Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 21, 2026) - Koulou Gold Corp. ("Koulou Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that exploration is in progress at its 937.8 km² Gontougo Project in eastern Côte d'Ivoire, adjacent to Endeavour Mining's Assafou deposit. Systematic soil sampling and airborne geophysics are advancing across the project, with up to 30,000 m of diamond drilling planned to commence in Q4 2026.
Alex Ruggieri, CEO of Koulou Gold, commented, "We are pleased to report our progress at Gontougo. We continue to refine and add additional targets for the maiden drilling campaign that will begin next quarter. The complex geology underlying our large land position and limited previous work present a meaningful opportunity for economic discovery."
2026 Exploration Program
The program is designed to rapidly and systematically assess the entire district-scale land package and rank high-confidence drill targets through the collection of geochemical and geophysical datasets.
At Assuéfry, a 13,000-sample soil geochemistry program is approximately 40% complete and airborne magnetic, radiometric, and LiDAR surveys have been completed across the entire permit (Figure 1). Up to 646 line-km of gradient array IP and 225 line-km of pole-dipole IP have commenced over priority targets.
Figure 1. Assuéfry permit 2026 exploration plan and progress map with underlying regional geology
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At Koun-Fao, a regional-to-target soil sampling program is underway, comprising approximately 17,000 samples on an 800 m × 50 m grid, followed by 10,000 infill samples. To date, 15,000 of the planned 27,000 samples have been collected (Figure 2). New Resolution Geophysics has mobilized to site and commenced a ~15,500 line-km high-resolution airborne magnetic, radiometric, and LiDAR survey covering the entire permit area. The survey will provide a foundation for detailed structural interpretation and target generation, guiding subsequent ground geophysics and drilling.
Figure 2. Koun-Fao permits 2026 exploration plan and progress map with underlying regional geology
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Assuéfry Permit - Updated Geological Interpretation
Integrating LiDAR, magnetic and radiometric data with field mapping, the updated interpretation identifies reactivated Tarkwaian-Birimian unconformities as the key structural control on gold at both the Yango (7.8 km by 1.1 km) and Dadiassé (8.0 km by 3.3 km) gold-in-soil anomalies (Figure 3). At Yango, the prospective structural corridor is marked by a continuous asymmetric topographic lineament that coincides with a sharp magnetic break. At Dadiassé, a series of sub-parallel, NE-trending reactivated unconformities cut across the Birimian stratigraphy. These observations will directly guide drill targeting.
Figure 3. Magnetic data (left) and updated geological interpretation (right) of the Assuéfry permit; reactivated Tarkwaian-Birimian unconformities coincide with the Yango and Dadiassé gold-in-soil anomalies
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Gontougo Project and the Assafou Discovery
The Gontougo Project comprises the Assuéfry and Koun-Fao permits and hosts the same Tarkwaian-Birimian geological setting as Endeavour's neighboring Assafou deposit (Figure 4). At Assuéfry, historical data outline a gold-in-soil anomaly extending approximately 15 km along strike and up to 3 km wide, with higher-grade zones centered along reactivated unconformities. Koun-Fao remains effectively unexplored despite hosting the same prospective geology and multiple historical gold occurrences.
Assafou is the first major gold discovery in the Koun-Tanda basin, a direct extent of the Bui belt, advancing from grassroots exploration to 5.0 Moz Au in M&I resources (inclusive of 4.4 Moz Au reserves) in well under a decade. Endeavour's 2026 DFS outlines average annual production of 329 koz Au over the first 10 years, an after-tax NPV5% of approximately US$5.1 billion and a 55% IRR at US$4,000/oz gold, with first gold targeted for 2028. As the largest landholder in this largely underexplored belt, Koulou is positioned as a first mover with the potential to delineate additional district-scale gold systems.
Figure 4. Regional overview of the Gontougo Project and Endeavour Mining's Tanda-Iguela permits
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Qualified Person
Mr. Arnaud Fontaine, P.Geo. (APGO no. 3570), PhD., consultant to the Company and a "Qualified Person" as defined under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release.
This news release may contain information regarding adjacent properties in which the Company has no interest. The Company and the Qualified Person have not verified the information regarding such properties, and such information is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization on the Company's properties.
About Koulou Gold Corp.
Koulou Gold Corp. is a private mineral exploration company incorporated under the laws of the Province of British Columbia and headquartered in both Vancouver, Canada and Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The Company is focused on gold exploration with a portfolio of thirteen exploration permits and applications, covering a total area of 3,646 km² in highly prospective regions of Côte d'Ivoire.
For more information, visit www.koulougoldcorp.com or email info@koulougoldcorp.com.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Alex Ruggieri
CEO and Director
Tel: +1 604 568 6005
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (together, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terminology such as "plans", "expects", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing these forward-looking statements are reasonable based upon the information currently available to management as of the date hereof, actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. Readers are therefore cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed times frames or at all. Except where required by applicable law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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