New Found Gold Announces Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Queensway Gold Project

2025-07-21

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Solid low-cost production profile from year one via a phased mine plan: Phase 1: Low Initial capital cost of $155 million , builds average annual gold production of 69.3koz oz Au 1 at an AISC 2 of US$1,282 /oz Au in Years 1 to 4 planned to fund Phase 2. Phase 2: Growth capital of $442 million , builds average annual gold production of 172.2koz Au at an AISC of US$1,090 /oz Au in Years 5 to 9 paid back in less than one year.

Early revenue potential: Initial gold production targeted for 2027 pending regulatory approval. Significant leverage to gold price: After-tax NPV 5% 3 increases to $1.45 billion from $743 million and IRR 4 increases to 197% from 56.3% when gold price raised to US$3,300 /oz Au from base case of US$2,500 /oz Au. Total production: 1.5 Moz Au over a 15-year LOM 5 at an average total cash cost of US$1,085 /oz Au and an AISC of US$1,256 /oz Au. Exploration upside: Significant resource expansion potential, both near-MRE 6 and camp scale over 110 km 7 strike extent.

All amounts in Canadian dollars unless stated otherwise.

VANCOUVER, BC , July 21, 2025 /CNW/ - New Found Gold Corp. (" New Found Gold " or the " Company ") (TSX-V: NFG) (NYSE-A: NFGC) is pleased to announce the results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (the " PEA " or Study ") for the development of the AFZ Core on the Company's 100% owned Queensway Gold Project (" Queensway " or the " Project ") located near the town of Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada . The Study is the first conceptual assessment of the potential economic viability of gold mineralization on the 175,450 hectare (' ha ") Project.

| The Company will hold a webcast to discuss the Queensway PEA results on Tuesday, July 22, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time , which will include a virtual presentation and a question-and-answer session with analysts and investors. Please see dial-in numbers and webcast link below. |

Keith Boyle , Chief Executive Officer, commented: " We are pleased to deliver the first economic study for Queensway, just months after announcing an initial mineral resource estimate for the Project. The PEA reinforces our conviction that Queensway can become a low-cost, high-margin, cashflow generating mine. This is a significant step in achieving our goal of building and operating a gold mine in central Newfoundland .

Since day one, the objective of the new management team at New Found Gold has been to advance Queensway to cash flow. The PEA outlines a phased approach with an initial small high-grade open pit mine with toll milling, followed by the construction of a larger on-site operation, which will include both open pit and underground mining. A phased project design provides for early gold revenue generation, processing of the highest-grade mineralized material at the start of the operation and in-pit tailings deposition. This unique combination of design elements allows for low initial capital investment, a rapid payback of that initial investment, using cashflow to grow the operation thereby providing for a superior rate of return, and minimizing dilution to shareholders."

_"The infill, definition and exploration drilling, completion of the environmental baseline work, trade-off and further engineering studies will allow for rapid advancement of the phased Project." _continued Mr. Boyle.

The PEA is preliminary in nature, it includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized.

Table 1: Queensway PEA Summary

| Production 1 | Value | Units | | LOM | 15 | years | | Total Mill Feed | 27,373 | ktonnes | | Phase 1: Off-Site Toll Mill | 1,150 | ktonnes | | Phase 2 and 3: On-Site Mill | 26,223 | ktonnes | | Average Head Grade | 1.85 | g/t Au | | Phase 1: Off-Site Toll Mill (Years 1-5) | 9.64 | g/t Au | | Phase 2: On-Site Mill (Years 5-9) | 2.22 | g/t Au | | Cut-off Grade (OP) | 0.3 | g/t Au | | Cut-off Grade (UG) | 2.68 | g/t Au | | Average Gold Recovery | 91.9 | % | | Contained Gold | 1,626 | koz | | Recovered Gold | 1,494 | koz | | Average Annual Gold Production (Years 1-4) | 69.3 | koz/yr | | Average Annual Gold Production (Years 5-9) | 172.2 | koz/yr | | Average Production Mining Rate – Phase 1 | 700 | tpd | | Average Production Mining Rate – Phases 2 and 3 | 7,000 | tpd | | Strip Ratio | 6.0 | - | | Capital Costs 1 | | | | Initial Capital (Phase 1) | 154.8 | $M | | Growth Capital (Phase 2 and 3) | 584.9 | $M | | Sustaining Capital | 325.4 | $M | | Reclamation and Closure Capital | 30.0 | $M | | Total Capital Costs | 1,095.1 | $M | | Total Operating Costs 1,2 | 1,977 | $M | | Royalty NSR | 0.40 | % | | Total Cash Cost | 1,085 | US$/oz Au | | AISC (LOM) 3 | 1,256 | US$/oz Au | | AISC (Years 1-4) 3 | 1,282 | US$/oz Au | | AISC (Years 5-9) 3 | 1,090 | US$/oz Au | | Financial Summary | | | | Gold Price (Base Case) | 2,500 | US$/oz Au | | Exchange Rate | 1.43 | C$/US$ | | After-Tax NPV 5% | 743 | $M | | After-Tax IRR | 56.3 | % | | After-Tax Payback | <2 | years | | Mine Net Revenue | 4,924 | $M | | EBITDA | 2,947 | $M | | EBITDA Margin | 59.8 | % |

