Drilling contractor appointed & Kabwe drilling

29 April 2026

Shuka Minerals Plc

("Shuka'' or the "Company")

Appointment of Drilling contractor and commencement of exploration drilling at Kabwe

Shuka Minerals Plc (AIM/AltX: SKA), an African focused mine operator and developer, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ox Drilling Limited ("Ox") as the drilling contractor for the Phase 1 drilling programme at the Kabwe Zinc Mine ("Kabwe Project") via its Zambian operating subsidiary, Leopard Exploration and Mining Limited. The Ox-operated drilling campaign is scheduled to commence in mid-May 2026 and will be supported by the Company's geological consultants GeoQuest Limited ("GeoQuest").

The Phase 1 c.2,000m diamond drilling programme will consist of PQ and HQ sized core targeting known mineralised zones around and beneath the previous workings at vertical depths ranging from 100-500m. The results from this first phase of drilling, coupled with ongoing exploration, which includes airborne and ground magnetics as well as surface sampling and mapping, will enable the Company to finalise the locations for the balance of the broader 10,000m Phase 2 programme and subsequent JORC resource and reserves upgrade later in 2026.

This is the first resource drilling being undertaken at Kabwe since the 1970s. As previously reported, the Company's objective for its 2026 exploration programme is to achieve a 50% increase to the existing resource of 6.8Mt @13.3% Zinc and 3.3% Lead with an estimated in-situ value of US$4 billion (Behre Dolbear NI 43-101 2023). The current programme is also designed to better understand the Silver, Vanadium, Germanium and Gallium at Kabwe concentrations and metallurgy as a by-product of the Zinc and Lead production.

About Ox Drilling

Ox have been operating in Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other Southern African countries for over 20 years. The company is equipped with a modern fleet of drilling rigs and machinery and has undertaken drilling for numerous mining operators in Zambia, including, BHP Billiton, Barrick and First Quantum. Ox are focused on supplying superior drilling services and are highly regarded in the region.

Based in Ndola, 180km North of the Kabwe Project, Ox's selection also makes logistics and mobilisation straight forward and cost effective. They have the highest health and safety standards and will work with Shuka and GeoQuest to ensure a safe and efficient drilling programme is conducted.

About GeoQuest

GeoQuest is a fully independent geological and environmental consultancy and contract services group. The company is based in Zambia and has extensive experience on mines throughout Southern Africa, providing services to numerous clients including Freeport-McMoRan and Galileo Resources. Its services include the provision of geological and other technical personnel, first phase target generation and geological assessment of exploration areas and the evaluation and assessment of advanced exploration projects. GeoQuest's principals are well known by the Company's CEO Richard Lloyd.

GeoQuest, as part of Phase 3 of their work, will geologically log all core, conduct on site XRF tests for inter alia Zinc, Lead, Silver, Vanadium, Gallium and Germanium mineralisation, cut and prepare the core for sampling and will dispatch the samples to ALS Zambia's laboratory in Lusaka for grade and metallurgical testing. The assay results will be assessed and added to the current geological models, which Shuka and GeoQuest continue to develop.

Further updates on exploration activities on site will be made in due course.

CEO Richard Lloyd commented: "It is really exciting to now embark on the fully-funded drilling campaign at Kabwe. The Ox and GeoQuest teams have worked together previously, and I have been extremely impressed with how diligently they have planned this initial campaign. We have carefully selected known mineralised zones from historic ZCCM and Anglo-American drilling and operations. The programme is designed to consolidate and upgrade the geological models and reserves/resource, as well as test some less defined areas and also generate a better understanding of the by-products found at Kabwe, some of which could prove to be a mine in their own right based on historic production data.

"I look forward to providing further updates as appropriate as we enter into the next active phase of exploration and resource definition at Kabwe."

The Directors of Shuka are responsible for the contents of this announcement.

ENDS

Shuka Minerals plc has its primary listing on the London Stock Exchange ("AIM") and a secondary listing on the AltX of the JSE Limited.

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Caution:

Certain statements in this announcement, are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''believe'', ''could'', "should" ''envisage'', ''estimate'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'', ''potentially'', "expect", ''will'' or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth, results of operations, performance, future capital and other expenditures (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof), competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements reflect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors.