Aya Gold & Silver Inc. press release

Aya Gold & Silver Announces Updated PEA for Boumadine: After-Tax NPV Doubles to $3.5B with 93% IRR

2026-09-09

TSX - Toronto Stock Exchange · Silver · Gold · Zinc · Lead · Copper · Canada · Technical Studies

Stronger economics, longer mine life and higher silver production underpin low capex precious metals project

MONTREAL, Sept. 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aya Gold & Silver Inc.(TSX: AYA; NASDAQ: AYA) (“Aya” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the results of its updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (the “2026 PEA” or the “Study”) for the Boumadine Project (the “Project” or “Boumadine”) located in the Kingdom of Morocco. The 2026 PEA was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”) by independent Qualified Persons from Lycopodium (Americas) Ltd ("Lycopodium") and CCE Mining ("CCE"), among others. The updated Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE" or "2026 MRE") contained in the 2026 PEA was prepared by independent Qualified Person Mr. Guy Dishaw, P.Geo from SRK Consulting UK ("SRK"). The 2026 PEA supersedes the previous PEA (the "2025 PEA" or "Prior PEA"). All financial figures in this press release are in U.S. dollars.

Boumadine is Aya's development-stage polymetallic project. The 2026 PEA outlines a plan to produce three payable concentrates, zinc ("Zn"), lead ("Pb") and pyrite, with revenues largely driven by gold ("Au") and silver ("Ag").

2026 PEA - Economic Highlights

Significantly improved project economics, reflecting the combined impact of updated metal price assumptions, higher payable metal production and an extended mine life from 11 to 14 years. After-tax (base case1):$3.5B net present value (5%) (“NPV5%”), more than doubled from the Prior PEA, with a 93% after-tax internal rate of return ("IRR"), and 0.7 year payback period. After-tax (spot prices2):$5.5B NPV5%, 128% IRR and 0.5-year payback. Increased metal payability:82% and 85% gold and silver payability, respectively, representing increases of 12% and 8%, from the Prior PEA, reflecting updated market conditions. Strong capital efficiency3:$463M of initial capital expenditure - broadly in line with the 2025 PEA, with NPV5%:Capex ratio increasing to 7.6x, up from 3.3x in the Prior PEA.

| 1. | Base Case assumes prices of $3,500/oz Au, $50/oz Ag, $1.37/lb Zn, and $0.90/lb Pb. | | 2. | Spot Prices case assumes prices of $4,472/oz Au, $66.85/oz Ag, $1.77/lb Zn, and $0.85/lb Pb, as of September 3, 2026. |

Table 1: Boumadine 2026 PEA - Project Economic Highlights

| After-tax | | Updated PEA | 2025 PEA | Change | | | Base case assumptions (LOM4) | | | | | | | Gold Price | $/oz | 3,500 | 2,800 | 25 | % | | Silver Price | $/oz | 50 | 30 | 67 | % | | Average metal payables | % | 83% | 73% | 10 pts | | | Project Economics (LOM4) | | | | | | | Net Present Value (NPV5%) | $M | 3,537 | 1,475 | 140 | % | | Internal Rate of Return (“IRR”) | % | 93% | 47% | 46 pts | | | Payback | years | 0.7 | 2.1 | -1.4 | | | Initial Capital Expenditures | $M | 463 | 446 | 4 | % | | Capital Efficiency Ratio3 | - | 7.6 | 3.3 | 4.3 | | | Revenue | $M | 10,995 | 6,991 | 57 | % | | EBITDA5 | $M | 6,145 | 3,418 | 80 | % | | Free Cash Flow (FCF)5 | $M | 4,694 | 1,958 | 140 | % |

| 3. | Capital efficiency ratio is the ratio of Net Present Values, discounted at 5%, to the initial capital expenditure. | | 4. | Data shown over life of mine ("LOM") of 14 years. | | 5. | EBITDA and FCF are a non-IFRS financial measures and have no standardized meaning under IFRS Accounting Standards (“IFRS”) and may not be comparable to similar measures used by other issuers. Refer to “Non-IFRS and Other Financial Measures” for more information. |

Cautionary statement: Readers are cautioned that the 2026 PEA is preliminary in nature, it includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the 2026 PEA will be realized.

