Mr. Stabro Kasaneva reports

AUSTRAL GOLD ANNOUNCES A$8.456 MILLION STRATEGIC PLACEMENT

Austral Gold Ltd. has received $8,456,000 (Australian) of firm commitments for a private placement of new fully paid ordinary shares from Australian sophisticated and institutional investors.

Aitken Mount Capital Partners acted as sole lead manager and bookrunner to the placement.

Austral Gold's non-executive chair, Eduardo Elsztain, said: "We are pleased to partner with Aitken Mount Capital Partners on this placement and the opportunity to introduce new Australian investors to the company's share register. The funds to be raised are expected to support our ongoing exploration and development programs, further underpinning Austral's strategy across its operational clusters in Chile (Guanaco) and Argentina (Casposo)."

Details of the placement

The placement involves the issuance of 46,977,778 new shares at 18 Australian cents (approximately 17 Canadian cents) per share to Australian investors.

The offer price represents:

• A 20-per-cent discount to the closing price on the Australian Securities Exchange on Feb. 16, 2026;
• A discount of approximately 15 pepr cent to the 15-day VWAP (volume-weighted average price) on the ASX up until Feb. 16, 2026;
• A discount of approximately 13 per cent to the closing price on the TSX Venture Exchange on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.

The 46,977,778 new shares will be issued on the company's Australian securities register under the company's existing placement capacity pursuant to ASX listing Rule 7.1A. Settlement of the new shares is subject to receipt of all corporate and regulatory approvals, including approval from the TSX-V. Accordingly, the company intends to submit its application to the TSX-V for final acceptance promptly.

The new shares were offered only to Australian-based sophisticated and/or professional investors; none were offered or sold to investors in Canada, the United States or any other jurisdiction outside of Australia.

Austral intends to use the proceeds from the placement as follows:

• Accelerate exploration programs in Guanaco and Casposo, focusing on areas near the company's 100-per-cent-owned processing facilities, including the Manantiales project in Argentina and the Juncal project in Chile;
• Invest in capital expenditure (capex) to expand processing (milling) capacity at Casposo, including the acquisition and construction of the classification plant to process tailings, and to increase agitation leaching capacity at Guanaco through the addition of a second filter press;
• Working capital purposes, including costs of the offer.

At the closing of the placement, the company will pay to Aitken Mount Capital Partners a commission equal to 5 per cent plus GST.

Indicative timetable

An indicative timetable for the placement is set out in the attached table. This timetable may be subject to change at the company's discretion, in compliance with applicable laws and the listing rules of the ASX and policies of the TSX-V.

About Austral Gold Ltd.

Austral Gold is a growing gold and silver mining producer building a portfolio of quality assets in the Americas based on three strategic pillars: production, exploration and equity investments. Austral continues to lay the foundation for its growth strategy by advancing its attractive portfolio of producing and exploration assets. Under its equity investments pillar, Austral holds shares and options in ASX-listed Unico Silver, as previously disclosed in the September, 2025, quarterly report.

We seek Safe Harbor.