ATHA Energy Strikes Uranium on Maiden Drill Hole, Validates 31km District-Scale Potential

• ATHA Energy achieved uranium mineralization on their maiden drill hole at the KU Discovery Target within the 31km RIB-Nine Iron trend, intersecting 7.1m of composite mineralization including 0.7m of high-grade uranium with radioactivity up to 18,490 CPS.
• The company successfully extended mineralization at their flagship Lac 50 deposit by approximately 100 meters down-dip, demonstrating the deposit remains open and unconstrained. The Lac 50 deposit a historic resource of 43 million pounds at an average grade of 0.69% U3O8.
• The drilling confirmed ATHA's thesis that the Angikuni Basin is a direct analog to the prolific Athabasca Basin, with similar geological features including graphitic fault zones and unconformity structures that typically host high-grade uranium deposits.
• The management team brings proven uranium development experience from Cameco and NexGen, including operational experience at producing mines and recent development projects like the Rook I project.
• With a 10,000-meter drilling program underway and strong uranium market fundamentals, ATHA is positioned to participate in what CEO Troy Boisjoli calls the "New Nuclear Renaissance" with potential for district-scale discoveries.

ATHA Energy Corp. (TSXV: SASK) has announced significant exploration results from its Angilak Uranium Project in Nunavut, Canada, marking a pivotal moment for the uranium exploration company. The results from the first two drill holes of their 2025 exploration program demonstrate both the discovery potential of their regional targets and the continued expansion of their established Lac 50 deposit, positioning the company for potential district-scale development in one of Canada's emerging uranium jurisdictions.

Maiden Drill Hole Delivers Discovery at KU Target

The company's first drill hole at the KU Discovery Target successfully intersected uranium mineralization within the previously undrilled Angikuni Basin, validating years of systematic geological work. CEO Troy Boisjoli emphasized the significance of this achievement:

"First hole along a 31 km long trend across a basin with no drilling in it and we hit mineralization in the first hole - we discovered mineralization."

The hole, designated KU-DD-001, intersected 7.1 meters of composite mineralization, including a continuous shallow zone containing 0.7 meters of high-grade uranium with radioactivity readings reaching 18,490 counts per second.

The discovery represents more than just mineralization; it validates ATHA's geological thesis about the Angikuni Basin's potential.

Geological Framework Mirrors Athabasca Basin Success

The geological features encountered at the KU target bear striking similarities to the world-class Athabasca Basin, home to some of the highest-grade uranium deposits globally. The drill hole intersected a 23-meter-wide graphitic fault zone at the unconformity contact between basin and basement rocks, along with approximately 90 meters of structural offset. Boisjoli drew direct comparisons to known productive structures:

"The P2 fault has about 90 meters of offset on it. The P2 fault hosts MacArthur River."

This geological analogy provides investors with a framework for understanding the discovery's potential significance within established uranium deposit models.

The structural geology work, completed by SRK Consulting, identified numerous northwest-southeast trending faults intersected by east-west cross-cutting structures. These fault intersections, combined with gravity anomalies spanning 2 kilometers by 500 meters, create the geological conditions historically associated with significant uranium deposits. The systematic approach to target generation, utilizing geophysics, structural modelling, and geochemistry, tied together with the experience of ATHA’s team demonstrates the technical rigor underlying ATHA's exploration strategy.

Lac 50 Expansion Demonstrates Resource Growth Potential

Concurrent with the new discovery, ATHA successfully extended mineralization at their flagship Lac 50 deposit, which hosts a historic resource of 43 million pounds of uranium at 0.69% average grade. The J4R-DD-091 drill hole extended mineralization approximately 100 meters down-dip, intersecting 3.8 meters of composite mineralization including sections exceeding 10,000 counts per second with maximum readings of 14,826 CPS. This expansion drilling follows last year's successful 10,000-meter program that intersected mineralization in 100% of 25 step-out drill holes, materially expanding the deposit's footprint.

Boisjoli outlined the strategic approach to resource development:

"Our objectives are twofold: find the edges at Lac 50 because we haven't found the edges yet, and the second portion is we've got this trend now that we have identified that we've derisked, we've hit mineralization on and so the opportunity for discovery over and above that becomes very compelling."

The systematic expansion of Lac 50 provides near-term resource growth while the regional exploration offers longer-term discovery potential.

Interview with Chief Executive Officer, Troy Boisjoli

Technical Advantages & Development Readiness

The mineralization style at Lac 50 presents several technical advantages for potential development. The uranium occurs in vein-hosted systems with incompetent rock masses, extending from surface to depth with relatively simple geological controls. Boisjoli described these characteristics:

"It's uranium mineralization hosted in veins in very competent rock. It comes right to surface, so it's shallow and it's simple. That simplicity is good when you're thinking about it from moving a project forward."

The mineralogy consists primarily of uraninite and pitchblende, representing well-understood ore types with established processing flowsheets.

From a development perspective, the project benefits from its location within Nunavut, a jurisdiction with established mining infrastructure and regulatory frameworks. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission serves as the life-cycle regulator for uranium projects across Canada, providing regulatory certainty. ATHA has proactively established relationships with local Indigenous communities, including agreements with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, demonstrating commitment to responsible development practices.

