Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 21, 2026) - Big Gold Inc. (CSE: BG) (FSE: H7L) (the "Company" or "Big Gold") is pleased to announce the results of the historical data compilation and target-generation review at its 100%-owned Martin Kenty Project in the Kenora Mining Division of northwestern Ontario.

The review, which commenced on May 27, 2026, was developed to identify numerous prioritized gold exploration targets and compiled historical drill intercepts, including 96.56 g/t Au over 0.38 metres¹ at the Penn Showing and 31.00 g/t Au over 0.49 metres² in the Heronry area.

Highlights

• Numerous new gold exploration targets identified: priority targets across the Martin Kenty Project, based on the integration of historical geological, geochemical, geophysical and drilling datasets (see Figure 1).

• High-grade historical drill intercepts compiled: Notable holes including 70449 which returned 96.56 g/t Au over 0.38 metres from 28.56 metres downhole at the Penn Showing¹, hosted in a quartz-carbonate vein with visible gold, and 31.00 g/t Au over 0.49 metres from 37.26 metres in hole 70471-0 in the Heronry area².

• Other notable Penn Showing historical intercepts: Returned 24.90 g/t Au over 0.26 metres³, 5.45 g/t Au over 1.46 metres², 5.30 g/t Au over 0.49 metres² and 5.12 g/t Au over 0.61 metres².

• Comprehensive gold exploration database now in hand: All publicly available assessment reports for the Project - historical drilling records, airborne geophysical surveys, regional geological mapping, and regional and property-scale geochemical surveys - were reviewed and digitized where appropriate, spanning operator records from 1975 to 2017.

• Summer 2026 field program advancing: an agreement with a field exploration contractor is at an advanced stage and is expected to be executed in the coming weeks; the program will follow up the ranked targets on the ground and may help determine locations for potential future drilling.

Figure 1 - Martin Kenty Project: historical drill highlights, exploration target ranking and bedrock geology (compilation figure dated July 12, 2026).

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Historical Data Compilation Results

The compilation, led by Morgan Verge, P.Geo., reviewed and digitized all publicly available assessment reports covering the Martin Kenty Project, including historical drilling records, airborne geophysical surveys, regional geological mapping, regional and property-scale geochemical surveys, and other relevant exploration datasets. Historical work on the ground was carried out by operators including Noranda Exploration, Canadian Nickel, Barrier Reef Resources, Granges Exploration, Rio Algom Exploration, Wasabi Resources and Vanity Capital between 1975 and 2017.

The integrated datasets were used to identify areas of coincident geological, geochemical and geophysical significance, allowing exploration targets to be ranked from high to lower priority based on overall prospectivity. The ranked target set, together with the compiled historical drill intercepts, is shown in Figure 1 and is intended to guide the Company's planned summer 2026 field program and future drill planning.

Among the most significant compiled intercepts is 96.56 g/t Au over 0.38 metres from 28.56 metres downhole in historical hole 70449 at the Penn Showing¹, hosted within a quartz-carbonate vein enclosed by a mineralized wall-rock envelope containing pyrite, arsenopyrite and chalcopyrite, with 12 specks of visible gold noted in the historical log. A second notable intercept returned 31.00 g/t Au over 0.49 metres from 37.26 metres downhole in historical hole 70471-0 in the Heronry area², from a smoky grey, pyrite-rich, chloritic quartz-carbonate vein parallel to foliation, surrounded by a gradational light green to white fuchsite alteration halo.

Table 1 - Compiled Historical Drill Intercept Highlights, Martin Kenty Project

*Reported intervals are core lengths as recorded in historical assessment filings; true widths are unknown. Gold grades are reported to two decimal places and are not rounded up; depths and core lengths are reported to two decimal places. Hole 11 also returned 3.20 g/t Ag from 324.60 m to 326.12 m (1.52 m core length)⁴, and hole BAG-9 returned 4.80 g/t Ag from 91.39 m to 91.89 m (0.50 m core length)⁷

The intercepts in Table 1 are historical results reported in assessment filings by previous operators. They pre-date National Instrument 43-101 and the Company's involvement with the property. Big Gold has not independently sampled, twinned or otherwise verified the historical drill holes, and the original sample preparation, analytical and quality-assurance/quality-control procedures cannot be confirmed. The Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to verify the historical results, and the Company is not treating them as current, verified exploration results. Verification would require confirmatory work such as core review or twinned drilling, which the Company may undertake as part of future programs.

Summer 2026 Field Program

The Company also advises that an agreement with a field exploration contractor for the planned summer 2026 field program at Martin Kenty is at an advanced stage, with execution expected in the coming weeks. The planned program will follow up the ranked targets generated by the compilation on the ground, with the objective of refining target priorities and helping to determine locations for potential future drilling. No agreement has been executed as of the date of this news release, and the program remains subject to final terms, permitting and financing. The Company will provide program details by separate news release once the agreement is executed.

"The compilation integrated these datasets to identify areas of coincident geological, geochemical, and geophysical significance, allowing exploration targets to be ranked from high to lower priority based on their overall prospectivity," said Morgan Verge, P.Geo., Qualified Person for the Company. "These high-grade historical intersections confirm the presence of gold-bearing hydrothermal mineralization on the property and were incorporated, together with geological, geochemical, and geophysical datasets, into the project's exploration target ranking to guide future exploration and drill planning."

About the Martin Kenty Project

The Martin Kenty Project is one of Big Gold's two flagship Ontario exploration properties, alongside the Tabor Project. The Project is at an early stage of exploration.

