QIMC defines multiple hydrogen hot zones in Nova Scotia, triples 2026 exploration program

Expanded exploration program identifies the Company's strongest surface hydrogen anomalies to date while preliminary DDH-26-05 readings exceed those observed over the equivalent interval in record hole DDH-26-04, the Company's strongest drill hole to date on a peak-value basis, further supporting QIMC's natural hydrogen pilot production pathway

Exploration program approximately three times larger than the Company's entire 2025 program, at the halfway point of the campaign

Approximately 3,000 soil-gas samples plus ground magnetics collected to date across a continuous 43-kilometre corridor between West Advocate and Kirkhill (Parrsboro), Nova Scotia

Highest surface soil-gas hydrogen reading recorded by QIMC to date at the newly defined Allen Hill-South Branch Road hot zone, located approximately 6.5 km east of Bennett Hill.

DDH-26-05, now at approximately 300 metres, returning stronger preliminary hydrogen readings than DDH-26-04 over the equivalent interval

Radon-thoron, helium and C1-C4 soil-gas surveys commencing in August across the Cobequid Highlands corridor and the southern Cumberland Carboniferous basin in the New-Salem-Apple-River areas.

R2G2 model continues to demonstrate repeatability between surface anomalies and hydrogen encountered in drilling

Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - August 5, 2026) - Québec Innovative Materials Corp. (CSE: QIMC) (OTCQB: QIMCF) (FSE: 7FJ) ("QIMC" or the "Company") today reported significant progress in advancing its 2026 Nova Scotia natural hydrogen pilot production pathway, highlighted by the Company's highest surface hydrogen readings recorded to date, stronger preliminary hydrogen readings from drill hole DDH-26-05 compared with DDH-26-04 over the equivalent interval, and an exploration campaign that has already tripled the size of last year's program. The results mark another important milestone in QIMC's natural hydrogen pilot production pathway.

CEO Commentary

"This program is delivering on every front — preliminary hydrogen readings from DDH-26-05 exceeding those observed over the equivalent interval in DDH-26-04, and a district-scale hydrogen system taking shape," said John Karagiannidis, President and Chief Executive Officer of QIMC. "We have already tripled the scale of last year's exploration campaign, and every dataset continues to reinforce the relationship between our surface geochemistry and our drilling results — moving us closer to our goal as we advance toward the pilot-scale characterization pathway."

Exploration Scale Tripled Year-Over-Year

At the approximate midpoint of the 2026 campaign, QIMC field teams have collected close to 3,000 soil-gas samples — roughly three times the number collected across the Company's entire 2025 program. Coverage is continuous across an approximately 43-kilometre corridor extending from West Advocate east to Kirkhill (Parrsboro), Cumberland County, following the trace of the Cobequid-Chedabucto Fault Zone and the transition zone between the Cobequid Highlands and the southern part of the Cumberland Basin. Three field teams are currently active in the Advocate-Cumberland Basin area. To the best of the Company's knowledge, this represents one of the largest publicly disclosed soil-gas hydrogen sampling programs undertaken to date by an exploration company.

The scale of the dataset is central to the Company's approach: rather than relying on isolated anomalies, QIMC is building sample density sufficient to map continuity of hydrogen degassing along strike and to rank targets on a comparative basis across the entire district-scale corridor.

Highest Surface Hydrogen Readings Recorded to Date

Soil-gas sampling along the Allen Hill and South Branch Road sections has defined a new area of concentrated hydrogen degassing. The strongest sample returned a field reading of 1.4% H₂ (approximately 14,000 ppm) — the highest surface soil-gas hydrogen value recorded by the Company at any of its properties — together with an additional sample of 5,500 ppm H₂.

For context, the Company's previously reported Eastern Advocate transect along Bennett Hill Road averaged 623 ppm H₂ with a high of 2,247 ppm. The new Allen Hill-South Branch Road values are therefore several times higher than the strongest surface results QIMC had previously disclosed.

Critically, the Allen Hill-South Branch Road zone lies 6.5 km east of Bennett Hill, where diamond drill hole DDH-26-04 was completed to 818 metres and returned a peak mud-gas reading of 24.3% H₂ at 707 metres, with 104 of 284 samples at or above 1% H₂, methane at approximately 0% and CO₂ at or below 0.2%.

Expanding Beyond Bennett Hill

While Bennett Hill remains the Company's flagship drill discovery, one of the most significant outcomes of the 2026 exploration program is that the strongest surface hydrogen anomalies are no longer confined to that area. Newly identified hydrogen hot zones at Allen Hill-South Branch Road and elsewhere along the Advocate Harbour-Kirkhill corridor indicate that elevated hydrogen degassing occurs across multiple locations within the same regional structural system.

This expansion significantly broadens the Company's exploration model from a single successful drill target to a growing district-scale natural hydrogen system. Management believes the identification of multiple hydrogen centres along the Cobequid-Chedabucto Fault Zone significantly enhances the potential to define additional drill targets while strengthening confidence in the regional continuity of the hydrogen system being evaluated.

