Allied Gold Corporation press release

Allied Gold Reports Resource Growth and Mine Life Extension Potential from Exploration Program as the Kurmuk Mine Completes Commissioning and Begins Operations

2026-10-06

TSX - Toronto Stock Exchange · Gold · Canada · Production & Operations

TORONTO, Oct. 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Allied Gold Corporation (TSX: AAUC, NYSE: AAUC) (“Allied” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide an update on exploration at the Kurmuk Mine in western Ethiopia, highlighting exploration progress and the expansion of the mineralized zones within this highly prospective 30 km by 50 km gold camp. As commissioning and the start of operations at its Kurmuk Mine advance, with first ore to the grinding circuit expected imminently and first gold expected shortly thereafter, the Company is now focused on extending mine life and identifying additional higher-grade ore zones.

Exploration has initially focused on extensions to the two initial open pits, Ashashire and Dish Mountain, and on advancing nearby targets that could become additional mining areas providing further operational flexibility.

The Kurmuk Mine is planned as a conventional open-pit and agitated leaching operation with a life-of-mine production of at least 240,000 gold ounces per year, averaging approximately 300,000 ounces per year in the initial four years.

Highlights(*)

Ashashire: hole ASDD227 returned 13.86 m at 10.07 g/t Au, 13.77 m at 9.15 g/t Au and 9.22 m at 8.48 g/t Aufrom the central core of the deposit. The deposit remains open down-dip below 425 m, and recent grades and widths support the potential to define an underground Mineral Resource.

Dish Mountain: drilling returned extensions to known lenses, including 16.1 m at 2.9 g/t Au and 14.4 m at 3.4 g/t Auin hole DMDD788. The deposit remains open laterally and down-dip beyond approximately 300 m.

Hiccup Hill: Resource modelling is progressing at Hiccup Hill, a high-grade zone located on the Tsenge Trend, and 7.5 km south of the plant. As the Kurmuk Mine initially takes advantage of higher-grade mining phases at Ashashire and Dish Mountain, thereby driving higher production in the initial years, an exploration objective has been to find and develop additional sources of higher-grade material to sustain higher production levels for longer. Hiccup Hill represents a potential source of such higher-grade material and is the most advanced among similar high-grade targets along the Tsenge Trend.

Tsenge Trend: drilling results indicate that high-grade zones appear to repeat along its 9 km long trend, with 80.09 m at 1.53 g/t Auat Kiftet (TSDD052), 10.27 m at 3.78 g/t Auat Setota (TSDD066) and 9.0 m at 4.23 g/t Auat Bumblebee (TSRC006). An initial Mineral Resource estimate for Kiftet and Hiccup Hill is expected by the first half of 2027, along with exploration activities to confirm and extend the other high-grade zones along the trend. Regional targets: drilling at Urchin, adjacent to the Ashashire haul road, returned 3.0 m at 18.52 g/t Audemonstrating the potential in the system to produce high-grade mineralization. A field review is planned for the fourth quarter at Agu and Ahushu, neither of which has been drill-tested previously but both show strong surface mineralization and prospectivity.

_ Intercepts in this release are reported as drilled lengths at a 0.3 g/t Au cut-off. Estimated true widths vary from 60% to 95% of drilled length, except for the Dul Mountain intercepts, where estimated true widths are unknown, and as otherwise stated for the Western Prospects.

Dish Mountain and Ashashire Growth

Exploration in 2026 has delivered down-dip and strike extensions to the mineralized zones at the Dish Mountain and Ashashire open pits, confirming the potential to expand the current Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves(1)of 2.7 million ounces. Dish Mountain continues to demonstrate incremental resource growth potential, with recent drilling successfully extending known gold-bearing zones and identifying favourable geological targets. The 1,600 m by 500 m deposit remains open at depth and laterally, offering opportunities to further expand the mineralized footprint and pit limits. Ashashire continues to deliver exceptional high-grade gold results, including 13.86 m at 10.07 g/t Au, with higher-grade mineralization extending approximately 750 m along strike below the current pit extents. The deposit remains open at depth and along strike, offering significant exploration upside and strong potential for both open-pit expansions and an underground Mineral Resource. Ongoing drilling and next year’s resource update position both Dish and Ashashire as contributors to future Mineral Resource growth and value creation.

