ECR.V · 2026-09-17 12:00:00

Cartier announces updated PEA for the Cadillac Project: After-tax NPV5% of C$1.0 billion and after-tax IRR of 26.6% at US$3,600/oz gold price Average annual production of 100 koz of gold over a 16.2-year mine life – After-tax NPV5% of C$1,565 M

Economic Studies Production Results

Cartier announces updated PEA for the Cadillac Project: After-tax NPV5%

of C$1.0 billion and after-tax IRR of 26.6% at US$3,600/oz gold price

Average annual production of 100 koz of gold over a 16.2-year mine life – After-tax NPV5% of C$1,565 M

and after-tax IRR of 37.3% at spot gold of US$4,300/oz - NPV5% to initial capital ratio of 3.6x.

Highlights

Robust Economics

• After-tax NPV5% of C$1,001 M and after-tax IRR of 26.6% at a base case gold price of US$3,600/oz and

an exchange rate of 1.38 C$/US$.

• At a spot gold price of US$4,300/oz, after -tax NPV5% increases to C$1,565 M and after -tax IRR

increases to 37.3%.

• After-tax payback of 4.3 years and NPV5% to initial capital ratio of 3.6x.

• Life-of-mine after-tax free cash flow of C$2,772 M over a 16.2-year mine life.

• Initial CAPEX of C$275.8 M and AISC of US$2,137/oz.

Production and Operating Profile

• Average annual gold production of 100koz over the life of mine.

• Total recovered gold production of 1,610koz.

• Metallurgical recovery of 9 5%, supported by the 2026 metallurgical testwork program and a

conventional flowsheet with crushing, grinding, gravity concentration and cyanide leaching.

• Processing scenario: 3,000 tpd toll milling (year 1), 3,000 tpd on-site processing (years 2-4), 4,300 tpd

on-site processing following expansion (year 5+).

• Mining scenario considers solely underground method of l ongitudinal longhole stoping with ramp

extraction utilizing a peak mining rate of 4,300 tpd.

VAL-D'OR, Quebec, September 17, 2026 — Cartier Resources Inc. (″Cartier″ or the ″Company″) (TSXV:

ECR; FSE: 6CA; OTCQB: ECRFF) is pleased to announce the results of the updated Preliminary Economic

Assessment (″PEA″) on its 100% -owned Cadillac Project, located in Val -d'Or (Abitibi, Quebec, Canada). The

updated PEA was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43 -101 – Standards of Disclosure for

Mineral Projects (″NI 43 -101″) by Evomine Consulting Inc., and replaces the PEA published on April 13, 2023,

on what was then named the Chimo Mine Project. It incorporates the updated mineral resource estimate

announced on December 18, 2025, the metallurgical results announced on May 14, 2026, and a materially

different gold price environment.

Philippe Cloutier, President and CEO of Cartier, stated: “The positive results of the study demonstrate the

project's economic viability at the PEA level while highlighting several opportunities for further optimization.

Importantly, the project has been designed as a fully underground mining operation, minimizi ng its surface

footprint and supporting a responsible development approach. With low initial CAPEX requirements, we now

have additional strategic solutions that offer flexibility to advance development. We remain confident in the

project's strong potential and our ability to create additional value for stakeholders,”

Ronan Déroff, Vice President Exploration of Cartier, added: “The current PEA is only the beginning. With

~35,000 metres of drilling completed in 2025–2026 yet to be incorporated, and compelling new gold discoveries

emerging at the Contact and Hope Sectors, we believe Cadillac offers substantial resource -growth potential

and significant exploration upside along the 15 -km Cadillac Fault — all of which remains outside the current

economic model.”

