Mr. Andrew Chubb reports

AWALE OUTLINES FULLY FUNDED 71,500 METRE EXPLORATION PROGRAM TARGETING NEW DISCOVERIES ACROSS ITS 100%-OWNED ODIENNE GROUND

Awale Resources Ltd. has commenced a 15-month regional exploration program across its 100-per-cent-owned ground at the Odienne gold-copper project in Ivory Coast. The fully financed, $8.5-million (U.S.) program comprises approximately 71,500 metres of drilling and 15,635 surface geochemical samples.

Highlights:

• 71,500 metres (m) of planned drilling: 23,940 m of auger, 15,000 m of reverse circulation (RC), 22,560 m of diamond drilling and 10,000 m of aircore drilling;
• Fully financed 15-month exploration program: The recent PDI Gold financing, supported by Fortuna Mining and Newmont, provides Awale with the financing to commence a systematic, large-scale exploration campaign across its 100-per-cent-owned Odienne ground;
• Fremen drilling to recommence following the wet season: approximately 5,960 m of diamond drilling planned for Q4 (fourth quarter), including 14 holes to test the scale of the discovery. Assays from seven previously drilled holes remain pending;
• Integrated aerial and ground geophysics to generate drill-ready pipeline: The program is designed to deliver a pipeline of ranked anomalies across the whole 100-per-cent-owned package, rather than focus on a single target;
• Work currently under way: 8,509 termitaria and soil samples collected at Seydou and Sama, together with a 1,440 m scout aircore drill program over anomaly 1 at Seydou;
• Exploration planned at the GB and Tienko permit applications: a further 12,015 surface geochemical samples and 4,400 m of auger drilling are planned, subject to grant of permits;
• 15,000 metres reserved for discovery follow-up: 10,000 m diamond and 5,000 m RC drilling are held within the budget to rapidly follow up new discoveries generated by the program.

"Awale's geologists are proven, discovery-driven explorers and mine finders, and we excel at this part of the business," said Andrew Chubb, president and chief executive officer of Awale Resources. "BBM, Charger, Empire and now Fremen were all found the same way, by disciplined geology, geophysics and regional geochemistry, infill, and then drilling where the data supports it. Nothing glamourous, just dedicated people and boots on the ground across a district that we have consolidated. We are now able commit significant resources into our 100-per-cent-owned permits at the scale the package deserves.

"Our Odienne discoveries are not by accident; they are there for a reason. We are on a regional scale trend that hosts multimillion-ounce gold camps in both Mali and Guinea, and which extends into our ground in Cote d'Ivoire. Importantly, we have the right mix of experienced people to find the next big gold camp.

"Rigs will be turning in Q4 after the monsoon rains and our geochemistry programs will continue where weather permits. As we push these programs, we have contingency in the budget, so that when something does come out from this pipeline, we can chase it immediately rather than wait for the next budget cycle. I am genuinely excited about what the next 15 months could deliver."

The program will apply the same district scale targeting though systematic, geology-led exploration workflows that produced the company's BBM, Charger and Empire discoveries. Regional termitaria and soil geochemistry, with the introduction of auger drilling for accelerated staged infill and targeting followed by aircore (AC), reverse circulation (RC) and diamond (DD) testing. Work is already under way, with 8,509 termitaria and soil samples collected at Seydou and Sama.

A proven discovery workflow

Every discovery Awale has made at Odienne has come from the same sequence, applied systematically and in order:

1. Regional geochemistry and geophysics: termitaria and soil sampling on 800 m by 100 m grids to define anomalies at district scale;
2. Staged infill: anomalous zones infilled first to 400 m and then to 200 m and 100 m line spacing. This stage will be accelerated through the use of auger drilling, with shallow auger transects designed to see through the transported cover that masks bedrock geochemistry across much of the district;
3. Aircore, RC and diamond drilling: first-pass bedrock testing of auger-confirmed targets, with diamond drilling for structural and geometrical control.

This is the same sequence that advanced Fremen from a termitaria anomaly to a drilled discovery in three phases between June, 2025, and May, 2026, along with the BBM and Charger discoveries using the same targeting discipline.

Regional setting -- highly prospective trend

Odienne lies on a craton-scale structural trend, which can be traced for more than 1,000 kilometres (km) through Guinea and Mali. At Odienne, that trend runs along the northern margin of the Archean Man craton (3.5 to 2.6 billion years old) and three elements coincide within the project area: the craton margin itself; the margin of the Birimian deepwater basin to the north and north-east (2,120 to 2,080 million years ago); and a suite of late I-A type plutonic rocks and volcanics emplaced along that same northern craton margin (2,100 to 2,060 million years ago). Bimodal volcanic rocks are developed locally.

The company's 100-per-cent-owned permits straddle the contact between the plutonic-volcanic series and the deepwater basin sequence, and are cut by several of the regional structures that control mineralization elsewhere along the trend. The GB and Tienko applications extend that position north and west along the same structures.

That combination of a long-lived crustal structure, a craton-basin margin and a late intrusive suite is the architecture that hosts the major multimillion-ounce gold camps of the region. Deposits along the same trend include Barrick's Loulo-Gounkoto, AngloGold Ashanti's Siguiri, Allied Gold's Sadiola, PDI Gold's Bankan and Kiniero in Guinea, Nordgold's Lefa, Nioko Resources' Kouroussa, and Resolute Mining's ABC deposit, approximately 70 kilometres to the south.

Odienne is the least explored segment of this trend, and the company's 100-per-cent-owned permits cover approximately 1,542 square km of it or approximately two-thirds of the 2,338 square km project package.

Program details

The 15-month exploration budget totals approximately $8.5-million (U.S.), including approximately $5.5-million (U.S.) for drilling, $2.2-million (U.S.) for drill sample analysis and $700,000 (U.S.) surface geochemistry.

Qualified person

The technical and scientific information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved for release by Andrew Chubb, the company's qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Chubb is the company's chief executive officer, and holds an economic geology degree, is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG) and is a member of the Society of Economic Geoscientists (SEG). Mr. Chubb has over 25 years of experience in international mineral exploration and mining project evaluation.

About Awale Resources Ltd.

Awale Resources is a diligent and systematic mineral exploration company focused on discovering large-scale gold and gold-copper deposits in Ivory Coast. The company's flagship Odienne project now hosts an initial inferred mineral resource estimate (1) of 1.71 million ounces gold equivalent across the BBM, Charger and Empire deposits (32.4 million tonnes (t) at 1.33 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au) and 0.33 per cent copper (Cu)), providing a strong foundation for continuing growth and future economic studies.

In addition to the current resource base defined on the joint venture ground, Awale controls a 1,542-square-kilometre, 100-per-cent-owned land position across the broader Odienne district, where multiple targets provide additional potential discovery upside. Across the project, Awale has identified multiple gold and gold-copper systems, and continues to build a pipeline of targets with potential to support further discoveries and resource growth.

The Odienne project covers 2,338 square km across seven permits, including 797 square km held under the Awale-Newmont joint venture. Awale manages exploration activities across the joint venture area.

With a skilled and experienced technical team, together with support from three strategic shareholders, Awale is advancing exploration in an underexplored and pro-mining jurisdiction with clear potential for district-scale discoveries.

(1) The full initial mineral resource estimate news release dated May 19, 2026, including detailed assumptions and methodology, is available at on the company's website and SEDAR+.

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