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February 18, 2026

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Investor Insight

Earthwise Minerals is a data-driven Canadian gold explorer advancing the fully permitted Iron Range gold project in southeastern British Columbia. Backed by more than $8 million in historical data and a 51.6 million-share structure, the company offers strong leverage to discovery. A staged earn-in and defined drill targets position Earthwise for efficient, high-impact exploration.

Overview

Earthwise Minerals (CSE:WISE,FSE:966) is a Vancouver-based exploration company focused on advancing the Iron Range Gold Project in southeastern British Columbia. The project lies within the Purcell Supergroup along the Iron Mountain Fault Zone, a major regional structure in the same metallogenic belt as the historic Sullivan deposit, providing a strong geological context for structurally hosted gold-dominant mineralization.

The company’s strategy centers on integrating historic datasets with modern exploration technologies to efficiently generate drill-ready targets. More than $8 million in historical exploration work — including airborne geophysics, soil geochemistry and drilling — gives Earthwise a significant technical head start and reduces early-stage exploration risk.

Earthwise controls its flagship project through an option agreement with Eagle Plains Resources, allowing it to prioritize exploration spending over acquisition costs. This staged structure provides a disciplined pathway toward discovery while preserving capital.

Company Highlights

  • Tight Capital Structure:51.6 million shares fully diluted, providing strong leverage to exploration success without excessive dilution
  • District-Scale Flagship Asset: The Iron Range Gold Project spans 21,437 hectares along a major regional structure with more than 50 kilometres of strike length
  • Extensive Historic Database: Over $8 million in past geophysics, geochemistry and drilling creates a robust dataset for modern targeting
  • Low-Cost Earn-In: Option to earn 70 percent interest over four years through staged payments and exploration totaling $4 million, plus a further 10 percent (to 80 percent) for a $1-million payment within 120 days
  • Infrastructure Advantage: Property is road accessible, crossed by Highway 3 and serviced by rail, power, natural gas and water
  • Advanced Permitting: Multi-year area-based permit allows drilling, trenching, geophysics and road access without annual approvals
  • Experienced Leadership: Management and board combine technical discovery experience, capital markets expertise and digital strategy capabilities

Key Project

Iron Range Gold Project

The Iron Range Gold Project is Earthwise’s flagship asset, covering 21,437 hectares just northeast of Creston, British Columbia. The property is underlain by the Iron Mountain Fault Zone and hosts structurally controlled mineralization associated with a key stratigraphic horizon known as the Lower–Middle Aldridge Contact. Infrastructure is exceptional, with Highway 3 crossing the project, rail access via Canadian Pacific, power supplied by BC Hydro and nearby natural gas and water.

Historic exploration has outlined multiple mineralized zones supported by geophysical and geochemical anomalies. A 2004 VTEM survey identified conductive trends coincident with the fault zone, while soil surveys defined multi-element anomalies including arsenic, lead, zinc and gold. Induced polarization surveys completed in 2017 outlined a down-plunge chargeability anomaly at the Talon/Canyon Zone, later confirmed by drilling in 2018.

Mineralization styles are polymetallic but gold dominant, occurring within brittle shear and breccia zones ranging from one metre to several tens of metres wide. Historic drill intercepts include:

  • 56.5 m grading 1.9 g/t gold, 0.44 percent lead, 0.59 percent zinc and 19.7 g/t silver
  • 14.0 m grading 5.1 g/t gold, 1.86 percent lead, 2.1 percent zinc and 75.3 g/t silver
  • 2.0 m grading 12.8 g/t gold, 4.18 percent lead, 5.06 percent zinc and 122.5 g/t silver

Recent fieldwork has also returned surface samples grading up to 13.4 g/t gold, 27.2 g/t silver and 2.7 percent lead, supporting the project’s discovery potential. Mineralization remains open along strike and at depth, with overlapping geophysical and geochemical vectors indicating potential for additional shoots.

Project Highlights

  • 21,437 hectare district-scale land package
  • More than 50 km of prospective structural strike
  • Over $8 million in historical exploration data
  • Fully permitted for multi-year drilling and exploration
  • Phase 1 drill program (~2,500 m) planned to test down-plunge extensions and parallel structures
  • Earn-in to 80 percent ownership with only a 1 percent NSR retained on part of the property

Management Team

Mark Luchinski — Chief Executive Officer and Corporate Director

Mark Luchinski is an entrepreneur and capital markets specialist with two decades of experience managing public companies and advancing exploration assets. He has guided multiple firms through financings, acquisitions, exploration programs and listings. He also serves as a director of Aeonian Resources.

