Northwire Canada EditionFriday, August 14, 2026
Northwire
HMR 0.510 +0.0% NAU 1.87 +3.9% PPTA 35.41 +2.7% PA 0.160 +0.0% FAIR 0.055 +0.0% EMR 0.065 +0.0% AEF 0.140 +0.0% TIGR 0.750 +1.4% VTEN 0.700 +0.0% SGML 16.47 +4.7% GIG 0.500 +0.0% KCC 0.890 +0.0% MKO 13.65 +0.2% TNR 0.330 +3.1% SGQ 0.340 +0.0% KRY 3.43 +2.4% HMR 0.510 +0.0% NAU 1.87 +3.9% PPTA 35.41 +2.7% PA 0.160 +0.0% FAIR 0.055 +0.0% EMR 0.065 +0.0% AEF 0.140 +0.0% TIGR 0.750 +1.4% VTEN 0.700 +0.0% SGML 16.47 +4.7% GIG 0.500 +0.0% KCC 0.890 +0.0% MKO 13.65 +0.2% TNR 0.330 +3.1% SGQ 0.340 +0.0% KRY 3.43 +2.4%

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Original News Release

Tectonic Metals completes phase 1 drilling at Flat

Mr. Tony Reda reports TECTONIC METALS ANNOUNCES VIRTUAL DRILL CORE SHACK AND COMPLETION OF PHASE ONE DRILL PROGRAM AT FLAT GOLD PROJECT Tectonic Metals Inc. has successfully completed its 2025 phase 1 drill program at the company's flagship Flat gold project in southwestern Alaska. Together with the upcoming and fully financed phase 2 drill program, the 2025 drilling campaign represents the largest and most comprehensive ever undertaken at Flat, establishing a new benchmark for exploration activity on the property and far surpassing all previous campaigns in both scope and intensity. As part of the phase 1 drill program, a total of 7,718 metres were drilled across 48 holes using both core and reverse circulation (RC) drilling methods. Phase 1 drilling targeted multiple intrusion-related gold systems, including Alpha Bowl, the majority of the drilled metres, as well as Chicken Mountain, Golden Apex, Black Creek and Jam. Complementing the drilling, Tectonic also completed a 2,125-line-kilometre high-resolution drone airborne magnetic survey, providing the first modern coverage of all six priority, district-scale intrusive targets at Flat. Drill samples are being processed at accredited analytical facilities, with assay results to be reported as they become available. Tectonic's first-ever virtual drill core shack In response to the interest in the 2025 exploration campaign, Tectonic is pleased to host its inaugural Virtual Drill Core Shack, an open webcast accessible to all interested parties. The event is designed to replicate the experience of an analyst site visit, offering participants an informal, technical-only discussion of the rocks and drill core observations from the 2025 phase 1 drill program at Flat. During the webcast, Tectonic's technical team will showcase photographs of drill core highlights and discuss key geological observations in an interactive format. The presentation materials that will be referenced during the webcast can be accessed in advance on-line. The webcast will take place on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, at 7 a.m. Pacific Time, 8 a.m. Mountain Time and 10 a.m. Eastern Time. Tony Reda, co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Tectonic Metals, commented: "What began as a $7-million financing for phase 1 drilling in May, 2025, quickly expanded into an 85-per-cent oversubscribed $12.7-million raise, giving us the foundation to execute a three-rig, phase 1 drill program in record time. While assays are still pending, I am proud to report that every single phase 1 objective has been successfully achieved. This disciplined execution not only validates our approach but also sets the stage for phase 2 and introduces a new company objective -- the delivery of Tectonic's first-ever maiden inferred resource. This will be supported by the 2025 and next year's drilling, as we continue to systematically derisk Flat on its path toward potential development." 2025 phase 1 drill program highlights Tectonic successfully delivers on every objective set out at the start of the 2025 phase 1 drill program (see Tectonic news release June 2, 2025), advancing Alpha Bowl, Chicken Mountain, Golden Apex and, for the first time, testing Black Creek and Jam, two new district-scale intrusion targets. Alpha Bowl Drilling tested for scale, grade and continuity; Oriented drill core collected; structural and alteration controls being defined. Key drill core observations: Visible gold observed in a number of quartz veins; Multiple generations of veining, including sheeted, brecciated and late-stage carbonate veins; Clear structural overprinting (cross-cutting veins, brecciation, faulting); Strong sericite (potassic) alteration halos associated with mineralized veins. Chicken Mountain Metallurgy: 660 metres, in four holes, core drilled for additional heap leach column tests, including two-inch crushed material; complements prior heap leach recoveries of 96 per cent and 91 per cent on three-quarter-inch crushed material. Key drill core observations: Widespread sheeted quartz and quartz-carbonate-sulphide veining; Strong pervasive sericite alteration overprinting the quartz monzonite host; Observed structural complexity with multiple vein generations and late-stage faulting; Intervals of oxidation with iron-oxide staining. Oriented drill core collected: oriented drill core collected for ongoing refinement of the structural model; Potential starter pits: near-surface, higher-grade mineralized