Eagle Plains Reports Significant High-Grade Copper, Gold and Silver Mineralization at the Theory Project, Toodoggone District

CRANBROOK, BRITISH COLUMBIA / ACCESS Newswire / January 21, 2026 / Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (TSXV:EPL)(OTCQB:EGPLF) ("EPL" or "Eagle Plains") is pleased to announce that partner Sun Summit Minerals Corp. (TSXV:SMN)(OTCQB:SMREF) ("Sun Summit") has received final analytical and petrographic results from the 2025 field program at Eagle Plains' Theory copper-gold project (the "Theory Project"), north-central British Columbia. The property is owned 100% by Eagle Plains, with 122 hectares of the property subject to an underlying 0.5% Net Smelter Royalty held by a third party.

The Theory Project borders Thesis Gold's Ranch Project to the north and is located within 10 km to the northwest of Sun Summit's JD Project. Sun Summit has an exclusive option agreement with Eagle Plains to earn up to a 100% interest in the project, located in the highly prospective Toodoggone Mining District.

2025 Highlights

New high grade copper discovery: Saboteur Zone

• 3km length zone of copper mineralization associated with coincident magnetic high transition zone and strong radiometric potassic alteration anomaly

• 15 of the rock samples collected returned over 1% Cu

• Grab sample LSTHR040: 4.78% copper, 0.635 g/t gold, 49 g/t silver;

Fred-DM-DMR Zone:

• 1.6 km x 3km zone of copper mineralization associated with barite veining

• Grab sample BLTHR051: 6.42% copper, 0.088 g/t gold, 99 g/t silver;

• Grab sample JBTHR008: 0.65% copper, 12.6 g/t gold, 3150 g/t silver;

BEV Zone:

• Broad copper soil and silt geochemical anomaly associated with multiphase alteration

• Grab sample BLTHR029: 1.44% copper, 0.043 g/t gold, 12.8g/t silver;

Table 1. 2025 Rock Sample Highlights

Chuck Downie, P.Geo., President and CEO of Eagle Plains, commented, "We are very excited by the results from the first fieldwork at the Theory Project in over thirty years, which underscores the unexplored nature and exceptional geology of the property. Ground truthing of anomalies generated through airborne geophysical and remote sensing surveys directly resulted in the Saboteur discovery, a multi kilometer scale zone of copper mineralization. Advanced petrographic analyses, combined with field mapping of extensive hydrothermal alteration zones and copper-gold-silver geochemical anomalies indicates the presence of a proximal buried porphyry system. We eagerly look forward to the 2026 field program, and working with Niel and Ken and the Sun Summit team to advance the property to drill testing."

2025 Exploration Program

The 2025 exploration goals at the Theory Project were to identify and assess new areas of interest and to refine drill targets generated through integrating historical data with new geophysical and geochemical surveys. Eagle Plains and Sun Summit commissioned TerraLogic Exploration Inc. of Cranbrook, BC. to design and execute the 2025 satellite remote sensing data acquisition, and field programs.

During the 14-day field program, a total of 258 rock grab samples, 417 soil samples, and 40 silt samples were collected, and geological and structural mapping was completed on primary target areas. Select samples were sent for petrographic analyses and interpretation.

Comprehensive data interpretation and analyses is underway to define and prioritize targets for 2026 fieldwork and detailed IP geophysical surveys to generate and refine targets for diamond drill testing.

Field Results

All primary targets of interest were prospected/geologically mapped and sampled. Most targets are underlain by mafic volcanic sequences of the Takla Group, with Jurassic Hazelton Group intermediate and mafic volcanics and related sediments encountered at the Stik, DAR and southernmost Bev areas. The volcanic stratigraphy is mostly homoclinal at scale of 100's to 1000+ meters, with shallow dips (15-35°) towards the N or NE the most common, such that a layer-cake stratigraphy approximates the general structural layout of the property - a pattern that is also evident in the airborne RTP magnetics.

Many mineralized veins and fractures exploit bedding parallel structures, but there are also a significant number of steep mineralized structures with NE and NW strikes, with smaller subsets of E or N striking veins and fractures.

The Takla group stratigraphy comprises a repetitive sequence of fine mafic tuff, feldspar ± pyroxene crystal tuff with some pillow basalt, trachyitic basalt, and crystal-lithic lapilli ± bomb proximal vent basalts. More mapping is required to establish the detailed relationship between mineralized structures and volcanic stratigraphy.

The most common mineralized structures, comprise copper minerals (chalcopyrite, bornite, chalcocite) with lesser to equal proportions of pyrite or pyrrhotite, and associated malachite and azurite, in quartz-carbonate-epidote gangue. Azurite intensity appears coincident with presence of bornite and/or chalcocite. Wall rocks are usually moderately to strongly epidote-carbonate ± hematite altered, with variable but commonly high magnetics that is more a function of primary lithology (fine mafic tuffs are commonly the most magnetic). Barite veins are commonly spatially associated with these copper mineralized structures.

At the Bev showing, gossans are widespread with large zones ranging 10's to over 100 m. A quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP) alteration-mineralization assemblage is typical of the gossans, with pyrite contents ranging from trace to 5%, but typically in the 1% range, and finely disseminated. The QSP alteration generally obscures protolith textures, but certainly does transcend lithological boundaries, having relatively steep orientation rather than being bedding parallel. Veining is this zone is quartz-pyrite ± sericite dominant.

