Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 7, 2026) - Althea Copper Corp. (CSE: ALTH) ("Althea" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has exercised its option to acquire a 100% interest in the Mink Narrows property (the "Property") located approximately 25 km southeast of Flin Flon, Manitoba, pursuant to the mineral property option agreement dated October 1, 2024 (the "Option Agreement") with Voyageur Mineral Explorers Corp. (now Evolve Royalties Ltd.) ("Evolve").

Terms of the Acquisition

To complete the final option payment due on the second anniversary of the Option Agreement, the Company issued 1,250,000 common shares to Evolve at a deemed price of $0.12 per share (the closing price on September 30, 2026), representing $150,000. The shares are subject to a statutory hold period expiring February 2, 2027.

On exercise of the option, the Company granted Evolve a 2% net smelter return royalty on the Property. The Company may purchase one-half of the royalty (1%) for $1,000,000. The Company will now file the claim transfer documents with the Province of Manitoba.

Following the issuance, the Company has 22,249,999 common shares issued and outstanding.

"We are very pleased to have completed our CSE listing in August, and securing 100% ownership of Mink Narrows is the next important milestone for Althea," said Lowell Kamin, President and CEO. "We now own outright a historically drilled copper-zinc system in one of Canada's most productive base-metal districts. Our technical team is focused on turning decades of historical work and our 2024 geophysics into a modern, testable geological model and a disciplined exploration program. As a publicly traded company, our focus is advancing Mink Narrows, while remaining open to opportunities that can create additional value for our shareholders."

The Mink Narrows Property

The Property covers approximately 6,984 hectares within the Flin Flon-Snow Lake greenstone belt. It hosts the historical Copper Reef deposit; a volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) copper-zinc system first explored in the 1920s and later investigated by operators including Falconbridge and Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting.

A 1969 historical estimate at Copper Reef outlined approximately 500,000 tons grading approximately 1.5% Cu and 0.5% Zn (see Historical Estimate below). Approximately 26 holes totaling more than 4,000m have been reported at Copper Reef since 2000, with mineralization intersected at up to 500 metres vertical depth.

In 2024, a property-wide Xcite™ time-domain electromagnetic (TDEM) and magnetic survey totaling more than 1,200 line-km at 100 m line spacing identified a conductive trend more than 15 km long with multiple untested targets. Copper Reef occupies a small (<500 m) portion of that trend. Because VMS deposits commonly occur in clusters, the Company believes the trend warrants systematic testing.

Next Steps

The Company's technical team (Doug Engdahl, P.Geo., Chairman; Leo Horn, Technical Director; and Ryan Versloot, P.Geo., Qualified Person) is currently:

• validating and digitizing the historical drill database;

• building an integrated 3-D geological and geophysical model;

• planning drill holes for resource delineation at Copper Reef; and

• ranking exploration targets along the conductive trend and broader land package

The program will be designed to confirm and extend the known mineralization and, with sufficient drilling, support a future NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate. The Company expects to announce the scope, budget and timing of its next exploration program once this work is complete.

Regional Setting

The Flin Flon-Snow Lake belt continues to support active mining and new development. Hudbay Minerals Inc. operates the Lalor polymetallic mine at Snow Lake. On the Saskatchewan side of the belt, McIlvenna Bay reported its first copper concentrate in June 2026 following Eldorado Gold Corporation's acquisition of Foran Mining Corporation.

Mineralization on these or other nearby properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the Property.

Historical Estimate

In a report dated November 14, 1969, Falconbridge Nickel Mines Ltd. reported "inferred" tonnage of 120,345 tons at 1.54% Cu and 0.60% Zn and "indicated" tonnage of 383,089 tons at 1.49% Cu and 0.47% Zn (total 503,434 tons at 1.50% Cu and 0.50% Zn) for the Copper Reef sulphide deposit. These terms predate and do not correspond to current CIM definitions. The estimate used a 1% Cu cut-off, a 6 ft minimum true width, end-area volumes on a longitudinal projection, and a tonnage factor of 8.5 ft³/ton.

A Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource. The Company is not treating it as a current mineral resource, and it should not be relied upon. Verification and confirmation drilling, re-logging and re-assaying, and a new estimate would be required to upgrade or verify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource. The Company believes the historical resource estimate is relevant to ongoing exploration activities on the Mink Narrows Property.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Ryan Versloot, P.Geo., Exploration Manager at Axiom Exploration Group Ltd. and a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Versloot is independent of the Company.

About Althea Copper Corp.

Althea Copper Corp. is a Canadian copper exploration company listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol ALTH. Its flagship asset is the 100%-owned Mink Narrows copper-zinc property near Flin Flon, Manitoba.

Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains forward-looking information, including statements regarding the transfer of title, the Company's exploration plans, the potential of the Property and the potential to define a mineral resource. Forward-looking information is based on assumptions and is subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including exploration and permitting risks, the availability of financing and general market conditions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by law.

Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) 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/317814

Source: Althea Copper Corp.