Metal Energy's First Drilling at NIV Confirms a Large Porphyry Copper-Gold System; Mineralization Strengthens to the North and Remains Open

Highlights:

• A large porphyry copper-gold system confirmed: the first drilling ever at NIV returned hundreds of metres of continuous copper-gold-molybdenum mineralization from near surface, with the high-temperature alteration, multiple intrusive phases and vein stages characteristic of a major British Columbia porphyry system
• NIV26-011: 11.0 metres of 0.95% CuEq* (0.55 g/t Au, 0.21% Cu, 136 ppm Mo) within 39.35 metres of 0.41% CuEq from 55.65 metres, part of a continuously mineralized interval of 426.0 metres of 0.17% CuEq from 30.0 metres to the end of the hole, open at depth
• NIV26-004: 117.0 metres of 0.25% CuEq* (0.17 g/t Au, 0.04% Cu) from 144.0 metres, including 6.0 metres of 0.89% CuEq (0.76 g/t Au), within 326.5 metres of 0.17% CuEq from 5.9 metres
• The system vectors north: grade, gold content and high-temperature magnetite-potassium feldspar alteration all increase northward along the western side of the 5 kilometre trend; the northernmost and final hole of the season, NIV26-011, was the best hole, and the ground beyond it has never been drilled
• The 2026 holes tested the margins, not the core: the large airborne magnetic high at the heart of the northern target was only probed along its western flank, and the Company interprets the 2026 holes to have clipped the edges of a system whose strongest part remains untested
• Five of eleven holes reported; six to come: this release covers NIV26-001 to -004 and NIV26-011; assays for NIV26-005 to -010, including three of the four holes drilled along the margin of the magnetic high, are pending
• Clear plan for 2027: step-out drilling north of NIV26-011 and into the magnetic high, supported by detailed magnetics and IP over the northern part of the property
• Highland Valley drilling underway: drill program at Zones 1 and 2 began on November 7, 2026

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 12, 2026) - Metal Energy Corp. (TSXV: MERG) (OTCQB: MEEEF) ("Metal Energy" or the "Company") is pleased to report the first assay results from its inaugural drill program at its 100%-controlled NIV copper-gold project (the "Project" or "NIV") in British Columbia's Toodoggone District.

The 2026 program, the first drilling ever carried out at NIV, comprised 11 holes totalling 6,295 metres. This release reports assays from five holes: NIV26-001, -002, -003 and -004, and NIV26-011. Assays for the remaining six holes, NIV26-005 to NIV26-010, are pending and will be reported once received and interpreted.

"Big porphyry systems move a lot of fluid, and at NIV that shows up as a 5 kilometre long geochemical and geophysical anomaly. We never expected the whole trend to be mineralized, but we set out to find where the system is strongest, and we did. The northern holes carry consistently elevated gold, copper and molybdenum in the right rocks, with syn-mineral intrusions and high-temperature alteration, and everything we see points north toward what we believe is a larger and better-grade part of the system. Our final hole of the season, and our most northerly, was our best, and there is plenty of untested ground beyond it. That is where we go next," said Charlie Greig, CEO of Metal Energy.

Greig added: "In some respects the NIV drilling reminds me of GT Gold's final hole of the 2017 season, shut down by winter weather, which showed visually subtle but mineralogically and geochemically strong indications of a robust porphyry system. The following year we drilled the Saddle North copper-gold discovery."

What We Have Learned

The purpose of a first drill program on an untested target is to confirm that a fertile system is present and to find the direction in which it strengthens. NIV delivered both:

• The system is large and real. NIV26-004 and NIV26-011 each returned hundreds of metres of continuous copper-gold-molybdenum mineralization from near surface, hosted by multiple porphyritic intrusive phases, porphyry-style breccias and several generations of veining within a classic B.C. porphyry copper-gold setting of Upper Triassic island-arc volcanic rocks intruded by coeval intrusive rocks, the same setting as the nearby Kemess deposits.
• It strengthens to the north and west. Holes NIV26-001 and -002, to the south and on the eastern side of the trend, returned gold values generally below 0.01 g/t across broad intervals. Moving north and west, NIV26-003 returned 43.9 metres of 0.30% CuEq, NIV26-004 returned 326.5 metres of 0.17% CuEq from near surface, and NIV26-011, the northernmost hole, returned 426.0 metres of 0.17% CuEq to the end of the hole, including 11.0 metres of 0.95% CuEq. Gold in the northern holes averages 0.10 to 0.20 g/t over hundreds of metres, which is ten to twenty times the background encountered in the holes to the south and east. Gold geochemistry also correlates very well with copper and molybdenum, the hallmark elements of most porphyry systems.
• Grade tracks alteration. Copper, gold and molybdenum occur together and correlate with high-temperature magnetite-potassium feldspar-biotite alteration, which increases in extent northward and is associated with more evolved quartz monzonitic intrusions. Downhole magnetic susceptibility tracks this alteration, giving the Company a vector it can follow.
• The 2026 holes tested the edges. The large airborne magnetic high in the northern part of the trend was probed only along its western flank by NIV26-004 and NIV26-008 to -010; NIV26-011 was collared north of it. The Company interprets the 2026 drilling to have clipped the margins of the system, and the body of the magnetic high and the ground north of NIV26-011 remain untested.
• Gold-rich veins add grade. Metre-scale intermediate sulphidation-style quartz-carbonate-sulphide veins and vein-breccias were intersected in every 2026 hole and are more abundant northward. Two are reported in Table 1: 6.0 metres of 0.76 g/t Au in NIV26-004 and 2.0 metres of 1.72 g/t Au in NIV26-003. In these veins, as in the stockwork and disseminated mineralization, the highest gold values accompany the highest copper and copper-molybdenum values. Additional vein intervals in NIV26-001 and -002 are subject to QA/QC review and are not reported here.

