VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / May 20, 2026 / Strategic Metals Ltd. (TSXV:SMD) ("Strategic") announces that it has granted GT Resources Inc. ("GT") a staged option to acquire up to a seventy-five percent (75%) interest in the CD copper-gold porphyry property, located in west-central Yukon, approximately 75 km southwest of Western Copper and Gold Corporation's Casino deposit.

The property lies within the southern part of the Dawson Range Gold Belt ("DRGB") and is underlain by the same package of rocks as several DRGB deposits, including the Casino deposit. Mineralization in the belt is commonly associated with Late Cretaceous intrusions, and mineral occurrences at CD include a zone of porphyry-style veining and alteration within a quartz diorite stock and breccia body of Late Cretaceous age. The intrusive rocks are coincident with a 1,200 m by 400 m, very strong copper- (up to 1,485 ppm), gold- (up to 1,270 ppb) and molybdenum- (up to 42 ppm) in-soil anomaly overlapping with prominent geophysical features that have not been drill tested. A nearby epithermal vein target has returned values of up to 6.29 g/t gold from selected rock samples, and has also not been drill tested, while several other geochemical anomalies on the property remain unevaluated.

GT can earn an initial sixty percent (60%) interest in the CD property by completing all of the following by October 15, 2030 (the "First Option"):

• paying Strategic an aggregate $225,000;

• issuing Strategic GT shares equal in value to $225,000; and

• incurring expenditures on the CD property of not less than $10 million.

GT can acquire an additional fifteen percent (15%) interest in the CD property for a total interest of seventy-five percent (75%) by making an additional payment to Strategic of $1 million (or the equivalent value in GT shares) on or before December 15, 2030 (the "Second Option").

Following the exercise of the Second Option, GT and Strategic shall form a 75/25 joint venture to further explore and develop the CD property. If GT elects to exercise the First Option only, GT and Strategic will form a 60/40 joint venture to explore and develop the property.

The property option is subject to GT obtaining TSX Venture Exchange acceptance of the transaction.

Technical information in this news release has been approved by Strategic's Vice President Exploration, Jackson Morton, P.Geo., a qualified person as defined under the terms of National Instrument 43-101.

About Strategic Metals Ltd.

Strategic is a project generator with 18 royalty interests, 15 projects under option to others, and a portfolio of 79 wholly owned projects that are the product of over 50 years of focussed exploration and research by a team with a track record of major discoveries. Projects available for option, joint venture or sale include drill-confirmed prospects and drill-ready targets with high-grade surface showings and/or geochemical anomalies and geophysical features that resemble those at nearby deposits.

Strategic has a current cash position of approximately $5 million and large shareholdings in several active mineral exploration companies including 32% of Broden Mining Ltd., 30.4% of GGL Resources Corp., 28% of Rockhaven Resources Ltd., 15.5% of Silver Range Resources Ltd., and 4.3% of Trifecta Gold Ltd. All these companies are engaged in promising exploration projects. Strategic also owns 15 million shares of Terra CO2 Technologies Holdings Inc. ("Terra"), a private Delaware corporation developing a cost-effective alternative to Portland cement, which recently broke ground on its first low-carbon cementitious materials facility in Cleburne Texas following the closing of a US$124.5M financing.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"W. Douglas Eaton"
President and Chief Executive Officer

For further information concerning Strategic or its various exploration projects please visit our website at www.strategicmetalsltd.com or contact:

Corporate Information
Strategic Metals Ltd.
W. Douglas Eaton
President and C.E.O.
Tel: (604) 688-2568

Investor Inquiries
Richard Drechsler
V.P. Communications
Tel: (604) 687-2522
NA Toll-Free: (888) 688-2522
rdrechsler@strategicmetalsltd.com
https://www.strategicmetalsltd.com

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.

This news release may contain forward looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of exploration and other risk factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from the expected results.

SOURCE: Strategic Metals Ltd.