2026 PEA Operational Highlights

Strengthened operating profile,reflecting approximately 16% higher silver production over life of mine ("LOM") compared to Prior PEA, and a larger MRE supporting the updated mine plan. Compelling production profile:348 thousand ounces per year ("koz") gold-equivalent6(“AuEq”) average annual production (Years 1-5), and 271 koz AuEq per year over the LOM - with 877 koz Au and 43.7 Moz Ag produced in the first five years. Attractive scale:3.9 Moz AuEq6production over the LOM (+7% vs. Prior PEA), comprising 2.3 Moz Au, 81.2 Moz Ag, 422 thousand tonnes ("kt") Zn and 195 kt Pb - with 1.74 Moz AuEq produced in the first five years, Updated mine plan:41.2 million tonnes ("Mt") total mineralized material mined over the LOM (+33% vs. 2025 PEA) at average grades of 4.11 g/t AuEq (Years 1-5) and 3.10 g/t AuEq (LOM); average LOM grades by metal of 1.77 g/t Au, 63.5 g/t Ag, 1.37% Zn and 0.58% Pb. Extended mine life:14-years mine life, up from 11 years in the Prior PEA. Industry-leading cash costs8:$998/oz AuEq (Years 1-5) and $1,169/oz AuEq over the LOM. AISC8of $1,105/oz AuEq (Years 1-5) and $1,300/oz AuEq over the LOM. Permitted:existing mining license in advance of Feasibility Study ("FS") completion.

Updated Mineral Resource Estimate as of February 28, 2026, with enhanced confidence 2026 MRE growth vs prior MRE7: Indicated: 8.6 Mt at 4.02 g/t AuEq6,containing 1.1 Moz AuEq, up 34% Inferred: 45.4 Mt at 2.92 g/t AuEq6, containing 4.3 Moz AuEq, up 1%

| 6. | See note 7 and 8 to Table 3 for details of equivalent calculations. AuEq production is based on the following formula: AuEq (oz) = Au (oz) + Ag (oz)* Ag price ($/oz)/Au price ($/oz) + Pb (t)* (Pb price ($/lb) / Au price ($/oz))* 2204.62 + Zn (t)* (Zn price ($/lb) / Au price ($/oz))* 2,204.62 | | 7. | The prior mineral resource estimate for the Boumadine Project was effective as of February 24, 2025, as disclosed in the 2025 PEA titled “Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Boumadine Polymetalic Project, Kingdom of Morocco” with an effective date November 4, 2025, and filed on SEDAR+ on December 18, 2025. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues. There is no certainty that mineral resources will be converted to mineral reserves. |

Table 2: Operational Highlights

| | Units | Year 1-5 | LOM | | General | | | | | Mine Life | years | - | 14.4 | | Open Pit Strip Ratio9 | - | 21.1 | 22.6 | | Throughput Capacity | tpd | 8,000 | 8,000 | | Total Tonnes Processed | Mt | 13.9 | 41.2 | | Open-pit | Mt | 11.9 | 22.4 | | Underground | Mt | 2.0 | 18.9 | | Cash Costs8 | $/oz AuEq | 998 | 1,169 | | AISC8 | $/oz AuEq | 1,105 | 1,300 | | Production | | | | | Gold | koz | 877 | 2,254 | | Silver | koz | 43,683 | 81,167 | | Zinc | Mlbs | 467 | 931 | | Lead | Mlbs | 219 | 431 | | AuEq | koz | 1,740 | 3,889 | | Avg. Annual AuEq Production | koz/y | 348 | 271 | | Processed Grade | | | | | Gold | g/t | 2.05 | 1.77 | | Silver | g/t | 101.6 | 63.5 | | Zinc | % | 2.04 | 1.37 | | Lead | % | 0.87 | 0.58 | | AuEq | g/t | 4.11 | 3.10 | | Recoveries | | | | | Gold | % | 96.1 | 96.1 | | Silver | % | 96.4 | 96.4 | | Zinc | % | 74.7 | 74.7 | | Lead | % | 82.0 | 82.0 |

