October 27th, 2026 - TheNewswire – Rockport, Ontario – New Age Metals Inc. (“NAM” or the “Company”) (TSXV: NAM; OTCQB: NMTLF; FSE: P7J) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an option agreement with Benton Resources Inc. (TSXV:BEX) (“Benton”) dated June 24, 2026 as amended September 3, 2026 (the “Agreement”), whereby Benton has provided the Company a due diligence period until November 15, 2026 on the potential acquisition of a 100% interest in Benton’s Abernethy Lake Gold Project, (to be renamed “Kenora Thunder Gold Project”) located approximately ten (10) kilometres from the City of Kenora in the Kenora Mining District, Northwestern Ontario.

The Agreement provides the Company a due diligence period until November 15, 2026, to conduct investigations, consultations, meetings, review and assessments deemed necessary, including engaging with the applicable First Nations Chief and Council and other relevant Indigenous representatives, to determine whether sufficient support, access, approvals, permits and authorizations can be obtained to permit the continuation of the Company’s option. Upon completion of the Company’s review and prior to expiration of the due diligence period, the Company may deliver a notice to proceed (the “Notice”) with its option. A subsequent news release will be issued in the event the Company provides Benton with the Notice. The Notice would become the effective date of the Agreement. NAM is committed to working collaboratively with local First Nations to ensure responsible, sustainable exploration that respects community values and priorities.

Chairman and CEO Harry Barr stated, “The potential acquisition of the Kenora Thunder Gold Project reflects on our strategy of building a portfolio of technically strong exploration assets in the Kenora Mining District which management believes is a premier Canadian mining jurisdiction. The Kenora District offers excellent infrastructure and growing strategic interest from major industry participants. If the Company proceeds with the Agreement, the acquisition will build upon the Company’s presence in the Kenora Mining District.”

A Strategic Gold Hub

The Kenora Mining District has historically been underexplored and is increasingly emerging as an active exploration and development region, supported in part by improved commodity prices and renewed industry and investor interest.

The region offers a compelling combination of:

• Established mining infrastructure and highway access 

• Proximity to power, a skilled workforce and the services of the City of Kenora 

• Favourable permitting environment and opportunities to build community relationships 

• Growing exploration and development activity by junior, mid-tier, and senior mining companies, reflecting renewed industry interest in the Kenora and nearby districts 

Recent acquisitions and investments within and adjacent to the district include:

• Accelerating regional consolidation and validation, highlighted by Coeur Mining’sacquisition of New Gold in a ~US$7 billion transaction, announced in November 2025 and completed in March 2026 (see Coeur’s announcement and completion news releases) 

• The acquisition of the Cameron Gold Project from First Mining Gold Corp. by Seva Mining Corp., a company backed by Frank Giustra’s Fiore Group, in a transaction valued at approximately C$27 million, completed in March 2026 (see First Mining’s news release 

The Company notes growing support for mineral exploration at the provincial, regional, and municipal levels, including policies and initiatives intended to encourage responsible resource development and investment.

Reasons for Potential Project Acquisition

Strategic Fit

• If exercised, the option would be NAM’s 3rd gold/critical metal project in the Kenora Mining District 

• The project would be supported by NAM’s Kenora Field Office, opened in 2026 about 11 km outside Kenora on Hwy 17 

• Historical results support further evaluation 

Location & Land Package

• About 10 km west-southwest of Kenora, Northwestern Ontario, and 2 km south of the Trans-Canada Hwy, bordered by the Rat Portage Reserve 

• 4 claims, 70 cells, about 1,461 ha 

• The historical Kenricia Mine, about 2 km west of the project, produced about 2,533 oz Au and 521 oz Ag in 1939–40 (Froude, 2015). Mineralization and historical production at the Kenricia Mine are not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the Project. 

