RIO2 Pays Down Condestable Debt and Makes Management Appointments

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RIO2 PAYS DOWN CONDESTABLE DEBT AND MAKES MANAGEMENT

APPOINTMENTS

For Immediate Release April 1, 2026

VANCOUVER, BC – Rio2 Limited (“Rio2” or the “Company”) (TSX: RIO; OTCQX: RIOFF; BVL: RIO) announces

that on March 27 , 2026, it made a voluntary payment of US$20 million, plus accrued interest, on the

Vendor Debt placed in connection with the acquisition of its Condestable Copper Mine (“Condestable”).

In connection with the acquisition of Cond estable, Rio2 agreed to deliver to the vendor, Southern Peaks

Mining L.P. (“SPM”) (i) a secured promissory note in the amount of US$55 million (the “Vendor Senior

Promissory Note”) and (ii) a secured mezzanine promissory note in the amount of US$10 million (the

“Mezzanine Promissory Note”), both with six-year terms.

The terms of the notes were: following a six-quarter grace period (the “Grace Period”), quarterly principal

repayments will total US$2.5 million and US$550,000 for the Vendor Senior Promissory Note and the

Mezzanine Promissory Note, respectively. The interest rate applicable to the Vendor Senior Promissory

Note is the prime rate of interest quoted by a leading U.S. commercial bank from time to time (“U.S.

Prime”) plus a margin of 5.0% during the Grace Period, and the U.S. Prime plus a margin of 4.0% thereafter.

The interest rate on the date of voluntary payment of the Vendor Senior Promissory Note was 11.75%.

The interest rate applicable to the Mezzanine Promissory Note is U.S. Prime plus a margin of 9.0% during

the Grace Period, and U.S. Prime plus a margin of 11.0% thereafter. The interest rate on the date of

voluntary payment of the Mezzanine Promissory Note was 15.75%.

Following the voluntary payment of US$20 million, the Mezzanine Promissory Note of US$10 million is

extinguished, and the Vendor Senior Promissory Note was reduced to US$45 million. Rio2 will continue to

consider further voluntary payments to accelerate the payment of the Vendor Senior Promissory Note.

Management Appointments

With the completion of the Condestable transaction and the start of gold production at Fenix Gold, Rio2

announces the following additions and changes to its senior management team.

Enrique Ramirez – incoming Senior Vice President, Mining and General Manager of Condestable.

Before joining Rio2, Enrique served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at SPM

beginning in 2011. Prior to working at SPM, he was Country Manager for Peru Operations at Pan American

Silver. He graduated as a Mining Engineer from the Montana College of Minerals and has over 27 years of

experience in underground mining operations. Prior to joining Pan American, he held senior roles at

Glencore International and Volcan Compañía Minera. Enrique is a former director of the Peruvian

Association of Mining Engineers and former president of the Safety Committee of the Peruvian National

Mining and Petroleum Association.

Mariano Alarco – incoming Senior Director, Operational Excellence

Prior to joining Rio2, Mariano was an Executive Director and Executive Vice President of Business

Development at SPM for 13 years. Prior to SPM, he was an executive director at Goldman Sachs in London,

where he worked for 8 years as an equity research analyst covering the energy, renewables, oil and gas

sectors. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, he worked for two years as an analyst at Deutsche Bank in London.

Mariano holds a BSc in Environmental Policy and Economics from the London School of Economics and

Political Science and an MSc with distinction in metals and energy finance from the Royal School of Mines,

Imperial College.

Carola Gallo – incoming Director, Finance

Carola joined SPM as Chief Financial Officer in April 2013. Prior to SPM, she worked as head of Financial

Planning and Control at Maple Energy Plc for 5 years. She also served as a senior accountant at Hochschild

Mining and, prior to that, as a senior auditor at Ernst & Young, Peru. She holds a degree in Accounting

from Universidad de Lima and a M aster’s in Business Administration from Thunderbird School of Global

Management at Tecnológico de México.

Edgardo Briones – transitioning to Senior Director, Projects

Edgardo is a civil engineer with over 25 years of experience in mining, specializing in engineering and

construction management of both greenfield and brownfield projects. He has served as Construction

Manager and Superintendent for numerous companies, including Fenix Gold Limitada, Minsur SA,

Shahuindo SAC, Compañía de Minas Buenaventura SA, Compañía Minera San Simón, Buenaventura

Ingenieros SA, Heap Leaching Consulting SAC, Sigdo Koppers, and GyM. Throughout his career, Edgardo

has been directly respons ible for the engineering, procurement, and construction management of

numerous gold, tin, and polymetallic projects, such as Fenix Gold, Proyecto B2, Shahuindo, La Zanja,

Breapampa, Tantahutay, La Virgen, Comarsa, and various civil works in Pampa Larga, Carachugo, and

Yanacocha Norte. He has also served as a representative in dialogue with communities and local, regional,

and national authorities during the construction phase. Edgardo has a degree in civil engineering from the