Financial analysis

The economic analysis was performed using a 5% discount rate, a base case gold price of US$3,600/oz and an

exchange rate of 1.38 C$/US$. On a pre -tax basis, the project generates an NPV5% of C$1,679 M, an IRR of

35.5% and a payback period of 3.0 years. On an after-tax basis, the project generates an NPV5% of C$1,001 M,

an IRR of 26.6% and a payback period of 4.3 years. A summary of project economics is presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Summary of project economics

Description Unit Value

Exchange rate CA$/US$ 1.38

Gold price US$/oz 3,600

Mineralized material mined kt 23,145

Mineralized material grade g/t 2.28

Mineralized material ounces koz 1,698

Recovery % 95%

Recovered gold oz 1,610

Mine life years 16.2

Discount rate % 5.0%

Operating costs

Mining operating cost CA$/t proc. 95.1

Processing operating cost CA$/t proc. 29.8

Waste and water management operating cost CA$/t proc. 1.5

General and administration operating cost CA$/t proc. 10.1

Total operating costs CA$/t proc. 136.4

AISC

Total operating costs US$/oz 1,450

Selling costs US$/oz 5

Royalty costs US$/oz 47

Cash costs US$/oz 1,502

Sustaining capital costs US$/oz 635

All-In Sustaining Costs US$/oz 2,137

Capital costs

Initial capital costs CA$M 275.8

Growth capital costs CA$M 277.1

Sustaining capital costs CA$M 1,062.0

Closure capital costs CA$M 40.0

Economics

Pre-tax Net Present Value CA$M 1,679.4

Pre-tax Internal Rate of Return % 35.5%

Pre-tax Payback Period years 3.0

After-tax Net Present Value CA$M 1,001.2

After-tax Internal Rate of Return % 26.6%

After-tax Payback Period years 4.3

Table 2, Table 3, and Table 3 highlight the after-tax impact of performing a sensitivity analysis on gold price,

capital costs and operating costs.

Table 2: Gold price sensitivity

Gold Price (US$/Oz) NPV (M CA$) IRR (%) Payback Period

3,000 497.2 16.4% 6.2

3,600 (base case) 1,001.2 26.6% 4.3

4,200 1,485.8 35.9% 2.8

4,800 1,961.7 44.9% 2.2

5,400 2,429.8 53.5% 1.9

6,000 2,896.0 62.0% 1.7

Table 3: Capital cost sensitivity

Capital costs NPV (M CA$) IRR (%)

Payback Period

-20% 1,165 35.1% 2.8

-10% 1,083 30.5% 3.4

Base Case 1,001 26.6% 4.3

+10% 918 23.4% 4.7

+20% 833 20.5% 5.1

Table 4: Operating cost sensitivity

Operating costs NPV (M CA$) IRR (%)

Payback Period

-20% 1,230 31.1% 3.4

-10% 1,116 28.9% 3.7

Base Case 1,001 26.6% 4.3

+10% 883 24.3% 4.5

+20% 762 21.8% 4.8

Capital and operating cost estimates

Initial capital is estimated at C$ 275.8 M, growth capital costs are estimated at C$277.1 M and sustaining

capital at C$ 1,102.0 M, as detailed in Table 5. Total operating costs over the life-of-mine is estimated at

C$3,148.2 M representing C$136.4/tonne processed , as detailed in Table 6.

Table 5: Capital cost summary

Cost Area

Initial Capital Costs

(M CA$)

Growth Capital

Costs (M CA$)

Sustaining Capital

Costs (M CA$)

Total Capital Costs

(M CA$)

Infrastructure 40.9 - 52.5 93.4

Electrical and communication 27.9 - 8.1 36.0

Waste and water management 9.2 - 58.7 68.0

Mine - underground 91.3 - 720.2 811.5

Process plant 9.0 230.2 - 239.2

Indirect costs 29.8 9.0 84.0 122.7

Contingency 37.9 37.8 138.5 214.2

Capitalized revenue -30.2 - - -30.2

Capitalized operating costs 60.0 - - 60.0

Closure - - 40.0 40.0

Total 275.8 277.1 1,102.0 1,654.9

Table 6: Operating cost summary

Cost Area Total (M CA$)

Unit cost (CA$/tonne

processed)

Unit cost (US$/oz

payable)

