Highlights

• Prospecting permits received: The Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Energy and Mines has approved the Company's permit application for prospecting, geochemical sampling and ground-based geophysical surveying over all 21 mineral licenses in the expanded ~30,000 hectare (300 km²) regional land package, including the Lewis Lake area.
• Prospecting / Soil geochemistry: A systematic program has begun over five priority regional target areas originally evaluated by Billiton Exploration Canada Ltd. (now BHP) and Rubicon Minerals Corporation.
• Program design: Survey lines at 100 metre intervals, with soil / rock samples taken every 25-metre, giving systematic geochemical coverage over the target areas.
• Drill-confirmed VMS potential: The target areas are in the Wild Bight Group, the host stratigraphy for the Company's 100% owned Pt. Leamington VMS deposit. Billiton/Rubicon evaluation concluded the Lewis Lake area represents an environment permissive of hosting a massive sulphide deposit similar to the Pt. Leamington deposit.

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 18, 2026) - Visionary Copper and Gold Mines Inc. (TSXV: VCG) (OTCQB: VCGMF) (the "Company" or "Visionary") is pleased to announce that it has received its prospecting permits and has started soil and rock sampling over five priority regional target areas at its 100% owned Pt. Leamington Project (the "Project") in central Newfoundland. The five target areas were originally identified and advanced by a joint venture that included Billiton Exploration Canada Ltd. (now BHP) (See news release dated May 21, 2026).

Max Porterfield, President & CEO of Visionary, stated: "With our prospecting permits now in hand, our crew is on the ground and our regional sampling program is underway. This is the first systematic, modern, exploration of the Lewis Lake target areas since Billiton and Rubicon walked away more than two decades ago, leaving a series of compelling, drill-ready targets behind. A disciplined grid of soil and rock sampling on 100-metre lines is the right, cost-effective first step to refine these targets ahead of drill testing."

Prospecting Permits Received

The Company has received approval from the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Energy and Mines (Mineral Lands Division) for its Planned Exploration Work permit for prospecting, geochemical sampling and ground-based geophysical surveying (See news release dated June 4, 2026). The permit covers all 21 mineral licenses comprising the expanded ~30,000 hectare (300 km²) regional land package at Pt. Leamington, including the Lewis Lake area immediately to the east of the Pt. Leamington Deposit. Receipt of the permit clears the way for the Company to conduct systematic ground exploration across the regional land package during the 2026 field season.

Soil and Rock Sampling Program

Visionary has mobilized field crews and commenced a soil and rock sampling program to provide systematic geochemical coverage over the five priority regional target areas. The program is being completed along survey lines spaced 100 metres apart, with soil and rock samples collected at 25-metre increments along each line. This grid-based sampling is intended to define and refine geochemical anomalies, support an updated geological interpretation, and prioritize and vector targets in advance of follow-up ground geophysics and future drill testing.

Soil sampling will be complemented by prospecting and rock (grab and selective) sampling of outcrop, mineralized float and historic showings across the target areas. The program is being conducted concurrently with site preparation for the Company's planned Phase 2 diamond drilling program at the Pt. Leamington VMS deposit.

Summary of the Five Regional Target Areas

The five target areas were selected from exploration generated by Billiton/Rubicon in the Lewis Lake area from 1999 to 2001 described following as sourced from assessment reports filed with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador by the previous operators (see the Company's news release dated May 21, 2026 for full details and citations).

• Target Area 1 - Off-Hole EM Conductors (JEN Grid): Billiton/Rubicon drilling intersected sulphide-rich argillite / chert horizons in felsic volcanics, including a 50 m sulphide-rich section in hole LL2000-02 (best values 1.40 m at 0.185 g/t Au, 0.84 g/t Ag, 178 ppm Cu, 459 ppm Zn). Down-hole EM confirmed a highly conductive zone off-hole, and a strong off-hole Crone EM anomaly at ~170 m depth in hole LL2000-03 was flagged as a priority follow-up target. Neither off-hole conductor was drill tested.
• Target Area 2 - Undrilled 20-Channel Conductor (NBOG / Northern Bog): A strong, near-surface 20-channel EM conductor that couldn't be drilled in 2000-2001 due to extremely wet bog conditions. Nearby hole LL2000-05 intersected a 5.25 m section of massive, laminated pyrrhotite with chert and jasper. It is one of the most significant untested targets on the property.
• Target Area 3 - Multiple Off-Hole EM Conductors (Fall Pond West): Drilling intersected variably altered, pyrrhotite/pyrite-mineralized basalts and chert-jasper horizons with conductive sources identified predominantly off-hole. LL2000-09 gave a strong off-hole EM response at 75 m coincident with the strongest alteration; LL2000-10 intersected a chert-jasper section with elevated gold (up to 0.182 g/t Au) and arsenopyrite, with an off-hole priority EM response, with LL2000-11 lost in a fault zone with the conductor still not tested, off the end of the hole.
• Target Area 4 - Large IP Chargeability Anomaly: A large, only partially tested, induced polarization (IP) chargeability anomaly on the western edge of a circular magnetic high. A single hole (LL2001-15) testing a limited portion of the anomaly, intersected weakly mineralized quartz-feldspar porphyry with chlorite-tremolite-biotite alteration. Other chargeability anomalies within the larger IP grid remain undrilled.
• Target Area 5 - Teddy's Barn Surface Showing: A copper showing discovered in Rubicon's 1999 prospecting, disseminated chalcopyrite in strongly chlorite-altered, quartz-phyric felsic rocks, were traced over a 150 m strike length with values up to 676 ppm Cu. Adjacent grab samples in banded mafic/sedimentary rocks gave up to 6,334 ppm Cu and 1,273 ppm Zn.

