Sama Resources Expands 2026 Exploration Program to Include New Mineral Resource Declarations at Samapleu Nickel-Copper Project

Montreal, Quebec – July 13, 2026 – Leads & Copy – Sama Resources Inc. announced an expansion of its 2026 exploration program at the Samapleu Nickel-Copper Project in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, which will now include the goal of new mineral resource declarations. The program, a joint venture with Ivanhoe Electric Inc., aims to provide the project's first global mineral resource estimate from three distinct areas.

The expanded program will target an initial resource declaration at the Yepleu Prospect and an updated mineral resource estimate at the Samapleu SW Extension Deposit. The project is a 60/40 joint venture between Ivanhoe Electric and Sama, with Sama acting as the operator. Ivanhoe Electric also holds a 22.7% stake in Sama.

Dr. Marc-Antoine Audet, President and CEO of Sama Resources, stated that the 2026 program is a crucial step in showcasing the project's district-scale potential through new mineralization discoveries and resource delineations. He highlighted the success of the 2025 program, which led to the discovery of the Mossikro Prospect and expansion of the Samapleu SW Extension Deposit. The upcoming resource delineation program at Yepleu is expected to add value through shallow, polymetallic, and bulk-tonnage mineralization.

Sama Resources also recently sold its remaining position in Falcon for CAD$9,867,000 and is now focusing on a new growth strategy centered on copper and nickel.

Nearly 2,000 meters of drilling across five holes have been completed so far, intersecting mineralized ultramafic rock of the host-rock Yacouba Complex at three previously untested targets: Glanle, Yorodougou, and Zoupleu. These findings further support the project's district-scale potential. Mineralization is characterized by broad intervals of minor disseminated iron, nickel, and copper sulfides, with local, narrow zones of higher abundance. Future exploration will utilize gravity and electromagnetic data to target higher-grade domains within the mineralized system.

The first drill hole with received assays, ZP-01 at the Zoupleu Prospect, approximately 13 kilometers southwest of the 2024 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) area, intersected over 100 meters of host ultramafics and 23.2 meters of combined mineralized material. This interval included 6.3 meters grading 0.13% Ni, 0.13% Cu, 0.01% Co, and 0.05 g/t Pt from a depth of 116.8 meters.

Dr. Audet noted that these early-stage results from Zoupleu demonstrate that polymetallic mineralization extends at least 6 kilometers from the nearest similar mineralization at the Yepleu Prospect and 13 kilometers from the 2024 PEA Area. He added that the results are comparable to the broad, anomalous halos surrounding the core of the Samapleu Main and Grata mineral resources, indicating significant potential in the area and for the project to grow beyond the deposits considered in the PEA.

Assays from four additional drill holes are pending. The 2026 exploration program is approximately 50% complete, with 1,997 meters of regional exploration drilling finished at the Glanle, Zoupleu, and Yorodougou Prospects, representing 40% of the planned drilling for the year. This program continues the efforts of the 2025 program, which resulted in the discovery of the Mossikro Prospect. The project encompasses 20 high-priority EM targets with features and scale comparable to the existing Samapleu and Grata Deposits, spread across an 879 km² land package.

Twelve square kilometers of ground gravity surveying have been completed over six high-priority EM targets, with further detailed surveying ongoing. Coincident EM and gravity anomalies are interpreted to indicate mineralized ultramafics suitable for future exploration drilling. Such anomalies have been identified at the Glanle, Zoupleu, Yorodogou, Mossikro Prospects, and the SW1/SW2 Target. Gravity surveying is also underway at the Bounta Prospect and planned for additional targets in the northeastern and eastern sections of the project.

To support the first Project-wide Mineral Resource Estimate, 2,000 meters of resource delineation drilling are now planned for the Yepleu Prospect, and 1,000 meters of resource expansion drilling are planned outside the existing mineral resource estimate at the Samapleu SW Extension Deposit. This drilling is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2026. The successful declaration of new mineral resources will be incorporated into the first Project-wide estimate, alongside updated 2024 mineral resource estimates for the Samapleu Main, Samapleu Extension, Samapleu SW Extension, and Grata Deposits.

BBA International Inc. has been engaged to prepare the initial mineral resource estimate for the Yepleu Prospect and to update the existing mineral resource estimates supporting the 2024 PEA Area. This will incorporate new drilling results and be based on current commodity prices. The Yepleu Prospect, discovered in 2013, features shallow, bulk-tonnage, polymetallic mineralization. The planned 2,000 meters of drilling will focus on filling gaps for resource estimating, and expanding mineralization along strike and to depth. At the Samapleu SW Extension Deposit, plate modeling of downhole EM results, combined with this year's detailed ground gravity surveying, have identified nearby targets outside the existing estimate. The 1,000 meters of drilling will target expansion potential and follow up on results from the 2025 program.

Technical information related to the 2024 PEA was prepared under National Instrument 43-101 and filed on May 3, 2024. The PEA is preliminary and includes Inferred Mineral Resources, which are considered too speculative to have economic viability demonstrated. Additional work is required to convert Inferred Mineral Resources to higher categories. Sama's President and CEO, Dr. Marc-Antoine Audet, P.Geo, is the Qualified Person for other scientific and technical information not related to the 2024 PEA.

Sama Resources Inc. is a Canadian-based resource company focused on exploring the Samapleu nickel-copper project in Côte d’Ivoire. Ivanhoe Electric Inc. is a U.S.-domiciled minerals exploration company focused on developing mines, particularly in the United States, and utilizes its Typhoon™ geophysical surveying system. The Samapleu project is a 60/40 joint venture between Ivanhoe Electric and Sama Resources.

Source: Sama Resources Inc.