Gunnison Copper Uncovers Hidden Billion-Dollar Limestone Opportunity at Flagship Producing Arizona Copper Mine

Arizona-based Gunnison Copper Corp. (TSX: GCU)(OTC: GCUMF) — currently trading around C$0.40 per share in a near-record copper market — has announced positive results from its ongoing High-Value-Add Work Program, revealing a significant new byproduct opportunity within the flagship Gunnison Copper Project in southeastern Arizona.

Recent evaluation work shows that much of the limestone overlying the main copper deposit — previously classified as waste rock in the mine plan — meets industrial standards for cement, agricultural lime, and even premium filler and coatings markets.

Roughly 96% of analyzed material averaged over 97% pure calcite, positioning Gunnison to potentially turn a former waste stream into a new revenue stream.

Gunnison Copper VP Business Development Roland Goodgame commented on the positive limestone evaluation results via press release:

“These initial results suggest a significant opportunity to unlock value from material previously categorized as waste, with potential to supply cement, agricultural lime, and premium filler markets. As part of our High-Value-Add Work Program, this limestone evaluation could enhance project economics by diversifying revenue and reducing waste handling, and we intend to integrate these findings into our updated PEA expected in Q1 2026, with PFS work already underway.”

The discovery adds a new dimension to GCU’s growth strategy. By incorporating high-purity limestone into its economic model, Gunnison could not only offset stripping and waste-handling costs but also diversify revenues across multiple end-use markets.

Early estimates suggest more than 200 million tons of limestone lie directly above the copper ore body — material that will be mined as part of the open-pit operation.

The work forms part of a broader initiative to refine and strengthen the project’s economics ahead of an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) expected in Q1 2026 to be followed by a Pre-Feasibility Study now underway.

Other components of the program include advanced ore-sorting, metallurgical optimization, and mine-plan refinements, all designed to improve recoveries and reduce operating costs.

The Gunnison Project already carries robust PEA metrics — including a US$1.3 billion NPV (8%), 20.9% IRR, and 4.1-year payback — supported by a Measured & Indicated resource of 831 million tonnes grading 0.31% copper.

The project is being developed as a conventional open-pit, heap-leach, and SX/EW operation with on-site copper cathode production and direct rail access.

Meanwhile, Johnson Camp — the producing component of the broader Gunnison Copper Project and backed by Rio Tinto’s Nuton® venture — provides operational cash flow and anchors future district-wide growth across the 12 known deposits within the Cochise Mining District.

Cochise Mining District overview

With copper prices advancing toward record highs and global supply tightness intensifying, the company’s move to unlock new value from a previously untapped limestone horizon underscores GCU’s innovation, efficiency, and commitment to sustainable development.

For speculators, it represents another layer of optionality within an already strategic Made-in-America copper platform… one that continues to advance toward full district-scale development and long-term domestic supply leadership.

Hot on the story as always, our own Gerardo Del Real of Junior Resource Monthly caught up with Gunnison Copper SVP Craig Hallworth to dig deeper into how this high-purity limestone discovery could add a billion-dollar byproduct opportunity to one of America’s most strategic emerging copper stories. Please enjoy!

For more information on Gunnison Copper, please contact the company’s IR department at 604-365-6681 or via email at info@gunnisoncopper.com.

Visit the Gunnison Copper corporate website and sign up to receive updates directly from the company here

Yours in profits,

Mike Fagan

Mike Fagan
Editor, Resource Stock Digest

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The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that the conclusions reached in the PEA will be realized. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. For additional information on the Gunnison Project, including the PEA and mineral resource estimate, please refer to the Company's technical report entitled "Gunnison Project NI 43-101 Technical Report Preliminary Economic Assessment" dated effective November 1, 2024 and available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

Dr. Stephen Twyerould, Fellow of AUSIMM, President and CEO of the Company is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Dr. Twyerould has reviewed and is responsible for the technical information contained in this report.

Certain statements contained in this release constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Such forward-looking statements relate the completion of the Offering or any tranche thereof; the number of securities to be issued under the Offering and the gross proceeds received; the timing of the closing of the Offering; the payment of any finders fees and the form thereof; the use of net proceeds from the Offering; the intention to deploy the Nuton® technology at the Johnson Camp mine and future production therefrom; the continued funding of the stage 2 work program by Nuton; the details and expected results of the stage two work program; future production and production capacity from the Company's mineral projects; the results of the preliminary economic assessment on the Gunnison Project; and the exploration and development of the Company's mineral projects.

In certain cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "occur" or "be achieved" suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, intentions or statements about future events or performance. Forward-looking information contained in this report is based on certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, the TSX approves the Offering, the timing of closing the Offering, Nuton will continue to fund the stage 2 work program, the availability of financing to continue as a going concern and implement the Company's operational plans, the estimation of mineral resources, the realization of resource and reserve estimates, copper and other metal prices, the timing and amount of future development expenditures, the estimation of initial and sustaining capital requirements, the estimation of labour and operating costs (including the price of acid), the availability of labour, material and acid supply, receipt of and compliance with necessary regulatory approvals and permits, the estimation of insurance coverage, and assumptions with respect to currency fluctuations, environmental risks, title disputes or claims, and other similar matters. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.

Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include risks related to the Company not obtaining adequate financing to continue operations, Nuton failing to continue to fund the stage 2 work program, the breach of debt covenants, risks inherent in the construction and operation of mineral deposits, including risks relating to changes in project parameters as plans continue to be redefined including the possibility that mining operations may not be sustained at the Gunnison Copper Project, risks related to the delay in approval of work plans, variations in mineral resources and reserves, grade or recovery rates, risks relating to the ability to access infrastructure, risks relating to changes in copper and other commodity prices and the worldwide demand for and supply of copper and related products, risks related to increased competition in the market for copper and related products, risks related to current global financial conditions, risks related to current global financial conditions on the Company's business, uncertainties inherent in the estimation of mineral resources, access and supply risks, risks related to the ability to access acid supply on commercially reasonable terms, reliance on key personnel, operational risks inherent in the conduct of mining activities, including the risk of accidents, labour disputes, increases in capital and operating costs and the risk of delays or increased costs that might be encountered during the construction or mining process, regulatory risks including the risk that permits may not be obtained in a timely fashion or at all, financing, capitalization and liquidity risks, risks related to disputes concerning property titles and interests, environmental risks and the additional risks identified in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's reports and filings with applicable Canadian securities regulators.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information is made as of the date of this report. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information.

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