Mr. Merlin Marr-Johnson reports

FITZROY MINERALS SIGNS EXCLUSIVE OPTION TO ACQUIRE THE POLIMET GOLD-COPPER-SILVER PROJECT IN CHILE

Fitzroy Minerals Inc. has secured an exclusive option to acquire 100 per cent of the Polimet gold-copper-silver project, located in the Valparaiso region of Chile, from Asesorias y Inversiones Sol SPA (the vendor). The Polimet project comprises 1,860 hectares (ha) of concessions, at an average altitude of 1,700 metres. The Polimet project is located 170 kilometres by road to Santiago, and 13 km south of the El Bronce one-million-ounce (Moz) epithermal gold-silver deposit, near the town of Petorca.

Highlights:

• Historic DSO (direct shipping operation) ore sales of 117 tonnes grading 33.5 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au), 55 g/t silver (Ag) and 6.9 per cent copper (Cu);
• Fully preserved low-sulphidation epithermal system with known mineralization;
• Approximately five km strike of vein system identified and ready for drill testing.

Campbell Smyth, Fitzroy Minerals' chairman, commented:

"Polimet offers the opportunity to explore a high-grade gold-copper target that is uniquely well suited for development. The Polimet project is located in a mining area dotted with many small processing plants. Minera El Bronce de Petorca is just 13 km to the north and Polimet is the natural next high-grade Au-Ag-Cu deposit in this mining district. The incised valleys mean that subvertical veins could be easily accessed by horizontal adits.

"The high tenor of the target, coupled with unique infrastructure advantages, means that significant value can be created within a compact package. Polimet is also accessed from the same logistical hub as the recently signed Caballos copper project, offering further logistical synergies.

"Fitzroy Minerals now has two ideally located projects in a premier mining jurisdiction. There is a global shortage of copper and gold assets with good grade, clean metallurgy and simple geometry. We plan to drill Polimet in the second half of 2024 and are currently building up our local exploration team."

Merlin Marr-Johnson, chief operating officer, Fitzroy Minerals, added:

"The geology at Polimet is a classic low-sulphidation epithermal vein system, complete with bonanza-grade ore shoots. Uniquely for this district, the Polimet system consistently shows strong copper values of around 2 per cent in the veins, even when the precious metal content varies. This copper content could potentially cover development costs, which means that the gold and silver content would be essentially 'free.'

"Ore-grade mineralization in nearby deposits is well understood to start below 1,600 m in altitude and we believe that the core of the epithermal system is intact at Polimet. Our exploration work will focus on systematically identifying bonanza-grade shoots and the tenor of regular vein mineralization at Polimet.

"Exploration will include mapping, soil sampling and geophysics, prior to a drill program. The concessions host approximately five km of mapped veins to date and the aim will be to identify as many potential pay shoots as possible within the target area. Fitzroy Minerals anticipates drilling Polimet in the second half of 2024."

Terms of the transaction

In order to exercise the Polimet option, the company must:

• Make a cash payment of $80,000 (U.S.) on signing of a definitive option agreement, with a further $80,000 (U.S.) on the first anniversary thereof;
• Incur exploration expenditures of at least $2.25-million (U.S.) over a three-year period, with no consecutive 12-month period seeing less than $500,000 (U.S.) of exploration expenditures.

Subject to the requisite investment having been met, Fitzroy Minerals can exercise the Polimet option by making a $1.2-million (U.S.) payment to the vendor in year 4. In addition, the vendor is granted a 2-per-cent net smelter royalty (NSR), of which 1 per cent can be purchased by Fitzroy Minerals for $3-million (U.S.) at any point prior to commercial production. The acquisition of the Polimet option is subject to execution of a definitive option agreement, and to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The acquisition of the Polimet option is an arm's-length transaction.

In connection with the acquisition of the Polimet option, the company has agreed to pay Marrad Ltd. (a company controlled by Mr. Marr-Johnson) a finder's fee composed of: (i) an upfront payment to be paid on entry into a definitive agreement, to be composed of: (A) a cash payment of $40,500; and (B) the issuance of 260,192 common shares of the company at a deemed price of 13 cents per share, being the last closing price of the company's common shares prior to the dissemination of this press release (the market price), for deemed consideration of $33,825; and (ii) a second payment to be paid upon full exercise of the Polimet option, to be composed of the issuance of 644,038 common shares of the company at the market price, for deemed consideration of $83,725. The payment of the Polimet finder's fee is also subject to the approval of the exchange.

Location

The project comprises 1,860 hectares of concessions, at an average altitude of 1,700 m. Polimet is 170 km from Santiago, via the R5N Highway. The Polimet project will be supported from the nearby towns of Petorca or Cabildo via internal roads. The Polimet project area is well served with road access, power and water.

Project history

The concessions that comprise the Polimet project have seen sporadic historical work, including development of two ore shoots called Santa Margaria and San Pedro, respectively. In the mid-1990s, a Chinese entrepreneur developed most of the present tunnels in the Santa Margarita mine and exploited the two main veins for several years. In the late 1990s, the mine was bought by a local Chilean, who soon after discovered the San Pedro ore shoot. The San Pedro ore shoot produced very-high-grade Au-Cu-Ag ore in the subsequent years. Some direct shipping ore was sold to the state-owned (Enami) Ventanas smelter, and a larger tonnage of sulphide ore was sold to Enami for toll processing in a concentration plant. The partial records of sales to the state-owned Enami show weighted average grades of 33.5 g/t Au, 55 g/t Ag and 6.9 per cent Cu for the 117 tonnes of DSO material, and 4.7 g/t Au, 10 g/t Ag and 1 per cent Cu for the 618 tonnes of sulphide ore. The records show a total tonnage of 735 tonnes at an average grade of 9.3 g/t Au, 17 g/t Ag and 2 per cent Cu.

