South Pacific Metals Commences Exploration at the Kili Teke Copper-Gold Project, Papua New Guinea - Host to a 4.2Moz Gold-Equivalent NI 43-101 Inferred Resource

13:30 Uhr  |  Newsfile

Returning to a US$20M+, drill-tested, district-scale system in the same gold-copper belt as the >30Moz Au Porgera gold mine, 40km away. High-grade historical results include 7.8 m @ 12.98% Cu and 11.75 g/t Au, surface rock chips to 38.7% Cu and 40 g/t Au, and 152 m @ 1.17% Cu and 0.93 g/t Au, across four largely untested prospect areas.

Vancouver, June 25, 2026 - South Pacific Metals Corp. (TSXV: SPMC) (OTCQB: SPMEF) (FSE: 6J00) ("SPMC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the commencement of exploration at its 100%-owned Kili Teke Copper-Gold Project ("Kili Teke" or the "Project") in the Hela Province of Papua New Guinea ("PNG"). Following community awareness meetings concluded in Tari in late April and early May 2026, the Company has secured the support of landowners, the Hela Provincial Government, the Koroba-Kopiago District and the Awi-Logayu Local Level Government to return to the ground at Exploration Licence 2310, held through SPMC's wholly-owned PNG operating subsidiary, Kainantu Resources Limited ("KRL").

Highlights

• Established resource base: an NI 43-101 Inferred Mineral Resource (effective 18 November 2022) of 237 Mt grading 0.24 g/t Au and 0.34% Cu, containing 1.81 Moz Au, 802 kt Cu and 40 kt Mo for 4.2Moz AuEq¹ - defined on only the Central Main Porphyry (CMP) alone, a fraction of the intrusive complex. (see news release dated January 12, 2023)

• Four prospect areas, one drilled. The resource sits within just one of the four prospect areas. The remaining three: the Ieru Porphyry, the Ridge Gold Area and the Skarn Corridor, together with the deeper, higher-grade parts of the resource system, remain largely untested.

• Additional exploration targets. Beyond the resource, SPMC has defined over ten exploration targets across three distinct mineralised styles: (see news release dated October 1, 2024)

  • A Porgera-style alkalic epithermal gold target: the Ridge Gold Area (RGA) with an Au-Te-As signature distinct from the resource porphyry's Cu-Au-Mo. Soils up to 9.39 g/t Au; rock chips to 9 g/t Au, 7.4 g/t Ag and 1.5% Cu.

  • A separately modelled intrusive complex, the Cu-Au Ieru Porphyry (IP). Surface rock chips up to 38.7% Cu and 40 g/t Au; historic trenching of 27 m @ 0.97% Cu and 1.25 g/t Au.

  • A corridor of high-grade Cu-Au-Ag-Zn skarn targets, each largely untested. Historical drilling returned 7.8 m @ 12.98% Cu and 11.75 g/t Au, outside the current resource.

• 14 ranked drill targets: a machine-learning targeting study with ALS GeoAnalytics ranked 14 drill targets, classifying six of them Rank 1, including a high-priority deep porphyry target beneath the CMP and a series of targets on the resource margins, where the system remains open.

• Exploration underway with full stakeholder support: The Project has been formally endorsed by the Office of the Honourable Philip Undialu, Governor of Hela Province, the Hela Provincial Administration, the Koroba-Kopiago District and the Local-Level Government, with provincial and district leaders confirming the local Kili Teke community is eager for work to begin. KRL is now mobilising to site to begin a staged work programme at one of PNG's most advanced undeveloped copper-gold systems.

• Detailed interactive 3D model: A VRIFY technical presentation on the Kili Teke staged exploration programme is available on the Company's website and at https://vrify.com/decks/21678.

Executive Chairman Michael Murphy commented: "Kili Teke is rare for an explorer of our size. A district-scale system with a 4.2-million-ounce resource and more than US$20 million of past work behind it, yet with three of its four prospect areas barely drilled. The high-grade results are already on the board, from high-grade skarn intercepts to multi-gram gold in soils. Our job is to follow the data, stage by stage, back to the productive heart of this system, and we are doing so with the full support of the landowners and the Hela Provincial Government, to whom we are deeply grateful."