Mateo Arcila — Director

Mateo Arcila is an engineer with over 10 years of experience in business development and digital strategy. He oversees corporate outreach, digital initiatives and investor engagement for Earthwise. His background includes marketing analytics, data strategy and international business.

Karen Mate – Director

Karen Mate is a senior capital markets professional with more than 30 years of experience in the Canadian investment industry, specializing in institutional equity sales and capital markets advisory. She has held senior roles at leading investment banks, including Director of Global Institutional Equity Sales at Scotia Capital, as well as leadership positions at Casimir Capital, Dundee Capital Markets, Marleau Lemire Securities and National Bank Financial. Known as a trusted advisor to institutional investors and corporate management teams, she has guided clients across multiple market cycles with strategic market insight and execution expertise.

Ikavinder Deol — Chief Financial Officer

Ikavinder Deol is a CPA with more than six years of experience in financial reporting and compliance for junior mining companies. She specializes in IFRS reporting and regulatory filings. She is also affiliated with Cross Davis & Company, which focuses on public resource issuers.

Andy Randell – Geological Advisor

Andy Randell, P.Geo, is a professionally registered geoscientist with more than 20 years of experience spanning mineral exploration, technical leadership, consulting and industry governance. He has held senior geological roles on gold-focused projects in Canada and internationally, including project geologist and chief geologist positions, and brings expertise from grassroots through advanced-stage exploration. His work emphasizes structural geology, disciplined target generation and responsible exploration practices.

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Investor Insight

Purpose-built for today’s energy transition, xU3O8 sits at the intersection of technology, finance, and nuclear energy, offering a simplified and transparent alternative to legacy uranium investments amid surging global demand. The xU3O8 token, now accessible on leading global exchanges, is a groundbreaking digital asset that provides direct, efficient exposure to the uranium market.

Overview

Uranium.io is a next-generation platform revolutionizing how investors access and trade physical uranium (U3O8). By leveraging blockchain technology, it enables individuals and institutions to directly own and trade uranium, bypassing many of the inefficiencies, opacity and high costs traditionally associated with uranium exposure. Each xU3O8 token represents real, physical uranium stored securely in a regulated depository operated by Cameco, with Archax, a UK-regulated digital asset firm, as the custodian for the physical uranium, ensuring transparency and trust in asset backing.

The platform is built to address rising investor demand for uranium exposure, a commodity that plays a critical role in the global energy transition. As governments commit to deep carbon-reduction targets, nuclear power is increasingly recognized as a reliable, scalable source of low-carbon baseload electricity. Across North America, Europe, and Asia, countries are expanding nuclear capacity through the restart of idled reactors, the construction of new facilities, and the accelerated development of small modular reactors (SMRs) to support long-term net-zero objectives.

Nuclear power is also emerging as a stable and scalable option for supporting artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, which require massive amounts of electricity to operate. Industry leaders, including Microsoft, have announced nuclear energy investments, and several technology firms have secured long-term agreements for nuclear power.

Like gold and silver before it, uranium is entering a phase of financialization — with physical holding trusts, ETFs, and now platforms like uranium.io offering direct physical uranium ownership via xU3O8, making it more accessible to a wider set of investors.

As traditional financial markets converge with digital innovation, tokenized assets are becoming a preferred vehicle for commodities investing. Uranium.io’s use of the Tezos blockchain ensures secure, real-time trading with minimal friction — a distinct advantage in an increasingly digitized investment landscape.

Development of the uranium.io platform is led by the team at London-based Trilitech, a group of entrepreneurs and technologists driving blockchain innovations.

With its emphasis on direct fractional ownership and 24/7 worldwide accessibility, xU3O8 is uniquely positioned to serve as the gateway to physical uranium exposure for a global investor base. Alignment with broader energy and digital asset trends makes it a compelling vehicle for those seeking to capitalize on uranium’s strong fundamentals and the disruptive power of decentralized finance.

In July 2025, the company launched its xU3O8 token on KuCoin, MEXC, and Gate.io — ushering in a new era of uranium investment. This simultaneous, multi-platform listing marks a major milestone in the evolution of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, delivering institutional-grade exposure to uranium markets to a combined audience of over 115 million global traders.

