Benton and Metals Creek launch soil gas sampling at Smoking Gun, Parson's Pond

Thunder Bay, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 29, 2026) - Benton Resources Inc. (TSXV: BEX) (the "Companies" or "Benton") and its 50% partner, Metals Creek Resources Corp. (TSXV: MEK) (OTC Pink: MCREF) (FSE: M1C1) (the "Companies" or "Metals Creek") are pleased to announce the commencement of two large scale regional soil gas programs (See New Release: June 23, 2026) at Parson's Pond and Smoking Gun Hydrogen-Helium projects. Rudy Willick of Rudiger Re-Chem from Neuanlage, Saskatchewan will oversee execution of these programs. Rudy is a well-known scientist in the Hydrogen-Helium space, having completed significant targeting for such companies as MAXX Power.

The soil sampling program is expected to see the collection of approximately 650 to 750 samples and is expected to take 2 to 3 weeks to finalize the field portion of this program. After all samples are collected, Rudiger Re-Chem will analyze all sample vials for Hydrogen, Helium, Neon, CO 2 , and C1-C4 Hydrocarbons. All final data and a summary report will be supplied to the companies.

Deer Lake Basin Property The Smoking Gun Project contains the Mills No.1 drill hole in the Southwest, in addition to the Claybar No. 3 drill hole (Figure 1) to the NE. The Companies are excited about this new acquisition, as recent research from historical data has revealed highly anomalous helium with values up to 8,900 parts per billion (ppb) (see Table 1) in water collected from a historic drill hole (79-67). This hole is located approximately 11.8 km from a drill hole (Mills No. 1) that encountered high pressure gas that flowed for a minimum of 12 months in a basin prospective for uranium-thorium.

In addition, several mentions of gas are noted in Claybar No. 3, located 32 km to the NE of drill hole 79-67. These 3 holes potentially indicates an expansive system with favorable geological conditions for the generation and entrapment of gas. Ref: https://gis.gov.nl.ca/mods/ModsCard.asp?NMINOString?temp=n&NMINOString=012H/03/Btm002 Parson's Pond Property At Parson's Pond, the Companies large land position covers a favourable large basin (see Figure 2) where research confirmed the presence of gas in several historical drill logs located 14.2 km apart, significant gas hits observed C1 methane gas levels reaching 72%.

The area is underlain by thrust faulted rocks of the Humber Arm Supergroup. Drill logs indicate unique sedimentary units composed of shales along with sandstones, containing fragments of serpentine and chrome. Of particular interest is the presence of the mineral glauconite, which, combined with these geological indicators, suggests a highly prospective environment for white hydrogen (natural hydrogen) to form within the basin.

The presence of such high concentrations of methane alongside hydrogen indicators suggests a potentially active gas system within the basin. In addition, surface areas have been noted to vent gas within the project boundaries (Ref. NALCOR ENERGY - OIL AND GAS INC FINAL WELL REPORT For Nalcor Energy et al SEAMUS #1 https://www.gov.nl.ca/em/files/publications-energy-nalcorseamusfwr.pdf and NALCOR ENERGY - OIL AND GAS INC FINAL WELL REPORT For Nalcor Energy et al Finnegan #1 https://www.gov.nl.ca/em/files/FinniganFWR.pdf ).