Hertz Energy Advances Its Lake George Antimony-Tungsten Project and Summarizes Lithium Project

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 16, 2026) - Hertz Energy Inc. (CSE: HZ) (OTCQB: HZLIF) (FSE: A340) ("Hertz Energy" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the successful completion of a high-resolution airborne magnetic and Very Low Frequency Electromagnetic (VLF-EM) survey over its 100%-owned Lake George Antimony-Tungsten-Gold Project ("Tungmony Project") in New Brunswick, Canada. The Tungmony Project comprises five mineral claims (4,392.4 hectares) surrounding the past-producing Lake George antimony mine on three sides over approximately 13 kilometers of prospective strike length.

Highlights

• The high-resolution airborne magnetic and VLF-EM survey covered the Company's Tungmony Project and the adjoining historic Lake George Antimony Mine in New Brunswick.

• The survey was flown by Novatem Airborne Geophysics from June 21 to June 25, 2026, comprising 1,194 line-kilometers over 56.66 km² at 50-metre line spacing and an approximate 23-metre mean terrain clearance.

• Data was acquired using dual optically pumped magnetometers and a three-component VLF-EM receiver, providing substantially higher resolution than historical regional airborne geophysics datasets.

• The new airborne data is expected to greatly improve geological interpretation by identifying major structures, fault systems, buried intrusive bodies, and other geological features that may control antimony, tungsten, and gold mineralization at Lake George.

• This new data will also guide target generation for the Company's planned 2026 field program including prospecting and mapping, soil geochemistry, and induced polarization (IP) surveying, with up to 3,000 meters of diamond drilling planned contingent on the results of the field program.

• The historic Lake George Mine was North America's largest primary antimony producer, operating intermittently between 1876 and 1996. Antimony is designated a critical mineral in both Canada and the United States.

Kal Malhi, CEO of Hertz Energy commented, "The completion of this high-resolution airborne magnetic and VLF-EM survey represents an important milestone in advancing our Tungmony Project. We have assembled one of the largest strategic land positions surrounding the historic Lake George Antimony Mine, and this new geophysical dataset provides the technical foundation needed to systematically evaluate the property's considerable exploration potential.

The survey significantly enhances our understanding of the project's structural framework and will play a critical role in identifying and prioritizing drilling targets. Combined with our, ownership of the Lake George Mine historical database which we acquired, the upcoming prospecting, mapping, and soil geochemistry programs, we believe this work positions us to unlock the broader potential of a district that has seen surprisingly little modern exploration despite its history as North America's largest primary antimony producer.

With antimony recognized as a critical mineral and global supply remaining constrained, we believe Lake George is uniquely positioned to benefit from increasing demand for secure North American sources. We are excited to continue advancing the project through our 2026 exploration program and look forward to updating shareholders as results become available."

Welcome Avenir Minerals as Lake George Mine Neighbor:

Avenir Minerals, a subsidiary of Agnico Eagle Mines, was selected by the New Brunswick government to explore and potentially restart the historic Lake George Antimony Mine. Located about 30 kilometres southwest of Fredericton, it was once the largest primary antimony mine in North America We also welcome Avenir Minerals as our neighbor with their recent selection by the New Brunswick Ministry of Mines to."

The provincial government has selected Avenir Minerals to negotiate an exclusive exploration agreement for the former Lake George antimony mine site. This agreement follows the launch of New Brunswick's Comprehensive Minerals Strategy, which aims to revitalize the province's mineral sector and bolster domestic production of critical minerals.

The company was chosen after a call for expressions of interest was issued this spring.

Hertz Energy looks forward to cooperating with Avenir in future collaboration on exploration and development at the Lake George region.

High-Resolution Airborne Magnetic and VLF-EM Survey Details

The airborne survey was completed by Novatem Airborne Geophysics between June 21 and June 25, 2026. The program covered a total area of 56.66 km² and consisted of 1,194 line-kilometres flown on 50-metre line spacing with 500-metre control lines. The helicopter flew at a median terrain clearance of approximately 23 metres, providing substantially detailed magnetic and electromagnetic data.

The survey employed dual optically pumped magnetic sensors operating at 1,000 measurements per second together with a VLF-EM receiver measuring three orthogonal magnetic field components. This modern survey provides substantially higher resolution than historical regional datasets and will allow the Company to better define geological contacts, fault systems, structural breaks, and intrusive bodies that may host antimony, tungsten, and gold mineralization.