High-grade Zones along the Tsenge Trend

The 9 km Tsenge Trend, which is significantly longer in strike length than either Ashashire or Dish Mountain, is emerging as a significant growth opportunity, with multiple high-grade gold discoveries highlighting substantial resource potential (see Figure 1). As the Kurmuk Mine initially takes advantage of higher-grade mining phases at Ashashire and Dish Mountain, thereby driving higher production in the initial years, these new high-grade zones are aligned with the exploration objective of finding and developing additional sources of higher-grade material to sustain higher production levels for longer. Resource modelling is progressing at the high-grade Hiccup Hill zone, the most advanced among similar high-grade targets along the Tsenge Trend, while positive results at Kiftet, Setota and Bumblebee point to multiple high-grade zones along Tsenge, thereby providing good potential for meaningful additional upside and operational flexibility to help sustain a long-term production profile of 300,000 ounces per year. An initial Mineral Resource estimate for Kiftet and Hiccup Hill is expected by the first half of 2027, along with exploration activities to confirm and extend the other high-grade zones along the trend.

Figure 1: Kurmuk Plan Map

Regional Exploration

During 2026, the Company began advancing work at regional targets at its Kurmuk Mine, obtaining encouraging high-grade results at Urchin and the Western Prospects, while other large, underexplored gold anomalies at Agu, Ahushu and Dul Mountain are planned to be advanced progressively starting in late 2026. Allied believes these targets are highly prospective, and the upcoming work provides opportunities to potentially define material new deposits within trucking distance to the processing plant, expanding the resource base which could potentially support additional mill feed; extend mine life; and support long-term strategic production targets.

Outlook

The focus for exploration at the Kurmuk Mine is evolving from deposit-scale zone definition and extension to nearby priority targets such as Tsenge, which are demonstrating near-term, higher-grade resource discovery potential. Going forward, exploration will continue to prioritize these near-term opportunities with increasing sequential focus on new targets, including Agu, Ahushu and Dul Mountain, along with continued evaluation of Urchin and Western Prospects. While advancing these exploration targets, initial drill target development data will be collected over the new Azali and Agazen targets located in the southern and northern portions of the property (see Figure 10 for location), respectively, and over the eastern half of the property, where limited exploration has been carried out.

Technical Discussion

Since October 2025, 149 holes totalling 28,003 m of drilling have been completed, with a focus on extending known zones at depth and along strike and on exploring new targets. Results are presented below for Dish Mountain and Ashashire, the Tsenge Trend and the regional targets shown in Figure 1.

Dish Mountain and Ashashire Extensions

At both Dish Mountain and Ashashire, drilling continues to intersect lateral and vertical extensions of the deposits, with the limits of the mineralized systems remaining open supporting the potential to expand the current pit limits and define an underground resource, particularly at Ashashire. Drilling continues at the south end of Ashashire and, at Dish Mountain, along the southwest side of the deposit and at deposit-proximal targets.

Dish Mountain

Dish Mountain is a 1,600 m by 500 m, multi-lens deposit that remains open down-dip beyond approximately 300 m and laterally. Drilling in 2026 returned extensions to known lenses and provided insight into which geological units are preferential hosts for gold mineralization. Incremental additions to current Mineral Resources are expected. Figure 2 shows the recent intercepts at Dish Mountain and its simplified geology, and Figure 3 shows a reference section. Selected new drill highlights are presented in the table below.

