Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 23, 2026) - GPM Metals Inc. (TSXV: GPM) ("GPM" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an exploration update at its Walker Gossan Project (the "Project") in Australia's Northern Territory. Results from the Company's 2025 drilling campaign have significantly advanced its geological understanding of the Project, validating key elements of its exploration model and identifying an expanded structural corridor prospective for sediment-hosted zinc-lead-silver mineralization. To support the next phase of exploration, GPM has strengthened its Australian technical team with consultant agreements with former Rio Tinto Exploration geologists Roger Norris and Hilke Dalstra. The Company has also finalized a focused 2026-2027 exploration strategy designed to systematically advance newly identified drill targets.

GPM Chairman, Dan Noone, comments, "2025 proved to be a watershed year for GPM as we were able to re-engage in the field and advance our understanding of controls on the mineralisation within the Walker Trough. These insights have allowed us to identify a series of higher-priority exploration targets and provide a much stronger geological framework for future drilling. Combined with the addition of two highly experienced former Rio Tinto geologists to our exploration team, we believe GPM is exceptionally well positioned to unlock the district-scale potential of the Walker River Trough over the coming exploration seasons."

Highlights

• Completed a 2,500-metre diamond drilling program across two priority gravity targets intersecting weak Zn, Pb, Ag mineralisation and ferroan dolomite alteration consistent with distal indicators of more significant sediment hosted massive sulphide (SHMS) mineralisation elsewhere in the basin.
• Mapped a highly prospective SHMS terrain defined by a major syn-sedimentary growth fault and an adjacent sub-basin depocenter extending over approximately 35 km of strike.
• Defined a basin architecture model providing a robust geological framework to guide future exploration and rank existing and future drill targets.
• Strengthened the Australian exploration team with former Rio Tinto Exploration geologists.
• Established a focused 2026-2027 exploration program to advance the next phase of drilling.

Walker Gossan Project Update

The 190,000-hectare Walker Gossan Project, purchased from Rio Tinto, is located in East Arnhem Land NT, Australia within Australia's Proterozoic McArthur Basin, one of the world's premier sediment-hosted zinc-lead-silver districts. Exploration across the Project has been limited since 1972 due to historical land access and permitting constraints, which are now resolved.

Figure 1: Walker Gossan Project Location

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The Walker Gossan Project is located within the Proterozoic McArthur Basin, one of the world's premier sediment-hosted zinc-lead-silver provinces. The McArthur Basin hosts world-class deposits including McArthur River (HYC) and Teena, while the adjacent Mount Isa mineral province contains globally significant deposits including Century, Mount Isa, George Fisher, Hilton, Lady Loretta, Dugald River and Cannington. Collectively, these provinces form one of the world's most prolific Proterozoic base metal regions.

The Project is strategically positioned along the eastern margin of the Walker Fault Zone, a long-lived crustal-scale extensional structural corridor comprising syn-sedimentary growth faults that define the margin of a fault-controlled sub-basin. This basin architecture shares many of the key first-order geological characteristics of the Batten Fault Zone, including control on basin development, sediment deposition and the migration of metal-bearing hydrothermal fluids through favourable stratigraphy. The geological setting is considered analogous to that associated with the world-class McArthur River (HYC) zinc-lead-silver deposit.

Figure 2: Regional Deposits

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Figure 3: GPM Exploration Licenses and Applications

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The Company's 2025 drilling program was designed to test two large gravity anomalies on EL 24305 identified from the 2023 Airborne Gravity Gradiometry survey and considered prospective for sediment-hosted massive sulphide ("SHMS") mineralization. Five diamond drill holes, totalling more than 2,500 m, were completed.

Drilling confirmed a consistent Proterozoic stratigraphic succession of the Balma Group comprising up to 155 m of Baiguridji Formation siliciclastic rocks overlying more than 500 m of Yarrawirrie Formation dolostones and siltstones. The deepest hole, WGD25003, additionally intersected over 200 m of shale, dolomitic siltstone and fine-grained sandstone interpreted to belong to the Zamia Creek Siltstone (Figure 5).

Geochemical analysis of pyritic black shales within the Zamia Creek Siltstone in WGD25003 returned a mineralised interval of 5 m grading 0.63% Zn, 0.027% Pb and 0.64 g/t Ag from 781 m. Although sub-economic, the presence of zinc-lead-silver mineralization, together with associated ferroan dolomite alteration, represents an encouraging indication that hydrothermal fluids were active within the basin. These features are considered potential distal indicators of more significant SHMS mineralization.

Importantly, the Zamia Creek Siltstone is interpreted to be the stratigraphic equivalent of the Barney Creek Formation, the principal host to the McArthur River (HYC) and Teena zinc-lead-silver deposits. The intersection of this favourable stratigraphic horizon confirms the presence of the key prospective host sequence within the Walker Gossan Project and provides an important geological framework for ongoing exploration.

Figure 4: Filtered Magnetics

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Recent basin architecture analysis, integrating Northern Territory Government and GPM geophysical data has identified a major growth fault that defines the boundary between the shallow-marine Walker River Shelf to the east and a transition zone to deeper-marine Walker River Trough to the west and. These geological domains, together with the bounding Yarrawirrie Fault, represent a significant structural framework considered highly prospective for SHMS mineralisation.

