Expansion Drill Program AT Stillwater West Nickel-PGE-Copper-Cobalt And Gold Project

VANCOUVER - Stillwater Critical Minerals Corp. reported the start of the 2023 expansion drilling at its Stillwater West nickel-PGE-copper-cobalt and gold project in Montana, in addition to providing an update on other initiatives including work already underway.

Drilling will focus on expansion of the NI 43-101-compliant resources announced January 25, 2023 which demonstrated world-class grade and scale with 1.6 billion pounds of nickel, copper and cobalt and 3.8 million ounces of palladium, platinum, rhodium, and gold ("4E") in a base case study totaling 255 million tonnes ("Mt"), with a high-grade component of 11.6 Mt grading 1.05% recovered nickel equivalent (as 0.56% Ni, 0.33% Cu, 0.03% Co,0.54 g/t Pd, 0.27 g/t Pt, 0.15 g/t Au and 0.019 g/t Rh).

Priority is on expansion of high-grade mineralization at the DR-Hybrid deposit at Chrome Mountain, including: Drill hole CM2021-05, which returned 13.2 meters grading 2.89% Recovered Nickel Equivalent1 (NiEq) (2.31% Ni, 1.51 g/t 4E, 0.35% Cu, and 0.115% Co), starting at 37.6 meters. This high-grade mineralization, contained within 400.8 meters of continuous battery and precious metal mineralization, is of a type not previously identified in the Stillwater district and appears to be related to 8.5 meters of similar high-grade, high-tenor nickel sulphide returned in hole CM2020-04, approximately 125 meters downdip to the west.

Drilling is also expected to expand on high-grade targets at the CZ and HGR deposits at Iron Mountain, up to nine kilometers east of Chrome Mountain, as step-outs from the following intercepts: Drill hole CZ2021-01, which returned 63.7 meters grading 0.86% NiEq (0.47% Ni, 0.42 g/t Pd, 0.27% Cu, and 0.04% Co as well as significant Pt and Au values), within 367.6 meters of continuous mineralization. This hole was a step-out from hole CZ2019-01 which returned 62.0 meters grading 0.56% NiEq and also 3.54 meters of 2.67% NiEq (as 1.53% Ni, 0.49% Cu, 0.099% Co, and 3.45 g/t 4E) within 399 meters of continuous mineralization, starting at surface. The CZ deposit benefits from a historic resource and positive preliminary metallurgical work completed by AMAX in the 1970s. Drill hole IM2021-05 in the HGR deposit area returned 7.3 meters grading 0.70% NiEq (as 0.45% Ni, 0.51 g/t 4E, 0.17% Cu and 0.026% Co), and 2.4 meters 2.04% NiEq (as 1.55% Ni, 0.85 g/t 4E, 0.17% Cu, and 0.087% Co), within 379.2 meters of continuous battery and precious metal mineralization starting at surface. This hole was a step-out from hole IM2019-03 which returned 26.8 meters grading 0.85% NiEq (as 0.34% Ni, 0.15% Cu, 0.019% Co, and 1.24 g/t 4E) within 272.5 meters of continuous mineralization.

The 2023 campaign will be the first to apply updated geological models which incorporate similar geology from South Africa's Platreef district. This campaign is funded by the recent 9.99% strategic equity investment by Glencore and is expected to consist of approximately 5,000 meters of diamond core drilling.

Michael Rowley, President and CEO, said, "We are very pleased to announce the arrival of equipment and crews for our 2023 drill campaign with a view to expanding our recent high-grade nickel and copper sulphide discoveries, enriched in cobalt and precious metals. Those intercepts included some of the widest and highest-grade intervals in their respective years and drove a robust and low-cost expansion of our previous mineral resource. We are focused on continuing that trend as we apply our new understanding of the geology of the Stillwater complex from the giant mines of South Africa. The broader fundamentals are stronger than ever for our sector, and the recent strategic investment by Glencore in Stillwater is an important validation of both the project and the underlying fundamentals of US critical mineral supply. We look forward to further announcements from this iconic and expanding American mining district, which has been producing high-grade critical minerals for over one hundred years."

Danie Grobler, Vice-President of Exploration, commented, "It's exciting to be embarking on the 2023 drill campaign, which will be the first ever in the Stillwater Igneous Complex that incorporates detailed structural and stratigraphic models from very similar mineralization in South Africa's Bushveld Igneous Complex. Field work, which commenced in June, includes a ground-based high resolution magnetic survey which has already provided a clear response to the high-grade massive sulphide zone identified in holes CM2021-05 and CM2020-04 holes noted above, further defining that target while also delineating stratigraphic and structural controls on mineralization. The world-class size and well-mineralized nature of the Stillwater complex, coupled with our new understanding of the structure and controls on mineralization, has provided us with a large number of targets to guide expansion of the existing resources while also leading us into exciting new areas.”