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Highlights:
- CS26-096: two (2) separate intervals, including:
- 134.5 m at 1.20 % Li2O (starting at surface), and
- 101.6 m at 1.02 % Li2O
- The entire 101.6 m interval in hole-96 is outside of the conceptual pit-shell defined in the April-2026 MRE.
- CS26-095: 10 separate intervals, including:
- 70 m at 1.28 % Li2O,
- 31.3 m at 1.00 % Li2O, and
- 25.7 m at 1.33 % Li2O.
- CS26-094: two (2) separate intervals, including:
- 29.2 m at 1.53 % Li2O, and
- 19.3 m at 1.84 % Li2O.
- A total of 19,521 m over 43 drill holes has been completed to date during the 2026 Summer Drill Program and five (5) drill rigs continue to operate at Cisco.
- The Company expects to publish its inaugural Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Cisco Lithium Project in Fall-2026
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 07, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Q2 Metals Corp. (TSX.V: QTWO | OTCQB: QUEXF | FSE: 458) (“Q2” or the “Company”) is pleased to report on analytical results from the 2026 summer drill program (the “2026 Summer Drill Program”) at the Company’s Cisco Lithium Project (the “Project” or the “Cisco Project”), located within the greater Nemaska traditional territory of the southernmost portion of the Eeyou Istchee, James Bay region of Quebec, Canada.
The Cisco Deposit is located just 6.5 kilometres (“km”) from the paved, all-season Billy Diamond Highway, providing strategic year-round direct access to rail infrastructure in the Town of Matagami, just ~150 km to the south.
The results reported herein represent 1,090 metres (“m”) of drilling over three (3) drill holes.
2026 Exploration Program Update
Crews were mobilized to the Cisco Project in May, with the drill campaign commencing in June, targeting infill, extension and exploration drilling across the main deposit area. Drilling is anticipated to continue until mid-December. Five (5) drill rigs are currently operating at the Cisco Project with two (2) drill rigs focusing on infill drilling of the Cisco Deposit and three (3) focused on expansion and exploration drilling to the north, south and east.
The Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate on the Cisco Project, announced on April 20, 2026 and filed June 03, 2026, outlines a pit-constrained resource of 270 million tonnes (“Mt”) grading 1.36% Li2O at a 0.4% Li2O cut-off grade and an additional underground-constrained resource of 24 Mt grading 1.34% Li2O Inferred at a 0.7% Li2O cut-off grade (together, the “Cisco Deposit”). The Cisco Deposit hosts a total Inferred Mineral Resource of 295 Mt grading 1.36% Li2O (the “April-2026 MRE”).
The April-2026 MRE was based on 33,343 m of drilling across 75 holes completed up to December 15, 2025. The April-2026 MRE will inform the Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) currently being prepared by BBA Inc. and anticipated to be published in Fall-2026.
To date, a total of 61,045 m has been drilled at the Cisco Project across 137 holes.
Analytical results on drill holes are announced as they are received and validated. All drilling completed in 2026 and early 2027 will be included in an update to the April-2026 MRE.
Regional Exploration
Alongside the 2026 Summer Drill Program, extensive regional greenfield exploration, including indicator mineral till sampling and geochemical soil sampling, expanded prospecting and mapping and surface channel sampling commenced in May and is ongoing. The objective of the regional program is to collect information that could potentially lead to new discoveries at the Cisco Project. The channel sampling is designed to collect resource-definition-quality surface data to complement the drilling program and enhance geological interpretation of the deposit.
Analytical results from the mineral till and soil sampling and channel sampling will be reported when received and validated.
Sage McCallum, Q2 Metals Vice President, Exploration said, “Drill hole-96 is another clear example of how generous the Cisco Project continues to be. We’ve now extended the previously known mineralization of the Cisco Deposit by an additional 100 metres to the north at a shallow depth while also defining a significant interval outside of the conceptual pit-shell outlined in the April-2026 MRE. It’s been an exceptionally active summer at the Cisco Project - the team has maintained a strong pace, drilling roughly 20,000 metres since mid-June, alongside ongoing regional work to evaluate additional targets beyond those originally evaluated in 2024 and 2025.”
“The April-2026 MRE quantified the exceptional scale of the Cisco Deposit, while the adjacent Exploration Target underscores the considerable upside potential still to be realized. This summer’s drill program successfully extended significant near surface mineralization to the north, beyond the limits of the April-2026 MRE and reinforced that Cisco remains opens in all directions with meaningful growth potential,” said Alicia Milne, Q2 Metals President and CEO.
“As our exploration work continues, our focus is firmly on the PEA, a pivotal milestone in Cisco’s transition from pure exploration toward a project that can be measured and valued against global peers. With $70.9 million on our balance sheet as of August 31, 2026, we are well-capitalized to continue to deliver across all major workstreams and unlock Cisco’s full potential as a globally significant project.”
