North Shore Engages Drill Contractor and Continues to Advance RIO Puerco Project
APRIL 9, 2026 TSXV:NSU
NORTH SHORE ENGAGES DRILL CONTRACTOR AND CONTINUES
TO ADVANCE RIO PUERCO PROJECT
North Shore Uranium Ltd. (TSX-V: NSU)(OTCQB: NSURF) (“North Shore” or the “Company”) is
pleased to provide an update on its preparations for a drill program at the Rio Puerco uranium project in the
Grants Uranium District of northwestern New Mexico (“Rio Puerco” or the “Project”). The Company has
engaged Harris Exploration Drilling and Associates of Fallon, Nevada , a subsidiary of Earth Drilling Co.
Ltd. (collectively “Harris Exploration”) to carry out its drill program at Rio Puerco. North Shore continues
preparing for an initial program of up to 27 drill holes, currently scheduled to commence in May, subject
to the receipt of all required permits and approvals.
As announced on February 23, 2026, North Shore f iled a Minimal Impact Exploration Operation Permit
Application for Rio Puerco with the state of New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division . In addition, a
Notice of Intent for a mineral exploration program has been filed with the Bureau of Land Management
(the “BLM”). On March 24, 2026, North Shore’s President and CEO, Brooke Clements, led nine state and
federal officials on a tour of the Rio Puerco site that was focused on the proposed drilling locations . The
site visit gave North Shore the opportunity to provide on the ground insight to the regulators to aid them in
assessing the Company’s submissions.
EXPERIENCED URANIUM DRILL CONTRACTOR ENGAGED
Harris Exploration provides mineral exploration, geotechnical and environmental drilling services across
the United States and Canada. They operate a fleet of 41 drilling rigs including reverse circulation, diamond
core, sonic, mud/air rotary, dual rotary and auger drills. Harris Exploration’s uranium experience includes
completion of drilling campaigns for NexGen Energy Ltd. in the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan, Myriad
Uranium Corporation in Wyoming and Homeland Uranium Corporation in Colorado. They are proud of
having a strong commitment to safety, a major priority for North Shore.
RIO PUERCO EXPLORATION PLANS
A historical resource estimate of 6.0 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.09% eU3O8 for 11.4 million
pounds of U3O8 was reported for Rio Puerco in 2009 (the “Historical Resource”). The Historical Resource
was based on drill data gathered by Kerr McGee Corporation (“Kerr McGee”) in the 1960s and 1970s123.
Brooke Clements, President and CEO of North Shore stated: “We look forward to working with Harris
Exploration at Rio Puerco and to getting the drills turning. Their uranium experience and commitment to
safety are valued by us. The logistical and technical components of the program are now being finalized
and we look forward to receiving our permits and to verifying Kerr-McGee’s historical work at Rio
Puerco.”
1 Monaro Mining NL, 2009, 250% increase in uranium resource inventory at Rio Puerco deposit, New Mexico USA:
Monaro Mining NL ASX news release: (link)
2 Boyer, D. and Ostensoe, E., 2011, NI 43-101 technical report, Rio Puerco deposit, Sandoval county, New Mexico,
USA: Independent report by Australian-American Mining Corporation Ltd.: (link)
3 Information about historical work at Rio Puerco, the limitations of the Historical Resource estimate and data
validation are provided in a section of this news release below.
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North Shore currently controls 83 BLM claims at Rio Puerco covering portions of seven sections of land .
The goal of the Company’s planned 2026 drill program is to validate the Kerr-McGee drill data used to
estimate the Historical Resource and begin the process of confirm ing exploration potential by assessing
sites where uranium mineralization was reported outside of the Historical Resource . The Historical
Resource was defined with data from approximately 800 drill holes in Section 18. A 1975 consultant’s
report illustrates Rio Puerco exploration potential. It describes the drilling of over 200 holes in Section 24
by Kerr-McGee that outlined 201,684 tons (short tons) of uranium mineralization at an average grade of
0.20% U3O8. Using a cutoff grade of 0.05% U3O8 that represented 821,962 lbs. of U3O84.
