Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 4, 2026) - Slave Lake Zinc Corp. (CSE: SLZ) ("the Company" or "SLZ") is pleased to announce that ongoing progressive exploration work at its O'Connor Lake property has confirmed and significantly advanced the understanding of the project's regional-scale economic geology and hydrothermal mineralized system.

Data analysis has identified a strong, large-scale zonation in metal content recognized over an area of 8 by 5 kilometres across the SLZ property structural corridor. This new interpretation suggests a major deep-seated magmatic-hydrothermal system that was active over time, resulting in a classic depositional zonation pattern that extends the exploration potential beyond the historic zinc-lead showings.

Expanding the Mineralized Footprint

The Company has identified that gold and silver occur in mineralized structures in a broad "outbound pattern" located 5 to 7 kilometres northwest to west of the central Shaft Zone zinc-lead deposit.

Highlights of this distal zonation include:

• Historic High-Grade Gold: Known historic gold showings in this outer arc contained values of 0.88 OPT (approx. 30.17 g/t) at the BSM2 showing and 30.2 g/t at the MCO showing. (These are historic noncompliant 43-101 assays)

• Regional Consistency: Limited copper analysis to date exhibits a similar regional zonation pattern, reinforcing the model of a large, unified system.

"Identifying this 8 by 5-kilometre zonation corridor fundamentally changes the scale and the exploration model for the O'Connor Lake project," stated Ritch Wigham, the CEO of Slave Lake Zinc. "We are seeing a classic mineralization signature where high-grade gold and silver mineralization occur distal to our established zinc-lead core. This validates our belief that we are dealing with a large, deep-seated hydrothermal system, and it opens entirely new high-priority targets for future exploration."

Understanding the Zonation Sequence

The zonation observed at O'Connor Lake follows a classic orogenic gold hydrothermal deposition model. In these systems, mineral deposition largely forms in response to elevated heat and fluid fluxes under intense deformational pressures (Taltson Magmatic Zone) associated with compression to transpressional deformation in significantly metamorphic terranes.

The Sequence of Zonation:

1. Proximal (Center): High-temperature base metals. At O'Connor Lake, this is represented by the Shaft Zone, which is rich in Zinc (Zn) and Lead (Pb). These metals typically precipitate closer to the heat source where fluids are hotter.

2. Distal (Outer Periphery): Lower-temperature precious metals. As the hydrothermal fluids travel outward through fractures and cool, the solubility of metals changes. Precious metals like Gold (Au) and Silver (Ag) typically precipitate in the cooler, distal zones, forming a "halo" or arc around the base metal core.

This mineralization signature supports the theory that the O'Connor Lake property hosts a district-scale system rather than isolated deposits.

Structural Controls and Next Steps

While the structures hosting the precious metal-rich mineralization are located within the complex Taltson Magmatic Zone (TMZ), they are believed to be concentrated in secondary stage splay faults.

Current interpretation recognizes multiple-stage fracture systems, though precise mineralizing controls remain to be determined. The Company views these secondary splays as high-priority targets for gold and silver enrichment.

Upcoming Exploration: Aurora Geosciences Ltd. of Yellowknife is currently designing a multi-stage exploration program. This program will focus on establishing a conceptual model for the property that hosts a large orogenic gold-base metal system with mineralized structures, and potential future drill targets to test both the established base metal zones and the newly defined precious metals.

Qualified Person The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Gary Vivian, M.Sc., P.Geol., a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Slave Lake Zinc Corp. Slave Lake Zinc Corp. is focused on exploring and developing its O'Connor Lake property in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories. The property hosts a historic high-grade zinc-lead-copper-silver deposit and multiple regional-scale structures with significant exploration upside.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider has reviewed or accepted responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release

Forward-Looking Statement

Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in both Slave Lake Zinc's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "potential", "should," and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. Information provided in this document is necessarily summarized and may not contain all available material information. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the progress of a definitive offtake agreement, potential development and production at the Company's O'Connor Lake project, future oriented events and other statements that are not facts. Forward-looking statements are based on a few assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management based on the business and markets in which Slave Lake Zinc operates, are inherently subject to significant operational, economic, and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Such forward-looking statements should therefore be construed in light of such factors. Although Slave Lake Zinc has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and Slave Lake Zinc disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and Slave Lake Zinc does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company

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