corridors drill tested. Golden Apex Stepout core drilling completed near historic 2003 drill hole GA03-02; Stratigraphy logged; oriented core collected for structural analysis; Portable XRF analysis confirms bimodal pathfinder associations (Cu+Bi (copper plus bismuth) and As+W (arsenic plus tungsten)); Key drill core observations: Alteration associated with intense fracturing and abundant veining; Observed sulphide mineral assemblages include chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite and pyrite. Geophysics High resolution drone magnetics survey completed -- a proven and critical tool for targeting blind intrusion systems at Flat. Data interpretation continuing, will be utilized in phase 2 and 2026 drill programs. Looking ahead Phase 2 drilling will advance Chicken Mountain toward a maiden inferred mineral resource estimate, follow-up drilling at Alpha Bowl and potentially unlock other intrusion targets. Phase 2 drilling has commenced and a dedicated phase 2 program news release will be issued in the coming weeks. Alpha Bowl intrusion target -- phase 1 drilling The Alpha Bowl target, interpreted as a potential large, reduced intrusion-related sheeted quartz vein gold system (RIRGS), was the principal focus of Tectonic's 2025 phase 1 drill program. Drilling followed up on the company's 2024 discovery, which identified bedrock gold-bearing zones beneath surficial cover and within areas historically disturbed by placer mining (see Tectonic news release dated March 3, 2025). Phase 1 drilling at Alpha Bowl totalled approximately 4,600 metres across 24 drill holes, utilizing both diamond core and RC drill methods. The program tested an area measuring roughly 600 m by 700 m, with drill fences arranged in parallel lines spaced approximately 100 m apart. Drilling specifically targeted sheeted quartz vein systems developed within granitoid intrusions -- a hallmark setting of reduced intrusion-related gold systems. Diamond drill holes were completed to maximum depths of up to 392 m. Alpha Bowl rock types The rocks at Alpha Bowl are mainly coarse-grained monzonite to syeno-monzonite intrusions, which sometimes contain xenoliths of dark fragments of other rock types. Narrow dikes of varying composition cut through the main intrusive bodies. Tectonic observed multiple generations of mineralized quartz and carbonate veins in all logged rock types, indicating the system was long lived and repeatedly active. Vein types and potential mineralization indicators Drilling has revealed three main types of potentially gold-related veins: Sheeted quartz-sulphide veins -- closely spaced, consistently oriented veins of quartz with sulphides (chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite, molybdenum) and occasionally visible gold; Quartz-carbonate-arsenopyrite veins -- larger veins with alteration halos (sericite, carbonate, arsenopyrite) that can appear brecciated (broken and resealed). These veins are chemically distinct, marked by arsenic, antimony, mercury, tungsten and molybdenum. They often align with the finer-grained dikes, suggesting repeated pulses of mineralizing fluids; Arsenopyrite stringers -- zones dominated by arsenopyrite occurring as dense networks of fine- to coarse-grained veins. Later generations of calcite-rich veins cut across all three of these earlier vein types, occasionally showing oxidation and secondary copper minerals (like chalcocite and copper oxides). Geological significance The presence of multiple cross-cutting vein types in drill core indicates that the Alpha Bowl system displays multiple fluid phases and was active over an extended period, with early high-temperature mineral assemblages subsequently overprinted by later, lower-temperature mineralization. This telescoping of mineralizing events is a recognized feature of intrusion-related gold systems and highlights that Alpha Bowl possesses key attributes of a large, long-lived mineralizing environment. In addition, the observation of repeated crack-and-seal textures within quartz-carbonate veins confirms that mineralizing fluids circulated through the system in multiple pulses. Chicken Mountain intrusion target -- phase 1 drilling The Chicken Mountain intrusion is interpreted to be roughly 6.5 kilometres by 6.0 km in size and currently the most advanced target at Flat. Chicken Mountain has been the focus of past drilling on the property. During phase 1 2025, Tectonic completed 1,013 m of core drilling in five holes and 798 m of RC drilling in five holes. The program was designed to test for potential extensions of known mineralization in the underexplored northern and eastern portions of the target. In addition, 660 m of core drilling in four holes was completed as infill within areas of established quartz monzonite-hosted mineralization as a continuation of Tectonic's metallurgical testwork. Objectives included the collection of oriented PQ core for structural analysis and metallurgical sampling. Of this, 450 m was drilled as PQ-sized core, providing two-inch diameter material for coarser crush column testing to advance heap leach metallurgical studies. Drilling intersected variably altered and oxidized quartz monzonite hosting