Historical Drilling

• 1975, Hudson Bay Exploration (discovery): H-2 returned 17.8 g/t Au over 1.52 m at approximately 122 m depth 

• 1987, Mingold Resources: ABE-1 returned 20.2 g/t Au over 1.83 m, and a follow-up hole returned 4.8 g/t Au over 0.76 m 

• 2011, Benton Resources: drilled 9 holes totalling 1,425 m, and 8 hit anomalous gold 

  • ABE11-07: 0.46 g/t over 92.5 m, incl. 3.34 g/t over 4.5 m, with visible gold at 162.5–164.0 m 

  • ABE11-01: 7.8 g/t over 1.5 m 

Cautionary Note: The drilling results above are historical in nature and are summarized from the NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Abernethy Gold Property (Froude, 2015), prepared for Element 79 Capital Inc. and Benton Resources Inc. Results originally reported in imperial units have been converted to metric. The Qualified Person has not completed sufficient work to verify the historical information on the Project, and the Company is not treating it as current. These results should not be relied upon and are not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the Project.

Geology & Interpretation

• Host rock: sheared, silicified, quartz-veined volcaniclastics at a metasediment contact. The best grades are in pyrrhotite-pyrite bands. 

• Interpretation: a possible bulk-tonnage system with local high-grade shoots. The favourable package extends several km. 

• Remaining work: there is no resource estimate. Past work centred on H-2, and trenches, soil anomalies and geophysical anomalies remain untested. 

Next Steps

• Complete due diligence 

• If the option is exercised: 

  • mapping, prospecting, soil sampling and line cutting 

  • then trenching and ground geophysics, leading to a phase 1 drill program 

Option Terms

Under the terms of the Agreement, the Company may earn 100% interest by making aggregate cash payments of $10,000, issuing an aggregate of 500,000 common shares, and incurring aggregate work expenditures of $150,000 over a period of two years and six months from the effective date. In addition, upon the Company earning its interest, the Company must grant Benton a 2% Net Smelter Return Royalty. Further details on the terms of the Agreement will be provided in a subsequent news release should the Company proceed with the transaction.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release relating to Benton Resources Inc.’s Abernethy Lake Gold Project (proposed to be renamed the “Kenora Thunder Gold Project”) has been reviewed and approved by Ali Alizadeh, M.Sc., MBA, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Alizadeh serves as an Advisor to New Age Metals Inc. (the “Company”) and provides geological consulting services to the Company.

The historical geological and exploration information presented herein is primarily derived from the NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Abernethy Gold Property prepared by Timothy Froude, B.Sc., P.Geo., in 2015 for Element 79 Capital Inc. and Benton Resources Inc.

Mr. Alizadeh has reviewed the relevant historical information as presented in the referenced technical report. However, he has not independently verified the original historical exploration data, including drilling, sampling, analytical results, and associated quality assurance and quality control procedures. Accordingly, the historical exploration results should be considered historical in nature and have not been independently verified as current exploration results.

Corporate, commercial, transactional, and other non-technical information contained in this news release has been provided by New Age Metals Inc. and Benton Resources Inc., or obtained from the publicly available sources referenced herein, and is outside the scope of the Qualified Person’s technical review.

About NAM

New Age Metals is a junior mineral exploration and development company focused on the discovery, exploration, and development of critical green metal projects in North America. The Company has four divisions: a Platinum Group Element division (Sudbury, Ring of Fire and Thunder Bay Ontario, and the Genesis Project in Alaska), a Lithium/Rare Metals division (Manitoba), a Gold-Antimony Division (Newfoundland) and a gold-critical metals division in the Kenora Mining Districts.

The PGM Division includes the 100% owned, district-scale River Valley Project, one of North America’s largest undeveloped Platinum Group Element Projects, situated 100 km by road east of Sudbury, Ontario. Currently there is a summer/fall program to complete the second phase of the PLATSOL metallurgical work. (See PLATSOL Announcement) We are also completing recommendations and a go forward plan for the Mustang zone on the southern most 4 KMs of the 16 KM Project where a geophysical program was completed earlier this year. Our objective is to outline drill targets to re-establish the historical resource on the Mustang zone. In addition to River Valley, NAM owns 100% of the Genesis PGM-Cu-Ni Project in Alaska. NAM has entered into a Definitive Agreement, as amended, on the Genesis PGM-Cu-Ni Project with Rockport Capital Corp. to further develop the Genesis Project. NAM is also in the early stages of exploring a critical metal project in the Ring of Fire called the Northern Shield and 2 PGM projects in the Thunder Bay Mining District of Ontario.

