South Pacific Metals Appoints Timo Jauristo As CEO

(MENAFN- Newsfile Corp) Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 2, 2025) - South Pacific Metals Corp. (TSXV: SPMC) (OTCQB: SPMEF) (FSE: 6J00) (" SPMC " or " South Pacific Metals " or the " Company ") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Timo Jauristo as Chief Executive Officer of the Company, effective June 30, 2025.

Mr. Jauristo brings more than four decades of leadership experience with an accomplished career covering global exploration, corporate development, and corporate strategy in the mining sector to South Pacific Metals. He previously served as Executive Vice President of Corporate Development at Goldcorp Inc., where he was instrumental in driving the company's international expansion through strategic acquisitions and project assessments. Before Goldcorp Inc., Timo held senior executive positions at Placer Dome and other leading mining firms, playing key roles in assessing multiple world-class gold and copper projects across the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region. He currently sits on the board of Integra Resources Corp. as an independent director and has also served as a Senior Advisor to Canaccord Genuity Corp.'s Metals and Mining Investment Banking Group.

"As we kick off our maiden drill program this month at Osena, I am looking forward to leading South Pacific Metals at such a pivotal time," said Mr. Jauristo. "SPMC maintains a robust portfolio of gold and copper assets adjacent to some of the most productive mines in the region. Michael and I visited Papua New Guinea this past week. I was excited to meet our impressive team and see firsthand the quality and potential of the portfolio, particularly in the Kainantu area. I look forward to working closely with the Board and our in-country team to demonstrate the potential of our assets."

Michael Murphy, Executive Chair, added, "We are thrilled to welcome Timo as CEO. His deep operational and capital markets experience, strategic insight, and global industry relationships will be instrumental as we advance our Osena and Anga Gold-Copper Projects and mobilize for drilling at our Ontenu Target-our most important milestone yet."

The Company also announces it has granted, effective June 30, 2025 (the " Grant Date "), stock options and awarded restricted share units (" RSUs ") to certain directors and officers of the Company to acquire an aggregate of 1,200,000 common shares in the capital of the Company, pursuant to the Company's Omnibus Compensation Plan (as herein defined) as incentives and in recognition of their respective contributions to the development of the Company, as further detailed below.

An aggregate of 200,000 stock options (the " Options "), each convertible into a common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.49 until June 30, 2025, were granted with 1/3 of the Options to vest on the first anniversary of the Grant Date, 1/3 of the Options to vest on the second anniversary of the Grant Date, and the final 1/3 of the Options to vest on the third anniversary of the Grant Date.

An aggregate of 1,000,000 RSUs, each convertible into a common share of the Company, were awarded with 1/3 of the RSUs to vest on the first anniversary of the Grant Date, 1/3 of the RSUs to vest on the second anniversary of the Grant Date, and the final 1/3 of the RSUs to vest on the third anniversary of the Grant Date.

About South Pacific Metals Corp.

South Pacific Metals Corp. is an emerging gold-copper exploration company operating in the heart of Papua New Guinea's proven gold and copper production corridors. With an expansive 3,100 km2 land package and four transformative gold-copper projects contiguous with major producers K92 Mining, PanAust and neighbouring Barrick/Zijin, new leadership and experienced in-country teams are prioritizing thoughtful and rigorous technical programs focused on boots-on-the-ground exploration to prioritize discovery across its portfolio projects: Anga, Osena, Kili Teke, and May River.

Immediately flanking K92 Mining's active drilling and gold producing operations to the northeast and southwest, SPMC's Anga and Osena Projects are located within the high-grade Kainantu Gold District - each having the potential to host similar-style lode-gold and porphyry copper-gold mineralization as that present within K92's tenements. Kili Teke is an advanced exploration project situated only 40 km from the world-class Porgera Gold Mine and hosts an existing Inferred Mineral Resource with multiple opportunities for expansion and further discovery. The May River Project is located adjacent to the world-renowned Frieda River copper-gold project, with historical drilling indicating potential for a significant, untapped-gold mineralized system. SPMC common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: SPMC), the OTCQB Marketplace (OTCQB: SPMEF) and Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE: 6J00).

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