Figure 1. Updated Map of Recent Drill Holes at Cisco Project
Drill Results Discussion
Drill hole-95
- Drill hole-95 successfully confirmed the main zone of the Cisco Deposit at its western margin with 10 separate spodumene pegmatite intervals up to 70 m at 1.28 % Li2O.
Drill hole-96
- Drill hole-96 successfully extended the previous mineralization by 100 m to the north of drill hole-77 (announced June 02, 2026) which encountered 107.8 m of 1.74% Li2O.
- Importantly, the 134.5 m interval started at-surface and vertically continued to approximately 100 metres below surface. The lower 101.6 m interval is entirely outside of the conceptual pit-shell defined in the April-2026 MRE.
Figure 2. Cross-Section Including Drill Hole-96
Summary of Analytical Results
Table 1. Summary of Analytical Results of Drill Holes at Cisco Project
All intervals of greater than 5 m of core-length and greater than 0.30% Li2O are included in Table 1. Internal dilution of non-pegmatite material was limited to intervals of less than 5 m. No specific grade cap or lower cut-offs were used during grade and width calculations. All intervals are reported as core widths and mineralized intervals in all the holes drilled thus far are not representative of the true width as the modelled pegmatite zones are being refined with every additional hole.
Drill Hole Collar Information
The summary of drill holes including basic location and dip/azimuth is detailed below (Table 2).
Table 2. Summary of Drill Hole Collar Information, Cisco Project
Sampling, Analytical Methods and QA/QC Protocols
All drilling was conducted using diamond drill rig with NQ sized core and all drill core samples are shipped to SGS Canada’s preparation facility in Val D’Or, Quebec, for standard sample preparation (code PRP92) which includes drying at 105°C, crushing to 90% passing 2 mm, riffle split 500 g, and pulverize 85% passing 75 microns. The pulps are then shipped by air to SGS Canada’s laboratory in Burnaby, BC, where the samples are homogenized and subsequently analyzed for multi-element (including Li and Ta) using sodium peroxide fusion with ICP-AES/MS finish (code GE_ICM91A50). The reported Li grade will be multiplied by the standard conversion factor of 2.153 which results in an equivalent Li2O grade. Drill core was saw-cut with half-core sent for geochemical analysis and half-core remaining in the box for reference. The same side of the core was sampled to maintain representativeness.
A Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC) protocol following industry best practices was incorporated into the sampling program. Measures include the systematic insertion of quartz blanks and certified reference materials (CRMs) into sample batches at a rate of approximately 5% each. Additionally, analysis of pulp-split and reject-split duplicates was completed to assess analytical precision. The Qualified Person (“QP”) has verified the QA/QC results of the analytical work.
Qualified Person
Neil (Sage) McCallum, B.Sc., P.Geol, is a QP as defined by NI 43-101, and a registered permit holder with the Ordre des Géologues du Québec and member in good standing with the Professional Geoscientists of Ontario. Neil (Sage) McCallum is a director and the Vice President Exploration for Q2 Metals and has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release.
Upcoming Events
Q2 will be attending the following conferences and events:
| Ignite Conference | Hong Kong | October 14-15, 2026 |
| IMARC | Sydney, Australia | October 27-29, 2026 |
| XPLOR | Montreal, Quebec | November 2-5, 2026 |
| Canaccord Genuity Australia Metals & Mining Conference | Noosa, Australia | November 11-13, 2026 |
| Québec Mines + Énergie | Quebec City, Quebec | November 17-19, 2026 |
| 121 Conference | London, UK | November 23-24, 2026 |
ABOUT Q2 METALS CORP.
Q2 Metals is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on advancing the Cisco Lithium Project which is located within the greater Nemaska traditional territory of the Eeyou Istchee, James Bay region of Quebec, Canada. The Cisco Deposit is strategically situated just 6.5 km from the Billy Diamond Highway, providing access to rail infrastructure in the Town of Matagami, ~150 km to the south, with connections to deep seaports beyond.
The current Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate on the Cisco Deposit outlines a pit-constrained resource of 270 Mt grading 1.36% Li2O at a 0.4% Li2O cut-off grade and an additional underground-constrained resource of 24 Mt grading 1.34% Li2O Inferred at a 0.7% Li2O cut-off grade. Together, these support a combined inferred mineral resource of 295 Mt grading 1.36% Li2O. The Cisco Deposit remains open along strike, with several additional high-priority targets identified across the broader 41,253 ha project area.
The 2026 exploration program is ongoing, with a primary focus on infill drilling aimed at advancing the resource toward an indicated resource classification as well as targeted expansion drilling and regional exploration designed to evaluate high-priority targets surrounding the Cisco Deposit and across the broader project area.
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