| Prospect | Hole ID | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | Au (g/t) | | | | | | Dish Mountain | DMDD788 | 265.8 | | 280.3 | | 14.4 | | 3.4 | | | Dish Mountain | DMDD788 | 195.6 | | 211.7 | | 16.1 | | 2.9 | | | Dish Mountain | DMDD779 | 44.72 | | 52.75 | | 8.03 | | 5.4 | | | Dish Mountain | DMDD778 | 235.0 | | 245.8 | | 10.8 | | 3.1 | | | Dish Mountain | DMDD788 | 126.6 | | 145.4 | | 18.8 | | 1.5 | | | Dish Mountain | DMDD780 | 140.4 | | 146.6 | | 6.23 | | 4.5 | | | Dish Mountain | DMDD777 | 316.3 | | 326.0 | | 9.69 | | 2.5 | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Figure 2: Dish Mountain Geology and 2026 Drilling

Figure 3: Dish Mountain Reference Section

Ashashire

Ashashire is a 1,300 m by up to 170 m wide collection of mineralized lenses that remains open down-dip below 425 m depth and, to a lesser extent, along strike. To date, Ashashire has returned more higher-grade intercepts than the other exploration targets on the property. Hole ASDD227 returned three exceptional intercepts from the central core of the deposit: 13.86 m at 10.07 g/t Au, 13.77 m at 9.15 g/t Au and 9.22 m at 8.48 g/t Au. Adjacent holes suggest that higher gold grades can be traced for approximately 750 m along strike (Figures 4 and 5). The grades and widths returned support the potential to define pit expansions or an underground Mineral Resource. Flat-plunging hydrothermal breccias that contain higher-than-average gold grades have been modelled. Locally strong potassic alteration and elevated levels of tellurium, silver and molybdenum are noted, suggesting a potential magmatic source for the gold mineralization and a style of mineralization that has not previously been explored or recognized at Kurmuk. Recent holes targeting the depth extent of the deposit intersected mineralization where expected, with an updated Mineral Resource expected in 2027. Current holes are testing for extensions of the deposit to the south. A summary of recent drill composite highlights is presented in the table below.

| Prospect | Hole ID | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | Au (g/t) | | | | | | Ashashire | ASDD227 | 379.00 | | 392.86 | | 13.86 | | 10.07 | | | Ashashire | ASDD227 | 395.00 | | 408.77 | | 13.77 | | 9.15 | | | Ashashire | ASDD227 | 323.07 | | 332.29 | | 9.22 | | 8.48 | | | Ashashire | ASDD248 | 406.13 | | 421.33 | | 15.20 | | 4.58 | | | Ashashire | ASDD228 | 315.40 | | 327.94 | | 12.54 | | 4.40 | | | Ashashire | ASDD231 | 282.45 | | 287.53 | | 5.08 | | 9.78 | | | Ashashire | ASDD231 | 237.60 | | 261.35 | | 23.75 | | 1.82 | | | Ashashire | ASDD245 | 301.73 | | 308.76 | | 7.03 | | 5.74 | | | Ashashire | ASDD244 | 254.72 | | 264.46 | | 9.74 | | 4.04 | | | Ashashire | ASDD236 | 294.30 | | 298.83 | | 4.53 | | 8.48 | | | Ashashire | ASDD232 | 402.09 | | 405.00 | | 2.91 | | 12.28 | | | Ashashire | ASDD235 | 324.81 | | 333.83 | | 9.02 | | 3.89 | | | Ashashire | ASDD245 | 386.65 | | 398.70 | | 12.05 | | 2.83 | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Figure 4: Ashashire Plan View, Recent Results

Figure 5: Ashashire Cross-section

Tsenge Trend – High-Grade Zones Being Defined

The Tsenge Trend is a 9 km long gold-in-soil anomaly (Figure 6). Drilling and modelling to date indicate that high-grade zones appear to repeat along the trend. Hiccup Hill, at the south end of the trend, is the most advanced of these zones, with additional strong mineralization identified immediately to the north at Kiftet and Setota and, most recently, at Bumblebee.