varying densities of planar sheeted quartz, quartz-carbonate and quartz-carbonate-sulphide veins (arsenopyrite plus pyrite, locally with stibnite), together with oxidized vein assemblages. These features are consistent with the previously observed multiphase intrusion-related gold system documented at Chicken Mountain. Golden Apex intrusion target -- phase 1 drilling The Golden Apex target is interpreted to be an approximately 2.5 km by 2.5 km blind reduced intrusion-related gold system (RIRGS) situated about 3,000 metres to the northeast of Chicken Mountain, offset between the Alpha Bowl target to the south and the exposed Black Creek stock to the north. Drilling completed at Golden Apex in 2025 totals 470 m, comprising 269 m from one core hole and 201 m from two RC holes. The RC holes were drilled northeast of Alpha Bowl to evaluate a possible eastward offset of the Alpha Bowl intrusion along the right-lateral Golden Apex fault. Core hole CMD25-006 was drilled as a 65 m eastward offset from historic hole GA03-02, which intersected multiple gold-bearing intervals within intermediate volcanic rocks (see Tectonic news release, Sept. 5, 2024). The objectives of CMD25-006 were to refine the geometry of the host volcanic stratigraphy, assess strike and depth extent of mineralization, and collect structural data from oriented core to guide future drilling. The hole intersected predominantly fine-grained, dark massive volcanic rocks characterized by fine plagioclase and altered pyroxene phenocrysts. Veining is extensive and erratic, occurring as fine carbonate stringers and fracture fill, with localized zones of quartz and quartz-carbonate-sulphide stringers. Bleaching of the volcanic host is commonly associated with zones of increased density of veining. Sulphide minerals identified include chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite and pyrite. Portable handheld XRF analysis of sulphide-bearing vein material indicates a bimodal elemental association, with Cu plus Bi and As plus W as dominant pairings. Black Creek intrusion target -- phase 1 drilling The Black Creek stock hosts multiple mineralization styles, including monzonite-hosted RIRGS mineralization within the main intrusive body and vein-style mineralization developed along its margins, where gabbro/monzodiorite phases intrude Kuskokwim sediments and associated hornfels. As part of the 2025 phase 1 drill program, Tectonic drilled 616 m in nine RC holes along a 300 m fence across the eastern margin of the stock. This drilling was designed to test the hornfels and vein-hosted mineralization adjacent to marginal intrusion phases. The fence was positioned approximately 50 m south of historic hole F79-02 (which intersected 73.76 m grading 0.72 g/t Au) to specifically evaluate hornfels to the east of the historic hole, as well as gabbro/monzodiorite phases to the west. Drilling in 2025 intersected highly oxidized, hornfelsed Kuskokwim sediments with felsic dikes across the first approximately 175 m of strike, transitioning into the expected mafic intrusive phases over the final approximately 125 m of the fence. Jam intrusion target -- phase 1 drilling The Jam target represents one of six RIRGS targets currently being evaluated at Flat. During the 2025 phase 1 drill program, two RC holes were drilled from a single pad, totalling 203 metres. The program was designed to test both the northern extension of an historically mined high-grade, narrow quartz vein hosted in augite basalt (previously accessed by shallow shafts and adits), as well as the potential presence of a felsic intrusion interpreted to underlie the Jam area. The two holes were drilled to vertical depths of up to 95 m, with both intersecting variably oxidized, altered and veined augite basalt throughout. Within the unoxidized sections, chip logging observed sulphide assemblages comprising arsenopyrite, pyrite and chalcopyrite. While the targeted felsic intrusion was not intersected, the pervasive veining and alteration observed in drilling is considered highly suggestive of a local intrusive source at depth. High-resolution drone magnetics survey completed -- critical tool for targeting at Flat As part of the 2025 phase 1 drill program, Tectonic completed a 2,125-line-kilometre high-resolution drone magnetic survey across prospective lithological assemblages of the Flat volcano-plutonic complex. Final processed data magnetic maps have been received, with 3-D inversion modelling expected in the coming weeks. This survey provides the first modern district-scale magnetic coverage of Flat, designed to define intrusions, alteration zones and structural corridors that may control gold mineralization. The results will refine drill targeting, generate new prospects and accelerate discovery across the approximately 99,000-acre project. Qualified person Tectonic Metals' disclosure of technical or scientific information in this press release has been reviewed, verified and approved by Peter Kleespies, MSc, PGeo, vice-president of exploration, who is a qualified person in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101. We seek Safe Harbor.
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