Tier One Silver Signs Letter of Intent to Option 70% of Compania Minera Ruta De Cobre, S.A., Holder of Copper-Molybdenum Project, Ecuador

On 30 June 2026, Tier One Silver Inc. announced it has signed a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) to acquire a 70% controlling interest in Compañía Minera Ruta de Cobre S.A., which holds the RDC copper‑molybdenum porphyry project in Azuay Province, Ecuador. The total purchase price is US$39.4 million, payable in tranches over six years, together with minimum exploration expenditures of US$64.4 million over the same period. The first‑year cash obligations alone are approximately US$4.1 million in acquisition payments plus US$1.4 million in exploration – and the company expects to raise US$20 million to cover the first year’s costs and transaction expenses. A definitive agreement is targeted for Q3 2026, conditional on TSX Venture Exchange approval. The LOI includes exclusivity, a loan to sellers, and the right to pay up to 30% of each installment in Tier One shares. The company’s CEO described the project as “one of the most exciting projects in South America.”

The RDC project has a large, non‑current, inferred historical resource (e.g., 778 Mt at 0.32% Cu and 0.017% Mo at a 0.25% Cu cut‑off, based on a 2021 JORC‑code estimate), but no NI 43‑101 compliant resource exists yet.

Tier One Silver Inc. (TSLV) has entered into a letter of intent representing a significant strategic shift for the company. Previously focused exclusively on the high-grade silver-gold Curibaya project in Peru, the company is now pivoting toward a new flagship asset. The deal involves a US$39.4 million purchase price for the RDC project in Ecuador, alongside an additional US$64.4 million required for drilling. To finance this expansion, Tier One Silver aims to raise US$20 million.

The move introduces a new jurisdiction with distinct political and permitting risks, as well as a different commodity mix centered on copper and molybdenum. This development is material as it fundamentally alters the company’s profile. If successfully executed, the scale of the RDC project and the current positive outlook for copper could significantly impact the company’s valuation.

However, the near-term financing requirement is substantial relative to the company’s current size. At 31 March 2026, Tier One Silver held just C$1.89 million in cash and had a market capitalization of approximately C$33.6 million. The company also issued an explicit going-concern warning in its Q1 2026 MD&A. These financial constraints suggest the stock may face substantial dilution or the risk that the transaction fails, potentially leaving the company without a clear path forward.

Meanwhile, the Curibaya project, which recently delivered high-grade silver-gold intercepts in its Phase 2 program, appears to be taking a back seat. The company’s ability to fund further work at Curibaya is now uncertain. While the news offers new optionality, the execution and financing risks remain extreme.

Tier One Silver Inc. is a Canadian-domiciled junior mineral exploration company. Its flagship asset has been the 17,000-hectare Curibaya epithermal silver-gold-copper project in Tacna, southern Peru, located on a prolific porphyry belt near major mines. The company completed Phase 1 drilling in 2021 and Phase 2 in Q1 2026, which confirmed high-grade silver-gold mineralization over a 6 km strike in the Cambaya I corridor, with highlights such as 0.7 m at 1,015 g/t Ag and 4.52 g/t Au. Surface sampling returned up to 298,000 g/t Ag and 940 g/t Au. The project also has a hypothesized deeper porphyry copper target. With the LOI for the RDC project, the company is now pursuing a second core asset: the RDC copper-molybdenum porphyry deposit in Ecuador.