The survey also provides a detailed geophysical framework across both the historic Lake George Mine and Hertz Energy's surrounding land package, highlighting several magnetic and structural features that extend onto the Company's claims and warrant additional exploration.

2026 Summer Field Exploration Program

• Prospecting and mapping program will focus on known outcrop areas, as well as potentially favourable outcrop areas based on topographic and LiDAR surveys. This field work will include geological mapping, rock geochemistry, and a structural study.

• Soil geochemistry survey to evaluate the potential for blind antimony-tungsten mineralization by using dispersion of geochemical signals in surficial materials. The final sample selection sites will be based on local quaternary geology, satellite images, and LiDAR images.

• If quality exploration targets are developed from this preliminary work the Company envisions undertaking a program of ground IP surveying to firm up drill targets. Positive results would be potentially followed by up to 3,000 metres of diamond drilling later in the year.

The Company's systematic exploration approach of combining geophysics, geochemistry, and drilling is designed to advance the project from target generation through discovery toward potential resource delineation and future development. The consolidated land position captures structural features interpreted to continue from the historic Lake George Mine, including a NE-trending fault, within what is understood to be a broader intrusion-related hydrothermal system hosting antimony, gold, tungsten, and molybdenum mineralization across the district. The Company believes these factors point to potential for the mineralized system to extend onto its claims, although this remains to be tested through exploration.

Lake George Tungmony Project Details

The Tungmony Project comprises a strategic, large-scale land package that surrounds the historic Lake George Antimony Mine. By consolidating this significant land position, Hertz Energy has secured extensive exposure to the same favourable geological setting, structural controls, and host rocks that supported North America's largest primary antimony producer.

The historic Lake George Antimony Mine, located approximately 38 kilometres southwest of Fredericton, New Brunswick, was North America's largest primary antimony producer, operating intermittently between 1876 and 1996.

Hertz Energy holds a total of five mineral claims comprising 577 claim cells and covering 4,392.4 hectares that surround the historic Lake George Mine on three sides (Tungmony Project). The claims were initially staked in September 2024 and April 2025 to secure prospective ground covering the contact between the Silurian Kingsclear Group metasedimentary rocks and the Devonian intrusive rocks of the Pokiok Plutonic Suite, the same geological setting that hosts the historic antimony mineralization (Figure 1).

The Company's land package now covers approximately 13 kilometres of favourable strike length with multiple interpreted cross-cutting structures considered prospective for antimony, tungsten, and gold mineralization. Much of the property has seen little historical exploration despite favourable geology. While local outcrop provides excellent prospecting opportunities, large portions of the property are covered by thin glacial and lacustrine sediments that may conceal mineralization beneath shallow overburden (Figure 2).

The completion of this high-resolution airborne survey marks an important step in advancing the Company's systematic exploration strategy. The new geophysical data will guide upcoming field programs designed to identify and prioritize high-quality exploration targets across the property.

Refer to Figures 3 to 6 below that include maps of the recently acquired airborne geophysics data over the Tungmony Project.

Figure 1: Provincial Geology - New Brunswick

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Figure 2: Regional Geology, Location of Historic Lake George Project and Hertz Tungmony Claims

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Figure 3: Very High Resolution Heliborne Magnetics (Total Field)

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Figure 4: Heliborne VLF-EM (Total Field)

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Figure 5: Topographic Data over survey Area

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Hertz Energy 100% Owned Agastya Lithium Property, James Bay, Quebec

The Agastya Lithium Project in Québec is located in a well-known region for lithium deposits-only 26 kilometres southeast of the Corvette Lithium Project owned by Patriot Battery Metals and Adjacent to Lift Power's recently consolidated Adina and Galine projects

Agastya spans 209 mineral claims, ~10,650 hectares, across 3 non-contiguous blocks within the James Bay greenstone belt-home to adjacent LCT-pegmatite lithium projects like Adina, Trieste, and Galinée.

Positioned along the same structural belt as major lithium discoveries including Adina by Winsome Resources and Galinée by Azimut Exploration (since consolidated by LI-FT Power (TSXV: LIFT)), Agastya offers substantial greenfield potential (Figure 7).

LI-FT Power has agreed to combine with Winsome Resources and acquire majority interest in the Galinée Property to unlock value at the Tier-One Adina Project. This consolidation creates a district-scale lithium project immediately adjacent to Hertz Energy's Agastya claims-positioning Agastya at the heart of one of Canada's most significant emerging lithium districts. See NR by LIFT POWER AND AZIMUT EXPLORATION.

