Cullinan Metals Corp. Secures Option on Oculus Rare Earth and Burnt Pond Projects
Vancouver, B.C. — April 24, 2026 — Leads & Copy — Cullinan Metals Corp. has secured an option to acquire 100% interest in the Oculus Rare Earth Project in Central Labrador and the Burnt Pond Volcanic Massive Sulphide (VMS) Project in Central Newfoundland, according to an agreement announced by the company.
The Oculus Rare Earth Project, spanning approximately 2,550 hectares, is situated in the Central Labrador Critical Rare Earth Element District, roughly 110km northeast of Churchill Falls and 20km east of the Orma Lake hydro access road, which connects to the Trans-Labrador Highway.
The Burnt Pond Project, covering approximately 975 hectares, is located in Central Newfoundland within the Tally Pond Volcanic Belt of the Victoria Lake Supergroup, about 30km southwest of Grand-Falls-Windsor and 16km southeast of Millertown, with road access via Millertown or the Grand-Falls bridge crossing over the Exploits River.
According to Cullinan, the Oculus Project is located in the same geological setting as Red Wine district prospects, including Two Tom Lake, Mann #1 and Merlot.
Historical surface rock sampling on the Oculus Project yielded Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO) values up to 5.67% and 4.55%, with nine samples exceeding 1.0% TREO.
Surface rock samples greater than 1.0% TREO show a Heavy Rare Earth Oxides (HREO) distribution ranging from 3% to 41%, averaging 11%.
Elevated thorium radiometric anomalies, coincide with historical high-grade TREO samples, providing first-pass exploration targets.
The Oculus Project has not undergone historical drilling.
Previous uranium-focused exploration identified elevated thorium but did not systematically assay for rare earth elements.
Cullinan Interim CEO, Aleem Fidai, said the Oculus Project provides exposure to a recognized rare earth and critical minerals districts, with historical samples returning high-grade TREO values and a heavy rare earth component.
Fidai said the company was attracted to the Oculus Project because of the combination of grade, district setting, infrastructure, and the fact that prior work appears to have identified strong REE vectors without fully testing them.
Historical work in the Oculus Project area dates back to the 1960s and included regional mapping, airborne gamma-ray spectrometer surveying, lake and stream sediment sampling, scintillometer surveying, and channel/chip sampling of radiometric anomalies.
The Partridge River Thorium Showing was discovered in 1977 but was not systematically analyzed for REE until 2010. Subsequent REE-focused work identified rare earth mineralization, including historical surface rock samples returning 1.69% TREO, 4.55% TREO and 1.11% TREO. In 2011, a peak value of 5.67% TREO was collected within the current Oculus Project area.
Geologically, the Oculus Project is located near the northern margin of the Grenville Structural Province and is underlain by peralkaline volcanic and porphyritic rocks of the Letitia Lake Group and alkaline to peralkaline rocks associated with the Red Wine Intrusive Suite.
The Burnt Pond Project is located in the Tally Pond volcanic belt of the Victoria Lake Supergroup, which hosts Teck Resources Limited’s past-producing Duck Pond Copper-Zinc Mine, located approximately 10 km from the Burnt Pond Project.
Historical drilling at the Burnt Pond Project returned an intercept of 0.37 m grading 1.6 g/t Au, 791.1 g/t Ag, 0.79% Cu, 25.8% Zn and 24.0% Pb.
Historical drilling confirms the mineralized system extends below surface, with mineralized intervals intersected from approximately 300 m to nearly 500 m downhole.
The Burnt Pond Project is underlain by altered felsic volcanic rocks with sulphide mineralization, chlorite alteration, graphitic horizons and VMS-style stratigraphy.
Fidai said the Burnt Pond Project gives the company exposure to a proven VMS belt with historical drilling, high grades, and follow-up potential.
The Burnt Pond Project is located approximately 10 kilometres from the past-producing Duck Pond mine and has returned positive historical polymetallic drill results, including 0.37 metres grading 1.6 g/t gold, 791.1 g/t silver, 0.79% copper, 25.8% zinc and 24% lead.
Historical exploration at the Burnt Pond Project included airborne and ground geophysics, geochemistry, geological mapping, trenching and diamond drilling by Noranda, Canadian Nickel, OroGrande Resources and Volcanic Metals.
Under the agreement, Cullinan Metals will make aggregate cash payments to the Optionor of $675,000, issue up to 5,250,000 common shares, and incur aggregate exploration expenditures of $700,000 on the Projects.
Upon exercise of the Option, the Optionor will retain a two percent (2%) net smelter returns royalty on each of the Oculus Project and the Burnt Pond Project, with the Company having the right to purchase one percent (1%) of each royalty for $1,000,000.
Completion of the transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange.
Nicholas Rodway, P.Geo, is a consultant of the Company, and qualified person who has supervised the preparation, verified and approved the technical and scientific content in this release.
Cullinan Metals Corp. is focused on the evaluation and potential development of energy metals.
Source: Cullinan Metals Corp.
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