Copper Quest Exploration Inc. (CSE: CQX,OTC:IMIMF; OTCQB: IMIMF; FRA: 3MX) (‘Copper Quest’ or the ‘Company’) announces that it has entered into a securities for debt settlement agreement dated February 11, 2026 (the ‘Agreement’) with a professional advisor of the Company.

Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company has agreed to settle debt in the amount of $113,405.28 through the issuance of 872,348 units (each, a ‘Unit‘) at a deemed price of $0.13 per Unit, whereby each Unit shall be comprised of one (1) common share in the capital of the Company (each a ‘Share‘) and one (1) Share purchase warrant (each whole, being a ‘Warrant‘). Each Warrant will be convertible into an additional Share (a ‘Warrant Share‘) at an exercise price of $0.165 per Warrant Share and will expire on the date that is two (2) years following the date of issuance (the ‘Expiry Date‘). The Expiry Date shall be subject to acceleration should the closing price of the Shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange (or any such other stock exchange in Canada as the Shares may trade at the applicable time) equal or exceed $0.50 for ten (10) consecutive trading days at any time from the date which is 4 months following their date of issue, the Company may accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants such that the Warrants shall expire on the date which is 30 calendar days following the date a news release is issued by the Company announcing the accelerated expiry date of the Warrants.

The Agreement and the issuance of the securities thereunder are subject to the approval of the CSE. The securities will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day pursuant to CSE policies and applicable securities laws.

About Copper Quest

The company’s land holdings comprise 7 projects that span over 45,000 hectares in great mining jurisdictions of Canada and the USA. Copper Quest is committed to building shareholder value through acquisitions, discovery-driven exploration, and responsible development of its North American critical mineral portfolio of assets. The Company’s common shares are principally listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange under the symbol ‘CQX’. For more information on Copper Quest, please visit the Company’s website at www.copper.quest.

Copper Quest has a 100% interest in the past-producing Alpine Gold Mine located approximately 20 kilometers northeast of the City of Nelson British Columbia, spanning 4,611.49 hectares with a 2018 National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects historical inferred resource of 268,000 tonnes, estimated using a cut-off grade of 5.0 g/t Au and an average grade of 16.52 g/t Au, that represents an inferred resource of 142,000 oz of gold (McCuaig & Giroux, 2018)*. Apart from the Alpine Mine itself the property hosts 4 other less explored significant vein systems including the past-producing King Solomon vein workings, the Black Prince and the Cold Blow veins system, and the Gold Crown vein system. *The Company has not yet completed sufficient work to verify the 2018 historic inferred resource results.

Copper Quest has a 100% interest in the road accessible Stars Porphyry Copper-Molybdenum Property, spanning 9,693 hectares in central British Columbia’s Bulkley Porphyry Belt with Tana Zone discovery drill intersection highlights of 0.466% Cu over 195.07m* in drill hole DD18SS004 from 23.47m, 0.200% Cu over 396.67m* in drill hole DD18SS010 from 29.37m, and 0.205% Cu over 207.27m* in drill hole DD18SS015 from 163.98m. This highly prospective, approximately 5 X 2.5 kilometer annular magnetic anomaly is interpreted to represent an altered monzonite intrusion and surrounding hornfels.

Copper Quest has a 100% interest in the road accessible Kitimat Copper-Gold Property, spanning 2,954 hectares within the Skeena Mining Division of northwestern British Columbia located northwest of the deep-water port community of Kitimat, British Columbia. The property benefits from exceptional infrastructure, being within 10 km of tidewater, 1.5 km of rail, and 6 km of high-voltage hydroelectric transmission lines. Exploration on the Kitimat property dates to the late 1960s, with the most significant historical work conducted by Decade Resources Ltd. (2010), which completed 16 diamond drill holes totaling 4,437.5 meters in the Jeannette Cu-Au Zone, and drill intersection highlights of 1.03 g/t Au, 0.54% Cu over 117.07 m in Hole J-7 from 1.52 m, 1.00 g/t Au, 0.55% Cu over 103.65m in Hole J-1 from 9.15 m, 0.80 g/t Au, 0.45% Cu over 107.01m in Hole J-2 from 6.10 m, and 0.41 g/t Au, 0.33% Cu over 112.20m in Hole J-8 from 11.89 m.

Copper Quest has a 100% interest in the Nekash Copper-Gold Project, a porphyry exploration opportunity located in Lemhi County, Idaho, USA, along the prolific Idaho-Montana porphyry copper belt that hosts world-class systems such as Butte and CUMO. The project is fully road-accessible via maintained U.S. highways and forest service roads and consists of 70 unpatented federal lode claims covering 585 hectares.

