Dr. Thomas Benson reports

LITHIUM AFRICA DEFINES A SECOND SPODUMENE TREND IN COTE D'IVOIRE: KANIEN TREND ROCK SAMPLES UP TO 1.98% LI2O HIGHLIGHT DISCOVERY POTENTIAL

Lithium Africa Corp. has released rock sampling results from its Agboville licence in Ivory Coast that define the Kanien trend, the second of two primary spodumene pegmatite trends in the company's Adzope district, alongside the Saby trend at Adzope. Nineteen spodumene-bearing pegmatite samples from the Kanien trend returned up to 1.98 per cent Li2O (lithium oxide), with 14 of 19 above 1.0 per cent Li2O, highlighting the discovery potential of the district. Through its 50/50 joint venture with GFL International Co. Ltd., the company is advancing a district-scale exploration program across the approximately 485 square kilometres of granted licence that make up the district as a single, integrated opportunity. The company has also applied for the adjacent Sikensi licence (approximately 368 square kilometres), which, if granted, would extend the district.1

Highlights:

• Kanien trend defined at Agboville: Nineteen spodumene-bearing pegmatite rock samples returned up to 1.98 per cent Li2O, with 14 of 19 above 1.0 per cent Li2O, along a 2.8-kilometre trend (Table 1).
• An approximately seven-kilometre corridor of spodumene occurrences: The Kanien trend lies along strike of spodumene pegmatite samples of up to 1.36 per cent Li2O reported by Atlantic Lithium Ltd. on its adjacent Rubino licence, approximately three kilometres to the northeast. Together, these define a corridor of spodumene pegmatite occurrences approximately seven kilometres long across the licence boundary.
• Second primary trend in the Adzope district: The Kanien trend joins the previously defined multikilometre Saby trend at Adzope, where trenching returned 8.0 metres at 1.10 per cent Li2O and a 2,000-metre drill campaign is continuing (see the company's news release dated April 23, 2026, titled, "Lithium Africa to Commence 2,000 m Drill Program at Adzope and Provides Cote d'Ivoire Exploration Update").
• District targeting under way: Regional mapping, geochronology and granite geochemistry studies are continuing across the district to identify fertile intrusions and prioritize the next targets for trenching and drilling.

Dr. Thomas R. Benson, PhD, chief executive officer and director of Lithium Africa, commented: "Following a year of systematic, disciplined fieldwork by our Ivorian team, the Adzope district now has two primary spodumene trends. The Kanien trend, grading up to 1.98 per cent Li2O and on strike with our neighbour's spodumene occurrences, joins the Saby trend, which the Lithium Africa team identified earlier and where our drilling campaign is ongoing. The Kanien results are early stage, but, taken together, the two trends point to an emerging lithium district rather than a series of isolated occurrences. Our approach from here is to explore it as one: use mapping, geochronology and granite geochemistry to identify the fertile intrusions across the district and drill only the targets that can move the value of this company."

Agboville results

The Agboville licence covers 399.27 square kilometres, about 85 kilometres north of the port of Abidjan. Regional mapping has defined metasediments intruded by Eburnean granitoids, including a northeast-southwest-trending sheared muscovite granite in the northeastern part of the licence, cut by spodumene-bearing pegmatites composed of quartz, albite and spodumene.

Nineteen rock samples of spodumene-bearing pegmatite were collected during successive mapping campaigns between May, 2025, and May, 2026. Together, they define the Kanien trend, a spodumene-bearing pegmatite trend approximately 2.8 kilometres long along the sheared muscovite granite. Spodumene pegmatite samples reported by Atlantic Lithium on its adjacent Rubino licence lie along strike approximately three kilometres to the northeast of the Kanien trend, such that the two occurrences together define a corridor of spodumene pegmatite occurrences approximately seven kilometres long. Samples grading above 1.0 per cent Li2O are presented in Table 1, and the full set of samples is presented in Appendix A. Rock samples are selective by nature and are not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted on the property.

The Adzope district

The company considers the Adzope and Agboville licences, together with the Sikensi ground under application, to represent a single emerging lithium district on the basis of the shared muscovite-bearing granites interpreted as parental to the pegmatites, the two primary spodumene pegmatite trends now defined at the Saby trend (Adzope) and the Kanien trend (Agboville), and the spodumene occurrences reported by Atlantic Lithium on its adjacent licences along strike of the Kanien trend, as disclosed in its news releases dated May 22, 2025, and Oct. 20, 2025. Regional mapping, geochronology and whole-rock and mica geochemistry are in progress across the district to distinguish fertile from barren intrusions and to focus future trenching, auger and drill programs.

