Buyer Group International Provides Shareholder Update on Metallurgical Advancements and Permitting Momentum

ALBANY, Wyo., Feb. 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Buyer Group International, Inc. (OTCID: BYRG) (“BYRG” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide shareholders with a comprehensive update covering metallurgical advancements and recent permitting developments across its Wyoming project portfolio.

Big Blue Collaboration Leads Expanded Metallurgical Evaluation Following Early Rhodium Signal and Positive Hazen Results

Buyer Group International is pleased to provide additional detail on its metallurgical collaboration with Big Blue Technologies (“BBT”), which originated from an early anomalous Rhodium response observed during preliminary screening of material collected from the Company’s Joker Area and around #71 in Wyoming.

The initial rhodium indication was derived from a single homogenized sub-sample taken from Bucket #1 of BYRG’s 2024 bulk sampling program. Using screening-level analytical techniques, this sub-sample returned positive rhodium (oxide basis). While this result is preliminary, non-compositional, and requires full laboratory confirmation, it is considered anomalous in a natural rock context and materially elevated relative to background expectations.

Importantly, this early rhodium signal was not interpreted in isolation. It was accompanied by:

• Elevated silver responses
  
• Supporting base-metal and hydrothermal pathfinder elements
  
• A geochemical signature consistent with a silicic, altered host environment
  

Taken together, these factors provided the technical justification to expand analytical work beyond screening-level methods and into full laboratory validation and metallurgical evaluation.

Hazen Research Confirms Strong Silver Enrichment and Hydrothermal Pathfinder Signature

Figure 1: Hazen Research analytical results from initial 20-sample subset, confirming silver enrichment. Rhodium analysis remains ongoing across broader sample inventory.

To advance this work under controlled laboratory conditions, BYRG submitted representative rock samples to Hazen Research, Inc., one of North America’s most respected independent metallurgical laboratories.

Hazen has now completed analytical work on the first 20 rock samples from BYRG’s broader 235-sample Shambhala Claim Block dataset. These samples represent an initial analytical subset, selected to establish baseline geochemical behavior rather than to exhaustively test the system.

Key observations from the Assay/XRD results include:

• Consistent silver enrichment, with multiple samples returning multi-ppm to tens-of-ppm Ag, including values up to 55.5 ppm silver
  
• Corroborating ICP-MS silver responses, confirming analytical reliability
  
• Presence of associated hydrothermal pathfinder elements, including Ni, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Sn
  
• Select samples analyzed for rhodium (Rh) returned results below detection limits in this initial subset
  

Critically, the absence of confirmed rhodium in this limited 20-sample subset does not negate the earlier anomalous screening response. Rather, it reflects the early stage of laboratory testing, with over 200 rock samples remaining unassayed and the bulk material yet to be fully evaluated.

From a geological and metallurgical standpoint, this leaves the rhodium opportunity open, particularly within a system already demonstrating:

• Strong silver enrichment
  
• Coherent hydrothermal alteration
  
• Pathfinder chemistry consistent with refractory metal association
  

Why Big Blue Technologies Is Relevant to a Silver–Rhodium System

The combination of a laboratory-confirmed silver-dominant system and an earlier anomalous rhodium screening response provides important context for BYRG’s collaboration with Big Blue Technologies, whose aluminothermic reduction platform was designed specifically to process refractory oxide materials.

Big Blue’s system:

• Operates as a high-temperature oxide-reduction platform
  
• Is capable of processing complex, refractory mineral assemblages
  
• Was designed for industrial-scale deployment, not bench-scale experimentation
  
• Has received support from the U.S. Department of Energy and Wyoming Energy Authority
  
• A 600-ton-per-year magnesium facility is the current plan and will make Big Blue the primary magnesium producer in North America
  

Because aluminothermic systems can, with appropriate configuration and feed characterization, reduce other refractory metal oxides, including those associated with platinum-group metals, Big Blue is evaluating whether its platform could be adapted to silver-rich material with potential rhodium association, pending continued analytical and metallurgical confirmation.

This work is focused on process behavior and recovery pathways, not resource definition, and reflects BYRG’s disciplined, data-driven approach.

Figures 2–4: Big Blue Technologies’ aluminothermic laboratory setup, showing reduction vessels and processing systems used to evaluate refractory oxide materials under controlled conditions.