Figure 6: Tsenge Trend, Southern Half, Drill and Trench Highlights

Hiccup Hill:Resource modelling is progressing at the high-grade Hiccup Hill area, which is located 7.5 km south of the plant. Recent intercepts include 6.8 m at 7.46 g/t Au (TSDD050) and 8.12 m at 4.21 g/t Au (TSDD047). Drilling continues with the goal of expanding this mineralized zone to the northeast, towards Kiftet and Setota (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Hiccup Hill, Kiftet and Setota Detail Plan Map

Kiftet:the next high-grade target identified lies immediately northeast of Hiccup Hill. Hole TSDD052 returned 80.09 m at 1.53 g/t Au, 27.60 m at 1.32 g/t Au and 6.72 m at 6.75 g/t Au (Figure 8). Five more holes, with a sixth in progress, have been drilled to define the strike and up-dip extent of this zone. The higher-grade portion of this zone has a strike length of up to 120 m with the zone traceable for approximately 300 m. A Mineral Resource for Kiftet and Hiccup Hill is expected to be completed by the first half of 2027.

Figure 8: Kiftet Zone Summary Section

Setota:a new, high-grade zone of mineralization was intersected in hole TSDD066, which returned 40.50 m at 1.17 g/t Au, 10.27 m at 3.78 g/t Au and 1.28 m at 69.77 g/t Au (Figure 9). The mineralization style in this hole is similar to that observed at Kiftet, although the relationship between the two zones remains to be determined. This hole was an 80 m southwest step-up from a previously reported intercept of 10.49 m at 1.85 g/t Au. Setota is an approximately 500 m long zone with locally higher grades and greater widths.

Figure 9: Setota Summary Section

Bumblebee: a new zone of stronger gold mineralization approximately 3.5 km northeast of Hiccup Hill, where hole TSRC006 returned 9.0 m at 4.23 g/t Au. Follow-up drilling has commenced. Ongoing work: follow-up drilling is being carried out at Setota and Bumblebee Hill. Drilling is focused both on the definition of zones of better mineralization and on continued reverse circulation step-out and infill drilling along the trend. To date, 24 RC holes have been completed, with assays presented for 13 holes. Gold mineralization was intersected in 11 of the 13 holes returned to date. Select Tsenge Trend drill hole composites are presented in the following table.

| Prospect | Hole ID | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | Au (g/t) | | | | | | Tsenge – Hiccup Hill | TSDD050 | 122.68 | | 129.48 | | 6.80 | | 7.46 | | | Tsenge – Hiccup Hill | TSDD047 | 186.73 | | 194.85 | | 8.12 | | 4.21 | | | Tsenge – Kiftet | TSDD052 | 137.26 | | 217.35 | | 80.09 | | 1.53 | | | Tsenge – Kiftet | TSDD052 | 240.40 | | 268.00 | | 27.60 | | 1.32 | | | Tsenge – Kiftet | TSDD052 | 270.08 | | 276.80 | | 6.72 | | 6.75 | | | Tsenge – Setota | TSDD066 | 137.10 | | 177.60 | | 40.50 | | 1.17 | | | Tsenge – Setota | TSDD066 | 180.73 | | 191.00 | | 10.27 | | 3.78 | | | Tsenge – Setota | TSDD066 | 230.29 | | 231.57 | | 1.28 | | 69.77 | | | Tsenge – Bumblebee | TSRC006 | 101.00 | | 110.00 | | 9.00 | | 4.23 | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Other Targets – Regional Exploration

Exploration in 2027 will continue to expand outward from the core deposits to known targets across the property (Figures 1 and 10), with the support of an airborne magnetic survey, permission pending, planned for the fourth quarter of 2026.

Figure 10: Kurmuk Property Soil and Stream Sediment Compilation

Urchin:located 2 km west of Ashashire, adjacent to the Ashashire haul road. Prospecting, soil sampling, and trenching had outlined a 400-metre-long target that returned up to 9.0 metres at 5.29 g/t Au in trenches. A 2026 drill program of 10 shallow holes totalling 1,102 metres returned best intercepts of 3.0 m at 18.52 g/t Au and 5 m at 3.96 g/t Au from a shallow, east-dipping zone (Figure 11).

