Avanti Gold Announces That 2,100 Meters of Historical Drill Core Is Currently Being Assayed Ahead of the 2026 Drill Programme Commencing

HIGHLIGHTS

• 2,100m of historical drill core is currently being assayed which is expected to confirm continuity of high-grade mineralization along strike and down dip in the northwest and high-grade southern portions of the Akyanga deposit
• Significant progress has been made towards launching exploration activities as, following a successful tender process and site visits, a drilling service agreement is expected to be signed in the coming weeks
• The 2026 exploration programme has increased from 15,000m as initially published to 42,000m, with fully-funded Phase 1 programme expected to prioritize the Akyanga deposit and the second phase on satellite targets

Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – January 23, 2026) – Avanti Gold Corp. (CSE: AGC) (FSE: X370) (OTCQB: AVTGF) (“Avanti” or the “Company“) is pleased to report that 2,100m of historical drill core from the Akyanga deposit at the Misisi Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (“DRC”) are currently being assayed, with results expected to be published later this quarter. In addition, the 2026 drilling programme is expected to begin later in Q1-2026 as the Company is in the final phase of selecting a drilling contractor, following supplier site-visits conducted in mid-January.

The historical drilling occurred prior to 2018, by the previous owners, however were not assayed due to the Company’s previous financial situation. Following the successful permitting process, the samples were exported from Kalemie on 15 January 2026 and arrived at the SGS assay lab in Mwanza-Tanzania on 23 January 2026, where they are currently undergoing fire assay testing.

The Akyanga Deposit, located centrally in the Misisi Project, hosts an NI 43-101 compliant Inferred Mineral Resource of 40.8 million tonnes averaging 2.37 g/t gold containing 3.11 million ounces which was based on 19,956m of historic drilling, including 105 diamond drillholes (“DD”) totalling 19,070m and six reverse circulation (“RC”) drillholes totalling 887m. The 2,100m of samples therefore represent approximately 10% of the total diamond drilling completed by the previous operator, and targeted both the northwest extension and the high-grade southern zones of the Akyanga deposit at depth.

The Company believes that the assays from these untested core samples have the potential to confirm continuity of high-grade mineralization along strike and down dip in the southern portion of Akyanga as well as provide valuable data to refine the 2026 exploration programme.

Avanti is also pleased to have made significant progress toward launching its 2026 drilling programme. Following a successful tender process a drilling service agreement is expected to be signed in the coming weeks. Most recently, the Avanti team conducted a supplier site-visit to Misisi as part of the tender process where potential drilling contractors were able to survey the site conditions and security. In parallel, Avanti has completed a review and revaluation of prior exploration data, including trenching, soil samples, airborne magnetics and drilling to prioritize the drilling programme across the three contiguous 30-year mining licenses, in conjunction with Minecon Resources and Services Ltd (“Minecon”), to refine the 2026 exploration programme.

The revised and enhanced 2026 exploration programme will entail a total of approximately 42,000m of diamond drilling, split between two phases, as outlined in Table 1 below.

Table 1: 2026 Misisi Project Drilling Programme – meterage by target

Trend Name	Phase 1 Drilling (Mar – July 2026)		Phase 2 Drilling (Aug – Dec 2026)		2026 Drilling
Akyanga	12,500m	83%	14,500m	55%	27,000m	64%
Akyanga East	2,500m	17%	2,000m	7%	4,500m	11%
Ngalula	–	–	3,500m	13%	3,500m	8%
Tulonge	–	–	2,000m	7%	2,000m	5%
Lubitchako	–	–	2,500m	9%	2,500m	6%
Kilombwe	–	–	2,500m	9%	2,500m	6%
Total Planned Meters Drilled	15,000m	100%	27,000m	100%	42,000m	100%
Note: Totals may not sum due to rounding

 

As previously published, the initial Phase 1 exploration programme will entail approximately 15,000m of diamond drilling and remains scheduled to being in late Q1-2026. Phase 1 is fully funded by the Company’s LIFE Private Placement which closed on 23 October 2025. The Phase 1 programme will prioritize an increased footprint expansion effort at the Akyanga deposit, and high-priority target testing on the Akyanga East deposit, due to its close proximity to Akyanga. During Phase 1, early exploration works including ground truthing, sampling, and mapping will be conducted on Ngalula, Tulonge, Lubitchako and Kilombwe to assist in guiding the Phase 2 drilling program on those targets.

The envisaged Phase 2 programme will entail approximately 27,000m of diamond drilling, and is scheduled to being in late Q3-2026. Phase 2 is expected to continue to expand on the resource extensions at Akyanga while also introducing drilling onto the high priority targets. The phased approach serves to provide drill service providers time to ramp-up efforts to include the additional targets while leveraging the early exploration methods conducted in Phase 1 to better inform drilling target locations.

Next Steps

• Drilling and laboratory service contracts: announcement of signed contracts for exploration service providers for the Misisi Project.
• Refurbishment of camp: Increase capacity of exploration camp facilities at the Misisi Village to support increased exploration activities.
• Key appointments: Key in-country management appointments including Security & HSE, Admin & Logistics, Exploration and Community managers
• Assay results: Assay results from 2,100-meter of historic diamond core that targeted both the northwest extension and the high-grade southern zones of the Akyanga deposit
• Launch of the fully-funded Phase 1 exploration programme: A 15,000m drill programme covering the Akyanga and Akyanga East deposits

ABOUT AVANTI GOLD CORP

Avanti Gold Corp. is a gold exploration company with a robust portfolio of projects in Africa. The Company’s flagship asset is the Misisi Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), home to the Akyanga gold deposit. The Akyanga deposit has an Inferred Mineral Resource of 44.3 million tonnes (Mt) at an average gold grade of 2.37 grams per tonne (g/t), totaling 3.1 million ounces (Moz) of gold. The Misisi Project spans three contiguous 30-year mining leases covering 133 square kilometers (km²) along the 55-kilometer-long Kibara Gold Belt, a prominent metallogenic province known for hosting significant gold deposits.

¹ QUALIFIED PERSONS STATEMENT

Ephraim Masibhera, a “Qualified Person” as defined by National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”), has reviewed the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release and has approved the disclosure herein. Historical information contained in this news release cannot be relied upon as the Company’s Qualified Person, as defined under NI 43-101, has not prepared nor verified the historical information.

¹ As disclosed in the Misisi Project August 1st 2023 Technical Report available on Avanti’s website and on SEDAR+

CONTACT INFORMATION

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release may contain certain “Forward-Looking Statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When or if used in this news release, the words “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “target, “plan”, “forecast”, “may”, “schedule” and similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. Such statements represent the Company’s current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set out in Avanti’s annual and/or quarterly management discussion and analysis and in other of its public disclosure documents filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca, as well as all assumptions regarding the foregoing. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.

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