• Five holes reported - four first-pass step-outs, all mineralized - extend the Contention mineralized system 255 meters to the north-northeast in the North Extension target, with high grade mineralization at both ends and open to the north and to the sides

• Drill hole TR26-41 returned 83.8 m averaging 0.90 g/t Au and 22.61 g/t Ag (1.31 g/t AuEq) from 24.4 m, including 7.6 m averaging 6.97 g/t Au and 75.42 g/t Ag (8.34 g/t AuEq) from 42.7 m

• TR26-43, the most northerly hole for which assay results have been reported to date, returned 51.8 m averaging 0.70 g/t Au and 25.59 g/t Ag (1.16 g/t AuEq) from 85.3 m, including 19.8 m averaging 1.93 g/t Au and 58.01 g/t Ag (2.99 g/t AuEq), extending the known Contention mineralization approximately 255 m further north from TR25-26 to over 1,250 meters and leaving it open

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / September 2, 2026 / Aztec Minerals Corp. (AZT:TSXV)(OTCQB:AZZTF) ("Aztec" or the "Company") announces that drilling has extended the Contention mineralized system to over 1,250 meters of continuously drilled strike length at its Tombstone Property in southeastern Arizona. The Company today reports results from five reverse circulation ("RC") drill holes, TR26-40 to TR26-44, drilled into the North Extension target on patented mining claims consolidated by Aztec over the past year. Four of the holes are first pass step-outs along the Contention mineralized system in the North Extension target, and all five drill holes intersected oxide gold-silver mineralization. Taken with TR26-33 and 39, reported August 5, 2026, the holes extend the Contention mineralization by 255 m long from TR26-39 in the south to TR26-43 in the north, on ground largely not previously drilled by Aztec, with high grade intervals at both ends and no barren hole in between. The Contention system remains open to the north with over 1,250 meters of demonstrated strike length.

TR26-41, near the center of the North Extension target, returned 83.8 m averaging 0.90 g/t Au and 22.61 g/t Ag (1.31 g/t AuEq) from 24.4 m, including 7.6 m averaging 6.97 g/t Au and 75.42 g/t Ag (8.34 g/t AuEq). TR26-43, the most northerly hole reported to date, extends the zone approximately 90 m further north and returned 51.8 m averaging 0.70 g/t Au and 25.59 g/t Ag (1.16 g/t AuEq) from 85.3 m, including 19.8 m averaging 1.93 g/t Au and 58.01 g/t Ag (2.99 g/t AuEq). At the southern end from TR26-39, TR26-44 returned 22.9 m averaging 0.79 g/t Au and 8.25 g/t Ag (0.94 g/t AuEq) from 10.7 m and a deeper 51.8 m averaging 0.55 g/t Au and 5.61 g/t Ag (0.65 g/t AuEq) from 77.7 m. TR26-40, collared between TR26-39 and TR26-41, demonstrated continuity of mineralization along the zone, and TR26-42 tested the eastern side of the zone with intercepts including 39.6m averaging 0.16 g/t Au and 9.66 g/t Ag (0.34 g/t AuEq).

Ninety-three RC holes have been completed in the 2025-2026 program as at the date of this release, forty in 2025 and fifty-three in 2026. Assay results are pending for the nine most recent holes, TR26-45 to TR26-53, all of which have been completed and two of which, TR26-52 and TR26-53, are collared north of TR26-43 along the trend of the zone. Those results are expected in the coming weeks, and drilling is expected to continue through at least September 2026. Results from the holes reported in this release, together with results from holes TR26-45 through TR26-50, are currently expected to be included in the Company's previously announced maiden mineral resource estimate for the Tombstone Project.

Aztec Minerals CEO Simon Dyakowski commented: "Eighteen months ago this ground was not ours and had not been drilled. Today it is 255 meters of new mineralization inside a system we can now trace continuously for over 1,250 meters, and all of it goes into the maiden resource estimate we expect to publish in Q4. Five holes reported, four of them first-pass step-outs, and all five mineralized, with high grade at both ends and nothing barren in between. TR26-41 and TR26-43 sit 126 meters apart and each carries a high-grade core, which tells us the grade of the Contention system is not confined to one part of the system. The system is open to the north and to the sides, we have nine completed holes with assays pending including two collared beyond TR26-43, and we expect to keep extending it through the balance of the program."

Highlights from the RC drilling reported for the Tombstone Property include:

• Every hole reported in this release intersected oxide gold-silver mineralization. Mineralization along the Contention system is closely associated with the historic underground workings, which are intersected in TR26-41, TR26-43 and TR26-44 and are reported as no sample rather than as zero grade where they fall inside a mineralized interval (see Table 1A).

Figure 1. Tombstone Contention Zone Longitudinal Section, looking west, showing continuous mineralization over 1,250 meters of strike length. The 255 meters of new ground reported in this release is highlighted at the north end of the section.

Figure 2. Plan map showing drill hole collars with Au Eq. (g/t) values from the 2025-2026 drill campaign at the Tombstone Property, southeastern Arizona. Holes reported in this release (TR26-40 to TR26-44) are shown in red; completed holes with assay results pending are shown in green. Previously reported holes are shown in orange and 2020-2024 drill holes in white.

View drill sections here:

Link to section view hole TR26-40
Link to section view hole TR26-41
Link to section view hole TR26-42
Link to section view hole TR26-43
Link to section view hole TR26-44

Table 1A: Drill Results Currently Reported