The Company has selected 27 sites for rotary drilling at Rio Puerco. The vast majority of the historical drill
holes utilized the mud rotary technique. Each of the drill holes will “twin” the 1970s-era rotary holes drilled
by Kerr-McGee. The 25 Section 18 drill hole locations were selected to be representative of the dataset
used to estimate the Historical Resource. The two Section 24 drill holes have been selected to work towards
expanding the uranium mineralization footprint at the Project. The results from the 2026 drill holes will be
compared with the historical results in an effort to validate the historic work and upgrade the Historical
Resource to a current and National Instrument 43-101-compliant resource. Many of the proposed drill sites
were assessed in the field in late March by State and Federal regulators and Harris Exploration (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Proposed 2026 drill sites, RP-26-28-467 (L) and RP-26-24-108 (R)
RIO PUERCO BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND HISTORICAL RESOURCE ESTIMATES
Rio Puerco is located at the eastern end of the Grants Uranium District which is the largest historic producer
of uranium in the United States ( Figure 2). Mines that operated between about 1950 and 2002 produced
over 340 million pounds of U3O8. The district is currently seeing renewed exploration and development
activity.
Uranium was first discovered at Rio Puerco in 1968. The claims covering the discovery were ultimately
optioned to Kerr-McGee who drilled over 1, 100 holes in the immediate area. Based on the results of that
work, they began the development of the Rio Puerco Mine in the 1970s. The mine was intended to be a
room and pillar underground mine but was never put into production. Activity ceased in the early 1980s
after a short trial mining phase due to low uranium prices at the time. The underground mine infrastructure
4 McDougald, W. D., 1975, Economic Evaluation on Total Indicated Pounds of Uranium Oxide on the Rio Puerco
Kerr McGee Leases in Sandoval County, New Mexico: Internal Consultant’s report prepared for royalty holder.
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included a 260 m vertical shaft, ventilation shafts, mining adits and support buildings. The mining shaft
remains and road access to the site is excellent.
In 2009, Monaro Mining NL ( “Monaro”) commissioned an independent geological review and resource
estimate for Rio Puerco using exploration data generated by Kerr-McGee in the 1960s and 1970s. The data
used for the resource estimate consisted of historical maps and data from 764 drill holes including downhole
gamma-ray data converted to percent equivalent U 3O8 (eU3O8), geological logs and drillhole survey data.
Monaro reported a JORC Code (2004)-compliant inferred resource of 6.0 million tonnes at an average grade
of 0.09% eU3O8 using a cutoff grade of 0.03% eU3O8 for 11.4 million pounds of contained U3O81. JORC is
the Australian Joint Ore Reserves Committee, a professional code of practice that sets minimum standards
for public reporting of Mineral Resources.
In 2011, Australian-American Mining Corporation Ltd. commissioned a technical report on Rio Puerco.
This report validated and confirmed the Historical Resource2.
The Historical Resource outlined in this news release has not been verified and should not be relied upon.
It is a historical estimate and not current and does not comply with Canadian NI 43-101 guidelines for the
reporting of Mineral Resources. The JORC Code (2004) is broadly consistent with the CIM Definition
Standards adopted under NI 43- 101, though differences may exist in the categorization of inferred
resources. A Qualified Person has not verified the Historical Resource estimate on behalf of the Company
and North Shore has completed no work programs at Rio Puerco. Though not current, the Company views
the Historical Resource estimates as sufficient to justify the initiation of work programs aimed at validating
and potentially expanding upon the estimates. There is no guarantee that the work programs envisioned by
North Shore will ultimately result in the definition of NI 43-101-compliant resources.
The key assumptions, parameters, and methods used to prepare the H istorical Resource estimate are
described in the two technical reports referenced in this news release.
The 83 BLM claims in the Project area are subject to the Rio Puerco Option Agreement under which North
Shore has the right to acquire up to an 87.5% interest in Rio Puerco from Resurrection Mining LLC.
