Brutus Mining to Acquire the Bay of Islands Hydrogen Project

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.”

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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

2 - Geochemical and geological evidence bearing on the origin of the Bay of Islands and Coastal Complex ophiolites of western Newfoundland

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 DoulisChief Executive Officer, Director