NGEx drills 335.15 m of 4.08% CuEq at Lunahuasi

Mr. Wojtek Wodzicki reports NGEX DRILLS 335.15M AT 4.08% CUEQ INCLUDING 19.50M AT 18.96% CUEQ AT LUNAHUASI; INCREASES TARGETED PHASE 4 PROGRAM TO 30,000M NGEx Minerals Ltd. has released results of three drill holes from the continuing phase 4 drill program at its 100-per-cent-owned Lunahuasi high-grade copper-gold-silver project in San Juan, Argentina. Highlights: Drill hole DPDH056 intersected 294.10 metres at 2.41 per cent copper equivalent from 433.00 m, including; 58.00 m at 4.86 per cent CuEq from 546.20 m, including: 8.05 m at 17.82 per cent CuEq from 552.50 m; Plus 9.25 m at 7.57 per cent CuEq from 676.450 m. Drill hole DPDH058 intersected 109.00 m at 3.37 per cent CuEq from 365.00 m, including: 6.00 m at 14.53 per cent CuEq from 446.00 m; Plus 5.70 m at 12.57 per cent CuEq from 461.00 m. Drill hole DPDH059 intersected 335.15 m at 4.08 per cent CuEq from 408.55 m, including: 98.50 m at 6.55 per cent CuEq from 455.50 m, including: 19.50 m at 18.96 per cent CuEq from 471.50 m; Plus 14.00 m at 8.52 per cent CuEq from 675.00 m; Plus 24.30 m at 8.05 per cent CuEq from 717.40 m. Wojtek Wodzicki, president and chief executive officer, commented: "Today's news release includes holes 56 and 59, drilled in different directions through the Saturn zone, and hole 58 which is helping to define a new zone at the northern limit of the current drill pattern that was first intersected by hole 43 last season. Together they demonstrate the significant size and grade of Saturn, which is our largest defined zone to date, as well as the continued upside potential we have to discover and delineate new zones as we follow up on numerous wide, high-grade intersections that lie outside the Saturn, Mars and Jupiter zones, in areas of sparse drill density. We continue to be very pleased with the results from the phase 4 program to date. As was the case last year, drilling performance has exceeded expectations and, with almost 23,000 m drilled to date and ample time left in our field season, we are increasing our target for the current program to 30,000 m." DPDH056 targeted the Saturn zone at depth, 50 m north of the previous northernmost intersection in DPDH050. It intersected the zone between 433.00 m and 727.10 m, including a higher-grade interval from 546.20 m to 604.20 m. The hole continued to a final depth of 877.40 m, intersecting disseminated and stockwork mineralization to the west of Saturn. Hole DPDH056 had a much stronger intersection than DPDH050, suggesting that the zone is improving to the north at depth. DPDH058 was drilled toward the northern edge of the company's drill pattern to investigate a new mineralized zone first intersected by hole DPDH043 last season (46.8 m at 9.55 per cent CuEq, 6.63 per cent Cu, 3.05 grams per tonne Au and 79.2 g/t Ag, see news release dated July 2, 2025). This new zone was intersected between 431.00 m and 466.70 m as part of a wider interval from 365.00 m to 474.00 m, extending the zone 80 m to the south and above the discovery intersection in DPDH043. This zone remains open in all directions and may include an intersection 145 m to the northwest in DPDH038 (29.10 m at 4.79 per cent CuEq, 3.03 per cent Cu, 2.12 g/t Au and 25.1 g/t Ag, see news release dated June 17, 2025). The hole continued to a final depth of 577 m through lower-grade disseminated mineralization cut by several narrower mineralized structures. DPDH059 was drilled from the north to the south across the Saturn zone to better understand its geometry and investigate the grade distribution in a direction orthogonal to most of the other holes in the zone. The hole filled a gap between holes DPDH044 and DPDH051, which were also drilled from north to south on the same section, and intersected Saturn between 50 m and 90 m above DPDH051 and 65 m to 125 m below DPDH044. The Saturn zone was intersected between 406.55 m and 741.70 m, with a higher-grade core from 455.50 m to 554.00 m, corresponding well with the intersections in the other two holes although the intersections vary somewhat depending on where the boundaries of the zone are interpreted. As with other holes in this area, DPDH059 included several narrower but much higher-grade intervals within the overall Saturn zone, including a 1.5 m sample with 133.50 g/t gold, which corresponds to bonanza-grade gold intervals in several nearby