Preliminary Economic Assessment On Entire Moonlight-Superior Project

TORONTO - US Copper Corp has retained Global Resource Engineering of Denver, Colorado (GRE) to complete a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) on its Moonlight-Superior Copper Project in Northeast California. The Moonlight-Superior Copper Project in Northeast California includes four known copper deposits, three of which host National Instrument 43-101 resources. US Copper had a PEA prepared on the Moonlight deposit on a stand-alone basis in 2018, which demonstrated positive economics at US$3.15 per pound of copper. The 2018 PEA recommended that incorporating higher grade ore from our Superior and/or Engels deposits into the Moonlight mine plan, could substantially enhance the Project's economics by increasing cash flows in the initial years of production. The Company's recently completed drill programs at Superior in 2021 and at Engels and Moonlight in 2023 were designed to both convert inferred resources to the indicated category, and to better define any higher-grade ore at these deposits for potential starter pits for the Moonlight plant. These soon to be updated Engels and Superior NI-43-101 resources will provide the data for a revised PEA which will also include a newly defined oxide resource at both the Moonlight and Engels deposits.

"Encouraged by the recent addition of copper to the U.S. critical minerals list, we look forward to conducting a preliminary economic assessment to evaluate the viability of a mining operation that includes our three deposits with NI 43-101 resources as well as the oxide caps at both our Moonlight and Engels deposits," said Stephen Dunn, President and CEO. Results from our exploration drill programs at Moonlight and Engels last year confirmed a near-surface copper oxide cap sits above the larger copper sulfide deposits below. These types of copper oxide deposits are found in the major copper mining districts of the world and can typically be economically extracted, usually through low-impact surface mining, and processed at lower cost than copper sulfide ores. Furthermore, acid leaching of oxide copper produces high grade copper cathodes, with grade A cathode typically selling for a premium.

The Company is working hard to advance its Project back into production and is excited about the opportunity to be an integral supplier of the copper metal required by the U.S. domestic market for its energy transition. We are looking forward to working with GRE, and drawing upon the extensive knowledge of their team."