New Found Gold (TSXV:NFG) - Fully Funded Drill Program for 2026

Key Concepts

• Queensway Exploration Project: A large-scale gold exploration project in Central Newfoundland.
• Appleton & JBP Fault Zones: Major regional structural controls associated with gold mineralization.
• Mineralized Damage Zone: The area surrounding the Appleton fault where gold veins and faults are concentrated.
• PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment): A study evaluating the economic viability of the project, including open-pit and underground mining phases.
• Grade Control Drilling: Tightly spaced drilling used to refine resource models and assist in mine planning.
• Inferred vs. Indicated Resources: Categories of mineral resources based on geological confidence; the program aims to convert inferred resources to indicated.
• Boulangerite: A lead-antimony sulfosalt mineral often associated with gold in this region.

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1. 2026 Exploration Program Overview

The 2026 program is fully funded with a $44 million budget and a total of 90,000 meters of planned drilling. The program is split 50/50 between:

• Exploration & Growth: Focused on expanding the resource base and making new discoveries.
• Project Focus: Focused on de-risking the project to advance toward production by the end of 2027.

2. AFZ (Appleton Fault Zone) Core Area

This area remains the primary focus due to its high concentration of gold discoveries.

• Step-out Exploration: 20,000 meters are planned to expand existing mineralization around current PEA mine shapes.
• Deep Drilling: Most historical drilling is limited to the top 250–300 meters. The new program will test the 300–550 meter vertical range, specifically targeting the KBFSZ (Keats Baseline Fault Zone), which hosts the Keats and Iceberg deposits.
• New Discoveries: The program will follow up on high-grade results from 2024/2025, such as 51 g/t over 13 meters and 10.5 g/t over 20.5 meters.

3. Advanced Exploration & Project De-risking

Approximately 55% of the 90,000 meters is dedicated to project-focused drilling:

• Phase Two (Open Pit): Infill drilling to convert inferred resources to indicated.
• Phase Three (Underground): Priority targets include the Golden Joint panel, followed by Lalo, K2, Monte Carlo, and Keats South.
• Grade Control: Tightly spaced drilling at Iceberg and Keats to provide high-density data for early-stage mine planning.
• Methodology: The team is conducting an NQ test program to optimize drill hole size and spacing for cost-efficiency and data quality.

4. AFZ Peripheral & Jackpot Discovery

Located 11 km north of the core area, the Jackpot discovery is a key growth area.

• Status: The zone has been expanded to a 1.4 km strike length, with high-grade shoots identified down to 300 meters.
• Strategy: The team is mobilizing drills to test the eastern stratigraphy, which remains largely untested despite showing similar geological characteristics to the core area.

5. Regional Exploration

The regional program consists of 7,000 meters of diamond drilling and extensive surface work:

• Targeting: Focus on areas like Paul’s Pond and Green Light, where previous drilling showed promising low-grade, broad intervals.
• Methodology: A systematic approach starting with soil sampling and prospecting, moving to trenching, and finally diamond drilling.
• New Targets: Significant trenching is planned for the Greenwood area and Gazebo South, which sits on the projection of the Appleton fault.

6. Geological Context

• Mineralization Style: Free, coarse gold hosted in "foggy" quartz veins.
• Accessory Minerals: Gold is often found in a halo of arsenopyrite and associated with boulangerite.
• Validation: The company has utilized large-scale excavations to expose veins, allowing for detailed channel sampling and visual validation of geological models.

Synthesis/Conclusion

The 2026 program represents a strategic pivot from initial discovery to resource expansion and production readiness. By balancing high-density grade control drilling for near-term mine planning with deeper, step-out exploration in the Appleton Fault corridor, Battle Gold aims to significantly increase its resource base. The focus on under-explored areas like Jackpot and the regional targets suggests a long-term strategy to unlock the full potential of the 110 km strike length of the Queensway project. As CEO Melissa Render noted, the goal is to maintain a "prosperous but safe" field season while systematically de-risking the project for its 2027 production target.