By debuting across multiple top-tier platforms, xU3O8 ensures broad accessibility and liquidity for investors:

  • KuCoin – With over 41 million users in 200+ countries, KuCoin offers a full suite of trading services—spot, margin, options, and futures. As a technology-first exchange focused on accessibility, KuCoin shares xU3O8’s mission to dismantle traditional investment barriers.
  • MEXC – Founded in 2018, MEXC serves 36 million users globally and has seen explosive 2024 growth: 143 percent increase in spot trading and 118 percent in futures. Its intuitive platform makes crypto trading “simple, accessible, and rewarding,” mirroring xU3O8’s goal of democratizing uranium investment.
  • Gate.io – Ranked among the top 3 global crypto exchanges by real trading volume, Gate.io boasts 32 million users and supports over 3,600 digital assets. With institutional-grade security and a commitment to 100 percent reserve holdings, Gate.io provides the infrastructure essential for tokenized commodity trading.

As of 2026, xU3O8 continues to expand its presence and is now listed on a growing number of exchanges, including MEXC, KuCoin, Gate.io, BingX, LBank, Coins.ph, and Bitrue.

Each xU3O8 token represents fractional ownership of physical uranium ore concentrate (yellowcake) securely stored by Cameco in regulated facilities, eliminating the high barriers to entry that once restricted uranium investment to institutions and major corporations.

Company Highlights

  • Pioneering Uranium Ownership: Uranium.io is a platform that enables direct ownership of physical uranium through its blockchain-powered token, xU3O8, allowing investors to buy and sell uranium securely.
  • Advanced Blockchain Technology: Built on Etherlink and powered by Tezos, the platform offers transparency, low fees, energy efficiency, and programmable compliance.
  • Regulated Custody: FCA-regulated digital asset custodian Archax holds physical uranium in trust on behalf of token holders, ensuring secure and compliant storage.
  • Trusted Industry Partner: Curzon Uranium, a leading uranium trading and logistics firm with over $1 billion in trades, brokers the physical uranium supplied to the platform.
  • Secure Storage: Purchased uranium is stored at a regulated depository owned and operated by Cameco, one of the world’s top global uranium providers and converters.
  • Global Market Access: Investors benefit from 24/7 market access, fractionalized ownership, real-time settlement, and cross-border trading capabilities.
  • Supporting the Clean Energy Transition: The platform capitalizes on nuclear energy’s expanding role in the global shift to low-carbon power and the financialization of critical minerals.
  • Exchange Listings: The xU3O8 token is now available on major cryptocurrency exchanges including KuCoin, MEXC, and Gate.io, broadening liquidity and accessibility.
  • Real-Time Market Transparency: Uranium.io has launched a near-real-time uranium pricing oracle, addressing market opacity and delivering enhanced transparency and efficiency.
  • On-Chain Financial Utility: xU3O8 enables tokenized uranium to serve as on-chain collateral, allowing holders to borrow stablecoins without selling their physical uranium exposure.

Technology Platform

Uranium.io is built on a secure, decentralized technology stack that integrates blockchain infrastructure, digital asset custody, and real-world commodity supply — delivering unprecedented access and transparency to the uranium market. The platform bridges traditional commodities trading with Web3 innovation, allowing users to seamlessly acquire, hold and trade physical uranium via xU3O8 tokens.

Uranium.io unveiled the world’s first uranium spot pricing oracle, aimed at addressing the price opacity issues in the uranium market. Unlike oil, gold, base metals, and agricultural commodities, uranium pricing has traditionally relied on fragmented, privately negotiated over-the-counter deals, leaving market participants in the dark and creating inefficiencies and uncertainty that limit broad participation.

Uranium.io’s oracle transforms this landscape with:

  • Real-time pricing oracle: Launched to tackle uranium market opacity, providing near-instant spot price updates and boosting transparency and efficiency.
  • Tokenized uranium trading: Investors can trade fractional shares of physical uranium, democratizing access to a traditionally restricted market.
  • Market interest surging: Uranium-related financial instruments, including ETFs, have outperformed Bitcoin in 2025, reflecting growing investor demand.
  • Data-driven insights: Aggregates dozens of sources—spot feeds, nuclear equities, commodity funds—and uses algorithms to mirror uranium’s complex market dynamics.

Blockchain Infrastructure: Etherlink, Powered by Tezos

At the heart of xU3O8’s digital asset engine is the Tezos blockchain, a highly secure, energy-efficient and self-amending Layer 1 protocol. Tezos is uniquely suited to power real-world asset tokenization due to its low transaction costs and energy efficiency; on-chain governance and smart contract flexibility; and enterprise-grade security and decentralization.

Tezos’ track record with real-world assets, including tokenized real estate and art, positions it as an ideal foundation for the secure, scalable digitization of uranium ownership.

Digital Custody: Archax

To ensure that each xU3O8 token is backed with physical uranium, uranium.io is supported by Archax, a London-based, digital asset custodian and exchange regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Archax provides regulated asset custody, KYC/AML-compliant onboarding, and real-time asset reconciliation.

