Abitibi Metals Agrees Dated Feasibility & Construction Milestones With SOQUEM for Full B26 Ownership

• Abitibi Metals has acquired SOQUEM Inc.'s remaining 20% interest in the B26 polymetallic deposit in Quebec, taking the company to 100% ownership.
• Initial consideration is approximately C$7 million, comprising C$5 million in cash and C$2 million in shares.
• Two further payments of C$6 million each fall due at the feasibility study and construction decision stages, within three and five years of closing.
• Missing either deadline returns a project interest to SOQUEM and increases its net smelter return (NSR) royalty above the 1% it retains under the agreement.
• Abitibi also secured a 10-year right of first refusal (ROFR) on SOQUEM's adjacent Wagosic and Carheil properties.

Abitibi Metals (CSE: AMQ | OTCQB: AMQFF | FSE: FW0) has entered into a definitive agreement with SOQUEM Inc. to acquire SOQUEM's remaining 20% interest in the B26 polymetallic deposit in northwestern Quebec, moving the company from an 80/20 joint venture to full ownership of its flagship asset. The company confirmed in July 2026 that the acquisition had been completed. The agreement, announced June 11, 2026, attaches two dated payment obligations to that transfer, tied to the feasibility study and construction decision stages, each carrying a royalty and equity consequence if the payment is missed. 

Terms of the Agreement    

Initial consideration is stated in the agreement at approximately C$7 million, comprising C$5 million in cash payable within 90 days of closing and C$2 million in Abitibi Metals shares. The cash portion is subject to a reduction equal to 20% of the additional exploration expenditures Abitibi incurred on B26 attributable to SOQUEM's interest, offsetting amounts owed by SOQUEM under the joint venture. Deluce said the net cash payment is estimated at about C$3.2 million after SOQUEM's audit, for the expected net consideration of about C$5.2 million.

SOQUEM retains a 1% net smelter return (NSR) royalty on B26. The royalty passed to SOQUEM on transfer of the 20% interest, replacing the 2023 royalty held under the joint venture, which terminated at closing.

President and Chief Executive Officer of Abitibi Metals, Jon Deluce, is direct about the royalty:

"Besides the 20% purchase, we are able to cut the royalty in half, reducing it to a net royalty of 1%, which is very clean on a deposit of this size and scale." 

Milestone Deadlines & Default Terms 

The two remaining payments are C$6 million each, payable 50% in cash and 50% in shares under the definitive agreement. The first falls due at the feasibility study stage, or no later than three years following the closing date. The second falls due at the construction decision stage, or no later than five years following the closing date.

Deluce is specific on the timing attached to the transfer:

"And then the next milestone payment is six million dollars, up to 50% payable in shares, the balance in cash, and that would be on the feasibility study within three years of closing. And the final six million dollars would be again split between shares and cash, but that would be within five years, and on the decision to commence the commercial production."  

A missed deadline gives SOQUEM an additional NSR royalty and a reacquired equity interest in B26. The parties then re-form a joint venture. A default at the three-year feasibility milestone adds 1% to the royalty, bringing it to 2%, and returns 12% of the project interest to SOQUEM. A default at the five-year construction decision milestone adds 0.5%, bringing the royalty to 1.5% and returning 6% interest. Abitibi retains the right to repurchase any additional royalty for C$2 million.  

Wagosic, Carheil & the Selbaie Camp     

B26 sits in the Selbaie Mining Camp of northwestern Quebec, 7 kilometres (km) southeast of the formerly producing Selbaie Mine. Alongside the 20% interest, the agreement grants Abitibi a 10-year right of first refusal (ROFR) on the Wagosic and Carheil projects, both of which are wholly owned by SOQUEM, a subsidiary of Investissement Québec. SOQUEM drilled 18,000 metres (m) at Wagosic last winter, according to Deluce.     

A joint technical committee has been established to advance B26 and Wagosic concurrently. Initial metallurgical test work using a blend of material from the two projects is underway, and an option agreement covering entry into both projects remains to be determined.

Deluce frames the position on the adjacent ground plainly:   

"So we don't have a deal done there as of today, but we have the ROFR, we have a technical committee. We're starting to run joint met tests between B26 and Wagosic to understand how a development case could fit between both projects." 

Development Programme & Funding 

Abitibi held a cash balance of about C$44 million as of June 15, 2026, following a private placement of about C$31 million through which Discovery Silver acquired a 9.9% stake in the company. 

The company is drilling a fully funded programme of up to 80,000 m across 2026 and 2027, with three rigs on site as of mid-June and scope to add a fourth and fifth should rigs become available. Results are targeted through to the end of 2026 and into the new year.

Stage two metallurgical testing and geotechnical work are in progress. Both feed a preliminary economic assessment (PEA).   

Resource & Exploration Context  

B26 is a polymetallic volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit hosting 25.3 million tonnes at 2.1% copper equivalent. That total comprises 12.96 million tonnes in the indicated category at 2.08% copper equivalent, grading 1.19% copper, 1.16% zinc, 0.44 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 30.8 g/t silver, and 12.34 million tonnes in the inferred category at 2.20% copper equivalent, grading 1.60% copper, 0.16% zinc, 0.68 g/t gold and 8.1 g/t silver. The estimate carries an effective date of January 1, 2026, per the technical report filed in March 2026. 

The figure represents a 124% increase in total resource tonnage since Abitibi optioned the project in 2023.

Deluce said an updated resource estimate and a PEA are both targeted for the first quarter of 2027.

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