Pacific Empire launches 2026 diamond drill at Trident and Pinnacle

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 24, 2026) - Pacific Empire Minerals Corp. (TSXV: PEMC) ("Pacific Empire", "PEMC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that diamond drilling is now underway at its flagship Trident copper-gold porphyry project, with drilling also planned at the Company's Pinnacle project, located immediately to the west of Trident, in north-central British Columbia. The 2026 exploration program is being managed by Equity Exploration Consultants Ltd. ("Equity"), which was formally engaged by the Company earlier this year to provide technical leadership and project management for the season.

2026 Diamond Drilling Underway at Trident

Diamond drilling is now underway at the Trident property, with initial holes testing the Trident Main Zone to follow up on the Company's 2025 drill results, which included holes DD25-TRI-001, DD25-TRI-005 and DD25-TRI-006.

Following completion of drilling at Trident Main Zone, the drill rig is planned to move to the eastern portion of the Trident property, where the Company just completed two ground-based induced polarization ("IP") lines designed to follow up on an anomalous chargeability response originally identified in a 2014 survey. Interpretation of the expanded IP dataset has identified a significantly larger area of anomalous chargeability, which has been prioritized as the next drill target at Trident.

2026 Diamond Drilling Planned at Pinnacle

Following completion of drilling at the Trident Main Zone and Trident East IP target, diamond drilling is planned to move to the Company's Pinnacle property, where it will test targets identified from the June 2026 airborne magnetic survey, as well as the Pinnacle South target.

2026 Work Completed to Date

Prior to the commencement of drilling, the following work has been completed at Trident and Pinnacle as part of the 2026 field season:

Two ground-based IP lines at Trident, expanding on a 2014 chargeability anomaly and identifying a significantly larger area of anomalous chargeability in the eastern portion of the property.

An airborne magnetic survey across the northern Pinnacle property block.

Review of historical drill core from Trident and Pinnacle.

Review of historical exploration data from Trident and Pinnacle.

Pacific Empire's President and CEO, Brad Peters, commented:

"With diamond drilling now underway at Trident, we are excited to begin testing both the follow-up targets from our 2025 program and the substantially larger IP chargeability anomaly identified through this year's geophysical work. The expanded target area in the eastern portion of the property is particularly compelling, and the opportunity it gives us to step out and think big about the scale of this system is exciting. At the same time, results from the airborne magnetic survey at north Pinnacle, when considered alongside historical drilling, are equally encouraging. We believe 2026 will be a pivotal year for both projects and look forward to updating shareholders as results become available."

Figure 1: Location of the four target areas planned for 2026 drilling on Pacific Empire's Trident and Pinnacle properties. Coordinates shown in NAD83, UTM Zone 10N.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/5412/311026_1d04783a54446945_001full.jpg

Figure 2: 2026 airborne magnetic survey coverage over the Trident and Pinnacle properties, with the Pinnacle North target area outlined in yellow. Coordinates in NAD83, UTM Zone 10N.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/5412/311026_1d04783a54446945_002full.jpg

Qualified Person's Statement

Ron Voordouw, P.Geo., Ph.D., is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Dr. Voordouw is independent of Pacific Empire Minerals Corp. as defined in NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release.

About Pacific Empire

Pacific Empire is a copper exploration company based in Vancouver, British Columbia and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol PEMC. The Company has a district scale land position in north-central British Columbia.

British Columbia is a "Green" copper jurisdiction with abundant hydroelectric power, access and infrastructure in close proximity to the end market.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD, "Brad Peters" President, Chief Executive Officer and Director Pacific Empire Minerals Corp. Tel: +1-604-356-6246 brad@pemcorp.ca www.pemcorp.ca Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the timing, scope and results of the 2026 diamond drilling program at Trident and Pinnacle. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: the need for additional financing; operational risks associated with mineral exploration; fluctuations in commodity prices; title matters; environmental liability claims and insurance; reliance on key personnel; the potential for conflicts of interest among certain officers, directors or promoters with certain other projects; the absence of dividends; competition; dilution; the volatility of our common share price and volume and the additional risks identified in the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/311026

TMX Newsfile

August 24, 2026 - 4:30 AM PDT

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