Archax brings institutional-grade governance and accountability to the storage and oversight of physical uranium, ensuring that investor holdings are not just theoretical but physically secured.

Physical Supply: Curzon Uranium

Access to physical uranium is facilitated by its partnership with Curzon Uranium, a specialized uranium trading and logistics firm. Curzon acts as the platform’s uranium provider, sourcing, purchasing and delivering uranium from trusted upstream suppliers to secure storage.

Curzon’s decades of experience in uranium procurement adds physical credibility and market depth to the xU3O8 ecosystem — making the platform more than just a digital asset project, but a fully integrated uranium trading platform.

Physical uranium storage: Cameco

The physical uranium ore concentrate (U3O8) is securely stored at a regulated storage facility, operated by Cameco, one of the three globally recognized uranium conversion and storage providers. For transparency, Proof of Reserves is always available on the website and is updated with monthly statements from Cameco.

Together, Tezos, Archax and Curzon Uranium form the digital, custodial and physical backbone of the uranium.io platform. This trio of technologies and partnerships ensures a secure, compliant and efficient path for investors to gain physical uranium exposure — fractionalized, tokenized and tradable 24/7 on a global scale.

A New Era for Uranium-Based Lending

xU3O8-based lending unlocks new liquidity and utility for tokenized uranium by enabling holders to use their xU3O8 tokens as collateral to borrow stablecoins such as USDC through a DeFi lending vault on the Oku Trade platform, powered by the Morpho protocol. This integration marks the first time physical uranium — represented on-chain via blockchain — can be leveraged in decentralized finance, allowing investors to access capital without selling their underlying asset while retaining exposure to the strategic commodity.

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Investor Insight

Silverco Mining offers imminent producer status and exceptional leverage to silver prices through an aggressive dual-track growth strategy in Mexico. With resources comprised of more than 85 percent silver, the company provides a direct conduit to silver-dominant cash flow, representing a significant valuation re-rating opportunity. The portfolio is anchored by the past-producing Cusi Mining Complex—which was operational as recently as 2023—and the transformational acquisition of the currently producing La Negra mine. This transition from developer to multi-asset producer is underpinned by a robust balance sheet and a management team with a proven institutional pedigree in mine execution and capital markets.

Overview

Silverco Mining (TSXV:SICO) is an operational-stage silver company focused on the Sierra Madre Occidental belt of Mexico. The company’s core technical strategy involves the optimization of the 100-percent-owned Cusi Mining Complex in Chihuahua, an 11,665-hectare district-scale land package. The asset is supported by institutional-grade infrastructure, including direct connection to the national power grid and paved road access, which drastically reduces the capital intensity of the production restart.

The company is executing a definitive shift toward mid-tier producer status through a binding agreement to acquire Nuevo Silver. This transaction provides Silverco with control over the La Negra mine in Querétaro, an asset that is currently producing and provides immediate top-line revenue. By combining the near-term restart of the Cusi 1,200 tpd mill with the existing production at La Negra, Silverco is bypasssing the traditional multi-year development cycle typically associated with junior miners. This ‘buy-and-build’ approach is led by a technical team with specific expertise in Mexican epithermal vein systems and complex underground mine engineering.

Company Highlights

  • The $62.5 million upsized bought deal financing (closing Q1 2026) and Eric Sprott’s $10 million lead order provide cornerstone validation from a legendary mining investor and the necessary liquidity to fast-track production restarts.
  • The updated Mineral Resource Estimate of 41.2 million ounces of silver equivalent (AgEq) in the Measured and Indicated category establishes a high-confidence geological foundation at Cusi, supporting long-term mine planning.
  • The dual-track growth strategy involving the Cusi restart and the Nuevo Silver/La Negra acquisition provides immediate production scale and a diversified cash-flow profile across two distinct Mexican mining jurisdictions.
  • Pure-play silver exposure with significant de-risking is achieved via the 1,200 tonne-per-day (tpd) Cusi mill, which was producing as recently as 2023, ensuring that surface infrastructure is ‘warm’ and capable of a rapid return to service.
  • Imminent exploration catalysts exist following the completion of a 15,000-metre drill program at Cusi; results are currently pending and are expected to define high-grade extensions at the San Miguel vein.

Key Project: Cusi Mining Complex

The Cusi Mining Complex is a fully permitted, underground silver-lead-zinc-gold operation. Historically, the project has been a silver-pure play, with approximately 85% of revenue derived from silver. Located 135 kilometres west of Chihuahua City, the complex consists of multiple historic mines and a centralized processing facility.