Adzope drilling update

The 2,000-metre RC (reverse circulation) program on the Saby trend (see the company's news releases dated April 23, 2026, and July 7, 2026) was paused for the rainy season after 1,137 metres had been completed. Drilling is expected to resume in the coming weeks. Assay results from the program, together with associated quality assurance/quality control, will be reported once results have been received and validated by the qualified person, targeted for Q4 2026.

Share issuances

Further to its news release dated March 30, 2026, the company has issued 77,753 common shares at a deemed price of $1.78 per share to an arm's-length consultant in satisfaction of the second and final tranche ($100,000 (U.S.)) of the finder's fee payable in connection with the acquisition of Namli Exploration & Mining Pty. Ltd.

Further to its news release dated July 7, 2026, the company has also issued 10,000 common shares at a deemed price of $1.50 (Canadian) per share pursuant to a debt settlement agreement dated July 6, 2026.

All issuances were approved by the TSX Venture Exchange and the shares are subject to a hold period of four months plus one day from the date of issuance.

QA/QC and data verification

Rock samples were collected by the company's geologists as grab samples from outcrop and, where noted, float, with locations recorded by GPS (Global Positioning System) and verified and digitized by desktop GIS (geographic information system) mapping work. Blanks (cement) and certified reference materials were inserted at the company's field camp. Samples were prepared at Intertek Minerals in Tarkwa, Ghana (method SP02, 85 per cent passing 75 microns), and analyzed at Intertek Genalysis in Perth, Western Australia, by four-acid digest and ICP-MS (method 4A-Li/MS48). Samples returning above 5,000 parts per million lithium were reanalyzed by four-acid digest with an ICP-OES finish (method 4AH/OE). The multiacid digest is considered a near-total digestion. Lithium hosted in certain minerals may not be completely dissolved. Certified reference material standards largely returned within tolerance; OREAS 45h returned outside expected tolerance for lithium. OREAS 752 exceeded the upper limit of the primary method in two batches and was not reassayed by the overrange method, so its lithium accuracy was not measured. Field blanks also returned slightly elevated lithium values relative to the detection limit across the program. These have been flagged to the laboratory for follow-up and, in the company's assessment, do not materially affect the interpretation of the results reported herein. A total of 19 QC samples -- five CRM (certified reference material) standards, five field blanks and nine laboratory control blanks/check assays -- were submitted alongside the rock samples of this program. No independent field-duplicate program has yet been implemented for this rock-sampling program; analytical precision has to date been monitored through laboratory check assays only. Sample preparation and analysis were both conducted by Intertek entities, and no check assays have yet been sent to a second, independent laboratory. Intertek is independent of the company.

Benjamin Gelber, PGeo, the qualified person for this news release, has verified the data disclosed herein, including the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the results. Verification consisted of a review of the original Intertek Genalysis assay certificates for all analytical batches against the company's rock geochemistry database, including the overrange lithium reassays; recalculation of the Li2O values in Table 1 and Appendix A from the certified lithium values; a review of the certified reference material and blank results for each batch; a review of the field logs and photographs supporting the classification of the tabulated samples as spodumene-bearing pegmatite; and a check of sample co-ordinates against the company's GPS records. Mr. Gelber has not visited the Agboville licence and has relied on field documentation prepared by the company's geologists. Grab samples are selective by nature and are not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted on the property. The qualified person did not identify any failure to verify the data and considers the data adequate for the purposes of this news release.

Qualified person

The technical and scientific information in this news release was reviewed and approved by Benjamin Gelber, PGeo, a consultant of the company and a practising professional geologist registered with Engineers & Geoscientists British Columbia (EGBC licence No. 33258), who is a non-independent qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About Lithium Africa Corp.

Lithium Africa is a capital-efficient lithium exploration and consolidation company assembling a portfolio of hard-rock lithium assets across Africa. Through its 50/50 joint venture with GFL International Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Ganfeng Lithium Group Co. Ltd., the company holds an indirect 50-per-cent interest in lithium exploration projects in Ivory Coast, Guinea, Zimbabwe and Mali. The company also holds a majority interest in the Springbok project in South Africa, which is held outside the joint venture.

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