Antenor Orrego Private Univers ity and a master’s degree in management and Direction of Construction

and Real Estate Companies from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

Christopher Diaz – transitioning to SVP Finance

Chris most recently served as Rio2’s Director of Finance and is a seasoned financial leader with 20 years

of progressive experience in the mining and infrastructure industries. Throughout his career, he has held

senior leadership roles at major organizations, including Director of Financial Reporting at Lundin Mining,

Corporate Controller at Pretium Resources/Newcrest Mining (now Newmont), Director of Corporate

Accounting and Reporting at Seaspan ULC, and Corporate Controller at Rio Alto Mining. Fluent in Spanish,

with extensive experience managing financial operations across Canada and Latin America, Chris has

demonstrated a proven ability to foster a culture of continuous improvement and drive efficiency. He uses

his specialized skills in leading M&A financia l integrations, directing technical IFRS accounting and public

company reporting, and spearheading major ERP system implementations to help position Rio2 for

sustained global growth and profitability.

Adolfo Vera, founder, director, President and General Manager of SPM, the former owner of Condestable,

has departed the company and will continue with Rio2 as an advisor to the executive management team.

Andrew Cox, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rio2, stated: “ We look forward to the inclusion of

Enrique, Mariano and Carola to our senior management team in Lima as we advance our mining activities

in Peru and Chile. I would also like to sincerely thank Adolfo for his many years of exceptional service at

SPM. From founding SPM and the acquisition of Condestable, Adolfo oversaw the development of the

company into a medium size copper producer in Peru. Condestable has become the mining operation it is

today largely owing to Adolfo’s enthusiasm, drive and leadership, and we thank him for his invaluable

contribution.”

Grant of Equity Incentive Awards

Rio2 announces that it has granted a total of 1,017,500 restricted share units to executive officers,

management and directors of the Company. The restricted share units have been granted pursuant to the

Company’s Share Incentive Plan and are subject to vesting provisions.

Rio2 also announces that it has granted a total of 1,462,500 stock options (the “Options”), pursuant to the

Company’s Stock Option Plan, to certain executive officers, management and directors. The Options are

exercisable at a price of C$3.00 per share (based on a 10% premium over the closing price of C$2.72 on

March 31, 2026) and will expire five years from the grant date.

About Rio2 Limited

Rio2 is a diversified precious metals and copper producer focused on building and operating mines with

a management team that has proven technical skills as well as a successful capital markets track

record. The Company is currently producing gold at its Fenix Gold heap leach mine in Chile and

copper/gold/silver at its recently acquired Condestable underground mine in Peru. Rio2 and its wholly

owned subsidiaries, Fenix Gold Limitada and Compañía Minera Condestable S .A., are companies that

operate with the h ighest environmental standards and responsibility with the firm conviction that it is

possible to develop mining projects that respect the three pillars (Social, Environment, Economics) of

responsible development. As related companies, we reaffirm our commitment to apply environmental

standards beyond those mandated by regulators, seeking to protect and preserve the environment in the

territories where we operate.

To learn more about Rio2 Limited, please visit: www.rio2.com or Rio2's SEDAR+ profile at

www.sedarplus.ca.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF RIO2 LIMITED

Alex Black

Executive Chairman of the Board

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +51 99279 4655

Kathryn Johnson

Executive Vice President, CFO & Corporate Secretary

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +1 604 762 4720

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward -looking statements and forward- looking information (collectively “forward -

looking information”) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Without limiting the generality of the

foregoing, this news release contains forward-looking information pertaining to the following: the potential for Rio2

to make future voluntary payments to accelerate the payment of the Vendor Senior Promissory Note and other

matters ancillary or incidental to the foregoing.

All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, may be forward-looking information and such

information involves various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified

by the use of words such as “seek”, “anticipate”, “plan”, “continue”, “estimate”, “expect”, “may”, “will”, “project” ,

“predict”, “potential”, “targeting”, “intend”, “could”, “might”, “should”, “believe” and similar expressions. The

forward-looking information is based on cer tain key expectations and assumptions made by Rio2’s management,

including but not limited to the realization of expected synergies and benefits from the Acquisition.

Rio2 believes the expectations reflected in these forward -looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can

be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward- looking statements in this news release

should not be unduly relied upon. A description of assumptions used to develop such forward- looking information

and a description of risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward- looking information

can be found in Rio2's disclosure documents on the SE DAR+ website at www.sedarplus.ca. These risks and

uncertainties include, but are not limited to: risks associated with the integration of Condestable operations; risks

relating to the Vendor Debt arrangements and associated security interests; currency fluctuation risks; regulatory and

permitting risks in both Chile and Peru; and management’s ability to anticipate and manage the factors and risks

referred to herein.

Forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and such

information should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any date subsequent to the date of this news

release. Rio2 has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or

achievements to vary from those current expectations or estimates expressed or implied by the forward -looking

information. However, there may be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as

expected or estimated, and that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from

current expectations. Rio2 disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements,

whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable

securities legislation.