| 8. | Non-IFRS Measures. Cash costs and AISC (all-in sustaining costs) do not have standardized meanings under IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures used by other issuers. Refer to “Non-IFRS and Other Financial Measures” for more information, including a detailed description of each measure. | | 9. | Strip Ratio is the ratio of waste to mineralized material in open pit production. |

"Boumadine is a standout precious metals project among its global peers," said Benoit La Salle, President & CEO of Aya Gold & Silver. "We have more than doubled the after-tax NPV to $3.5B, while keeping capital costs broadly in line with the prior PEA. At $463M in initial capital, the project delivers a 7.6x capital efficiency ratio and a 93% IRR — a return on capital that is best-in-class.

"We intend to fund Boumadine through existing cash flow and external debt, consistent with our long-term strategy to minimize dilution and deliver superior returns for all shareholders.

"We are accelerating development, with the ambition to scale this project beyond the scope of this study. While Boumadine is a gold-led project, it also holds the potential to double Aya's silver production.

"And this PEA only reflects what we know today. With much more drilling to come, Boumadine sits within a much larger district that offers substantial additional exploration and development potential. We are excited about this next chapter, as we position Aya among the next generation of mid-tier precious metals producers."

2026 PEA Overview

Project Location

The Boumadine property is located in the Province of Errachidia, Kingdom of Morocco, approximately 220 kilometers (“km”) east of the City of Ouarzazate and 70 km southwest of the City of Errachidia. Boumadine’s land package covers 339 km², with an additional 600 km² under exploration authorization, for a total area encompassing 31 permits and licenses. The MRE underpinning the 2026 PEA is derived from an area of 32 km² within a single mining license, as illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Map of Boumadine Mining Permits Overlaid with Apparent Conductivity at 175Hz

Updated Mineral Resource Estimate

The MRE expands the Project's resource base to approximately 8.6 Mt of Indicated Mineral Resources containing 1.1 Moz AuEq and 45.4 Mt of Inferred Mineral Resources containing 4.3 Moz AuEq.

The MRE includes all drilling data obtained to February 28, 2026, reflecting total drilling of 320,000 metres and incorporates approximately 190,000 metres of additional drilling completed, across 453 drill holes, since the prior MRE. This additional data has materially increased drill density in key areas, strengthening geological confidence and supported the conversion of a portion of the Inferred Mineral Resource to the Indicated category. The updated geological model also incorporates additional surface and underground mapping and refined interpretations of the geometry and continuity of the mineralized vein systems.

Additional details of the Mineral Resource Estimate, including the resource update, estimation methodology, geological interpretation, and supporting technical considerations, are provided in the Mineral Resource Estimate - Supporting Information section of this release.

Table 3 - Mineral Resource Statement for the Boumadine Project, Morocco, as of February 28, 2026 (1-13)

