Minco Completes €745,000 Additional Financing with Strategic Investor to Advance the Rapla Project

Dec 22, 2025

22 December 2025 – Minco Exploration PLC (“Minco Exploration”, “Minco”, or the “Company”) is pleased to have closed a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of €745,000 by a strategic investor (the “Investor”) to advance and expedite exploration of Minco’s Rapla Project in County Laois, on-strike from the past-producing, high-grade Galmoy and Lisheen Mines.

HIGHLIGHTS

    • €745,000 private placement (the “Placement”) with the Investor at €0.075 per ordinary share (“Ordinary Share”) of Minco for the issuance of a total of 9,933,333 Ordinary Shares
    • The Placement was made pursuant to the Investor’s previously granted option to invest an additional €900,000 at €0.075, as announced in July 2025, with the remainder of the option expected to be exercised early in 2026 subject to receipt of all applicable third party and regulatory consents
    • Funds will be used to further expedite exploration of the Rapla Project, following up on the high-grade discovery announced 19 December of 16.5 metres grading 10.99% Zn, 3.12% Pb, 1.39% Cu and 294 g/t Ag from 576.5 metres, including 4.5 metres grading 19.45% Zn, 8.18% Pb, 5.05% Cu, 1,028 g/t Ag, 2.05% Sb, 0.41% Ni, 0.17% Co and 2.19% As, in hole 3312-82 (refer to press release of 19 December 2025 for further details)

“Today’s placement will enable and accelerate ongoing exploration at the Rapla Project,” stated John Kearney, Chairman, “With our strategic investor’s support, we plan to add four rigs to the Rapla Project and aggressively follow-up on the high-grade zinc, lead, silver and copper discovery announced on December 19th.  While the grades and tenor of mineralisation are certainly new developments at Rapla, previous drilling has already identified an approximately 3.6km by 1km mineralised footprint with numerous high-grade zinc/lead intersections. This mineralised footprint provides us with a platform to move the project forward rapidly.”

Strategic Investment

Minco has closed the Placement with the Investor consisting of 9,933,333 Ordinary Shares at a price of €0.075 per Ordinary Share for gross proceeds of €745,000 (the “Placement”). Following the Placement, the Investor holds a 24.9% interest in the issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares of the Company.

As announced on 19 July 2025, the Investor held options to invest up to an additional €1.7 million in Minco (subject to certain approvals if the exercise of such options would result in the Investor holding more than 29.99% of the then issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares), as follows:

  1. Prior to 26 January 2026, the Investor may purchase an additional 12,000,000 Ordinary Shares at a price of €0.075 per share for a total of €900,000 (of which options 9,933,333 Ordinary Shares have been exercised in the Placement for €745,000); and,
  2. Prior to 26 September 2026, the Investor may purchase an additional 8,000,000 Ordinary Shares at a price of €0.10 per share for a total of €800,000.

The Investor is expected to exercise the remainder of the €0.075 options in early 2026 following receipt of all applicable third party and regulatory consents.

Competent Person

Technical information in this news release has been approved by EurGeol John A. Clifford, P.Geo, Minco’s Director – Exploration and “Competent Person” as defined under the 2021 Pan-European Reporting Standard for the Public Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves.

ABOUT MINCO EXPLORATION PLC

Minco Exploration PLC is a mineral exploration company which holds interests in Prospecting Licences in Ireland which are considered highly prospective for the discovery of zinc-lead mineralisation. Minco has interests in four projects located within the Irish Midlands Orefield that are operated by Minco or in joint venture with Boliden Tara Mines.

Minco’s primary focus is its 100% owned Rapla Project, the site of Ireland’s latest high-grade zinc-lead-copper-silver discovery.  Rapla is located approximately 5 km and 15 km northeast of the past producing Galmoy Mine (10.9Mt @ 12.4% Zn, 1.6% Pb) and Lisheen Mine (22 Mt @ 11.5% Zn, 1.9% Pb), respectively, and lies within the Rathdowney Trend, in a highly prospective segment that can be considered to be part of the greater Lisheen / Galmoy mineralising system.

Minco also holds (i) a 100% interest in the Slieve Dart prospecting licence block in County Galway; (ii) a 20% joint venture interest with Boliden (80%) on Licence 1440R (Tatestown), which lies immediately adjacent to Boliden’s large 130 million tonne Tara zinc-lead mine at Navan; and (iii) a joint venture interest with Boliden on Licence 3373 (Kells), contiguous to the west of Licence 1440R, where Minco can earn up to a 75% interest.

Additional information about the Company is available at www.MincoExploration.com.

Click here to download the full News Release. (PDF)

Enquiries:

Minco Exploration PLC

John Kearney, Chairman +1 (416) 362 6686

Peter McParland, Chief Executive +353 (0) 4690 73709

www.MincoExploration.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to, but not limited to, the Company’s expectations, intentions, plans and beliefs. Forward-looking information can often be identified by terminology such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “goal”, “plan”, “intend”, “estimate”, “may”, “will”, or similar words suggesting future outcomes, or by statements regarding future events, conditions, performance, or results.
Forward-looking information may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to mineral resource or reserve estimates, exploration results, future production levels, capital and operating costs, timing of development milestones, the availability of funding, use of Proceeds from the Placement, regulatory approvals, and the future financial or operating performance of the Company. Technical and scientific information disclosed from adjacent properties does not necessarily apply to the Rapla project. These statements are based on current expectations, assumptions and estimates that involve a number of business risks and uncertainties.
Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the risk of not establishing mineral resources or reserves; differences between actual results and estimates with respect to grade, recovery, or mineral content; cost overruns or delays; availability of funding on acceptable terms; changes in laws or regulations (including in Ireland, the EU, or other applicable jurisdictions); delays or failures in obtaining necessary permits or approvals; fluctuations in commodity prices and exchange rates; inflationary pressures; and general economic and market conditions.
Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the Company’s control, which may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Shareholders and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. By its nature, forward-looking information involves numerous assumptions and inherent risks, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that predictions, forecasts, projections and outcomes will not occur as anticipated.
Except as may be required under applicable Irish or other securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.