Expanded Metallurgical Program Now Underway

Based on:

• The early anomalous rhodium screening response
  
• Hazen laboratory confirmation of a silver-dominant system
  
• Supporting hydrothermal pathfinder chemistry
  

BYRG and Big Blue Technologies have expanded their collaborative scope to include:

• Evaluation of all seven bulk buckets (~260 lbs total)
  
• Construction of master composite samples
  
• XRF-to-ICP calibration and correction modeling
  
• Liberation testing and slag-behavior characterization
  
• Assess process compatibility for silver, rhodium, and associated metals
  

This expanded program materially increases the technical resolution and confidence of BYRG’s metallurgical evaluation while maintaining full analytical discipline.

Strategic Location and Logistics Advantage

Big Blue Technologies’ facilities are located in Cheyenne, Wyoming, offering:

• Direct Class I rail access
  
• Close proximity to BYRG’s Albany County flagship project
  
• Alignment within a single-state Wyoming mine-to-processing corridor
  

While no processing decisions have been made, management views this alignment as strategically favorable when evaluating long-term development scenarios, particularly if future drilling and metallurgical results support advancement.

Figure 5: Big Blue Technologies facility in Cheyenne, Wyoming, featuring direct Class I rail access relevant to long-term processing logistics.

Management Discussion : Permitting Update

BYRG also reports continued progress on permitting. Management recently held a Teams meeting with Amanda Horne of the USDA, alongside Mike Curran, to review the permitting path forward for the Company’s Wyoming projects. Topics discussed included:

• Blasting and explosive storage approvals
  
• Ground cover, surface disturbance, and reclamation considerations
  
• Bonding processes with the U.S. Forest Service and Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)
  

Constructive guidance was received, and follow-up actions are now underway as the Company works toward finalizing remaining permit components in an orderly and compliant manner.

Management Commentary

“We view the Hazen silver results as an important validation point that strengthens the technical foundation of our work with Big Blue Technologies,” said David Bryant, Chief Executive Officer of Buyer Group International. “The presence of consistent silver enrichment and supporting hydrothermal pathfinder signatures, combined with earlier anomalous rhodium screening, gives us a solid, data-driven basis to expand metallurgical evaluation in a disciplined way.”

“Big Blue’s aluminothermic platform represents a real, scalable industrial system, and its location in Cheyenne with direct rail access creates a compelling framework for evaluating potential long-term processing pathways should the project continue to advance. At the same time, we remain focused on broader corporate execution while continuing to move permitting forward in coordination with federal and state agencies.”

“Our objective is to advance the Company responsibly on all fronts—technical, regulatory, and corporate—so that each component is aligned as we move toward the next phase of development.”

About Buyer Group International, Inc. (OTCID: BYRG)

Buyer Group International, Inc. is a U.S.-based exploration company focused on domestic critical and strategic mineral assets, including platinum group metals (PGMs), copper, and rare earth elements. The Company’s flagship Shambhala Project targets a historically productive copper–PGM system in southeastern Wyoming, with the objective of advancing the project into a modern, secure U.S. supply-chain asset supporting the energy, defense, and electrification sectors.

To learn more about Buyer Group International, Inc., please visit:

• Corporate Website: https://frontierplatinumgroup.com/
• X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/buyergroupinc
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/byrg/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buyergroupinternationalinc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091509813233
• OTC Markets Profile: https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/BYRG/overview

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding future events, operational plans, exploration results, metallurgical outcomes, permitting progress, capital requirements, and the Company’s future financial performance.

These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, market conditions, regulatory approvals, permitting timelines, access to capital, technical and metallurgical results, and other factors beyond the Company’s control.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise such statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

For a discussion of risks and uncertainties, please refer to the Company’s disclosures and filings with OTC Markets Group Inc., available at:
https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/BYRG/disclosure

Contact

Buyer Group International, Inc.
Phone: 214-810-1317
Email: info@byrg.io

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at 

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/674cd0fa-7e46-4713-906a-a415c4eb5b6f

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/762f85e5-c46c-4694-859e-44c550eda0ce

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fe47dac8-0c79-4363-ad27-c0a92b628f70

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7151739e-9d91-4980-b3b5-e456e092cc53