The Agastya Property claims fall within a strongly anomalous lake bottom sediment trend, indicating potential for LCT pegmatite mineralization within the Property (Figure 8).

Figure 6: Property position within the greenstone belts

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Figure 7: Lake bottom Cesium anomalies

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Figure 8: Lake bottom lithium anomalies

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Qualified Person Statement and Cautionary Statements

This news release contains scientific and technical information with respect to adjacent or other properties to the Company's Lake George and Agastya projects, which the Company currently has no interest in or rights to explore. Readers are cautioned that information regarding the geology, mineralization and historical production on adjacent or other properties is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization potential on the Company's properties.

All scientific and technical information in this news release relating to the Lake George Project has been prepared and approved by Paul Teniere, P.Geo., Technical Advisor to the Company and considered a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101.

All scientific and technical information in this news release relating to the Agastya Project has been prepared and approved by Louis Martin, P.Geo., Technical Advisor to the Company and is considered a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101.

About Hertz Energy Inc.

The Company is a British Columbia based junior exploration company primarily engaged in the acquisition and exploration of energy metals mineral properties. The Company is focused on advancing its Lake George Antimony-Tungsten-Gold Project (the "Tungmony Project"), in New Brunswick, a strategically positioned claims package surrounding the past-producing Lake George Antimony Mine. Hertz Energy's 100%-owned Harriman Antimony Project in the Gaspé Region of Québec and Agastya Lithium Project in James Bay, Québec are part of the Company's growing property portfolio. The Company is also focused on advancing the Crag and Rod properties, together with and including the Craig silver-lead-zinc deposit (collectively the "Craig Silver Project"), located in east-central Yukon, situated within the Craig Belt, a prospective sub-belt of the ~175-kilometre-long Rackla Belt, a region recognized for hosting some of Yukon's highest-grade silver-lead-zinc and gold mineralization.

About Antimony-In Short Supply

In August 2024, China announced antimony export restrictions which took effect on September 15, 2024 (source: Reuters, August 28, 2024) and have had significant implications for the global antimony supply chain. China's announcement of antimony export restrictions has added fuel to a red-hot market and opens another potential flash-point with the West for control of critical minerals. Antimony is a little-known metal with multiple applications. Antimony's largest end-use is as a flame retardant, but it is also found in solar panels and batteries. The U.S. Department of the Interior has designated it a critical mineral because it is also essential for armour-piercing ammunition, infrared sensors, and precision optics.

As of early July 2026, antimony pricing is around US$52,000/t after peaking near US$59,750/t in mid-2025 in part because of shrinking exports from major producers and a global deficit of the metal. China's exports are in medium-term decline due to higher demand from its solar energy sector, while Russian supply has been crimped by falling output and Western sanctions. The flow from other big producing nations such as Vietnam, Tajikistan, and Myanmar has been disrupted by the re-routing of shipments from the Red Sea due to Houthi attacks on shipping.

Analysts estimate the market was already looking at a 10,000-ton shortfall before China's export restrictions. These new controls are not targeted at any specific country, but Chinese authorities can refuse licences to export to individual end-user companies or countries as they see fit.

For further information, please contact Mr. Kal Malhi or view the Company's filings at www.sedarplus.ca.

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

Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, generally identified by words such as "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "targets" and similar expressions, or statements that events "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Forward-looking information here includes, among other things, statements regarding the interpretation and usefulness of the airborne survey data; the generation and prioritization of exploration targets; the scope, timing and results of the Company's planned 2026 exploration program, including prospecting, mapping, soil geochemistry, IP surveying and up to 3,000 metres of diamond drilling contingent on earlier results; the potential for mineralization associated with the historic Lake George Mine to extend onto the Company's claims; and expectations regarding antimony and critical mineral markets.

This information reflects management's current expectations and is based on assumptions regarding, among other things, the availability of capital, personnel and permits, and commodity prices remaining supportive of exploration. It involves risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including the inherent uncertainty of mineral exploration and the risk that no economically viable mineralization is identified; the risk that geophysical or geological interpretations prove incorrect; the availability of financing; commodity and antimony price volatility; permitting, regulatory, environmental, Indigenous consultation and mineral title risks; and general economic and market conditions. Readers are cautioned that the Company does not own, and has no interest in or rights to explore, the former Lake George Antimony Mine site, and that information regarding adjacent or other properties is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization potential of the Company's properties.

Forward-looking information reflects management's views as of the date of this news release. Readers should not place undue reliance on it, and, except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update it.

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