NGEx Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NGEX) (OTCQX: NGXXF) is pleased to announce results of three drill holes from the ongoing Phase 4 drill program at its 100% owned Lunahuasi high-grade copper-gold-silver project in San Juan, Argentina. PDF Version

Highlights:

• Drillhole DPDH056 intersected 294.10m at 2.41% CuEq from 433.00m, including;
  • 58.00m at 4.86% CuEq from 546.20m, including
    • 8.05m at 17.82% CuEq from 552.50m, plus
  • 9.25m at 7.57% CuEq from 676.450m.
• Drillhole DPDH058 intersected 109.00m at 3.37% CuEq from 365.00m, including;
  • 6.00m at 14.53% CuEq from 446.00m, plus
  • 5.70m at 12.57% CuEq from 461.00m.
• Drillhole DPDH059 intersected 335.15m at 4.08% CuEq from 408.55m, including;
  • 98.50m at 6.55% CuEq from 455.50m, including
    • 19.50m at 18.96% CuEq from 471.50m, plus
  • 14.00m at 8.52% CuEq from 675.00m, plus
  • 24.30m at 8.05% CuEq from 717.40m.

Wojtek Wodzicki, President and CEO, 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 23,000m drilled to date and ample time left in our field season, we are increasing our target for the current program to 30,000m.”

Lunahuasi Geology Drill Plan 2026 Mar

Table 1: Significant Intersections

Copper equivalent (CuEq) for drill intersections is calculated based on US$3.00/lb Cu, US$1,500/oz Au and US$18/oz Ag, with 80% metallurgical recoveries assumed for all metals. The formula is: CuEq % = Cu % + (0.7292 * Au g/t) + (0.0088 * Ag g/t).

Estimated true widths are rounded to the nearest metre for widths over 10m and to the nearest 0.1m for widths less than 10m, as this better reflects the precision of the estimates. True widths should be regarded as approximate as these are derived from an estimation that uses a preliminary interpretation of the geological model and are subject to change as more information becomes available.  Intervals greater than 300m are interpreted as bulk disseminated and stockwork mineralization and drilled width is equal to estimated true width.

DPDH056 targeted the Saturn Zone at depth, 50m north of the previous northernmost intersection in DPDH050. It intersected the zone between 433.00m and 727.10m, including a higher-grade interval from 546.20m to 604.20m. The hole continued to a final depth of 877.40m, 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 towards the northern edge of our drill pattern to investigate a new mineralized zone first intersected by hole DPDH043 last season (46.8m at 9.55% CuEq, 6.63% Cu, 3.05 g/t Au, 79.2 g/t Ag, see News Release dated July 2, 2025). This new zone was intersected between 431.00m and 466.70m as part of a wider interval from 365.00m to 474.00m, extending the zone 80m to the south and above the discovery intersection in DPDH043. This zone remains open in all directions and may include an intersection 145m to the northwest in DPDH038 (29.10m at 4.79% CuEq, 3.03% Cu, 2.12 g/t Au, 25.1 g/t Ag, see News Release dated June 17, 2025). The hole continued to a final depth of 577m 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 50m and 90m above DPDH051 and 65m to 125m below DPDH044. The Saturn zone was intersected between 406.55m and 741.70m, with a higher-grade core from 455.50m to 554.00m, 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 1.5m 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 23,000m have been drilled during Phase 4 with 21 holes completed and eight underway. Drill hole targeting has shifted to larger step-outs including 2 in-progress holes investigating the porphyry system first intersected in DPDH027 during Phase 3. Considering the excellent progress during Phase 4, the target meters for the season have been increased from 25,000m to 30,000m and the program is expected to conclude around the first week in May.

Table 2: Drillhole Information

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, B.A.Sc., P.Eng. who is the Qualified Person as defined by NI 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 sawed and then sampled in maximum 2-meter 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 500g split was pulverized to 85% passing 200 mesh. The prepared sample splits were sent to the ALS assay laboratory in Lima, Peru for copper, gold and silver assays, and multi-element ICP. ALS is an accredited laboratory which is independent of the Company. Gold assays were by fire assay fusion with AAS finish on a 30g sample (Au-AA23). Any samples returning > 10 g/t were then reanalyzed by fire assay with gravimetric finish on a 30g sample (Au-GRA21). Copper and silver were assayed by atomic absorption following a 4-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 500ppm (0.05%). 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, 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% of the submitted samples are Quality Control samples. No data quality problems were indicated by the QA/QC program.

About NGEx Minerals

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 Vicuña District, which includes the Caserones mine, and the Josemaria and Filo del Sol deposits.

NGEx owns 100% 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% owner of the operating Caserones open pit copper mine located approximately 17 kilometres north of Los Helados. Lundin Mining Corporation holds the remaining 70% 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, NCR’s approximate 31% 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.