holes, such as DPDH028, DPDH046, DPDH048 and DPDH051. Phase 4 progress To date, almost 23,000 m have been drilled during phase 4, with 21 holes completed and eight under way. Drill hole targeting has shifted to larger stepouts, including two in-progress holes investigating the porphyry system first intersected in DPDH027 during phase 3. Considering the excellent progress during phase 4, the target metres for the season have been increased from 25,000 m to 30,000 m and the program is expected to conclude around the first week in May. Additional assay results will be released once assays are received, analyzed and confirmed by the company. Qualified persons and technical notes The scientific and technical disclosure included in this news release have been reviewed and approved by Bob Carmichael, BASc, PEng, who is the qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Carmichael is vice-president, exploration, for the company. Samples were cut at NGEx's operations base in San Juan, Argentina, by company personnel. Diamond drill core was sawn and then sampled in maximum two-metre intervals, stopping at geological boundaries. Core diameter is a mix of PQ, HQ and NQ depending on the depth of the drill hole. Samples were bagged, tagged and packaged for shipment by truck to the ALS preparation laboratory in Mendoza, Argentina, where they were crushed and a 500-gram split was pulverized to 85 per cent passing 200 mesh. The prepared sample splits were sent to the ALS assay laboratory in Lima, Peru, for copper, gold and silver assays and multielement ICP. ALS is an accredited laboratory that is independent of the company. Gold assays were by fire assay fusion with AAS finish on a 30-gram sample (Au-AA23). Any samples returning greater than 10 g/t were then reanalyzed by fire assay with gravimetric finish on a 30-gram sample (Au-GRA21). Copper and silver were assayed by atomic absorption following a four-acid digestion. Samples were also analyzed for a suite of 48 elements with ME-MS61 plus mercury and a sequential copper leach analysis was completed on each sample with copper greater than 500 parts per million (0.05 per cent). Sequential copper analysis involves the sequential leaching of the sample by acid, followed by a cyanide solution. It can be used to differentiate copper speciation, with copper oxide minerals leachable with acid and secondary copper minerals (enargite, chalcocite and covellite) leachable by cyanide. The residual copper remaining following the sequential leaches it typically contained in chalcopyrite and bornite. Copper and gold standards as well as blanks and duplicates (field, preparation and analysis) were randomly inserted into the sampling sequence for quality control. On average, 10 per cent of the submitted samples are quality control samples. No data quality problems were indicated by the quality assurance/quality control program. About NGEx Minerals Ltd. NGEx Minerals is a copper and gold exploration company based in Canada, focused on exploration of the Lunahuasi copper-gold-silver project in San Juan province, Argentina, and the nearby Los Helados copper-gold project, located approximately nine kilometres to the northeast in Chile's Region III. Both projects are located within the Vicuna district, which includes the Caserones mine and the Josemaria and Filo del Sol deposits. NGEx owns 100 per cent of Lunahuasi and is the majority partner and operator for the Los Helados project, subject to a joint exploration agreement with Nippon Caserones Resources LLC, which is the indirect 30-per-cent owner of the operating Caserones open-pit copper mine, located approximately 17 kilometres north of Los Helados. Lundin Mining Corp. holds the remaining 70-per-cent stake in Caserones. On March 9, 2026, Lundin Mining and JX announced that the parties have entered into an agreement whereby, subject to closing, Lundin Mining would acquire, among other things, Nippon Caserones Resources' approximate 31-per-cent interest in Los Helados. The transaction is anticipated to close in April, 2026, following which Lundin Mining would become the company's minority partner at Los Helados. The company's common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol NGEX and also trade on the OTCQX under the symbol NGXXF. NGEx is part of the Lundin Group of Companies. 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