Candente Copper Corp. provided an update and plans for 2023 as it advances its 100% owned Cañariaco Copper Project located in Northern Peru. The current plan and strategy for 2023 inclusive of name change is intended to reflect the next stage in the Company's development and strategy which will further align with the global shift towards electrification and decarbonization.

This is the start of the next stage in the development of the Company as deliver on plans and strategic goals. Highlights: Drill permit applications are being advanced for 20,000 meters of drilling to be completed in two phases with several priority drill targets identified to date which are expected to provide significant exploration upside; Resumption of activities with Whittle Consulting Ltd. ("Whittle Consulting") on Project Optimization with key project opportunities identified that will be incorporated in an updated optimized NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") currently underway that is targeted for publication by Q3-2023; Private Placement with Whittle Equity Pty Ltd. at 28% Premium to Market; Name Change to Alta Copper Corp. and Share Consolidation; Advancement of Community Engagement; Upgraded Listing for U.S. investors on the OTCQB under symbol "DNCUF"; Key Additions to Board of Directors and Senior Management, as previously announced; and, Recently completed $4 million private placement with Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. at a 26% premium to the five-day volume weighted average prices of the Company's shares, as previously announced The Cañariaco Project has been drilled with a total of 289 core holes (85,185 meters), including resource, geotechnical, metallurgical, and hydrological drilling.

By any measure, drilling to date has been modest by comparison to the large mineral resource defined to date such that further drilling is warranted to test for potential expansions and delineation of higher grades. The current Cañariaco mineral resource estimate described more fully in the "About Candente Copper" section below was drilled to a depth of 600 meters on average with numerous drill holes bottoming in mineralization and several high priority drill targets not yet drilled. Candente Copper is currently completing a 40-platform drill permit application that will be based on Environmental and Social Impact Assessment studies completed by Yaku Consultores in 2021 and 2022.

The drill permit application will be submitted to Ministerio de Energia Minas ("MINEM") for up to 20,000 meters of drilling to be completed in two phases. Upon receipt of all permits drilling will focus on the under explored Cañariaco Sur porphyry copper gold deposit, the undrilled Quebrada Verde porphyry target and enhancement of the Cañariaco Norte deposit. The Cañariaco copper project provides significant leverage to copper prices.

The Company has now resumed its activities with Whittle Consulting for purposes of advancing project optimization. Early work by Whittle Consulting indicates an opportunity for their project optimization methodology to substantially improve project economics by increasing cash flows in the early years of production and optimizing life-of-mine metal production. The optimization will include mine plan sequencing to optimize plant feed grade, grade/grind/recovery analyses to optimize production throughput, size scenarios and inclusion of inferred mineral resources not previously included.

Carbon modelling and reduction options will also be considered. Whittle Consulting has demonstrated significant improvements in estimated economics for over 180 mining projects/operations worldwide with their "Whittle Integrated Strategic Planning" approach, even when several conventional optimization approaches have already been applied. McEwen Copper's Los Azules, Boliden's Aitik, Mantos' Monteverde, Barrick's Cerro Casale, Gold Fields' Cerro Corona, are included in the list of copper and gold open pit mining companies Whittle Consulting has worked with.

Whittle Consulting is comprised of a group of highly experienced industry experts, who have strong technical backgrounds in a range of disciplines including geology, mining engineering, metallurgy, research, mathematics and computing, finance, operational, financial modeling and analysis and a thorough appreciation of practical, organizational, and contextual reality. Whittle Consulting are comfortable with complexity, not being bound by conventional thinking, and by being willing to challenge existing paradigms and conventional wisdom which can conceal the real potential of mining businesses.