Defense Metals drills 2.86% TREO over 65 metres, including 6.15% TREO over 20 metres at Wicheeda Rare Earth Project, British Columbia

Defense Metals Corp. [TSXV: DEFN; OTCQB: DFMTF; FSE:35D] reported assay results for an initial eleven core drill holes, totalling 1,633 metres, completed during spring 2026 at its 100%-owned Wicheeda Rare Earth Project located near Prince George, central British Columbia, Canada.

Robin Jones, Defense Metals VP Projects, commented: “We’re exceptionally pleased that all eleven drill holes reported in today’s news release intersected significant widths of high to moderate grade Rare Earth Element mineralization within the pit confines defined by the 2025 Preliminary Feasibility Study and are expected to contribute positively to a resource classification uplift.”

Highlights of this season’s drill program include: Resource infill drill hole WI26-96 was collared in sedimentary rocks and drilled towards the Wicheeda Deposit. This hole intersected REE mineralized mixed xenolithic dolomite carbonatite rock that returned assays of 2.86% Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO) over 65 metres, including a higher-grade interval averaging 6.15% TREO over 20.3 metres.

Collared from the same setup, drill hole WI26-93, cutting obliquely across the southern margin of the Wicheeda Deposit, yielded a broad intersection of mixed xenolithic and dolomite carbonatite grading 1.70% TREO over a 184-metre interval, including 2.52% TREO over 57 metres.

Drill holes WI26-100 and WI26-102, collared 100 metres to the northwest of WI26-93, were oriented southwest and southeast, respectively, drilling outward from inside the Wicheeda Deposit. WI26-100, collared into REE mineralized dolomite carbonatite averaged, from surface, 2.40% TREO over 85 m; within a broader mineralized zone returning 1.55% TREO over 149 metres.

Drill hole WI26-102 also collared into REE mineralized dolomite carbonate yielded a higher-grade intercept returning 3.25% TREO over 34.3 metres, within a broader interval averaging 2.62% TREO over 73.4 metres to a depth of 79 metres downhole with TREO assays for the remaining 47 metres still pending.

True width of REE mineralization is estimated to be 70-100% of the drilled interval. TREO % sum of CeO2, La2O3, Nd2O3, Pr6O11, Sm2O3, Eu2O3, Gd2O3, Tb4O7, Dy2O3 and Ho2O3.

The 2026 Wicheeda Project drill program comprised 31 core drill holes totalling 5,345 metres inclusive of 20 holes (3,136 m) of resource upgrade and infill drilling; seven holes (1,507 m) pit slope geotechnical drilling and four holes (702 m) waste rock geochemical drilling.

The resource infill drilling was designed to upgrade a significant tonnage of inferred resources, constrained within the limits of the current Wicheeda Project Preliminary-Feasibility Study (PFS) ultimate pit design, to an indicated or better category.

This news release presents Rare Earth Element (REE) assay results for the first of 10-resource upgrade and infill, and one pit slope geotechnical drill hole (WI26-86) targeting the southern pit perimeter of the Wicheeda Deposit.

Analysis of the remaining 10 resource upgrade and infill drill holes is currently underway at ALS Canada Ltd. laboratories in Vancouver, B.C., Canada and are expected to be released in the coming weeks.

Defense Metals Corp. is an advanced rare earth elements (REE) development company focused on delivering strategically critical metals to the western world defence, high-technology, and clean energy supply chains. The Company’s primary asset is its 100%-owned Wicheeda REE deposit.

The Wicheeda Project is one of the most advanced, undeveloped REE deposits in North America or Europe, featuring a robust mineral resource and mining reserve, as detailed in the company’s 2025 Preliminary Feasibility Study prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. The PFS shows the economic potential of the deposit and supports future project development.

Defense Metals is committed to advancing the Wicheeda Project through the Feasibility Study stage, permitting, and ultimately into production, positioning the company to become a reliable supplier of critical REEs that are essential to modern defense systems, advanced manufacturing, and energy-efficient technologies.

The PFS for the Wicheeda Rare Earth Element Project is preliminary in nature and includes numerous assumptions regarding metallurgy, capital and operating costs, and market conditions.