Benton and Metals Creek complete hydrogen-helium soil gas sampling at Smoking Gun and Parson's Pond

Thunder Bay, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 18, 2026) - Benton Resources Inc. (TSXV: BEX) ("Benton") and Metals Creek Resources Corp. (TSXV: MEK) (OTC Pink: MCREF) (FSE: M1C1) ("Metals Creek") (Benton and Metals Creek collectively referred to as the "Companies") are pleased to announce that they have entered into a purchase agreement (the "Purchase Agreement") with G2B Gold ("G2B " ), an arms-length party, whereby the Companies will jointly acquire a 100% interest in 2 mineral licenses encompassing 30 claim units (the "Properties") in the Deer Lake Basin and Parson's Pond area, subject to 2% net smelter royalty (NSR) to G2B, on the basis of 50% ownership to each of Benton and Metals Creek. No finders' fees are to be paid pursuant to this acquisition.

Purchase Agreement terms:

The Companies can acquire 100% (50% Benton and 50% Metals Creek) of G2B's interest in the Properties in consideration of:

the issuance to G2B of 120,000 common shares of Metals Creek and 82,500 common shares of Benton on the closing date which shall be five business days after the date the Companies receive regulatory approval for the Purchase Agreement;

a 2% NSR on the Properties shall be retained by G2B and the Companies will have the right, at any time, to purchase one half of the NSR (i.e. 1%) by collectively paying $1 million to G2B.

In addition, Benton has entered into a separate agreement with G2B to purchase a 100% interest in one mineral licence, 040650M, consisting of 4 claim units, by issuing to G2B 17,500 common shares of Benton on the closing date which shall be five business days after Benton receives regulatory approval for the purchase. G2B will retain a 2% NSR on the mineral license with Benton having the right, at any time, to purchase one half of the NSR (i.e. 1%) by paying $1 million to G2B. The strategic mineral license ties directly onto the Company's Dominion Copper-Gold-Zinc project in Newfoundland.

Both agreements remain subject to TSXV approvals.

In addition, the Companies are pleased to announce the completion of two large-scale regional soil gas sampling programs at Parson's Pond and Smoking Gun Hydrogen-Helium projects. Rudy Willick of Rudiger ReChem and his team from Neuanlage, Saskatchewan have collected over 700 samples which have been sent back to his Saskatchewan laboratory for analysis. Results are expected in the next two weeks and will be reported once received and compiled. The Companies will plan an inaugural program to test favourable targets for hydrogen and helium.

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.