6 October 2026

East Star Resources Plc

("East Star", the "Company")

Rulikha Copper Project Drilling Update

Drilling approval for Licence 3631 received and drill rig mobilised

East Star Resources Plc (LSE: EST), the Kazakhstan-focused gold and copper exploration and development company, is pleased to provide an update on exploration activities at the Rulikha Copper Project ("Rulikha"), being advanced through its joint venture ("JV") with Kazakh company, Nova Ltd ("Nova").

All permissions for drilling on Licence 3631 have now been received. A drilling contract has been executed and a drill rig has been mobilised to site, with drilling operations commencing on 5 October 2026, at no cost to East Star.

Drilling is expected to initially comprise five drill holes across two target areas for approximately 1,500 metres and is designed to verify historically logged mineralisation.

As announced on 1 September 2026, a binding Heads of Agreement was signed with Nova under which Nova will farm into Rulikha and advance it through development to production, at no further cost to East Star. The Company is fully carried to production, at which point it will hold between 25% and 35% of the producing mine.

Alex Walker, CEO of East Star, commented:

"We are pleased to have received all required permissions and commenced drilling at Rulikha in short order. The current programme is expected to comprise five holes across Target Areas 1 and 2, which made up the bulk of the exploration target defined by historical drill logs that the JV aims to convert into a resource. We look forward to updating the market as the programme progresses."

To watch a video of Tremain Woods, Exploration Manager of East Star, speaking from Rulikha, visit: https://eaststarplc.com/link/yE28pe

Figure 1: Target Areas 1 and 2 - the focus of the current drill programme

Contacts:

East Star Resources Plc

Alex Walker, Chief Executive Officer

Tel: +44 (0)20 7390 0234 (via Vigo Consulting)

SI Capital (Corporate Broker)

Nick Emerson

Tel: +44 (0)1483 413 500

Vigo Consulting (Investor Relations)

Ben Simons / George Pope / Georgina Moul

Tel: +44 (0)20 7390 0234

About East Star Resources Plc

East Star Resources is focused on the discovery and development of copper and gold in Kazakhstan. The Company' key interests are:

·    A joint venture with Hong Kong Xinhai Mining Services Limited to take the Verkhuba Copper Deposit (20.3Mt @ 1.16% copper, 1.54% zinc and 0.27% lead) into production (at no further cost to East Star) with East Star retaining 30% ownership in production

·    A joint venture with a Kazakh mining company to develop the Rulikha project (exploration target of 23Mt @ 2.4% copper equivalent) into production (at no further cost to East Star) with East Star retaining between 25% and 35% ownership in production

·    A $25 million+ strategic gold exploration joint venture with FTSE 100 Endeavour Mining

·    Tier 1 potential copper porphyry and epithermal gold targets in a proven belt

Visit our website: www.eaststarplc.com 

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The person who arranged for the release of this announcement was Alex Walker, CEO of the Company.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation 2014/596/EU which is part of domestic UK law pursuant to the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations (SI 2019/310) ("UK MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information (as defined in UK MAR) is now considered to be in the public domain.