Drill Results

NIV26-011, the northernmost hole, returned 11.0 metres of 0.95% CuEq (0.55 g/t Au, 0.21% Cu, 136 ppm Mo) from 84.0 metres, within 39.35 metres of 0.41% CuEq from 55.65 metres, all within 426.0 metres of 0.17% CuEq from 30.0 metres to the end of the hole at 456.0 metres. A second zone returned 47.75 metres of 0.25% CuEq from 172.75 metres. NIV26-004 returned 117.0 metres of 0.25% CuEq from 144.0 metres, including 6.0 metres of 0.89% CuEq, within 326.5 metres of 0.17% CuEq from 5.9 metres. NIV26-003 returned 43.9 metres of 0.30% CuEq from 106.2 metres. NIV26-001 and -002 returned no significant porphyry-style intercepts.

Table 1. Drill results, holes NIV26-003, NIV26-004 and NIV26-011, NIV Project

View Plan Map: 2026 NIV Drill Holes
View Cross Sections: NIV26-011 | NIV26-004 | NIV26-003 | NIV26-001 & -002

*Copper equivalent (CuEq) values are calculated on the basis of US$4.50/lb for Cu, US$3,375/oz for Au, US$60/oz for Ag, and US$25/lb for Mo, with 80% metallurgical recoveries assumed for all metals (since it is unclear what metals will be the principal products, assuming different recoveries is considered premature at this stage). The formula is: CuEq = Cu % + (Au grade in g/t x (Au recovery / Cu recovery) x [Au price ÷ 31] / [Cu price x 2200 x 1%]) + (Ag grade in g/t x (Ag recovery / Cu recovery) x [Ag price ÷ 31] / [Cu price x 2200 x 1%]) + (Mo grade in % x (Mo recovery / Cu recovery) x [Mo price] / [Cu price]). Assays have not been capped. No metallurgical test work has been completed at NIV; the recoveries used are assumptions and are not based on test results. It is the Company's opinion that all metals included in the CuEq calculation have a reasonable potential to be recovered and sold. The reported intervals represent drill intercepts; true thickness of mineralized intervals is uncertain.

**QA/QC review is pending for NIV26-003.

Table 2. Drill collar information, NIV Project

Coordinates are UTM NAD83 Zone 9N.

Adjacent Drilling

NorthWest Copper Corp.'s East NIV drilling, including its discovery hole ENV-21-004, was carried out approximately three kilometres east and southeast of most of the 2026 NIV holes. The one exception, hole ENV-21-015, was drilled along the northwestern boundary of the NIV claim block approximately 1.2 kilometres northwest of NIV26-011. That drill hole returned encouraging gold geochemistry across shorter intervals of polymetallic veining that are geochemically similar to those at NIV. The ground between NIV26-011 and the claim boundary has not been drilled.

What Comes Next

While assays for NIV26-005 to -010 are pending, the technical team is integrating the results received to date with surface geochemistry and ground and airborne geophysics to define 2027 targets. Priorities are:

• Follow the vector north. Step-out drilling from NIV26-011 and NIV26-004 to establish the geometry of the continuous mineralization and alteration in those holes and track it toward higher grades.
• Drill the magnetic high. Systematic testing of the large airborne magnetic high that 2026 drilling probed only along its western flank.
• Sharpen the targets. Detailed drone-based magnetics and ground induced polarization (IP) surveys across the northern part of the property ahead of drilling.
• Revisit the western margin. Follow-up to the south along the western side of the anomalous geochemical-geophysical trend, the side on which the 2026 results in the north indicate the system is best developed.

Highland Valley Drilling Underway

Drill crews mobilized to the Company's 100%-owned Highland Valley copper project on November 7, 2026, and have begun drilling. The program, now planned at 2,000 to 3,000 metres, will focus on underexplored parts of Zones 1 and 2, two open zones of copper and copper-gold mineralization, and is expected to take approximately 30 days as part of a $1.2 million fall program that may also include an IP survey. Historical drill highlights, sources and the CuEq basis for Highland Valley are set out in the Company's news release dated November 5, 2026.

Sampling and QA/QC

Sampling at NIV follows an internal QA/QC protocol. Drill core is halved on site using a core saw, with samples submitted to ALS Geochemistry in Langley, British Columbia, for preparation and analysis.