Experienced Management Team with Proven Track Record

ATHA's management team brings extensive uranium sector experience spanning exploration, development, and operations. Boisjoli's background includes serving as chief geologist at a Cameco operating mine and leading development efforts at NexGen's Rook I project. Vice President of Exploration Cliff Revering contributed to bringing Cameco's Cigar Lake mine into production and commissioning. This operational experience provides practical insights into uranium project development and optimization.

The team's experience extends beyond technical capabilities to include understanding of market cycles and capital allocation. Boisjoli emphasized this perspective:

"I am a very big proponent of putting dollars to work that are moving the needle forward. Ultimately what we're doing here should be moving forward towards economics, wrapping scale around things, wrapping definition, de-risking, moving things forward."

This focus on value creation and systematic de-risking aligns management incentives with shareholder objectives.

Market Positioning in Strengthening Uranium Cycle

ATHA's exploration success occurs against a backdrop of strengthening uranium market fundamentals. Boisjoli expressed confidence in the market outlook:

"I don't think the macro's ever been better than it is right now. We're seeing a more robust curve at this time and that's not even layering on SMRs or anything else on top of that."

The company's position in the uranium sector benefits from limited supply of development-stage projects capable of meeting growing demand from nuclear power expansion and emerging small modular reactor technologies.

The recent consolidation within the uranium sector, including mergers involving Nuclear Fuels, Premier American Uranium, and others, has reduced the number of independent development opportunities. This market dynamic potentially enhances the strategic value of quality uranium assets like Angilak. With Cameco trading over $100 Canadian and other leading uranium companies performing well, investor interest continues rotating toward development-stage opportunities with district-scale potential.

Path Forward & Development Timeline

ATHA's 2025 exploration program comprises approximately 10,000 meters of diamond drilling, with the first two holes representing the initial results from this comprehensive campaign. The program will focus on expanding the Lac 50 deposit footprint while systematically testing regional targets along the 31-kilometer RIB-Nine Iron trend. The discovery at KU provides validation for continued investment in regional exploration beyond the Lac 50 Deposit, and following recent ground gravity and EM surveys, ATHA has additional regional drilling targets identified at the RIB area that are expected to be tested in the coming months.

The company's development strategy emphasizes systematic de-risking through expansion along strike from known mineralization and regional discovery across a new uranium basin before advancing to feasibility studies. Boisjoli outlined the approach:

"Any standard development process, you can map that out.First stage expansion, in my mind, you de-risk things, you get to a tipping point that you then start delineation drilling and you start building resources."

This methodical progression toward project evaluation provides investors with clear milestones for measuring progress toward development decisions.

The Investment Thesis for ATHA Energy

• Discovery Validation: Successful maiden drill hole at KU target confirms district-scale potential within 31km trend, providing multiple future targets for systematic exploration and potential expansion beyond the current 43 million pound historic resource at Lac 50.
• Technical Excellence: Experienced management team with proven uranium development track record from Cameco and NexGen operations provides execution capability and strategic insight for advancing projects through development stages.
• Geological Advantage: Angikuni Basin geology directly analogous to world-class Athabasca Basin, featuring similar unconformity-style mineralization controls, structural frameworks, and high-grade potential with established processing flowsheets.
• Resource Growth Platform: Lac 50 deposit remains open in all directions with shallow, high-grade, vein-hosted mineralization in competent rock providing near-term expansion opportunity while regional exploration offers discovery upside.
• Market Timing: Strengthening uranium fundamentals driven by nuclear renaissance, supply constraints, and limited development-stage projects create a favorable environment for quality uranium assets with scale potential.
• Jurisdictional Stability: Canadian regulatory framework through Nuclear Safety Commission provides development certainty, while established Indigenous community relationships and proven mining jurisdiction reduce permitting risks.
• Capital Efficiency: Systematic exploration approach utilizing geophysics, structural modelling, and targeted drilling maximizes discovery probability while minimizing capital requirements for advancing multiple opportunities simultaneously.

Macro Thematic Analysis

The uranium sector is experiencing a fundamental transformation driven by global nuclear power expansion, energy security concerns, and climate change imperatives. Growing recognition of nuclear energy's role in achieving carbon reduction targets has created sustained demand growth while uranium supply remains constrained by years of under investment in new production capacity. This supply-demand imbalance is further intensified by emerging technologies including small modular reactors and advanced reactor designs that promise expanded nuclear applications.

ATHA Energy's exploration success at Angilak occurs at an opportune moment within this uranium cycle, as institutional and strategic investors increasingly focus on development-stage assets capable of contributing meaningful production. The company's district-scale land position in an emerging uranium jurisdiction, combined with proven geological analogies to world-class deposits, positions ATHA to participate in what CEO Troy Boisjoli characterizes as an unprecedented market opportunity:

"The absolute reality of where we're sitting right now in the uranium market is that we do not have enough pounds. We don't have enough pounds at a significant scale to meet demand and that sets up well for projects and groups like ourselves that are working in uranium systems that have scale potential."