January 2026 Mineral Resource Estimate

Category

Tonnes (M)

Grade (g/t AgEq)

Contained Metal (M oz AgEq)

Measured & Indicated

4.89

262

41.2

Inferred

4.07

243

31.8

Development Status

The current operational focus is the completion of technical and financial milestones required to return the 1,200 tpd mill to full capacity. Silverco recently concluded a 15,000-metre diamond drilling campaign targeting the San Miguel vein and downthrown structural extensions.

Final results from this program are pending and will be integrated into optimized mine restart studies. The company is prioritizing high-grade resource growth and operational optimization to maximize margins in the current silver price environment.

Management & Board

Leadership Team

Mark Ayranto – President, CEO, and Director

Mark Ayranto is a seasoned mining executive with extensive experience in the full life cycle of mine development, from initial advancement through to operational execution.

Sean Fallis – CFO

Sean Fallis is a CPA, CA with a background in senior financial leadership across NYSE, Nasdaq, and TSX-listed firms, specializing in large-scale M&A and corporate finance.

Nico Harvey – Vice-president, Project Development

Nico Harvey is a mining engineer providing technical oversight for both underground and open-pit operations, with a focus on mine planning and project optimization.

Carlos Beltran – Exploration Manager

Carlos Beltran is a specialist in Mexican epithermal systems whose career includes significant involvement in major silver-gold discoveries and resource expansions.

Aaron Ramirez – Administration Manager

Aaron Ramirez manages supply chain and logistics with nearly 20 years of experience supporting international mining operations within Mexico.

Board of Directors

Ricardo Trejo – Project Manager

Ricardo Trejo has over 20 years of experience in management, engineering and operations at multiple mine sites across Mexico. He was most recently the head of mining operations and engineering at Coeur’s Palmarejo

Gary Brown – Director

Gary Brown brings elite institutional credibility as the former CFO of Wheaton Precious Metals for 17 years, where he oversaw the company’s transition into a global precious metals powerhouse.

Gregg Bush – Director

Gregg Bush is a metallurgical engineer with 40 years of experience in international M&A, feasibility studies, and the engineering of large-scale mining infrastructure.

Tim Sorensen – Director

Tim Sorensen is an institutional equity specialist with 25 years in the mining sector; currently the CEO of TSCG Capital, a mining-focused merchant bank.

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Sigma Lithium (TSXV:SGML,NASDAQ:SGML) has secured another large-scale sale of high-purity lithium fines and activated a production-backed revolving credit facility as it ramps up operations in Brazil.

The lithium producer announced it has agreed to sell 150,000 metric tons (MT) of high-purity lithium fines containing 1 percent lithium oxide at a net final price of US$140 per MT upon warehouse delivery at the port of Vitória.

The buyer has the option to purchase a further 350,000 MT at market prices.

Sigma, which refers to the high-purity fines as a low-grade product, said the optional volumes provide flexibility to respond to market conditions and customer requirements.

According to the company, the sale of its low-grade product could generate proceeds equivalent to the sale of 70,000 MT of its high-grade lithium oxide concentrate. Sigma attributes the marketability of the fines to the processing technology at its Greentech plant, which uses dense media separation and dry stacking.

According to the São Paulo-based company, clients have achieved up to 60 percent recovery when reprocessing the material, producing lithium concentrate with over 4 percent lithium oxide content.

That higher-grade concentrate is currently priced at about US$1,370 per MT on average by Shanghai Metals Market.

“Our sequential sales of the Low Grade Product show how this material can generate recurring value, demonstrating its marketability,” said Marina Bernardini, Sigma vice president of business development. “Continuous demand for the Low Grade Product has supported the creation of an additional revenue stream for the Company.”

The February 13 agreement follows Sigma’s January sale of 100,000 MT of high-purity lithium fines.

At the time, the company reiterated that mining remobilization was proceeding as planned and pushed back against what it described as inaccurate media reports regarding an administrative process related to waste piles.

Alongside the new sale, Sigma confirmed that the resumption of production of its high-grade lithium oxide concentrate has triggered the start of pre-payments under a US$96 million revolving facility.

The unsecured binding agreement, signed with what the company describes as a leading company in the battery materials supply chain, calls for the delivery of 70,500 MT of high-grade concentrate in 2026.

Under the terms, fixed pre-payments of US$8 million are made 30 days prior to production and delivery to the port of Vitória. The first pre-payment was disbursed on January 13.

Each pre-payment carries interest at SOFR plus 1 percent for 30 days until final sale upon delivery. Pricing for each shipment is tied to prevailing spot market prices for high-grade lithium concentrate, as reflected in major industry indexes.

Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

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