Puma Exploration drills high-grade gold system at McKenzie

Rimouski, Québec--(Newsfile Corp. - July 21, 2026) - Puma Exploration Inc. (TSXV: PUMA) (OTCQB: PUMXF) ("Puma" or the "Company") is pleased to announce assay results from its inaugural 2,721-metre diamond drilling program at the RIM Gold Zone of its McKenzie Gold Project in Northern New Brunswick. The program intersected high-grade gold mineralization in multiple shear and extension vein structures, including quartz vein samples that host visible gold ("VG") and returned 42.60 g/t Au over 0.25 m, 21.86 g/t Au over 0.30 m, 15.55 g/t Au over 0.30 m, and 13.41 g/t Au over 0.25 m (see Image 1, Figure 1 and Table 1). These high-grade veins are located within a broader, lower-grade gold envelope that varies in width from 5 to 20 metres (see Table 2).

These results, combined with the ongoing 2026 summer exploration program, will identify follow-up drilling targets this fall. Dominique Gagné, Vice President of Exploration, commented, " The first drilling program at RIM delivered exactly what we needed: confirmation of high-grade gold samples in shear and extension vein structures and the subsurface information required to refine our targeting model. We now have a stronger understanding of the system and will use drone magnetic surveys, detailed mapping, trenching and 3D modelling to identify the next generation of targets across McKenzie ." Image 1.

Visible gold drilled at RIM in 2025 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3398/305936_ed99591514f7baef_001full.jpg The 2025 program was a first-pass drill test of the high-grade RIM gold system discovered at surface in 2024-25. The shallow drilling program confirmed that gold-bearing quartz veins and stockwork discovered at surface continue at depth (so far, down to 106 metres downhole) and host several high-grade intercepts. The gold system was tested and confirmed over a lateral