Figure 11: Urchin Compilation Plan https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9073640f-eb9e-42e1-bc14-aa9b4786dd86

Western Prospects: three target areas located 1.5 to 3.5 km west of Dish Mountain, the longest with a soil anomaly of approximately 2.5 km. Scout drill testing at the southern portion of the three gold-mineralized trends comprised 25 holes totalling 3,005 m and returned generally narrow intercepts, with the best returning 25.0 m at 1.97 g/t Au (estimated true width 5 m, Figure 12).

Figure 12: Western Prospects Compilation Plan https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/be5d1a93-effa-48ed-b869-385f500b7241

Agu and Ahushu:These targets represent 1.0 km to 1.5 km scale gold-in-soil anomalies of greater than 400 ppb gold, located 4 km south and southeast of the Ashashire Deposit. Shallow portions of both targets have been exploited by artisanal miners with neither having been drill-tested. Previous grab samples returned 13.15 g/t Au at Ahushu and 3.37 g/t Au at Agu. Dul Mountain: an open-ended gold-in-soil anomaly of greater than 100 ppb gold, measuring approximately 2.0 km by 3.0 km and centred 7 km south of the Ashashire Deposit. It has been tested by a few holes and trenches, with trench intercepts up to 18 m at 4.87 g/t Au. The anomaly covers a larger area than the combined Dish Mountain and Ashashire Deposits and is believed to be similarly prospective. Property scale:Very anomalous Au-in-silt values, with no follow-up to date, lie in the central, south and west portions of the property (Figure 10) with essentially no work completed to date on the eastern half of the property. Follow-up to these regional scale targets will commence in 2027.

Outlook and Next Steps

Gold mineralization requiring follow-up has been intersected at all targets drilled, namely Ashashire, Dish Mountain, Tsenge, Urchin and the Western Prospects. The near-term next steps of the program are summarized below:

Scout and infill drilling along the Tsenge Trend is ongoing and likely to extend into 2027. Core and reverse circulation drilling is being carried out to test near-surface gold-bearing zones proximal to Dish Mountain. Drilling is being carried out along the proximal projected strike of the Ashashire trend, with a focus on untested gold-in-soil anomalies. Induced polarization geophysical surveys capable of imaging to a depth of 400 m are scheduled to start along the Tsenge Trend and over portions of the Ashashire Deposit in late 2026. At Tsenge, the goal is to define larger, stronger zones of sulphidation and quartz veining; at Ashashire, the goal is to define the system's extents and potentially identify extensions of the higher-grade portions. Follow-up drilling at Urchin, and trenching and follow-up drilling at the Western Prospects, are proposed for 2027. Exploration, including drill testing, is expected to be initiated at Agu and Ahushu in 2027, following an initial field review planned for October 2026.

The results to date and near-term planned activities demonstrate progress toward the Company's five-year exploration objectives for Kurmuk outlined in its November 2025 exploration update, including its objective of growing Mineral Resources to more than 5 Moz. The Company also continues to focus on identifying and developing higher-grade ore sources to increase operational flexibility, sustain higher production levels for longer and support its objective of extending mine life beyond 15 years.

Detailed Drill and Target Data

Detailed exploration results can be found via the following links.

Drillhole collar table: link Trench centre table: link Trench intercept table: link Drilling intercept table: link

Qualified Person

All scientific and technical information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Don Dudek, P.Geo., Chief Exploration Officer, who is a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101.

End Notes

| (1) | See Allied Gold’s Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource estimates and accompanying notes at the end of this press release. | | | |

Sampling and QA/QC Procedures

All exploration work at Kurmuk follows industry-standard sampling, assay, and QA/QC protocols. RC samples are collected at one-metre intervals and split using a 75:25 riffle splitter. Diamond core is cut in half and sampled systematically. Quality control samples (certified reference materials, blanks, and field duplicates) are inserted at a ratio of 1:20. A significant amount of the assay sample preparation is carried out at site with overflow samples directed to an ALS sample prep site in Addis Ababa. Samples are ground to 85% passing 75 µm. Re-assays, of an entire batch of 10 to 20 samples, are required when standards return >3SD outside of the expected results and if blanks contain >10x the detection limit.