Copper Quest has a 100% interest in the road accessible Stellar Property, spanning 5,389-hectares in British Columbia’s Bulkley Porphyry Belt contiguous to the Stars Property.

Copper Quest has a 100% interest in the Thane Project located in the Quesnel Terrane of Northern British Columbia spanning over 20,658 hectares with 10 priority targets identified demonstrating significant copper and precious metal mineralization potential.

Copper Quest has an earn-in option of up to 80% and joint-venture agreement on the road accessible Rip Porphyry Copper-Molybdenum Project, spanning 4,700-hectares located in the Bulkley Porphyry Belt in central British Columbia.

On behalf of the Board of Copper Quest Exploration Inc.

Brian Thurston, P.Geo.
Chief Executive Officer and Director
Tel: 778-949-1829

For further information contact:
Investor Relations
info@copper.quest

https://x.com/CSECQX
https://ca.linkedin.com/company/copper-quest

Forward Looking Information

This news release contains certain ‘forward-looking information’ and ‘forward-looking statements’ (collectively, ‘forward-looking statements‘) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein, including without limitation, future operations and activities of Copper Quest, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as ‘expects’, ‘anticipates’, ‘believes’, ‘intends’, ‘estimates’, ‘potential’, ‘possible’, and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results ‘will’, ‘may’, ‘could’, or ‘should’ occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation, risks associated with possible accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, risks associated with the interpretation of exploration results, the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances necessary to carry out the Company’s exploration plans, the risk that the Company will not be able to raise sufficient funds to carry out its business plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes that might interfere with the Company’s business and prospects. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these items. The Company does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by applicable securities laws.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this press release, and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Rua Gold INC. (TSXV: RUA,OTC:NZAUF) (OTCQB: NZAUF) (‘Rua Gold’ or the ‘Company’) is pleased to announce that the Company will be uplisting to the Toronto Stock Exchange (the ‘TSX’). The common shares of the Company (the ‘Common Shares’) will be voluntarily delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange effective as of close of market on Friday, February 13, 2026, and will commence trading on the TSX effective at the opening of the market on Tuesday, February 17, 2026 under its current ticker symbol, ‘RUA’.

Robert Eckford, CEO of Rua Gold, commented: ‘Graduating to the TSX is a significant milestone for Rua Gold. The uplisting will enhance our visibility in the capital markets and enable us to continue to attract key institutional and retail investors as we continue to develop the Reefton Project and Glamorgan Project in New Zealand.’

Rua Gold will continue to remain a ‘reporting issuer’ under applicable Canadian securities laws, and the Common Shares will also remain listed on the OTCQB under the symbol ‘NZAUF’. Shareholders are not required to take any action in connection with the TSX uplisting.

About Rua Gold

Rua Gold is an exploration company, strategically focused on New Zealand. With decades of expertise, their team has successfully taken major discoveries into producing world-class mines across multiple continents. The team is focused on maximizing the asset potential of Rua Gold’s two highly prospective high-grade gold projects.

The Company controls the Reefton Gold District as the dominant landholder in the Reefton Goldfield on New Zealand’s South Island with over 120,000 hectares of tenements, in a district that historically produced over 2Moz of gold grading between 9 and 50g/t.

The Company’s Glamorgan Project solidifies Rua Gold’s position as a leading high-grade gold explorer on New Zealand’s North Island. This highly prospective project is located within the North Islands’ Hauraki district, a region that has produced an impressive 15Moz of gold and 60Moz of silver. Glamorgan is adjacent to OceanaGold Corporation’s biggest gold mining project, Wharekirauponga.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed ‘forward-looking statements’. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words ‘expects’, ‘plans’, ‘anticipates’, ‘believes’, ‘intends’, ‘estimates’, ‘projects’, ‘potential’ and similar expressions, or that events or conditions ‘will’, ‘would’, ‘may’, ‘could’ or ‘should’ occur and specifically include statements regarding: the Company’s strategies, expectations, planned operations or future actions including but not limited to exploration programs at its New Zealand properties; the intended listing date on the TSX and the delisting date on the TSX Venture Exchange. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.

Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. A variety of inherent risks, uncertainties and factors, many of which are beyond the Company’s control, affect the operations, performance and results of the Company and its business, and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results expressed or implied by forward looking statements. Some of these risks, uncertainties and factors include: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; risks related to the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war; risks related to climate change; operational risks in exploration, delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration projects or capital expenditures; the actual results of current exploration activities; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; changes in labour costs and other costs and expenses or equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, including but not limited to environmental hazards, flooding or unfavorable operating conditions and losses, insurrection or war, delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing, and commodity prices. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company’s forward-looking statements and reference should also be made to the Company’s documents filed under its SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca for a description of additional risk factors.

Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company’s management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management’s beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/283786