Figure 2. Rio Puerco Location Map, New Mexico. Roca Honda (Energy Fuels Inc.), Marquez-Juan Tafoya
(Anfield Energy Inc.) and Cebolleta (Premier American Uranium Inc.) are advanced
exploration/development stage uranium projects.
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QUALIFIED PERSON
Mr. Brooke Clements, MSc, P.Geol., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43- 101 –
Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and the President and CEO of North Shore, has reviewed and
approved of the scientific and technical disclosure in this press release.
Data Verification
Mr. Clements has reviewed and verified all of the data supporting the technical information disclosed in
this news release. The data includes the 2009 and 2011 technical reports and supporting dat a, the 1975
consultant’s report by McDougald, a 3-D model prepared by North Shore showing interpreted uranium
mineralization, analysis of drill data used to select sites for drilling, original hard copy and scanned drill
hole location maps and drill logs prepared by Kerr -McGee and plan maps from the Kerr -McGee
underground mine development. In addition, Mr. Clements assessed all of the sites currently selected for
drilling in the field in February 2026. As stated above, the Historical Resource outlined in this news release
has not been verified , is not current and does not comply with Canadian NI 43- 101 guidelines for the
reporting of Mineral Resources.
ABOUT NORTH SHORE
The nuclear power industry is in growth mode as more nuclear power will be required to meet the world’s
ambitious CO2 emission-reduction goals and the needs of new power-intensive technologies like AI. In this
environment, new discoveries of economic uranium deposits will be very valuable, especially in established
uranium-producing jurisdictions like Saskatchewan and Ne w Mexico. North Shore is well -positioned to
become a major force in exploration for economic uranium deposits. The Company is working to achieve
this goal by exploring Rio Puerco in the Grants Uranium District of New Mexico and its Falcon and West
Bear properties at the eastern margin of the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan. In addition, the Company
continues to evaluate quality opportunities in the United States and Canada to complement its portfolio of
uranium properties.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Brooke Clements,
President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
For further information:
Please contact: Brooke Clements, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Telephone: 604.536.2711
Email: [email protected]
www.northshoreuranium.com
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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.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical
fact that address activities, events, or developments that the Company believes, expects, or anticipates will
or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management’s current
expectations based on information currently available and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties
that may cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward- looking statements.
Forward-looking statements in this release include, but are not limited to: the Company’s plans to confirm
and expand upon the scale of uranium mineralization at the Rio Puerco project; the initiation and results of
work programs aimed at validating and potentially expanding upon historical resource estimates; the
Company’s ability to acquire up to an 87.5% interest in the Rio Puerco project and to create a joint venture
with Resurrection Mining LLC; the Company’s strategy to become a major force in uranium exploration
and to evaluate additional opportunities in the United States and Canada; the actual results of current and
planned exploration activities, including the potential for the definition of a mineral deposit of potential
economic value at Rio Puerco and the Company’s Falcon and West Bear properties in Saskatchewan; the
ability of the Company to meet milestones and make bonus payments to Resurrection; the interpretation and
meaning of completed and future geophysical surveys, drilling results, and economic evaluations; the
availability of sufficient funding on terms acceptable to the Company and the timing and receipt of the
required regulatory and government approvals to complete planned work programs including the planned
drill program outlined in this news release ; and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-
looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as “plan”, “project”, “appear”, “interpret”,
“coincident”, “potential”, “confirm”, “suggest”, “evaluate”, “encourage”, “likely”, “anomaly”,
“continuous” and variations of these words as well as other similar words or statements that certain events
or conditions “could”, “may”, “should”, “would” or “will” occur. These statements are subject to various
risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or implied,
including, but not limited to: the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development projects; the
ability to obtain necessary permits and approvals; changes in project plans and parameters; variations in
mineral grades and recovery rates; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; the
availability of funding on terms acceptable to the Company; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or
financing; fluctuations in metal prices including uranium; and other factors described in the Company’s
public disclosure documents. There may be other factors that cause actual results, performance, or
achievements to differ materially from those anticipated or implied by the forward-looking statements. Any
forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by
applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking
statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or results or otherwise. Forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on
such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. Any forward- looking statements contained in this
news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.