Underground mining 2,193.7 95.1 1,010.3

Mineralized material transportation 15.1 0.7 6.9

Processing 672.3 29.1 309.6

Waste and water management 34.6 1.5 15.9

General and administrative 232.5 10.1 107.1

Total 3,148.2 136.4 1,449.9

Mine design and production schedule

The PEA presents an underground mining operation that uses conventional longitudinal longhole stoping at a

peak mining rate of 4,300 tpd over a 16.2-year mine life. A total of 23.1 Mt of mineralized material at an average

grade of 2.3 g/t representing 1,698 koz of gold will be extracted. The mineralized material will be loaded by load-

haul-dump (LHD) machine s and hauled to the surface by trucks via ramps. For backfilling, a combination of

pastefill, cemented rockfill and dry rockfill will be used. The mine will be split into five separate areas with each

area having their dedicated mining infrastructure as illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Mine design

Metallurgy and processing

To complete the process plant design and determine metallurgical performance, a series of tests w ere

performed on six variability samples: two from each of the three main zones, Chimo, East Chimo, and West

Nordeau. The samples were selected from exploration drill core and are considered representative of the

mineral resources. The test program included m ineralogy, geochemistry, grindability, gold recovery, and

tailings detoxification. The results indicate that, based on the average resource grade, a gold recovery of 95%

could be achieved at a grind size P80 of 50 µm. The tests also established the require d grinding energy, gold

recovery equipment criteria, and reagent dosage design criteria.

The processing strategy considers toll milling to an off-site process plant for the pre-production period and the

first year of production at a rate of 3,000 tpd . An on-site, 3,000 tpd process plant will become available to

process material as of the second year of production and until the fourth year of production when it will be

expanded to 4,300 tpd for the remainder of the life-of-mine. Figure 2 below shows the process flowsheet and

identifies the additional equipment required for the expansion in red.

Figure 2: Process flowchart

All Phase 1 equipment will be designed to handle the life -of-mine throughput, while the added equipment will

provide the additional grinding power and cyanidation residence time required to complete gold dissolution.

Based on this flowsheet and feed throughput, the capital and operating costs of the gold extraction process

plant were estimated to support the economic analysis. The plant was designed to achieve the projected 95%

gold recovery in both phases.

Supporting infrastructure

Infrastructure requirements to support the project ha ve been evaluated and the overall site layout has been

developed to optimize operational efficiency, safety, and environmental management, while accounting for

topography and minimizing the surface impact in the Project area. The required infrastructure for the project

includes the following:

• Underground mine portals, lateral development and vertical development

• Waste rock and overburden management facilities

• Tailing management facility

• ROM stockpiles

• Water management infrastructure

• Electrical powerlines and substations

• Mine offices, dry and maintenance facility

• Other supporting infrastructure

Figure 3 and Figure 4 illustrate the surface infrastructure general arrangement and the infrastructure on the

main industrial pad for the project.

Figure 3: Surface infrastructure general arrangement

Figure 4: Main industrial pad infrastructure

Environmental, permitting and social considerations

The development of the Cadillac project continues under an approach focused on sustainable development,

respect for stakeholders, and environmental protection. In 2026, Stantec completed a literature review of the

project’s physical, biological, and social components in order to document and characterize the potential

environmental issues associated with its footprint. The results of this review contributed to the selection and

location of the infrastructure presented in the updated PEA , and will also be used to plan the next steps,

including field inventories. In addition, an environmental geochemical characterization of the waste rock, ore,

and tailings generated during processing was initiated in August 2026. This study is essential t o the

development of the Cadillac project, as it will help optimize the management of these materials and mining

water management in order to limit impacts on the receiving environment. It will be conducted in accordance

with the guidelines of Directive 019 and the Guide de caractérisation des résidus miniers et du minerai

(GCRMM) issued by the Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la

Faune et des Parcs (MELCCFP).

Mineral Resource Estimate

The updated PEA is based on the mineral resource estimate announced on December 18, 2025, and detailed

in the technical report filed on January 27, 2026 which is summarized in Table 7.

Table 7: Mineral Resource Estimate

All sectors /