Aztec Drills 40 RC holes at Tombstone Project, Arizona in 2025, Continues to Expand Shallow Silver-Gold Mineralization

• Final analytical results of drill hole TR25-17 report a higher silver content than preliminary results reported on November 4, 2025

• TR25-17 intersected 57.8m averaging 39.12 gpt Ag and 5.16 gpt Au from 9.1m depth

• Drillhole TR25-9 intersected three mineralized zones along its 273.6 meter length, including 164.2 meters averaging 16.74 AgEq to TD

• Drillhole TR25-14 intersected 86.6 meters with 23.19 gpt AgEq including 15.2 meters of 118.42 gpt AgEq

• The new results show the Ag-Au mineralization has broad continuity as drill tested mineralization has been pushed to depth, to the east and west

• 40 RC holes have now been drilled with 20 RC holes pending release as the drilling program continues

• One core hole has been completed to target depth with samples shipped to analytical laboratory

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / January 7, 2026 / Aztec Minerals Corp. (TSXV:AZT)(OTCQB:AZZTF) ("Aztec" or the "Company") announces it has received the results from an additional seven RC drill holes, as well as final multi-acid digestion analytical ("MA") results from the previously reported preliminary fire assay analytical ("FA") results from TR25-16/17/17a of its reverse circulation portion of the 2025 drilling program at the Tombstone Property in Southeastern Arizona. The 2025 drilling program has now completed 40 RC drill holes and one core hole as of December 31, 2025, with results from the 7 RC holes drilled in the historic Contention Mine Area of the Contention Target announced herein.

Highlights from the RC drilling reported from the western and eastern sides of the main Contention Target include:

• RC drill hole TR25-10 was collared on the eastern side of the main Contention area:

  • Intersected 72.9 meters of 28.37 gpt AgEq (0.192 gpt Au, 14.92 gpt Ag) from surface including 10.6 meters of 70.65 gpt AgEq (0.485 gpt Au, 36.71 gpt Ag).

All the seven RC drillholes intersected Ag-Au mineralization and expanded the target area extent to the west, east and to depth. The majority of the intercepts show broad continuity of the mineralization. All reported intersection lengths are apparent widths of the mineralization, not true widths, which can range at the property from 30% to 100% of apparent widths.

Aztec also reports the final multi-acid digestion analytical ("MA") results from the previously reported initial fire assay analytical ("FA") results from TR25-16/17/17a that tested the previously undrilled Head Center Area in the northern Contention Target (please see news release dated November 4, 2025). Final analytical results from TR25-17 returned a broad zone of 57.8m averaging 5.16 gpt Au and 39.1 gpt Ag including 4.56m of 58.5 gpt Au and 173.1 gpt Ag. TR25-17A returned 80.95 gpt AgEq and 1.00 gpt Au over 10.6m ending in a 7.6m open stope.

Additionally, final MA results from TR25-16, collared 45m south of TR25-17 intersected two zones of mineralization averaging 49.36 gpt Ag and 0.70 gpt Au including 3m of historic workings, and a second zone of 9.1m at 32.3 gpt Ag and 0.92 gpt Au).

Core Drilling Update

The core drilling portion of the 2025 drilling program advanced well in December 2025 with one drill hole completed to target depth of 694m (TC25-03) at the northern end of the property. Samples from this drill hole have been shipped to the analyst laboratory for geochemical analysis.

The core rig is now continuing to test to depth the previously identified southern AMT target under the Bisbee formation in the thick Paleozoic carbonate formations below. Aztec has previously identified several large, strong, conductive bodies, underneath the historic gold-silver district through NSAMT (natural-source audio-frequency magneto-telluric surveys) anomalies¹. At the time of the Christmas break the drilling advance of TC25-04 was approximately 350 m above the top of the AMT target horizon after advancing 341.5m in December.

Tombstone 2025 Drilling Plan Completed and Pending

The successful drilling central portion of the Contention pit area was supported by Aztec's 3D geologic and underground working model that was constructed to assist in targeting potential expansion of the Contention system. The overall Contention system has yet to be defined, and marks the confluence of other mineralized zones including the Westside Anticline.

Detailed Drillhole Summary Highlights (see Table 1 & 2 below):

• Hole TR25-14 - Collared in the central portion of the Contention area. It intersected two zones of mineralization. The first was 86.6 meters long (21.3m - 109.4m) with 38.17 gpt AgEq (0.214 gpt Au, 23.19 gpt Ag), including 15.2 meters of 118.42 gpt AgEq (0.811 gpt Au, 61.68 gpt Ag). At the bottom of the drill hole was intersected 9.1 m (124.6m - 133.7m) of 10.6 gpt AgEq (0.032 gpt Au, 8.38 gpt Ag). The drillhole leaves the mineralization open to depth. The interval is composed of siliciously and argillically altered, lower Bisbee group fine-grained sandstones/quartzites, siltstones/hornfels and limestones cut by hydrothermal breccias, quartz-feldspar porphyry dikes, and faults/fissures with quartz veining. Moderate to strong iron oxides, manganese oxides, orange to red color, and oxidized pyrite sites.

View drill sections here:

Link to section view hole TR25-09
Link to section view hole TR25-10 and TR25-11
Link to section view hole TR25-12
Link to section view hole TR25-13
Link to section view hole TR25-14
Link to section view hole TR25-15
Link to section view hole TR25-16
Link to section view hole TR25-17 and TR25-17a

The 40 RC drill holes in the current program completed to date primarily are part of a "fan grid pattern" being drilled in the Contention area since 2020. Most of the RC drill holes are oriented to test for extensions on the western, eastern borders, the southern extensions, and underneath of the north-trending main Contention target zone which hosts the historic underground and open pit Contention mine. One RC drill hole tested a projected dike and fissure vein intersection under mineralized outcrops and historic shafts. The drill program has continued to identify to depth and horizontally pervasively oxidized and hematite-rich, silicified hydrothermal breccias composed of quartz feldspar porphyry dike and Bisbee Group clastic sedimentary fragments, typical of the material mined historically at the Contention Mine.

Additional mineralization types continued to be outlined by the current drilling including: manganese replacements in limestone beds and skarns, quartz veinlets, oxidized sulfide relicts as disseminations, silicification of altered hornfels, quartz feldspar porphyries and hydrothermal breccias. For the 2025 program being currently reported, TR25-09 is the deepest RC hole drilled, it has an inclination of -60 degrees and was drilled to a depth of 274.4m (237.7 m vertical) remaining in mineralized and oxidized rocks most of its length.

The drilling results showed that the Contention area mineralization is still open and to depth and the mineralized volume is expanding.

Table 1A: Contention & Head Center Area Drill Results Currently Reported

2025 RC and Core Drilling Program

The RC drilling program is targeting shallow zones associated with surface exploration and 3D geological modelling, prospective for wide oxide gold-silver mineralization, and drilling precollars for the deeper CRD target tests. The drilling program has completed 40 RC drill holes (6,887 m) by years end, testing both the Contention Main and Southern Extension areas as step out targets and six Westside Area first pass targets, with results from the first 20 holes now announced. Initial assay results continue to validate the oxide gold-silver geological setting as outlined in Aztec's geological exploration model. One core hole (TC25-03) has been successfully completed to target depth in the northern portion of the project and another (TC25-04) is currently being advanced (341.5