Critical One Energy drills 27.35% Sb over 4.17 m at Howells Lake

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 7, 2026) - Critical One Energy Inc.  (CSE: CRTL) (OTCQB: MMTLF) (FSE: 4EF) (" Critical One " or the " Company ") is pleased to announce that new assays have identified near-surface antimony (Sb) mineralization and confirmed visual extension of massive stibnite to the northeast at its flagship Howells Lake Antimony-Gold Project ("Howells Lake Project"), located approximately 120 kilometres west of the Ring of Fire access corridor in Ontario, Canada. Assays are reported for HWL-2026-001 (Hole 1), HWL-2026-002 (Hole 2), and HWL-2026-007 (Hole 7), along with visuals from HWL-2026-016 (Hole 16), all from the 2026 Howells Lake drill program. Highlights: Hole 7 high-grade zone: 4.17 metres (m) of 27.35% Sb was intersected, including 1.1 m of 70.3% Sb down-dip of Hole 6 Holes 1 and 2: Sb mineralization has been identified near surface with up to 3.1% Sb over 1.09 m in Hole 2, just 26 m downhole Hole 16: visual identification of massive stibnite present from 105.4 m to 159 m, zone remains open to the northeast Geological context: High-grade Sb mineralization crosscuts an intrusive porphyry and extends from near-surface to the northeast, dipping at ~55⁰.

A lower Sb zone is concentrated within and near the contact of graphitic tuff horizons and the intrusive porphyry, which remains open to the west Antimony mineralization in the form of massive, near-pure stibnite has now been identified in three holes at Howells Lake. This zone occurs within an intrusive chlorite-feldspar porphyry that sits along an extensive regional northeast structure. Holes 1 and 2 identified shallow mineralization near-surface within the porphyry.

Hole 7 was drilled down-dip of Hole 6, previously reported on May 15, 2026 , and intersected 4.17 m of 27.35% Sb, including 1.1 m of 70.3% Sb, indicating that near-pure stibnite can be traced beyond Hole 6. Visual observations from Hole 16 reported here identify massive stibnite approximately 70 m from Holes 6 and 7 and point to a northeast extension. High-grade Sb mineralization remains open within the porphyry to the northeast, while lower-grade antimony-gold-zinc (Sb-Au-Zn) mineralization reported on June 16, 2026 , hosted within volcano-sedimentary units below the porphyry, remains open to the west.

Future drilling is planned to expand the mineralized zone at depth, particularly to test the continuity of massive stibnite, which opens the opportunity for Direct Shipping Ore to North American military and industrial buyers, a supply route the West does not currently have. "Early drilling results have delivered confirmation of high-grade, continuous antimony mineralization that extends significantly beyond the historical resource envelope. These intercepts demonstrate grade continuity and width, highlighting the substantial upside potential of the project," said Duane Parnham, Founder, Executive Chairman and CEO of Critical One.

Parnham continued, "We are grateful to Eabametoong First Nation (EFN) for its approval of the initial phase of our maiden drill program, which has allowed us to advance this work in a focused and responsible way. EFN's collaboration will continue to assist Critical One as we mutually evaluate the grade, scale and strategic relevance of Howells Lake to meet the requirements of antimony supply chains for energy security and national defence in the West." Figure 1. Cross-section A-B, showing new assay intervals for Holes 1, 2, and 7.