Hayasa Metals Enters Exploration Alliance in Armenia

Hayasa Metals Inc., a Vancouver-based exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: HAY) and the OTCQB (OTC: HAYAF), has entered into a strategic exploration alliance with a major mining company (MMC) to advance copper exploration and other critical metals exploration in a strategic area of interest in southern Armenia. The term sheet, dated September 17, 2026, outlines the terms of the alliance and is intended as a framework, though it remains subject to the negotiation and execution of definitive agreements.

Under the Alliance, Hayasa will collaborate with the MMC to conduct copper exploration within a defined Alliance Area of Interest (Alliance AOI) in the southern part of Armenia. The Alliance aims to identify and develop economically viable mineral deposits in the Tethyan Belt in Armenia.

The Alliance Phase will have a term of two years from the date of execution and will be solely funded by the MMC. US$1,000,000 must be spent within the Alliance AOI in order to enable a First Option in a Designated Project. The goal of the Alliance Phase is to identify one or more project areas with the potential for discovery of a large orebody. Such areas may be deemed a Designated Project under the Alliance once the Alliance minimum expenditures have been completed. The MMC will have the sole and exclusive option to exercise the First Option and earn a 51% interest in each Designated Project by incurring or funding aggregate expenditures of US$1,000,000 per Designated Project over a period of two years. Hayasa will be the operator during the First Option.

After completing the first expenditure threshold, the MMC will have the sole and exclusive right for the Second Option stage to increase its interest in the Designated Project from 51% to 70% by incurring or funding additional aggregate expenditures of US$3,000,000 in respect of such Designated Project over a period of three years following the exercise of the First Option. A joint venture may be established in respect of a Designated Project if the MMC has completed the Second Option Expenditures and delivered notice to Hayasa electing to form the Joint Venture, or the MMC has completed the First Option Expenditures and delivered notice to Hayasa that it does not intend to complete the Second Option expenditures. Upon establishment of the Joint Venture, the participating interests of the MMC and Hayasa will be based on their respective interests in the Designated Project at that time, and each party will fund its pro rata share of approved expenditures, subject to Hayasa's Funding Holiday (as described below).

During the 18-month period immediately following the establishment of the Joint Venture, Hayasa may elect to defer funding its share of approved operational budgets, in which case the MMC shall fund such amounts. The proposed terms above and the Alliance are subject to definitive documentation.

Hayasa Metals Inc. also announced that it has received notice from Teck Resources Limited of its election to terminate its option on the Vardenis property. The Vardenis property comprises the largest "color anomaly" in Armenia, a 35 km² hydrothermally altered surface expression easily identifiable on satellite images and which hosts anomalous metal values throughout. The 93 km² exploration license was returned to Hayasa after a 10-hole drill program in a portion of the license area hosting the most robust molybdenum anomalies. The area drilled to date covers only approximately 4 km² in the far northwestern section of the license; while anomalous surface soil geochemistry, particularly for gold, extends a further six km to the east and southeast. Hayasa management believes that the Vardenis license has not yet been fully tested and that significant exploration potential remains. As most explorationists are aware, it usually takes more than one or two drill campaigns to make a significant discovery.

Additionally, the company has received consent from the Exchange to extend the expiry date of 11,165,22 units with 5,582,641 share purchase warrants attached with an exercise price of $0.22 for an additional year, with the new exercise date being March 23, 2028. The warrants are attached to the 11,165,22 units of the company, which were issued in a news release dated September 4, 2026.

Hayasa Metals Inc. is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.