CoTec updates resource estimate at Lac Jeannine iron tailings project

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / May 20, 2026 / CoTec Holdings Corp. (TSXV:CTH)(OTCQB:CTHCF) ("CoTec" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an updated independent Preliminary Economic Assessment ("2026 PEA") for the Lac Jeannine Iron Tailings Project, Québec, Canada ("Lac Jeannine", or the "Project") which includes a new Mineral Resource Estimate (the "2026 MRE") that was developed following the August 2025 drilling program i and is consistent with the previous PEA and Technical Report filed in 2024 ("2024 PEA"). ii The 2026 MRE was prepared byMinéralis Consulting Services ("Minéralis") and the 2026 PEA by independent experts Addison Mining Services Ltd., Axe Mining Solutions Limited, Soutex Inc, JPL GeoServices Inc. and other independent experts. The highlights of the 2026 MRE and 2026 PEA are as follows: A 41% increase in the resource compared to the 2024 PEA with a global increase in Total Fe grade from 6.7 to 6.8 %FeT. (Note: tonnes are metric tonnes, see below for MRE notes) Conversion of 31 Mt of inferred resource into indicated resourced supporting the first four years of production. The 2026 MRE has resulted in extension of the life of mine to 15 years from 11 years with total tonnes of concentrate produced increasing from 3.8 Mt to 5.4 Mt. Following a trade-off study, the proposed mining method has been changed from contract mining, (using trucks and front-end loaders) to a continuous miner with overland conveyors.

Capital expenditure ("CAPEX") for the continuous miner is estimated to be US$6.8M with an operating expense ("OPEX") of US$0.65/t mined. Based on open-pit extraction methods and the production of a gravity concentrate via conventional processing techniques and at a discount rate of 7.0% (and based solely on the 2026 MRE), the pre-tax NPV is US$141.5M, and its IRR is 33.8%,