VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Brutus Mining Inc. (“Brutus” or the “Company”) (CSE: BRU) (FSE: ZI3) is pleased to announce it has entered into a Property Option Agreement dated November 5, 2026 (the “Agreement”) with Benton Resources Inc. (TSXV: BEX) and Metals Creek Resources Corp. (TSXV: MEK) (together, the “Optionors”) under which the Company has been granted the option to acquire a 100% interest in the Bay of Islands Project (the “Project”) in Western Newfoundland (Please see Figure 1). The Project is comprised of three (3) licenses totalling 334 claim units with an area of 83.5 square kilometres and is considered favourable for potentially hosting natural hydrogen.
“The Bay of Islands project hosts a large serpentinite-bearing ultramafic unit near documented structures and faults viewed as favourable for the occurrence of natural hydrogen,” said Christos Doulis, Chief Executive Officer of Brutus. “Historic oil and gas exploration at the Little Port, Bottle Cove, Trumpet Cove and Chimney Cove areas encountered bituminous outcrop, pyrobitumen and trace quantities of live oil and oily tar as well as hydrocarbon staining, all positive indicators for natural hydrogen exploration.”
Figure 1. Bay of Islands Hydrogen Project – Regional Geology Map in Western Newfoundland
Atlantic Canada is emerging as a highly prospective area for hydrogen exploration, with Western Newfoundland having experienced a recent increase in project generation, such as First Atlantic Nickel’s Ophiolite-X project and Luma Hydrogen’s Lewis Hills Hydrogen Claims, both proximal to and in geologically similar environments to Brutus’ Bay of Islands Project.
A 2024 study evaluating natural hydrogen potential across Quebec noted that the “potential for natural hydrogen in southern Quebec is not necessarily limited to these areas. Key areas of interest include: 1) ophiolite complexes, which are correlative with the Bay of Islands complex in Newfoundland where Szponar et al. (2013) sampled strongly alkaline and highly reducing water sources containing dissolved hydrogen.”
Similarly, a 1985 article from Tectonophysics suggests that the Bay of Islands Complex (which hosts First Atlantic Nickel’s Ophiolite-X project) and the Coastal Complex (which hosts Brutus’ Bay of Islands project) ophiolites formed within a main ocean basin (i.e., the early Paleozoic Iapetus Ocean) along a seafloor spreading center and ridge-ridge transform fault, respectively.
Planned Work
The Project will be further evaluated utilizing a compilation of public geoscience data and structural interpretation leading to a proposed soil-gas survey and seismic mapping during the 2027 field season.
Terms of the Agreement
Pursuant to the Agreement entered into on November 5, 2026 (the “Effective Date”), the Company has an option (the “Option”) to acquire a 100% undivided interest in the Project, by paying the Optionors an aggregate of $100,000 in cash ($20,000 within 10 business days of the Effective Date and $30,000 and $50,000 on or before the first and second anniversaries of the Effective Date) and issuing to the Optionors 1,200,000 common shares in the capital of the Company (the “Shares”) at a deemed price per Share of $0.76 (200,000 Shares within 30 business days of the Effective Date and 400,000 and 600,000 Shares on or before the first and second anniversaries of the Effective Date). The Company may accelerate any cash payment or Share issuance at its election.
Upon exercise of the Option, the Optionors will be granted a 3% Gross Metals Returns (“GMR”) on the Project with 1.5% of the GMR being redeemable for a $1,000,000 payment to the Optionors. In the instance that the Option is not fully exercised, the Project must have work expenditures able to keep the three (3) licenses in good standing for at least six (6) months if and so returned.
In addition to any hold period required under applicable securities laws and the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange (“CSE”), the Shares issued pursuant to the Agreement will be subject to contractual resale restrictions. The first and second tranche Shares will be subject to contractual resale restrictions expiring thirty-six (36) months from issuance, with the exception of 100,000 Shares under the first tranche and 100,000 Shares under the second tranche. The third tranche Shares will be subject to contractual resale restrictions expiring twelve (12) months from issuance. The Agreement is subject to acceptance by the CSE.
References
1 – Large-Scale Screening for Natural Hydrogen: A Quebec’s Perspective
About Brutus Mining Inc.
Brutus Mining Inc. (CSE: BRU) (FSE: ZI3) is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and advancement of high potential copper-gold assets in Tier-1 mining jurisdictions. The Company’s flagship asset is the CW Copper Project, a 2,894-hectare copper-gold project located approximately 100 kilometres north of Kamloops, British Columbia, as described herein. Brutus is committed to unlocking value for its shareholders through systematic exploration of district-scale projects positioned to benefit from the growing global demand for critical minerals. The Company continues to assess other critical minerals properties in Canada in order to build a well-structured property portfolio, thus offering multiple opportunities to investors for new mineral discoveries.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
Christos Doulis
Chief Executive Officer, Director
+1 (604) 636-7335
info@brutusmining.com
Forward-Looking Information
This news release includes certain “Forward-Looking Statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and “forward-looking information” under applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “target”, “plan”, “forecast”, “may”, “would”, “could”, “schedule” and similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information.
Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information relating to any future mineral production, liquidity, enhanced value and capital markets profile of the Company, future growth potential for the Company and its business, and future exploration plans are based on management’s reasonable assumptions, estimates, expectations, analyses and opinions, which are based on management’s experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, and other factors that management believes are relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, but which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the price of copper, gold and other metals; costs of exploration and development; the estimated costs of development of exploration projects; the Company’s ability to operate in a safe and effective manner and its ability to obtain financing on reasonable terms.
This news release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of the Canadian securities laws. Statements, other than statements of historical fact, may constitute forward-looking information and include, without limitation, statements with respect to the Agreement, including the Company’s ability to make the cash payments and Share issuances required to exercise the Option and the receipt of CSE acceptance; the Project and its mineralization potential; the Company’s objectives, goals, or future plans with respect to the Project; and further exploration work on the Project in the future. With respect to the forward-looking information contained in this news release, the Company has made numerous assumptions regarding, among other things, the geological, metallurgical, engineering, financial and economic advice that the Company has received is reliable and are based upon practices and methodologies which are consistent with industry standards. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies. Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. Known risk factors include, among others: fluctuations in commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of copper, gold and other metal deposits; uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs, recovery rates, production estimates and estimated economic return; the need for cooperation of government agencies in the exploration and development of properties and the issuance of required permits; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs or in construction projects and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals; increased costs and restrictions on operations due to compliance with environmental and other requirements; increased costs affecting the metals industry and increased competition in the metals industry for properties, qualified personnel, and management. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law.
The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6a2ae544-7576-471b-b8b3-98ee7f59dc6c
