Mercado begins first fieldwork at Copalito

Executive Summary

• Mercado Minerals Ltd. has commenced its inaugural field exploration program at the Copalito project in Sinaloa, Mexico, marking the first phase of exploration activities for its flagship asset.
• The company is conducting detailed mapping, prospecting, and resampling of historical drill core across 40% of the unexplored project area to refine geological understanding and define targets for an upcoming drill program.
• CEO Daniel Rodriguez confirmed that the first-phase diamond drill program, consisting of 3,000 meters of drilling, is on track to begin in Q1, with the goal of testing known veins at depth and along strike, as well as new unexplored areas.

Key Details

• Program Scope: The initial field work covers approximately 40% of the Copalito project area, which has never undergone systematic grassroots exploration.
• Activities:
  • Detailed mapping and prospecting.
  • Resampling of silver, gold, lead, and zinc vein mineralization in select historical drill core from six principal known veins.
  • Relogging of targeted historic drill core to refine geological understanding.
  • Advancing logistics for the first-phase diamond drill program (securing drill pad access, water, power, and contractors).
• Historical Data Context: The company is resampling historical core to verify data against internal standards. Historical results cited include:
  • 5 Senores Vein (BDH-20-004): 347 g/t Ag, 0.22 g/t Au, 0.17% Pb, 0.38% Zn over 13.10m from 54.00m.
  • El Agua Vein (BDH-21-055): 125 g/t Ag, 2.00 g/t Au, 0.34% Pb, 0.58% Zn over 23.00m from 78.00m.
• Upcoming Drilling: A first-phase 3,000-metre diamond drill program is planned for Q1, focused on highest-priority targets to demonstrate potential at depth and along strike.
• Qualified Person Status: The qualified person has not yet independently validated the historic drill core results; these are treated as historical and not to be relied upon until verification during the 2026 field program.
• Regulatory Compliance: Technical information prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101, reviewed by Kelson Willms, PGeo.

Notable Quotes

• "Today marks the start of the exploration work that will lead us to drilling at Copalito. We remain on track to begin our first-phase, 3,000-metre drill program in Q1, focused on our highest-priority targets." — Daniel Rodriguez, CEO