration. The assumptions, parameters and methods used to calculate the historical estimate are not known to the Company. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves, and the Company is not treating it as current mineral resources or mineral reserves as defined in NI 43-101. Additional drilling on the Alberts Lake property would be required to verify the historical estimate.

Qualified Person

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Jason Flight, P. Geo., a "qualified person" under NI 43-101. Mr. Flight is not independent under NI 43-101 as he is Vice President of Exploration for the Company. Historical information was reviewed against available geological reports filed with the government by previous operators and the Company's previously published news releases. This review did not include independent verification of the underlying historical data.

About Visionary Copper and Gold Mines Inc.

Visionary Copper and Gold Mines Inc. (TSXV: VCG) (OTCQB: VCGMF) is advancing its portfolio of base and precious metals rich deposits located in established Canadian mining jurisdictions. The focus of the portfolio is highlighted by the 100% owned Pt. Leamington Deposit in Newfoundland, located in one of the richest VMS and Gold Districts in Canada. The Company prepared a pit constrained Indicated Mineral Resource of 5.0 Mt grading 1.42% CuEq for 156.8 Mlb CuEq (145.7 koz gold, 60.0 Mlb copper, 153.5 Mlb zinc, 2.0 Moz silver, 1.5 Mlb lead), a pit constrained Inferred Mineral Resource of 13.7 Mt grading 1.27% CuEq for 384.8 Mlb CuEq (354.8 koz gold, 110.2 Mlb copper, 527.3 Mlb zinc, 6.2 Moz silver, 7.0 Mlb lead) and an out-of-pit Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.7 Mt grading 1.74% CuEq for 65.7 Mlb CuEq (65.4 koz gold, 13.3 Mlb copper, 102.9 Mlb zinc, 1.4 Moz Ag, 2.6 Mlb lead) (see news release dated October 25, 2021). Additionally, the Company is permitting the Rainbow deposit at its rich VMS Pine Bay Project located near existing infrastructure in the Flin Flon Mining District. The Company prepared an indicated mineral resource on the Rainbow deposit of 3.44 Mt grading 3.59% CuEq for 272.4 Mlb CuEq (238.3 Mlb Cu, 56.9 Mlb Zn, 37.6 koz Au, 692.8 koz Ag, 2.3 Mlb Pb), an inferred mineral resource on the Rainbow deposit of 1.28 Mt grading 2.95% CuEq containing 83.4 Mlb CuEq (72.1 Mlb Cu, 19.5 Mlb Zn, 11.1 koz Au, 222.2 koz Ag, 0.8 Mlb Pb) and an inferred mineral resource at the Pine Bay deposit of 1.0 Mt grading 2.62% Cu containing 58.1 Mlb Cu (see news release dated July 10, 2023). Additionally, the portfolio includes the Nash Creek Project located in the VMS rich Bathurst Mining District of New Brunswick. A 2018 PEA generates a strong economic return with a pre-tax IRR of 34.1% (25.2% post-tax) and NPV8% of $230 million ($128 million post-tax) at $1.25 Zinc (see news release dated May 14, 2018).

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to future expenditures, the Company's plans for the Pine Bay Project, the potential for the Rainbow deposit to be advanced toward production, the receipt and timing of the Advanced Exploration Permit, an Environment Act Licence and other permits and approvals, the prospectivity of the target areas described herein and the potential for the Project to host additional mineralization. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, among others, receipt of all necessary permits and approvals, results of exploration activities and any future technical and economic studies, the availability of financing and of processing infrastructure, metal prices, the accuracy of historical data, the timing and amount of expenditures, and general market and economic conditions. The reader is cautioned that historical exploration results and conceptual targets discussed herein are not indicative of the presence of an economic mineral deposit. Except as required under applicable securities laws, Visionary does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

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