A review of the 2025 drilling results indicates the holes targeted a depocentre within the deepest part of the rift basin. Subsequent interpretation of the basin architecture has identified a series of reverse faults that may have uplifted prospective host stratigraphy to shallower, more accessible depths immediately east of the 2025 drill area. In addition, the Walker River Trough has now been mapped for more than 35 km of strike length within GPM's tenement package, substantially expanding the area considered prospective for SHMS mineralisation.

While there is no assurance that the Walker River Trough hosts a deposit equivalent to McArthur River, it represents one of the most prospective yet underexplored structural corridors in the McArthur Basin.

Figure 5: Litho-Geochemical Logs

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Exploration Team Update:

To support the next phase of exploration at Walker Gossan, GPM has strengthened its Australian technical team with the appointments of two highly respected exploration geologists whose experience includes several of Australia's most significant mineral discoveries. The appointments significantly enhance the Company's technical capability as it advances exploration across the Walker River Trough.

Roger Norris - Consulting Exploration Manager

Rio Tinto Principal Geoscientist (1998-2025) / CRA Senior Project Geologist (1988-1997)

Mr. Norris is a highly experienced exploration geologist with more than 40 years of Australia and international experience with Rio Tinto/ CRA serving in various roles up to and including as Exploration Manager Mongolia. Mr. Norris provides hands on technical leadership in target generation and management of projects variably encompassing multiple styles of copper, gold, lithium, diamonds, base metals, coal, Fe-ore and other commodities.

Roger has a proven track record in the leadership of cross-functional and multi-cultural teams in the design and execution of grassroots to advanced exploration projects in multiple jurisdictions of Australia and Indonesia, India, Mongolia, New Zealand and Russia maintaining high OH&S standards, ESG compliance and delivering exploration objectives on-time and on budget

He is respected for technical expertise and leadership of small to large teams applying individual and team expertise to guide strategic decision-making at all stages of the exploration cycle.

Hilke Dalstra - Consulting Geoscientist

Rio Tinto (1995-2026) (Structural/Economic Geologist)

Mr. Dalstra is an internationally recognized structural and economic geologist with more than 30 years of exploration experience, including a distinguished career with Rio Tinto. Hilke's main interests in exploration geology are applying structural and ore deposit geology concepts on a Province scale, combining these with geophysical interpretation to assist target generation and sharing and transferring the knowledge obtained with experience to the next generations of exploration geologists

Mr. Dalstra joined Hamersley Iron in 1995, commencing what would prove to be a rewarding and long-lasting association with Rio Tinto. Mr. Dalstra's efforts played a crucial role in the discovery of several iron deposits and, more recently the Winu and Ngapakarra copper-gold deposits.

His awards include the Rio Tinto Discovery Award on three occasions, the AMEC (Australia) Prospector's Award in 2020, the PDAC (Canada) Thayer Lindsey Award in 2022 and the SEG Silver Medal in 2025.

Ongoing Exploration 2026-2027

The Company's exploration strategy is focused on testing this compelling geological analogue using modern basin architecture mapping, geophysics, geochemistry and drilling to evaluate its potential to host a major concealed zinc-lead-silver discovery.

The Company has a final meeting with the NLC and Traditional Owners in September of 2026 to finalize a partial grant of EL 30956, a highly prospective area to the south of EL 24305.

2026 Exploration Program (EL 24305)
Mapping & Geochemical Sampling
Airborne Electro-Magnetics

2027 Exploration Program (Els 24305, 835, 30956)
Ground Gravity (including newly granted EL 30956)
IP/Resistivity
Diamond/RC Drilling
Geochemical analysis of drill chips/core

Qualified Person:

This press release has been reviewed and approved by Matt Rees, (M.Sc.) (Independent Consulting Geologist), a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101. For clarity, it should be noted that the Company initially submitted a total of 290 half-core samples for analyses. The core was sawn in half at the ALS facilities in Adelaide at approximately 1 metre sample lengths and the half cores submitted for preparation using ALS lab codes CRU-31 (crush to >70% passing 2-millimetre mesh) and PUL-32 (1000 grams to 85% passing < 75 micrometre mesh). The pulps were then dissolved by Aqua Regia and analysed using code ME-MS41 (ultra trace ICP-MS). Any samples that returned higher grade base metal values were further analysed under code MEOG-46 using ICP-AES. Additional samples from the 2025 drilling are being prepared to be analysed to follow-up on any of the previous anomalous results or test additional zones of interest not previously sampled.

About GPM Metals:

GPM Metals Inc. is a mineral exploration company exploring for large base metals deposits in Australia. The Company's wholly owned Walker Gossan Project is a district scale (190,000 Hectares) Zinc-Silver-Lead project in East Arnhem Land NT, Australia.

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 Statement:

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information under the provisions of Canadian securities laws including statements about the Company's plans. Such statements are necessarily based upon a number of beliefs, assumptions, and opinions of management on the date the statements are made and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those anticipated or projected. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors should change, except as required by law.

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Source: GPM Metals Inc.