| | Cut-off | Tonnes | Average Grade | Contained Metal | | | | | | | | | | | | Ag | Au | Cu | Pb | Zn | AuEq | Ag | Au | Cu | Pb | Zn | AuEq | | | | | | NSR US$/t | (kt) | (g/t) | (g/t) | (%) | (%) | (%) | (g/t) | (koz) | (koz) | (kt) | (kt) | (kt) | (koz) | | Pit-Constrained | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Indicated | 60 | 6,639 | 115.5 | 2.17 | 0.10 | 0.96 | 2.21 | 4.20 | 24,653 | 463 | 6 | 64 | 147 | 896 | | Inferred | 60 | 19,497 | 57.8 | 2.04 | 0.07 | 0.62 | 1.54 | 3.21 | 36,218 | 1,280 | 14 | 120 | 301 | 2,011 | | Underground | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Indicated | 110 | 1,943 | 143.0 | 1.11 | 0.06 | 1.19 | 2.11 | 3.43 | 8,931 | 69 | 1 | 23 | 41 | 214 | | Inferred | 110 | 25,868 | 56.0 | 1.65 | 0.08 | 0.56 | 1.17 | 2.70 | 46,605 | 1,372 | 21 | 145 | 303 | 2,249 | | Total | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Indicated | 60/110 | 8,582 | 121.7 | 1.93 | 0.09 | 1.01 | 2.19 | 4.02 | 33,585 | 532 | 8 | 87 | 188 | 1,110 | | Inferred | 60/110 | 45,365 | 56.8 | 1.82 | 0.08 | 0.58 | 1.33 | 2.92 | 82,823 | 2,653 | 35 | 265 | 604 | 4,260 |

| 1. | The Mineral Resources have an effective date of February 28, 2026. Mr. Guy Dishaw, P.Geo., is the Qualified Person (“QP”) responsible for the Mineral Resource Estimate in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (“CIM”) Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (2014) and CIM Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practice Guidelines (2019). Mr. Dishaw is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan. | | 2. | The Mineral Resource Estimate was prepared by a team of consultants from SRK under the supervision of the QP. | | 3. | Mineral Resources are reported in situ and undiluted and are constrained within the Boumadine Mining Licence. | | 4. | Mineral Resources have been depleted to reflect SRK's current understanding of historical underground mining completed up to mine closure in 1992 and surface artisanal workings. | | 5. | Commodity prices of US$2,800/oz Au, US$30/oz Ag, US$4.60/lb Cu, US$1.00/lb Pb and US$1.20/lb Zn were used to establish reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. | | 6. | The NSR was calculated as: NSR (US$/t) = (Pb (%) × 12.87) + (Zn (%) × 14.12) + (Au (g/t) × 70.27) + (Ag (g/t) × 0.75) + (Cu (%) × 66.95) − 6.75. | | 7. | Gold equivalent (AuEq) grades are based solely on metal prices and metallurgical recoveries and do not incorporate the full range of factors included in the NSR calculation, including treatment charges, payabilities, penalties, royalties and other smelter charges. Consequently, equivalent grades were not used for optimization or application of reporting cut-offs and are provided for reference only. | | 8. | AuEq = Au (g/t) + (Ag (g/t) × Ag price/gram × Ag recovery) / (Au price/gram × Au recovery) + Zn (%) × Zn price/lb × Zn recovery / (Au price/gram × Au recovery) × 685.7147973 + Pb (%) × Pb price/lb × Pb recovery / (Au price/gram × Au recovery) × 685.7147973 + Cu (%) × Cu price/lb × Cu recovery / (Au price/gram × Au recovery) × 685.7147973. | | 9. | Open-pit Mineral Resources are reported within an optimized pit shell using a rounded NSR cut-off value of US$60/t. The optimization and reporting assumptions include ore mining costs of US$2.0/t, waste mining costs of US$1.5/t, drilling and blasting costs (grade control) US$1.1/t, US$2.0/t surface haulage and rehandling costs, processing and shipping costs of US$49/t, G&A costs of US$6/t and an overall pit slope angle of 47°. | | 10. | Underground Mineral Resources are reported using a rounded NSR cut-off value of US$110/t, based on total underground mining costs of US$55.6/t, processing and shipping costs of US$48.9/t and G&A costs of US$6.7/t. The underground Mineral Resources demonstrate sufficient continuity and reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction using long-hole underground mining methods. Reporting shapes apply a minimum true mining width of 1.5 m, with isolated or discontinuous volumes considered unlikely to support potential underground extraction excluded from the reported Mineral Resource. | | 11. | Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues. There is no certainty that mineral resources will be converted to mineral reserves. | | 12. | The QP is unaware of any known environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-economic, marketing, political or other relevant factors that could materially affect the Mineral Resource Estimate. | | 13. | Tonnages are reported in metric units and grades are reported in grams per tonne (g/t) for Au and Ag and percent (%) for Cu, Pb and Zn. Tonnages, grades and contained metal quantities have been rounded appropriately. Rounding may result in apparent differences between totals and the sums of individual values; such differences are not considered material. |