A Data-Rich Foundation with More Than a Decade of Work

Kili Teke has been the subject of systematic exploration for more than a decade, principally by Harmony Gold between 2014 and 2017, with in excess of US$20 million of expenditure. Work to date includes 55 diamond drill holes for 36,917 metres (averaging 660 m, with 12 holes deeper than 900 m and a maximum of 1,533 m), 1,674 surface geochemistry samples, airborne magnetic and radiometric surveys, induced-polarisation geophysics and 3D magnetic vector inversion modelling, and detailed mapping across the 253 km² tenement. This work culminated in an independent NI 43-101 Inferred Mineral Resource (effective 18 November 2022). SPMC has since added a machine-learning re-interpretation of the historical drill database (ALS GeoAnalytics LithoLens™) and the University of British Columbia MDRU porphyry-proximity (MPIx) index, together generating the 14 target ranked inventory now being advanced.

Figure 1: Kili Teke Porphyry Cu-Au Complex. Surface geochemical anomalies
and new machine-learning subsurface targets.

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Four Prospect Areas

More than 95% of historical drilling focused on the Central Main Porphyry, leaving three prospect areas and the deeper, higher-grade parts of the system, largely untested.

• Central Main Porphyry - the existing resource. The drilled core of the system, hosting the Project's entire NI 43-101 Inferred Resource of 237 Mt at 0.34% Cu and 0.24 g/t Au (≈1.81 Moz Au, 802 kt Cu and 40 kt Mo). Highlight intercepts include 152 m @ 1.17% Cu and 0.93 g/t Au (KTDD045). The resource model is trimmed at roughly 400 m below surface, so deeper high-grade intercepts are excluded, and pit optimisation has already identified a higher-grade core of 56 Mt @ 0.42% Cu and 0.33 g/t Au. Rising Cu:S ratios, stronger stockworking and intercepts like KTDD025 (1.27% Cu, 0.55 g/t Au at 716 m), supported by ALS LithoLens™ AI modelling, point to an untested higher-grade porphyry centre at depth.

• Ieru Porphyry. An undrilled separately modelled intrusive complex immediately west of the CMP. Surface trenching by the previous operator returned 132 m at 0.55% Cu and 0.6 g/t Au (including 27 m at 0.97% Cu and 1.25 g/t Au), with individual rock chips up to 38.7% Cu, 40 g/t Au and 208 g/t Ag. SPMC's geochemical fingerprinting shows Ieru is distinct from the CMP with higher Au:Cu and a strong tellurium overprint suggesting Porgera-style potential. MPIx modelling indicates the single historical Harmony hole sat very close to porphyry mineralisation but was drilled sub-parallel to structure, so the target was never effectively tested. New magnetic inversion modelling has defined two N-S elongate porphyry targets 1,500-2,000 m long and 200-500 m wide at depth, to be drill-tested on an E-W transect.

• Ridge Gold Area. A Porgera-style alkalic gold target hosted in alkalic monzodiorite with an interpreted basin/collapse zone (possible diatreme), defined by a ~900 m × 500 m soil anomaly running to 9.39 g/t Au, 7.4 g/t Ag and 1.5% Cu alongside >10,000 ppb Te and >50 ppm As. The setting is an interpreted analogue to Porgera's Roamane Fault Zone (5.1 Moz at 27 g/t Au), with likely south-dipping E-W structural controls. The two historical holes were collared in the footwall and drilled sub-parallel to those structures, and KTDD008 showed gold grades increasing down-hole, so the target has not been effectively drill-tested.

• Skarn Corridor: several high-grade skarn bodies covering a combined 26,250 m², mapped at surface adjoining the CMP and excluded entirely from the current Mineral Resource Estimate. Historical drilling returned bornite-chalcopyrite-magnetite intercepts including 7.8 m at 12.98% Cu and 11.75 g/t Au within a broader 54 m at 2.1% Cu, 1.82 g/t Au and 3.87 g/t Ag (from 878 m down-hole), while 57 surface rock chips average 1.7% Cu with a peak of 27% Cu, 3.4 g/t Au, 37.6 g/t Ag and 3.3% Zn. Because the skarns are strongly magnetic (~twice background), close-spaced drone or ground magnetics offer a low-cost way to directly generate near-surface drill targets.

A Staged, Disciplined Work Programme

The programme begins with low-impact field activities; camp re-establishment and community engagement, field verification and reconnaissance mapping, systematic soil geochemistry and close-spaced ground magnetics, and trenching to finalise targets, building methodically toward discovery drilling of the highest-ranked targets. Drilling is the final stage, not the first, with each stage predicated on the success of the one before it.