Historical exploration at the Martin Kenty Project has identified multiple occurrences of gold mineralization through surface sampling and prospecting programs completed by previous operators and the Company. During Big Gold's 2022 exploration program, grab samples returned values of up to 8.37 g/t Au and 8.04 g/t Au, helping define priority exploration areas associated with favorable intrusive and structural settings prospective for gold mineralization.²

The Martin Kenty Project lies within the same regional tenure area as SEVA Mining Corp.'s Cameron Deposit, located along trend to the northeast of the Company's project area. SEVA has publicly reported a Mineral Resource Estimate at Cameron of 0.515 million ounces of gold Measured and Indicated at 2.44 g/t Au and 0.740 million ounces of gold Inferred at 2.18 g/t Au¹. The Cameron Deposit is a third-party asset owned by SEVA Mining and is referenced solely as regional district context; Big Gold does not own any interest in the Cameron Deposit.

The Project is at an early stage of exploration, and the Company cautions that the qualified person who has reviewed and approved this news release has not verified scientific or technical information produced by third parties, and proximity to projects containing gold resources offers no assurance that the rock types, mineralization or gold resources reported by SEVA Mining and others extend onto the Company's project and such proximity is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization reported by third parties with projects in the district.

Qualified Person

Morgan Verge, P.Geo., is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this press release.

References to mineral resources, historical estimates, and exploration results on adjacent or regional properties are provided for contextual purposes only and are not necessarily indicative of the mineralization potential of the Company's projects. Such third-party information has not been independently verified by the Company or the Qualified Person.

Sources

¹ Ontario Assessment File Research Imaging (AFRI) file 52F04NW8132, Ontario Geological Survey, available at https://prd-0420-geoontario-0000-blob-cge0eud7azhvfsf7.z01.azurefd.net/lrc-geology-documents/assessment/52F04NW8132/52F04NW8132.Pdf. Historical results reported in assessment filings are third-party data and have not been independently verified by Big Gold or its Qualified Person.

² Ontario Assessment File Research Imaging (AFRI) file 53F04NW0121, Ontario Geological Survey, available at https://prd-0420-geoontario-0000-blob-cge0eud7azhvfsf7.z01.azurefd.net/lrc-geology-documents/assessment/53F04NW0121/53F04NW0121.Pdf. Historical results reported in assessment filings are third-party data and have not been independently verified by Big Gold or its Qualified Person.

³ Ontario Assessment File Research Imaging (AFRI) file 53F04NW0122, Ontario Geological Survey, available at https://prd-0420-geoontario-0000-blob-cge0eud7azhvfsf7.z01.azurefd.net/lrc-geology-documents/assessment/53F04NW0122/53F04NW0122.Pdf. Historical results reported in assessment filings are third-party data and have not been independently verified by Big Gold or its Qualified Person.

⁴ Ontario Assessment File Research Imaging (AFRI) file 52F04NE0031, Ontario Geological Survey, available at https://prd-0420-geoontario-0000-blob-cge0eud7azhvfsf7.z01.azurefd.net/lrc-geology-documents/assessment/52F04NE0031/52F04NE0031.Pdf. Historical results reported in assessment filings are third-party data and have not been independently verified by Big Gold or its Qualified Person.

⁵ Ontario Assessment File Research Imaging (AFRI) file 53F04NW0127, Ontario Geological Survey, available at https://prd-0420-geoontario-0000-blob-cge0eud7azhvfsf7.z01.azurefd.net/lrc-geology-documents/assessment/53F04NW0127/53F04NW0127.Pdf. Historical results reported in assessment filings are third-party data and have not been independently verified by Big Gold or its Qualified Person.

⁶ Ontario Assessment File Research Imaging (AFRI) file 53F04NW0118, Ontario Geological Survey, available at https://prd-0420-geoontario-0000-blob-cge0eud7azhvfsf7.z01.azurefd.net/lrc-geology-documents/assessment/53F04NW0118/53F04NW0118.Pdf. Historical results reported in assessment filings are third-party data and have not been independently verified by Big Gold or its Qualified Person.

⁷ Ontario Assessment File Research Imaging (AFRI) file 52F05SE0003, Ontario Geological Survey, available at https://prd-0420-geoontario-0000-blob-cge0eud7azhvfsf7.z01.azurefd.net/lrc-geology-documents/assessment/52F05SE0003/52F05SE0003.Pdf. Historical results reported in assessment filings are third-party data and have not been independently verified by Big Gold or its Qualified Person.

⁸ SEVA Mining Corp., Corporate Presentation, April 2026, available at https://www.sevamining.com/documents/SEVA-April-V1.0.pdf. Mineral resource figures reported by SEVA Mining are third-party data and have not been independently verified by Big Gold or its Qualified Person.

About Big Gold Inc.

Big Gold Inc. is a junior mining exploration company. Its initial focus is to conduct exploration programs on the Martin Kenty and Tabor projects located in Ontario. Big Gold will also continue to consider other opportunities as they arise, with the objective of acquiring and exploring early-stage base and precious metal projects. Learn more about the Company on its website: https://biggold.ca/.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider has reviewed or accepted responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business of the Company. Forward-looking information in this release includes, without limitation, statements regarding the scope, timing, and outcome of the desktop review at the Martin Kenty Project; the anticipated commencement, scope, and timing of a spring/summer 2026 field program at Martin Kenty; the Company's intention to generate, prioritize, and follow up on exploration targets at the Project; and the Company's broader exploration strategy in Ontario. Forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management of the Company, including assumptions regarding access to the property, weather and field conditions, availability of qualified personnel and contractors, the continued accuracy of historical data being compiled, the availability of financing on acceptable terms, receipt of any required permits and regulatory approvals, and the absence of material adverse changes in commodity prices and capital markets. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based on are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results.

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