Advancing QIMC's Natural Hydrogen Pilot Production Pathway

The expansion of significant surface hydrogen anomalies beyond Bennett Hill, together with the continued correlation between surface geochemistry and drilling results, provides increasing support for the Company's district-scale exploration model and natural hydrogen pilot production pathway. Bennett Hill was originally selected for drilling based on surface geochemistry generated using the same methodology now being deployed across the broader Advocate-Kirkhill corridor. The subsequent recovery of sustained percent-level hydrogen with negligible methane provides increasing evidence that the Company's surface geochemical techniques are successfully identifying structurally controlled hydrogen migration pathways.

This relationship has now been observed at two drill areas approximately 15 kilometres apart along the same structural corridor. In the Company's interpretation, that repeatability — surface anomaly to drill target to hydrogen at depth, reproduced at district scale — is what supports the technical case for advancing toward the pilot-scale characterization pathway the Company announced it had begun evaluating on July 20, 2026.

DDH-26-05 Returning Strong Preliminary Hydrogen Response

Drilling of DDH-26-05 is underway and the hole has now reached approximately 300 metres depth. Preliminary field mud-gas readings collected from surface to that depth are more intense than those recorded over the equivalent interval in DDH-26-04, which remains the Company's strongest hole to date on a peak-value basis. In addition, as DDH-26-05 advanced through a mud-bearing interval, rig-mounted monitoring equipment detected elevated hydrogen in the ambient air, providing further operational evidence of active hydrogen migration during drilling.

Next Phase of Field Work

QIMC's field program will continue through the summer season with the following components:

1. Densification and infill sampling over the Allen Hill-South Branch Road, Bennett Hill, Port Greville, Kirkhill and New Salem hot zones, tightening sample spacing;

2. Radon and thoron surveying across the corridor during August 2026, evaluated by the Company as a potential indirect indicator of deep fault permeability and active degassing;

3. Helium and C1-C4 hydrocarbon soil-gas sampling across the New-Salem-Apple-River areas, to characterize the C1-C4 hydrocarbon potential of the southwestern part of the Cumberland Sedimentary Basin;

4. Ground magnetic surveying to map fault splays, magnetite-rich breccia corridors and IOCG-type alteration signatures analogous to those documented at Bennett Hill;

5. Integration of all datasets into the Company's proprietary R2G2™ (Reactivated Rift and Graben Geostructure) targeting framework.

The Company expects exploration activity to continue throughout the summer, with drilling, geochemical surveys and geophysical programs providing a continuous flow of technical results as QIMC advances its natural hydrogen pilot production pathway in Nova Scotia.

About Québec Innovative Materials Corp.

Québec Innovative Materials Corp. is a North American exploration and development company advancing a portfolio of natural hydrogen and critical mineral projects, with properties in Québec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Minnesota. The Company applies its proprietary R2G2™ (Reactivated Rift and Graben Geostructure) exploration framework across its portfolio and is focused on responsible exploration, technical innovation, and the advancement of natural hydrogen opportunities that may contribute to future clean-energy development. The Company's exploration in the Advocate Area involves no hydraulic fracturing and no reservoir stimulation.

For Further Information

QUÉBEC INNOVATIVE MATERIALS CORP. John Karagiannidis President & Chief Executive Officer Email: info@qimaterials.com Tel: +1 514-726-7058

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the size, scope, timing and expected completion of the Company's 2026 soil-gas, radon-thoron, helium, C1-C4 and ground magnetic programs; the planned drilling and anticipated results of DDH-26-05; the interpretation of soil-gas and mud-gas data; the existence, scale and continuity of a district-scale natural hydrogen system; and the potential advancement toward pilot-scale characterization or any future development pathway. Forward-looking information is based on assumptions management considers reasonable, including assumptions regarding field conditions, instrument performance, the continuity of geological structures, the availability of financing, permitting and regulatory frameworks, and the accuracy of the Company's geological interpretations. Actual results may differ materially. Risks include, without limitation, that preliminary field readings are not confirmed by laboratory analysis or subsequent work; that surface anomalies do not reflect subsurface accumulations; that DDH-26-05 does not deliver results consistent with readings observed to date; that no economically recoverable hydrogen accumulation exists on the Company's properties; that regulatory frameworks for natural hydrogen in Nova Scotia and elsewhere remain under development; and that additional financing may not be available on acceptable terms. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by law.

Soil-gas hydrogen values reported in this news release are preliminary field measurements obtained using portable gas analyzers. Samples were collected at nominal depths below the surface organic horizon along road and track access, with ambient temperature, atmospheric pressure and relative humidity recorded at time of collection. Mud-gas readings from DDH-26-05 referenced in this news release are preliminary field readings from co-collected headspace samples taken at regular depth intervals during drilling. Real-time readings from rig-mounted monitoring equipment measure hydrogen concentrations in ambient air at the drill rig, are continuous indicative measurements used for safety and operational correlation purposes, and are not directly comparable to headspace mud-gas sample values.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/308100

Newsfile Corp.

August 5, 2026 - 6:00 AM PDT

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