Qualified Person

The technical and scientific information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Darren Holden, B.Sc. (Hons), Ph.D., FAusIMM, a technical advisor and consultant to the Company and a "Qualified Person" as defined under National Instrument 43-101. Resource information is drawn from the independent technical report dated 18 November 2022, prepared by Graeme J. Fleming, B. App. Sc., MAIG, available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

¹ The Kili Teke NI 43-101 Inferred Mineral Resource of 237 Mt grading 0.34% Cu, 0.24 g/t Au and 168 ppm Mo contains approximately 1.81 Moz gold, 802 kt copper and 40 kt molybdenum, equivalent to approximately 4.2 Moz of gold on a contained-metal basis. Gold-equivalent ("AuEq") assumes equal co-recovery of gold and copper using US$3,300/oz gold and US$4.45/lb copper, and is provided for indicative comparison only; readers are directed to the 18 November 2022 technical report for the underlying assumptions. Individual drill, trench and surface results referenced are historical and/or selected high-grade results, are not necessarily representative of the deposit as a whole, and have not been independently verified by the Company's Qualified Person beyond the resource dataset. Exploration targets at depth, in the skarns and in the alkalic system are conceptual in nature; there has been insufficient exploration to define them as Mineral Resources, and it is uncertain whether further exploration will result in their delineation as Mineral Resources.

About South Pacific Metals Corp.

South Pacific Metals Corp. is an emerging gold-copper exploration company operating in the heart of Papua New Guinea's proven gold and copper production corridors. SPMC has four exploration properties:

• Ontenu (Osena) - Bordering K92 to the southwest. Drilling underway on K92-style targets with surface assays up to 21% Cu, 13.9 g/t Au, 645 g/t Ag and 73 g/t Au defining kilometre-scale corridors.

• Anga - Bordering K92 to the northeast, along strike from K92's Arakompa discovery; soils to 1,080 ppb Au, 3,397 ppm Cu and stream samples up to 281.8 g/t Au.

• Kili Teke - 4.2 Moz AuEq* NI 43-101 Inferred Resource (effective 18 November 2022) containing 1.81 Moz Au, 802 kt Cu, & 40 kt Mo; results outside of resource include drilling 7.8 m @ 12.98% Cu plus 11.75 g/t Au, surface samples up to 27.5% Cu.

• May River - District-scale system beside Frieda River; high-grade drilling includes 19 m @ 11.47% Cu, 2.17 g/t Au and 109 m @ 1.53 g/t Au.

* Au-equivalent contained ounces based on equal recoveries of Au and Cu only and prices of US$3,300/oz Au and US$4.45/lb Cu. Preliminary metallurgical testwork by Harmony Gold shows gold reporting to copper minerals, indicating the two can be co-recovered. Molybdenum is not included in the Au-equivalent figure.

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SPMC common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: SPMC), the OTCQB Marketplace (OTCQB: SPMEF) and Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE: 6J00).

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 Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by words and phrases such as "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", "potential", "proposed", "subject to" and similar expressions, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would" or "will" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information in this news release includes, among other things, statements regarding the Company's planned and ongoing drilling and exploration programs, the timing and expected results of those programs, the interpretation of geological, geochemical and geophysical data, and the potential for mineralisation on the Company's properties.

Forward-looking information is based on the Company's current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections, as well as assumptions that the Company considers reasonable as of the date of this news release. These assumptions include, among others: the continuity of mineralisation; the accuracy of the Company's interpretation of geological, geochemical and geophysical data; the timing and results of planned and ongoing drilling and exploration; the timeliness of assay results from third-party laboratories; the Company's ability to obtain and maintain required permits and regulatory approvals; the continued support of local communities and government stakeholders in PNG; the availability of equipment, personnel and consultants; continued access to project sites; and general business, economic and capital market conditions.

Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. These risks and uncertainties include, among others: risks inherent in mineral exploration and development, including that exploration may not result in the discovery of an economically viable mineral deposit; the risk that drilling results, assays and geological interpretations may not be indicative of the presence, continuity or grade of mineralisation; delays in receiving assay results or in the progress of exploration programs; the risk that historical results and third-party data may not be verified or replicated; uncertainties relating to mineral resource estimates, including the Kili Teke Inferred Mineral Resource; the risk that planned exploration activities may be delayed, modified, suspended or terminated; risks relating to title, permitting and access to mineral properties; risks relating to operations in Papua New Guinea, including political, security, infrastructure, community-relations and logistical risks; the Company's ability to fund its business and exploration activities; commodity price volatility; currency fluctuations; and the other risks described in the Company's public disclosure documents filed under its profile on SEDAR+.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is made as of the date hereof, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

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