Sunrise Resources PLC Regulatory News (SRES)

SUNRISE RESOURCES PLC

("Sunrise" or the "Company")

8 January 2026

PIOCHE SEPIOLITE PROJECT, NEVADA, USA

Further the Company's announcement (31 October 2025) of positive test results from its Pioche Sepiolite Project in Nevada, USA, the Company is pleased to provide the following report on a field-work programme carried out at Pioche in December 2025.

Summary:

· New field programme completed in December 2025.

· Sepiolite outcrops located and sampled for further performance testing - seven mini-bulk samples collected.

· Detailed review of core samples from 2024 drilling suggests additional layers and thicknesses of sepiolite not previously sampled or tested.

Ø Forty-four additional core samples selected for performance testing.

· New samples provided to interested party, a large European industrial minerals company.

· Samples collected will also support a planned Phase 3 testwork programme to apply Company's processing methodology across a wider range of samples, particularly for sepiolite applications in the valuable US oil and gas drilling markets.

More detailed information and field photographs are provided below.

Commenting today, Executive Chairman Patrick Cheetham said:

"We have made considerable progress with the Pioche Sepiolite Project in 2025, building on the good work carried out by Tolsa in 2024.

"Tolsa's work has demonstrated that there are extensive sepiolite beds at Pioche, extending over several square kilometres, and our process development testwork in 2025 has laid a good foundation for the commercial development of this deposit, one of just a handful of commercial sized deposits in the World for this rare industrial mineral.

The samples resulting from the December field programme provide a bank of samples available to interested parties with the first batch of samples having now been received by a large European industrial minerals group."

Further information:

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 which forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ('MAR'). Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

Nominated Adviser

Beaumont Cornish Limited ("Beaumont Cornish") is the Company's Nominated Adviser and is authorised and regulated by the FCA. Beaumont Cornish's responsibilities as the Company's Nominated Adviser, including a responsibility to advise and guide the Company on its responsibilities under the AIM Rules for Companies and AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers, are owed solely to the London Stock Exchange. Beaumont Cornish is not acting for and will not be responsible to any other persons for providing protections afforded to customers of Beaumont Cornish nor for advising them in relation to the proposed arrangements described in this announcement or any matter referred to in it.

Shares in the Company trade on AIM. EPIC: "SRES".

Website: www.sunriseresourcesplc.com

Detailed Information

The December 2025 field-work programme followed on from the July 2025 receipt of all remaining core samples from Tolsa's drill testing of the Pioche sepiolite deposit in 2024 and the Company's Phase 1 and 2 development testwork, details of which were reported in previous 2025 news announcements.

The field-work programme work was carried out by Mr Patrick Cheetham (geologist) and Mr Tom Powell, the Company's 20% partner in the project and an acknowledged expert on the processing and mining of industrial clays, especially sepiolite.

The first objective of the December 2025 field work was to locate and sample surface outcrops of high grade sepiolite for submission to potential partners for the project. This was carried out successfully and seven mini-bulk samples were collected across the project area.

The second objective was to review in detail the remaining "core" samples collected by Tolsa via sonic drilling and to select further samples for testing using the sample preparation techniques developed by Mr Powell which were previously reported in 2025.

It is clear from this review that Tolsa's sampling of core and subsequent testwork has been quite selective. Several additional and unsampled zones of sepiolite clay of varying grades were identified which have potential to add to the economic value of the deposit.

As a result of this core review a further 44 samples have been taken from the drill cores for further testing and for supply to interested parties.

The testing programme now planned for these samples is designed to demonstrate the commercial properties of the Pioche deposit over a wider range of samples than tested by the Company to-date. This includes testing to confirm its for use in oil and gas drilling in saltwater formations (see "About Sepiolite" below) an important market for sepiolite in the USA. This application was not tested by Tolsa but the Company's testing on a limited number of to date, as reported in 2025, gave positive results.

A number of samples collected in December 2025 have been submitted to an interested party in Europe, a large industrial minerals company.

Further information will be provided as it becomes available.

Above:  Recovering boulders of sepiolite clay from outcrop prior to bulk sampling.

Above :Boxed core samples from sonic drilling in storage. Samples being tested for moisture content. Sepiolite, due to its high absorbency can contain as much as 50% moisture.

Above. Core samples of sepiolite clay. Orange red spots result from chemical field tests using a chemical stain to make an initial positive identification of magnesium bearing sepiolite clay.

About the Pioche Sepiolite Project

The Pioche Sepiolite Project claims are 100% owned by SR Minerals Inc. ("SRM"), a Nevada-registered and wholly owned subsidiary of Sunrise Resources plc. Tom Powell holds a 20% beneficial interest in the Project.

The Project is located in Lincoln County, Nevada, to the northeast of Pioche, a historic mining town just off US Route 93. The Company's mining claims are on Federally owned land administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Access to rail is available at the town of Caliente, 35 miles south of the project area on Route 93.

Originally documented as a sepiolite occurrence in the 1970s, the occurrence was relocated by the Company in 2021. In 2022, Tolsa USA, Inc., a US subsidiary of Spanish sepiolite producer Tolsa SA, entered into an option to purchase agreement with the Company and explored the property until December 2024 when the option period expired.

Tolsa completed programmes of geological mapping, trenching, auger drilling and sonic drilling. This identified two (possibly three) sub-horizontal and extensive sepiolite beds outcropping intermittently along the margins of two mesas now known as the West and East Mesa areas. A silica rich caprock tops the sepiolite at the discovery location forming low mesas and flattened ridgetops.

About Sepiolite

Sepiolite is a non-swelling, lightweight, porous hydrous magnesium silicate clay. It has unique characteristics, is scarce, and there are very few commercial deposits in the world. 

In the US, a major use is in oil well drilling fluids primarily as a viscosifier and suspending agent, especially in saltwater or brine-based systems where other clays like bentonite are less effective. It has a high salt tolerance and maintains viscosity in saline or seawater environments where bentonite tends to flocculate and lose effectiveness. It also exhibits thixotropic behaviour forming gels when static, suspending drill cuttings and weighting materials such as barite, but thins out under shear, aiding in pumpability. It provides good rheological properties without adding a large amount of solid material, reducing the risk of formation damage. Sepiolite has high thermal stability and so is the only clay used in high temperature and high pressure wells.

Sepiolite is used in liquid animal feed supplements as a binder and carrier for nutrients and growth promoter. It is also used in building products such as drywall tape joint compounds, putty, caulk, texture coatings and asphalt emulsion coatings where freshwater viscosity is important.

Sepiolite possesses a high surface area due to channels in the crystal lattice that gives it a structural nano-porosity. Its unusual crystal shape also adds to the internal porosity and gives it a light weight. Sepiolite's high surface area and porosity account for sepiolite's outstanding sorption capacity. Just 20g of sepiolite can have an internal surface area equivalent to that of a football field and sepiolite can absorb more than its weight in water. The largest market globally for sepiolite is for use in light-weight non-clumping pet litters where it has superior properties compared to other clays used in this application.