Table 2. 2025 Rock Sample Results - Summary Statistics

Saboteur Zone

The newly discovered Saboteur Zone is defined by a 3km long NE trending magnetic high with consistent copper mineralization (chalcopyrite, bornite and chalcocite) associated with epidote-quartz-carbonate veins and fractures. Highlights include grab samples LSTHR040 with 4.7% copper, 0.635 g/t gold, 49 g/t silver; JBTHR059 with 4.0% copper, 0.596 g/t gold, 61 g/t silver; and MHTHR037 with 3.3% copper, 4.290 g/t gold, 121 g/t silver.

Grab samples from the adjacent Provocateur and BEV-N targets include LSTHR020 with 2.8% copper, 0.0025 g/t gold, 7.4 g/t silver; and (Bev-N): JBTHR010 with 2.73% copper, 0.255 g/t gold, 17.2 g/t silver.

Soil samples collected on Saboteur peak returned a maximum of 2.61 % ppm copper, 0.410 g/t gold, and 10.4 g/t silver (MHTHD130).

BEV Zone

The best grab sample from the BEV-main zone returned 1.44% copper, 0.043 g/t gold, 12.8 g/t silver (BLTHR029). Soil and stream-silt results from this main drainage at the Bev zone returned some of the best geochemical results of the 2025 program, defining a multi-element copper dominant geochemical anomaly approximately 1km x 700m, open in three directions.. Detailed geological mapping in the BEV area defined a broad zone of multiphase alteration associated with copper mineralization in epidote-quartz-carbonate veins, and peripheral quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP) altered gossans, highlighting the possibility of a large buried porphyry system.

FRED-DM-DMR Zone

Prospecting at the Fred-DM area focused on an approximately 5km linear magnetic high-low transition zone. Copper mineralization in veins and fractures are associated with NNE trending barite veins, up to 4m in width, that are exposed over 150m length. Grab samples from Fred-DM corridor returned the highest values from the 2025 program. Highlight samples include BLTHR051 with 6.42% copper, 0.088 g/t gold, 99 g/t silver; and JBTHR008 with 0.65% copper, 12.6 g/t gold, 3150 g/t silver. Soil sampling and prospecting indicate that the strike length of the barite mineralization exceeds over 1 kilometer.

STIK 1

Fieldwork at the STIK1 identified epithermal style alteration and mineralization within a granodioritic to dioritic intrusion, as well as in metasediments along the intrusive contact.

Petrographic Results and Interpretation

12 select samples were prepared by Precision Petrographics of Vancouver BC for thin section analyses and interpretation. The petrographic work identified strong epidote-chlorite-carbonate alteration directly with hypogene copper mineralization (chalcopyrite - bornite - chalcocite). This type of mineralization and alteration assemblage is interpreted to represent the inner shell of a porphyry system, which may indicate a proximal source for some of the Theory mineralization.

Next Steps

Planning is now underway for a significant exploration program across the Theory Project in 2026. Details of the program will be released once targets ranks are prioritised and all new analytical data have been interpreted. A priority focus will be on the BEV to Saboteur trend of strong copper mineralization.

Table 3. Significant 2025 Silt Sample Results

Table 4. Significant 2025 Soil Sample Results

Figure 1. 2025 Theory Results Compilation

Figure 2a. Copper results at the Theory Project.

Figure 2b. Gold results at the Theory Project

See Theory Project Information and Map here

About the Theory Project

The 9676ha Theory Project is located in northern BC within the Toodoggone Mining District. The district is endowed with both epithermal gold and porphyry copper-gold deposits, most notably the past producing Kemess Mine owned by Centerra Gold. The Omineca Resource Road provides access to the region from Mackenzie, BC. Recent road upgrades completed in 2023 by Thesis Gold on their Lawyers-Ranch Project brought road access to within 8 kms of the Theory Project.

Geology in the Theory region is primarily comprised of lower Jurassic Hazelton Group volcanics which unconformably overlie late Triassic Takla Group volcanics. The entire package of rocks is intruded by late Triassic and early Jurassic stocks. The majority of the Theory property encompasses the highly prospective Jurassic-Triassic unconformity (~200 Ma), termed by the BC Geologic Survey as the ‘Red-Line', which is known to have a high spatial correlation to many of the known deposits throughout the Golden Triangle and Toodoggone.

Exploration by previous operators has been intermittent since the mid-1960's and regional government surveys are sparse, however encouraging mineralization and alteration commonly associated with both epithermal and porphyry systems has been documented. The most significant documented work was completed in 1988 in the north and west areas of the Theory project area. Work consisted primarily of alpine ridge and subalpine prospecting traverses as well as reconnaissance soil sample lines in areas where no outcrop was present. This work documented occurrences of low-sulphidation epithermal-related mineralization including quartz-barite veins with up to 8.2 g/t Au, 195 g/t Ag, and 6.2% Cu at the DM occurrence (BC Minfile 094E 231)*; and a quartz carbonate vein system with up to 6.8 g/t Au and 1,480 g/t Ag at the Fred-1 occurrence (BC Minfile 094E 402)*. The BEV occurrences (BC Minfile 094E 259)*, interpreted as a Cu-Au porphyry target, returned select historical rock results up to 0.47% Cu, 10.5 g/t Ag, and 0.13 g/t Au. Detailed soils revealed a 1.6 by 2 kilometre copper-in-soil anomaly with peak soil results to 920 ppm Cu. Very little work is documented in the south and eastern parts of the property.

Recent exploration success in the area has been highlighted by Thesis Gold's announcement at their Lawyers-Ranch Pr