American Pacific Mining Commences Field Reconnaissance and Sampling Program at the Red Hill Gold Project, Nevada

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2026) - American Pacific Mining Corp. (CSE: USGD) (OTCQX: USGDF) (FSE: 1QC) (WKN: A422L8) ("American Pacific", or the "Company") is pleased to announce the commencement of a field reconnaissance and surface sampling program at its Red Hill Gold Project ("Red Hill" or the "Project") in Eureka County, Nevada.

The field program was designed to advance the Company's geological understanding of priority target areas and provide additional surface geochemical information across select portions of the Project. During the program, field crews collected rock samples from areas of geological interest, including prospective alteration zones, structurally prepared silicified outcrops, and historically identified target areas.

"Our initial 2026 field work has resulted in the rediscovery of a large, prominent jasperoid outcrop containing strong barite mineralization and multiple brecciation phases," commented Managing Director of Exploration, Eric Saderholm. "Jasperoids with these kinds of textures are commonly associated with Carlin-style systems. While they are rarely ore grade, they are spatially and temporally associated with some of the larger systems along both the Carlin and Cortez Trends. Using detailed mapping of the fractures, veins and breccia controls, we hope to derive vectors toward the intersections of these feeding structures and the more favourable limestone hosts interpreted to be found at depth. This is a very important revelation and is an important indicator of a nearby sediment-hosted system."

Red Hill is a sediment-hosted gold project located within the prolific Cortez Trend in Nevada (see Figure 1). The Project comprises 79 claims covering approximately 1,500 acres and is located approximately 24 kilometres southeast of the Cortez Hills gold deposit. The Project hosts hydrothermally altered lower-plate carbonate rocks, altered intrusive dikes and favourable structural orientation for Carlin-style gold mineralization in Nevada.

Figure 1: Property location within the Cortez Trend

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Previous drilling by a prior operator at Red Hill returned significant gold mineralization, including drill hole BRH-013, which intersected 24.4 metres of 4.99 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold from 585.4 to 609.8 metres, including 13.7 metres of 8.11 g/t Au from 585.4 to 599.1 metres.ⁱ Gold mineralization at Red Hill is reported to be hosted in silty carbonate rocks of the Denay Formation and associated with altered lamprophyre dikes and anomalous pathfinder elements: arsenic, antimony, mercury, and thallium, features that are considered indicative of a Carlin-style gold system.

The Company believes Red Hill remains underexplored, particularly for deeper targets and covered areas beneath pediment gravels. Historic work on the Project included geologic mapping, geochemical surveys, geophysical surveys, and drilling; however, American Pacific believes portions of the Project have not been adequately tested for deeper sediment-hosted gold potential, particularly in the context of nearby large gold systems along the Cortez Trend, including Barrick's Goldrush discovery located 12 kilometres northwest.

Importantly, Company geologists identified and sampled a barite-rich jasperoid occurrence within the Red Hill Project area (see Image 1). Jasperoid development is commonly associated with hydrothermal fluid flow in carbonate-hosted gold systems and represents an important surface expression of silica replacement, structural permeability, and fluid pathways. The presence of barite within the jasperoid is considered noteworthy, as barite often occurs as a gangue mineral in hydrothermal systems associated with broader alteration assemblages relevant to Carlin-style gold exploration.

Image 1: Eric Saderholm, Managing Director of Exploration, sampling barite-rich jasperoid outcrop. Red Hill Gold Project, Nevada. May 2026.

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The current reconnaissance program focused on verifying field relationships, evaluating alteration and structural features, and collecting representative rock samples for geochemical analysis. Samples have been submitted to an accredited laboratory for analysis, with results expected to be released following receipt, review, and quality assurance/quality control procedures. Results are expected during Q2.

Red Hill Project Quality Assurance and Quality Control Statement

American Pacific Mining is committed to maintaining high-quality exploration and analytical practices at the Red Hill Project. Rock chip and sediment samples were collected by Company personnel under the supervision of qualified geological staff. Samples were securely bagged, labelled, and transported under chain-of-custody procedures to ALS Global Laboratories Geochemistry, 1345 Water St, Elko, NV 89801, USA, an independent ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory.

Samples will be prepared and analyzed using industry standard analytical methods, including ME-MS41, Au-AA23. The Company will review laboratory internal QA/QC results, including standards, blanks, and duplicate analyses. Final assay certificates will be delivered directly to the Company by ALS Global Laboratories.

The results of rock chip sampling are selective by nature. Accordingly, the results of rock chip sampling are not necessarily indicative of mineralization across the Project.

Qualified Person Statement

Technical aspects of this press release have been reviewed and approved by the designated Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, Eric Saderholm, P.Geo., Managing Director of Exploration for the Company.

This news release references mining projects which are nearby or geologically similar to the Red Hill Gold Project. Mineralization at these projects is not necessarily indicative of mineralization at the Red Hill Gold Project.

About American Pacific Mining Corp.

American Pacific Mining is a precious and base metals explorer focused on opportunities in the Western United States. The Company's flagship asset is the 100%-owned past-producing Madison Copper-Gold Project in Montana. For the Madison transaction, American Pacific was selected as a finalist in both 2021 and 2022 for 'Deal of the Year' at the S&P Global Platts Metals Awards, an annual program that recognizes exemplary accomplishments in 16 performance categories. Through a 2025 transaction with Vizsla Copper, American Pacific has established a major equity position with milestone upside exposure to the advanced exploration-stage Palmer Copper-Zinc VMS Project in Alaska. American Pacific also holds a significant equity position in ICG Silver & Gold through a spin out of the Tuscarora District Project in Nevada. Several additional high-grade, precious metals projects located in key mining districts in Nevada remain in the asset portfolio. The Company's mission is to provide shareholders discovery and exploration upside exposure across its portfolio through partnerships, spin-outs and direct exploration.

On behalf of the American Pacific Mining Corp Board of Directors: 

The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release includes certain statements and information that constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements and forward-looking information specifically include, the Company's planned exploration on the Red Hill Gold Project, and the timing for receipt of the results of exploration.

Any statements or information that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "estimates", "intends", "targets", "goals", "forecasts", "objectives", "potential" or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be considered forward-looking information. The Company's forward-looking information is based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management as of the date of this press release and include but are not limited to information with respect to, the transaction and receipt of all necessary approvals therefor. Other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's assumptions, beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, or changes in any other events affecting such statements or information. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

ⁱ*See Miranda Gold Corp. news release titled "Significant Carlin-Style Gold Mineralization Intersected at Red Hill" (December 5, 2006), for full details. Historical intercepts have not been independently verified by the Company.

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