Director Appointment

East Star Resources Plc (LSE: EST), the Kazakhstan-focused gold and copper explorer, is pleased to announce the appointment of Sonia Scarselli as a Director of the Company with immediate effect. Ms Scarselli has been appointed as a director representative of Endeavour Mining PLC (LSE: EDV/TSX: EDV) ("Endeavour") following Endeavour's strategic investment in East Star (announced on 1 December 2025) which resulted in Endeavour owning 14.3% of the Company.

Ms Scarselli joined Endeavour, one of the world's leading gold producers and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, in 2025 as Executive Vice President, Exploration.

Prior to Endeavour, Ms Scarselli was VP of BHP Exploration and founded BHP's Xplor programme (East Star: 2024 cohort) in 2022. Ms Scarselli started her career at ExxonMobil UK and later joined BHP in 2012, holding several leadership positions including VP of Petroleum Exploration and Appraisals, Head of Algeria, and Exploration Manager for Trinidad and Tobago.

Ms Scarselli holds a master's degree in Geological Science from Università degli studi di Perugia, a PhD in Geology from ETH Zurich, and an MBA from the London Business School. She was appointed a Director of Koulou Gold Corp. in March 2026.

In November 2025, East Star and Endeavour formed a strategic joint venture agreement for gold exploration in Kazakhstan, followed in November 2025 by Endeavour's £1.8 million strategic investment in East Star.

Alex Walker, CEO of East Star Resources, Commented:

"As a member of the 2024 BHP Xplor programme, we had the privilege of working with Sonia and her team and experienced first-hand the benefit of her considerable exploration experience and tactical application of good geoscience. Her strategic thinking will be a significant benefit to East Star and so we are delighted to welcome Sonia to East Star's Board as the representative of our largest shareholder, Endeavour. We look forward to working with Sonia as we advance gold and copper work programmes in Kazakhstan at various stages of the exploration cycle."

East Star Resources Plc

Alex Walker, Chief Executive Officer

SI Capital (Corporate Broker)

Nick Emerson

Vigo Consulting (Investor Relations)

Ben Simons / Seb Weller

Follow us on social media:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/east-star-resources/

X: https://x.com/EastStar_PLC

Subscribe to our email alert service to be notified whenever East Star releases news:

About Endeavour Mining PLC

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