Auro Metals intersects 705.7m grading 0.61 g/t Au at Santa Barbara, Ecuador

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 22, 2026) - Auro Metals Inc. (TSXV: AURO) (OTC Pink: AURFF) ("Auro" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the assay results of the first three drill holes from the 2026 Phase I Drill Program at its 100%-owned Santa Barbara Gold-Copper Project (the "Project") located in the Zamora-Chinchipe Province in southeastern Ecuador. The drill program commenced on April 14, 2026 (please refer to the Company's news release dated May 19, 2026). To date, 12 holes have been completed and assay results for the first three have been received.

SUMMARY OF DRILL RESULTS All three holes were drilled at the southern part of the known mineralized porphyry system of the Project ("Santa Barbara South") which is believed to be the core area of the known porphyry mineralization system. The purpose of drilling these holes was to test the continuity of mineralization between historical drill intercepts and the extension of mineralization in up-dip and down-dip directions. Results of the drilling are as follows: Drillhole DSB-54 intersected 705.7 metres ("m") grading 0.61 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au) and 0.1% copper (Cu), from surface, including; 235m grading 0.97 g/t Au and 0.11% Cu from surface.

This drillhole is fully mineralized and ended in mineralization. Drillhole DSB-55 intersected 246m grading 0.56 g/t Au and 0.09% Cu, from surface, including; 155.5m grading 0.73 g/t Au and 0.11% Cu, from 31.5m. Drillhole DSB-56 intersected 134m grading 0.67 g/t Au and 0.09% Cu from surface, and 24m grading 0.89 g/t Au and 0.07% Cu from 164.5m.

All three holes intersected wide mineralization starting from surface, and a summary of drill intercepts are presented in Table 1 below. The drill results indicate mineralization is open in both up-dip and down-dip directions, also demonstrating good consistency of gold-copper grades. Specifications of completed drillholes are provided in Table 2, and a drill plan view is shown in Figure 1.

"These first three holes drilled at Santa Barbara South from our Phase I Drill Program speak to the scale and consistency of the Project," said Victor Feng, CEO of Auro. "DSB-54 intersected over 700 metres of continuous gold-copper mineralization starting from surface and ended in mineralization at depth. DSB-55 and DSB-56 both confirm that mineralization remains open in the up-dip direction towards surface.

With 9 more holes pending assays and 4 rigs turning at site, we look forward to continuing to share assay results as they become available. Following the Phase 1 Drill Program we plan to dovetail into a planned Phase 2 Drill Program designed to continue expanding the known system and to test new targets nearby."   Notes: Drill location, altitude, azimuth, and dip of drill holes are provided in Table 2. Drill intercept is core length, and grade is length weighted.

True width of mineralization is unknown. A cut-off of 0.2 g/t Au is applied for calculation of drill intercept. Calculation of gold equivalent ("AuEq") is defined as AuEq (g/t) = Au (g/t) + Cu (%) x 0.259, based on a gold price of US$3,200/oz, and copper price of US$12,000/t metal, assuming average processing recoveries of 85.5% Au and 19.6% Cu.