ALS is accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 for assay procedures. All analytical methods incorporate quality control standards at prescribed frequencies. Samples are crushed and homogenized, with a 250 g subsample pulverized for analysis. All samples are analyzed for gold, silver, copper, molybdenum, and 45 additional major and trace elements. Gold is analyzed by 30 g fire assay fusion followed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Silver, copper, molybdenum, and other elements are analyzed by four-acid digestion followed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS).

Internal QA/QC protocols require individual core samples to range from 0.4 to 3.0 m in length. Samples are submitted in 50-sample batches to maintain consistent QA/QC insertion frequencies and constrain potential re-analysis intervals. Each batch contains one gold-copper-silver-molybdenum standard, one coarse-reject duplicate, and one quarter-core duplicate, inserted at regular intervals, along with two blanks preferentially inserted immediately following well-mineralized samples. Together, these constitute 10% QA/QC control samples.

Analytical results and QA/QC control sample performance are reviewed against established acceptance criteria. Where failures are identified, affected sample intervals are assessed and, in consultation with ALS Geochemistry, frequently selectively re-analyzed to investigate and resolve the discrepancies.

Qualified Person

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by C.J. "Charlie" Greig, P.Geo., CEO of Metal Energy Corp., and a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Greig is not independent of the Company.

About Metal Energy Corp.

Metal Energy Corp. is a critical metals exploration company focused on copper and gold assets in Canada. The Company's flagship asset, NIV, is a fully permitted copper-gold-molybdenum project in British Columbia's Toodoggone District, a region known for both significant porphyry copper-gold and epithermal gold-silver deposits. In 2026 the Company completed the first-ever drill program at NIV, 11 holes totalling 6,295 metres. The Company's Highland Valley Project, a second permitted asset on strike with Canada's largest copper mine, began drilling in November 2026. Metal Energy is supported by two major mining companies, each a 9.9% strategic investor, and has a treasury of approximately $4.2 million, leaving it fully funded for its 2026 exploration programs and beyond.

Readers are cautioned that mineralization, exploration results, mines, deposits or projects on properties adjacent to or proximate to the Company's projects, including the producing copper mine on strike with the Highland Valley Project, the Kemess mine complex and the Kemess North deposit, the Saddle North and Saddle South deposits on the Tatogga property, and the NorthWest Copper Corp. property and drill results bordering NIV, are not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the Company's projects, and the Company has no interest in or right to acquire any interest in those properties. Neither the Highland Valley Project nor the NIV Project hosts a mineral resource or mineral reserve estimate prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101. The Company's Qualified Person has not verified, and the Company is not relying upon, information disclosed by the owners or operators of those adjacent or proximate properties. Historical drill results at the Highland Valley Project were reported by previous operators and should not be relied upon until confirmed. Geophysical and geochemical anomalies are exploration targets only and are not necessarily indicative of the presence, continuity, extent or grade of mineralization. The Company's interpretation that the 2026 drilling tested the margins of a larger system is an interpretation only, and there is no assurance that further drilling will result in the discovery of a mineral deposit.

Metal Energy's portfolio includes three high-potential projects:

• NIV Project (Cu-Au-Mo, 100% controlled), Toodoggone District, British Columbia
• Highland Valley Project (Cu-Mo-Ag-Au-Re, 100% owned), British Columbia
• Manibridge Project (Ni-Cu-Co-PGE, 85% owned), Manitoba

For Further Information

Reader Advisory

Certain information set forth in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements or information ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the interpretation of drill results from the NIV Project, the size, continuity and direction of the mineralized system, the interpretation that the 2026 drilling tested the margins of a larger system, exploration targets north of NIV26-011 and within the airborne magnetic high, the expected timing of remaining assay results, plans and targets for further exploration at NIV in 2027, any comparison drawn to other projects, properties or companies, the 2026 drill program and IP survey at the Highland Valley Project including their size, metreage, budget, timing, duration and objectives, the Company's cash position and its sufficiency to fund the Company's 2026 exploration programs and beyond, the potential for larger or higher-grade mineralization at NIV, and other matters ancillary or incidental to the foregoing. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond Metal Energy's control, including the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, environmental risks, operational risks, adverse weather, snow and other seasonal or access constraints, the availability and performance of drilling equipment, contractors and qualified personnel, assay laboratory turnaround times, the ability to obtain and maintain required permits and approvals, the ability to raise additional financing on acceptable terms, the risk that pending assay results differ from those reported to date, the risk that historical results are not confirmed, the risk that exploration and drilling do not result in the discovery of a mineral deposit, competition from other industry participants, and stock market volatility. Although the Company believes that the expectations in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, its forward-looking statements have been based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Those assumptions include that drilling and other exploration work will proceed substantially as planned; that weather, ground and access conditions will permit the planned work; that drill rigs, contractors, personnel and assay laboratory capacity will remain available on reasonable terms; that required permits and approvals will remain in good standing; and that the Company will have sufficient funds to complete its planned programs. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, as no assurance can be provided as to future results, levels of activity or achievements. Risks, uncertainties, material assumptions and other factors that could affect actual results are discussed in Metal Energy's public disclosure documents available at www.sedarplus.ca. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are made as of the date of this document and, except as required by applicable law, Metal Energy does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/323715