QA / QC Protocols

Soil and rock samples, including standards, blanks and duplicates, will be submitted to Eastern Analytical Ltd. in Springdale, Newfoundland, an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory, for preparation and analysis. Samples are submitted in sealed bags and analyzed using Eastern's Au+ICP-34 method, comprising a 30 g fire assay with an AAS finish for gold and a four-acid digestion with an ICP-OES finish for multi-element analysis. Over-limit samples are re-analyzed by atomic absorption. Visionary maintains chain-of-custody procedures consistent with industry best practices and the requirements of National Instrument 43-101.

Pt. Leamington Project

The Pt. Leamington Project is located approximately 37 km by road and trails from the City of Grand Falls-Windsor and approximately 20 km from the provincial power grid. Pt. Leamington is a felsic-hosted, VMS deposit that dips 70 degrees to the west, has a strike length of over 1km and a maximum thickness of 85m. Massive sulphides have been intersected to a depth of 360m below surface from approximately 21,714m of drilling in 72 holes. Regional government mapping and lithogeochemical sampling indicates that Pt. Leamington's host volcanic stratigraphy extends beyond the Deposit area.

The Deposit hosts a significant gold, copper, zinc, and silver resource, with a pit-constrained Indicated Mineral Resource of 5.0 Mt grading 2.5 g/t AuEq for 402 koz AuEq (145.7 koz gold, 60.0 Mlb copper, 153.5 Mlb zinc, 2.0 Moz silver, 1.5 Mlb lead), a pit-constrained Inferred Mineral Resource of 13.7 Mt grading 2.24 g/t AuEq for 986.5 koz AuEq (354.8 koz gold, 110.2 Mlb copper, 527.3 Mlb zinc, 6.2 Moz silver, 7.0 Mlb lead), and an out-of-pit Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.7 Mt grading 3.06 g/t AuEq for 168.5 koz AuEq (65.4 koz gold, 13.3 Mlb copper, 102.9 Mlb zinc, 1.4 Moz Ag, 2.6 Mlb lead) (see news release dated October 25, 2021).

Qualified Person

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Peter M. Dimmell, P. Geo, a "qualified person" under NI 43-101. Mr. Dimmell is not independent under NI 43-101 as he is a director of the Company. Historical information was verified from geological reports filed with the government by previous operators.

About Visionary Copper and Gold Mines Inc.

Visionary Copper and Gold Mines Inc. (TSXV: VCG) (OTCQB: VCGMF) is advancing its portfolio of base and precious metals rich deposits located in established Canadian mining jurisdictions. The focus of the portfolio is highlighted by the 100% owned Pt. Leamington Deposit in Newfoundland, located in one of the richest VMS and Gold Districts in Canada. The Company prepared a pit constrained Indicated Mineral Resource of 5.0 Mt grading 2.5 g/t AuEq for 402 koz AuEq (145.7 koz gold, 60.0 Mlb copper, 153.5 Mlb zinc, 2.0 Moz silver, 1.5 Mlb lead), a pit constrained Inferred Mineral Resource of 13.7 Mt grading 2.24 g/t AuEq for 986.5 koz AuEq (354.8 koz gold, 110.2 Mlb copper, 527.3 Mlb zinc, 6.2 Moz silver, 7.0 Mlb lead) and an out-of-pit Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.7 Mt grading 3.06 g/t AuEq for 168.5 koz AuEq (65.4 koz gold, 13.3 Mlb copper, 102.9 Mlb zinc, 1.4 Moz Ag, 2.6 Mlb lead) (see news release dated October 25, 2021). Additionally the Company is permitting the Rainbow deposit at its rich VMS Pine Bay Project located near existing infrastructure in the Flin Flon Mining District. The Company prepared an indicated mineral resource on the Rainbow deposit of 3.44 Mt grading 3.59% CuEq for 272.4 Mlb CuEq (238.3 Mlb Cu, 56.9 Mlb Zn, 37.6 koz Au, 692.8 koz Ag, 2.3 Mlb Pb), an inferred mineral resource on the Rainbow deposit of 1.28 Mt grading 2.95% CuEq containing 83.4 Mlb CuEq (72.1 Mlb Cu, 19.5 Mlb Zn, 11.1 koz Au, 222.2 Koz Ag, 0.8 Mlb Pb) and an inferred mineral resource at the Pine Bay deposit of 1.0 Mt grading 2.62% Cu containing 58.1 Mlb Cu (see news release dated July 10, 2023). Additionally, the portfolio includes the Nash Creek Project located in the VMS rich Bathurst Mining District of New Brunswick. A 2018 PEA generates a strong economic return with a pre-tax IRR of 34.1% (25.2% post-tax) and NPV8% of $230 million ($128 million post-tax) at $1.25 Zinc (see news release dated May 14, 2018).

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

Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to future expenditures. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, among others, the ability to complete the proposed drill program and the timing and amount of expenditures. Except as required under applicable securities laws, Visionary does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/302015