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New Age Metals’ Antimony–Gold Division is focused on advancing a district-scale land package in Newfoundland comprising 20,950 hectares across 11 non-contiguous properties. Six of these properties are located in the St. Alban’s area along the Swanger’s Cove and Little River mineralized trends, while the remaining five are strategically positioned along the same regional geological corridor as the past-producing Beaver Brook Antimony Mine and near New Found Gold’s Queensway South Gold Project.

In the fall of 2025 and the summer/fall of 2026 the Company completed exploration programs at the St. Alban’s properties, which significantly advanced the project through the identification of structurally controlled gold–antimony mineralization along an emerging ~16 km Au–Sb trend.

Highlights from the project to date include grab samples returning up to 51.9% antimony and 46.2 g/t gold at the Antimony Ridge property (grab samples are selective by nature and are not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted on the property), suggesting the strength and scale of this developing mineralized system. In response to these results, NAM expanded its land position by staking an additional 40 claims (~1,000 hectares), including the Pardy Head antimony occurrence, and has received approvals for trenching in preparation for the next phase of exploration. As of early June the Company has been in the field with 2 full-time Newfoundland Prospectors managed by our Project Geologist Max Kaczmer. Currently our exploration team is on the ground conducting prospecting and an extensive trenching program to establish drill targets for early 2027. See summer update release on the Antimony Division

New Age Metals holds a strategic equity investment of approximately 14.22% in MetalQuest Mining Inc. (TSXV: MQM; OTCQB: MQMIF), a junior exploration company advancing a portfolio of critical metals projects in Quebec and Ontario. MQM’s principal asset is the 100%-owned Lac Otelnuk Iron Project in the Labrador Trough, Quebec, one of North America’s largest undeveloped iron ore deposits, together with the adjacent, 100%-owned Superior Iron project. MQM also holds the West Cameron and East Cameron Gold Projects in the Kenora Mining District, near NAM’s Bonanza Ridge Gold and Critical Metals Project, and the two companies share a field operations office near Kenora, Ontario in support of their respective regional exploration programs. MQM is also exploring its Fishhook Polymetallic Project in Ontario’s Ring of Fire area. Management is actively evaluating new mineral acquisition opportunities in North America, with its primary focus on Canada, while maintaining a disciplined focus on advancing the Company’s flagship River Valley PGM/Polymetallic Project and funding robust exploration programs across its broader portfolio of projects.

Investors are invited to visit the New Age Metals website where they can review the Company and its corporate activities. Any questions or comments can be directed to info@newagemetals.com or Harry Barr at Hbarr@newagemetals.com or you can reach our field office at +1(613)659-2773

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On behalf of the Board of Directors:

Harry G. Barr, Chairman & CEO

For further information, please contact:

NEW AGE METALS INC.

Tel: +1.613.659.2773

Email: info@newagemetals.com Web: www.newagemetals.com.

Neither the 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.

Cautionary Note: This news release contains historical exploration and production information, grab sample results and information on neighbouring properties. Historical information on the Kenora Thunder Gold Project is summarized from the NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Abernethy Gold Property (Froude, 2015). The Qualified Person has not completed sufficient work to verify the historical information on the Kenora Thunder Gold Project, and the Company is not treating it as current. Grab samples are selective by nature and are not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted on the property. The reader is cautioned that mineral occurrences, prospects and deposits on neighbouring properties are not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the Company’s properties.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements: This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future events or results and are based on current expectations or beliefs. For this purpose, statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements include statements in which the Company uses words such as “continue”, “efforts”, “expect”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “confident”, “intend”, “strategy”, “plan”, “will”, “estimate”, “project”, “goal”, “target”, “prospects”, “optimistic” or similar expressions. These statements by their nature involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially depending on a variety of important factors, including, among others, the Company’s ability and continuation of efforts to timely and completely make available adequate current public information, additional or different regulatory and legal requirements and restrictions that may be imposed, and other factors as may be discussed in the documents filed by the Company on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca), including the most recent reports that identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to review or confirm analysts’ expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.