At the turn of this century, Sinotec, a Chinese mining company, explored in the area. A large number of dirt roads were built, and wide-spaced RC (reverse circulation) drill-holes were completed. No technical information about this campaign is available.

The current owner of Polimet consolidated the concessions from 2015 to 2023. The Santa Margarita and Pia-Vaca concessions are held under a suboption agreement, signed in 2023.

Geology

The region around Petorca is characterized by epithermal low-sulphidation vein systems hosted by Cretaceous volcanic andesitic sequences (Camus et al., 1991) in the western foothills of the Andean Cordillera of central Chile. The area hosts nearly 90 orebodies, mostly polymetallic veins, some copper veins and one copper breccia pipe. The Polimet epithermal vein system is located 13 kilometres to the south of El Bronce de Petorca.

At El Bronce de Petorca, a one km vertical zonation is described, with a barren upper part followed by subeconomic gold plus base metals, then the main gold and base metals zone at an altitude of 1,000 m to 1,600 m above sea level. The majority of reported gold development in the region has taken place between 1,000 m and 1,600 m above sea level. Below the 1,000 m level lies a subeconomic-gold-plus-silver-without-base-metals zone.

The most significant occurrence is at El Bronce vein, emplaced in a seven-kilometre-long, roughly north-south-striking fault. At Polimet, approximately five kilometres of vein strike length have been identified to date. Much of the Polimet concession area is at an elevation of 1,600 m to 1,950 m, which is high in the epithermal system.

At El Bronce, the steeply dipping lenses range 100 m to 600 m in length, 200 m to 400 m in depth and one m to 20 m in width (Camus et al., 1991). The vein mineralogy in El Bronce is composed of quartz, pyrite, sphalerite, galena, tetrahedrite, barite and calcite. Ore shoots occur as massive sulphide fillings, stockworks and disseminations. One significant difference at Polimet is the abundance of chalcopyrite in the vein system, with an average of 3.4 per cent copper content reported from the small number of point samples, shown in the table entitled "Rock chip sample results, old workings at Polimet." The 3.4 per cent Cu figure is higher than the recorded average sales figure showing 2 per cent Cu from a much larger sample size, and the higher figure cannot be considered representative of the system as a whole. It appears that the surface geology of Polimet represents the highest part of a low-sulphidation epithermal system. It has very similar characteristics to El Bronce, but Polimet is better preserved from erosion.

Results to date

Work carried out in recent years includes detailed mapping and geological reconnaissance, soil and rock chip geochemical, and lidar (light detection and ranging) surveys of old workings. Thirteen channel samples were taken across structure in the old workings.

Mapping and sampling at surface have identified hydrothermal alteration correlated with multispectral anomalies. Several hydrothermal alteration/brecciation zones (silica-siderite-argilization) are coincident with spectral anomalies for sodium (Na), potassium (K) and magnesium (Mg) minerals and Cu sulphides. The surface anomalies are found at altitudes of 1,600 m or higher. Rock chip samples at surface have returned values of up to 4.5 g/t Au and up to 3.6 per cent Cu in otherwise untested hydrothermally altered and brecciated zones.

Exploration target and next steps

The aim at Polimet is to systematically identify bonanza-grade shoots and the tenor of regular vein mineralization. Fitzroy Minerals will use the known mineralizing style that is found at El Bronce as a starting guide until the nature of the Polimet system is better understood. The main targets are lenticular, structurally controlled ore shoots along the fault. Fitzroy Minerals believes that the best-grade material will be found at depths starting 100 m to 250 m below surface, at the altitude of the main gold zone in the region.

During the course of 2024, Fitzroy Minerals intends to extend soil geochemistry grids and carry out an induced polarization survey ahead of any potential drill program.

Update regarding Caballos property option

Further to the company's news release dated Nov. 30, 2023, regarding the company's acquisition of an exclusive option to acquire 100 per cent of the Caballos copper project, the company also announces that, in connection with the acquisition of the Caballos project, the company has agreed to pay Marrad (a company controlled by Mr. Marr-Johnson) a finder's fee composed of: (i) an upfront payment to be paid on entry into the definitive agreement, to be composed of: (A) a cash payment of $67,500; and (B) the issuance of 269,230 common shares of the company at the market price, for deemed consideration of $35,000; and (ii) a second payment to be paid upon full exercise of the Caballos option, to be composed of the issuance of 1,038,461 common shares of the company at the market price, for deemed consideration of $135,000.

The acquisition of the Caballos option is subject to execution of a definitive option agreement, and to the approval of the exchange. The payment of the Caballos finder's fee is also subject to the approval of the exchange.

The acquisitions of the Polimet option and Caballos option, and the associated finder's fees to be paid to Marrad, were negotiated and agreed to by the company prior to Mr. Marr-Johnson's appointment to the company's board of directors and as the company's chief operating officer. As such, at the time of the settlement of the option and finder's fee terms, Mr. Marr-Johnson was not a non-arm's-length party (as defined under the policies of the exchange) to the company.

Qualified person

The technical information in this news release was reviewed and approved by Gilberto Schubert, PGeo, a qualified person as defined under National Instrument 43-101.

About Fitzroy Minerals Inc.

Fitzroy Minerals is focused on acquiring, exploring and developing mineral assets with substantial upside potential in the Americas. The company's current property portfolio includes the Taquetren gold asset located in Rio Negro, Argentina, as well as the Cariboo, Silver Vista and Silver Switchback concessions in British Columbia, Canada.

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