Mining Operations

The 2026 PEA envisions a combined open pit and underground mining operation. The Boumadine LOM plan will consist of the simultaneous mining of several open pits in Central, North and South zones, that are scheduled between Year 0 and Year 10. Concurrent with the open pit operations, underground operations are scheduled between Year 3 and Year 14. The overall strategy is to achieve an average production rate to maintain a processing throughput of 8,000 tonnes per day ("tpd") over the LOM.

The mine plan is shown in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2: 3D Plan of the open pit and UG stopes

The open pit mineral resource used in the LOM plan is contained within six open pits (one in the south, four in the north, and one in the central area) over a strike length of 6 km and is mainly located above 350 m depth from surface. The open pit mining activity, including drill and blast, loading, and haulage is based on a contract-mining operation, with a mining capacity of 55 Mt of total material moved per year. Approximately 20 Mt of pre-stripping is expected during construction to ensure the ramp-up.

Underground mining will begin in year three of operations, with the start of underground construction in year one. Three distinct underground mines will be operated: the North, Central and South zones. The underground mines are independent from the open pits, with dedicated declines, which will be developed from surface to access high-grade areas of the Central and South underground mines early in the LOM. The underground mining method will be longitudinal modified avoca long hole stoping. It is contemplated that all development will be executed by a mining contractor, while mineralized inventory mining activities will be carried out by Aya.

Figure 3: Boumadine Mill Feed by Mining Source

An average of 348 koz AuEq per year over the first 5 years of operations will be produced, with the majority of mineralized inventory coming from the open pits.

Average production over the LOM is planned to be approximately 271 koz AuEq per year, for a total AuEq production of 3.9 Moz over the LOM.

Significant drilling has been completed since February 28, 2026, the effective date of the MRE, and future exploration drilling programs are expected to contribute to resource upside to support higher levels of production towards the end of the expected mine life and to extend the overall LOM.

Figure 4: Boumadine Annual Production Profile

Processing

The flotation plant is unchanged from the 2025 PEA, with crushing, grinding and three flotations circuits to produce separate, salable concentrates of zinc, lead, and pyrite. The mill is designed to process 8,000 tpd, corresponding to an annual throughput capacity of 2.9 Mt per year. The updated mine plan prioritizes higher feed grades to the mill during the initial years of production. During Years 1 to 5, high-grade material is processed, with an average grade of 4.11 g/t AuEq. From Year 11 onward, lower-grade, stockpiled material will be processed. Production during the first five years averages approximately 348 koz AuEq annually.

The simplified processing flowsheet remains unchanged from the 2025 PEA.

Metallurgy

Extensive metallurgical testwork, led by SGS Lakefield between 2018 and 2025, is the foundation of the 2026 PEA and confirms a conventional flotation-based flowsheet with excellent metallurgical performance. Total flotation recoveries are: 96.1% for gold, 96.4% for silver, 74.7% for zinc and 82.0% for lead.

Flotation demonstrates strong recoveries and concentrates quality, supporting a robust development scenario centered on concentrate sales. Complementary roaster and leaching testwork on the pyrite concentrate, conducted over several years, has also confirmed oxidation and precious metal recovery potential, suggesting a path for the construction of a roaster in the future, although excluded from this PEA. Lab scale roasting and subsequent leaching test results showed a total processing recovery (lead and zinc flotation, then pyrite flotation, roasting and leaching) up to 79% for gold and 85% for silver, with an average recovery of 63% for gold and 80% for silver.

The combination of high recoveries, conventional processing, and multiple commercialization pathways positions Boumadine as a technically sound and highly economic development project with significant long-term upside.

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