Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 8, 2026) - Bell Copper Corporation (TSXV: BCU) (OTCQB: BCUFF) ("Bell Copper" or the "Company") reports that the Company and its joint venture partner, Cordoba Minerals Corp. (TSXV: CDB) (OTCQB: CBDMF) ("Cordoba"), have approved a 2026 exploration program of 1,700m of drilling at the Perseverance Copper Project in Arizona, USA. Cordoba is also confirming today that its earn-in at the Perseverance Copper Project has ended without Cordoba earning an additional interest, meaning the Project is a 51/49 joint venture with Bell Copper.

• Cordoba completes 51% earn-in of Bell's Perseverance Porphyry Copper Project, Arizona

• JV approves 2026 US$ 1.7 million, 1700-meter drilling program for supergene copper

• Bell Copper drilling K-24 to test stacked MT target and faulted Big Sandy analogue target

The Perseverance Copper Project is located in Arizona's Copper Triangle, a Tier 1 jurisdiction with major copper deposits and mines. The Project is located 50 miles north northwest of Freeport McMoRan's Bagdad Copper Mine, approximately 19 miles southeast of Kingman, Arizona, and 150 miles northwest of Phoenix, with a land package comprising more than 19,000 acres.

Figure 1: Location of the Perseverance Copper Project, Arizona

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2026 Exploration Program at Perseverance tests Potential for Supergene Enrichment at Depth

The 2026 exploration program will seek to deepen 3 existing drill holes (originally drilled by Rio Tinto) to new depths:

• K-23: Current ending depth 590m, deepening 500m to 1,100m total depth

• K-19: Current ending depth 420m, deepening 700m to 1,100m total depth

• K-13: Current ending depth 424m, deepening 500m to 900m total depth

Hole K-23 originally drilled through young valley fill gravels and into a thick basalt layer and terminated in a hematite-stained leached cap.

Hole K-19 also drilled through alluvial cover and hit Laramide age granite porphyry at 250m, heavily stained by hematite and goethite indicative of a leached cap. The hole was terminated at 420m in hydrothermal breccia with pyrite and sphalerite in granodiorite porphyry. An induced polarization survey performed by Quantec Geophysics in 2017 for Rio Tinto (who held an option on the property from Bell Copper), shows strong chargeability indicative of sulphide mineralization immediately below where the hole was terminated.

Hole K-13 is a 525m step out from K-19. This hole also stopped in hematite, goethite stained leached cap with strong chargeability below where the hole was terminated.

The total 2026 exploration program budget is approximately US$1.7M, including up to 1,700m of drilling, of which Bell Copper is responsible for funding 49%. Drilling is not expected to commence until required permits have been obtained, which is not anticipated prior to late Q3 2026.

Figure 2: Drill Hole Locations and Plan for the 2026 Exploration Program at the Perseverance Copper Project

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Figure 3: NNW-SSE AA' Cross section through K-15, K-19, K-13 & K-14

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Bell Copper Drilling K-24 to test Stacked MT and Fault Targets with Single Hole

In order to accelerate the exploration of the Perseverance Copper Project, and separately from the 2026 exploration program, Bell Copper, at its discretion and cost, chose to deepen a previously drilled hole for water on a private parcel of land on the eastern limit of the Perseverance land and mineral package.

Bell Copper is drilling hole K-24 to test two distinct, stacked targets with a single drillhole. Located immediately to the west of State Highway 93, this hole is drilling through water-saturated sand and gravel deposits in order to test the source of a broad, magnetotelluric (MT) resistivity low potentially indicative of conductive sulphide, and which was originally identified in 2020 ("Eastern MT Anomaly" https://cordobaminerals.com/news/cordoba-minerals-commences-diamond-drilling-at-perseverance-porphyry-copper-project-in-arizona-usa/). The lower of the two targets is the faulted top of the Wheeler Wash porphyry root zone, an analogue of the same fault slip vector (13 kilometers at N70E) that yielded the chalcocite blanket discovery in BS-3 at Bell's Big Sandy project, 30 kilometers to the south.

Bell Copper President & CEO Dr. Tim Marsh stated- "Bell Copper is pleased to have Cordoba Minerals, under freshly motivated leadership, as a partner in the exploration of the Laramide porphyry system at Perseverance. Like our Big Sandy copper discovery 30 kilometers to the south, Perseverance offers the opportunity of a globally significant copper discovery in the stable jurisdiction of Arizona. Having future exploration costs at Perseverance reduced by 51% while gaining access to the talent of Cordoba's team is a big win for Bell's shareholders."

Cordoba's Interim Chief Executive Officer, Quentin Markin, commented - "With the successful closing of the Alacrán sale now behind us, we are turning our attention to identifying new opportunities for Cordoba while also moving forward with Perseverance. This year's program with Bell Copper will deepen 3 existing drill holes that show the potential for supergene copper enrichment. The three holes were stopped in hematite, goethite-rich, "leached cap" rocks beneath a young, 20-million-year-old basalt flow covering Proterozoic and Laramide basement rocks. In Arizona this is indicative for the potential for copper-rich chalcocite replacing pyrite and chalcopyrite below the leached cap rock. Our goal is to identify the potential for a high-grade copper deposit at Perseverance that can be mined by similar underground mining methods to the Santa Cruz deposit that is currently being developed by Cordoba's majority shareholder, Ivanhoe Electric Inc., at Casa Grande south of Phoenix."

Qualified Person
The technical content of this release has been reviewed and approved by Timothy Marsh, PhD, PEng., the Company's CEO and President and a 'Qualified Person' as defined under Canadian National Instrument 43-101.

About Bell Copper
Bell Copper is a mineral exploration company focused on the identification, exploration and discovery of large copper deposits located in Arizona. Bell Copper is exploring its 100% owned Big Sandy Porphyry Copper Project and the Perseverance Porphyry Copper Project which is controlled by Cordoba Minerals (51%) with Bell (49%) under a Joint Venture.

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.

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including, but not limited to, the ability of Bell to identify a mineral resource at the Perseverance or Big Sandy Projects. There is no certainty that the present exploration effort will result in the identification of a mineral resource or that any mineral resource that might be discovered will prove to be economically recoverable. All statements included in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "potential", "target", "budget" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof.

Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management based on the business and markets in which Bell Copper operates, are inherently subject to significant operational, economic, and competitive uncertainties, risks and contingencies. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results, and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include actual exploration results, interpretation of metallurgical characteristics of the mineralization, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, delays or inability to receive required approvals, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators, including those described in the Company's most recently filed MD&A. The Company does not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/300380

Source: Bell Copper Corporation