| Notes: | | 1 Denotes a "specified financial measure" within the meaning of National Instrument 52-112 – non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures Disclosure. See note on "Non-IFRS Financial Measures". | | 2 Total operating costs refer to onsite charges that cover open pit mining, underground mining, third party processing and material handling, onsite processing, and onsite general and administrative costs. | | 3 AISC is calculated as the sum of treatment and refining charges, royalties, onsite operating costs, sustaining capital costs, and closure costs, divided by the quantity of ounces sold. |

PEA Overview

Queensway is planned as a primary conventional open pit (" OP ") mine complemented by a high-grade underground (" UG "), mechanized cut and fill mine, with early off-site toll milling transitioning to on-site treatment of the mined material. Material will be processed through a conventional circuit consisting of comminution, gravity concentration, flotation of a sulphide concentrate for off-site treatment, and cyanide leach and adsorption via carbon-in-leach (" CIL ") of the flotation tailings, carbon elution and gold recovery circuits. The two products to be produced are doré on site, plus a gold-bearing, sulphide concentrate sold for treatment at an off-site facility.

The PEA envisions a 15-year LOM producing 1.5 million ounces (" Moz ") recoverable gold and is planned to be developed in three distinct phases (Figure 1). Phasing of the Project allows for lower upfront capital requirements, early revenue generation, funding of subsequent phases, processing highest grade first, and best-in-class in-pit tailings deposition.

Phase 1 (Years 1-4): OP Mine with Off-Site Toll Milling

Phase 1 involves preparing the Queensway site and installing the infrastructure for a small OP mine. High-grade material will be crushed and transported to an off-site toll mill located in Newfoundland , at a rate of 700 tonnes per day (" tpd ") for the first five years of the operation. Lower grade material will be stockpiled on-site for future processing once the on-site processing plant is in operation. Phase 1 has an initial capital cost of $155 million , average annual gold production of 69.3 koz Au and AISC of US$1,282 /oz measured over Year 1 to Year 4.

Phase 2 (Years 5-15): OP Mine with Construction and Operation of On-Site Processing Plant and In-Pit Tailings Deposition

Phase 2 involves the construction of the on-site 7,000 tpd processing plant. Construction of the plant is scheduled to start in Year 3, with completion in Year 4. Processing of the material will commence in Year 5 of the operation, for a planned total of nine years, followed by two years of reclaiming low grade stockpiles. The stockpiles created during Phase 1 and the UG high-grade material in Phase 3 will allow for grade sequencing, thereby prioritizing higher grade mined material during the initial years of processing to optimize the project economics. The mining rate and sequence for the OP will allow for in-pit tailings deposition for the life of the operation. Phase 2 has average annual gold production of 129.0 koz and AISC of US$1,206 /oz (measured from Year 5 to Year 13), including average annual production of 172.2 koz and AISC of US$1,090 /oz during the first five years of operation (project Year 5 to Year 9).

Phase 3 (Years 6-10): UG Mine Development and Operation

Construction of the UG mine is scheduled to commence in Year 5. The UG mine is planned as a high-grade cut-and-fill operation from Year 6 to Year 10 at a nominal production rate of 700 tpd. The UG mine will consist of a series of five separate ramp systems to access the stopes and mine the mineralized material in a traditional mechanized cut-and-fill method with 3 metre (" m ") x 3 m heading size. The mineralized material will be hauled to surface using 20 tonne trucks.

Optimized Project Economics Through a Phased Mine Plan

The phased mine plan is possible because of the high-grade core of the deposit and is intended to minimize both initial capital and shareholder dilution with the first phase funding future expansions. This is accomplished through grade sequencing that is, the stockpiles created during Phase 1 and UG high-grade ores in Phase 3 will allow prioritizing higher grade mined material during the initial years of on-site processing to optimize project economics. The lowest grades will be processed starting in Year 13 through to the end of processing in Year 15 after the mining has been completed. Processing the higher grades first will generate higher cash flow in the earlier years.

Queensway PEA and Technical Report

The Queensway PEA was prepared using the Company's initial mineral resource estimate with an effective date as at March 15, 2025 (the " MRE "). The PEA, with an effective date as at June 30, 2025 was prepared by SLR Consulting ( Canada ) Ltd. (" SLR ") in accordance with the 2019 Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (" CIM ") Definition Standards and Canadian National Instrument 43-101 (" NI 43-101 "). SLR is independent of New Found Gold. A technical report prepared in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101 compliant technical report (the " Technical Report ") will be filed on the Company's website and under its SEDAR+ profile within 45 days of this news release.

Property Description, Location, Access and On-Site Infrastructure

Queensway is located in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada , on the northeast portion of the island of Newfoundland . Queensway is located approximately 20 km west of the town of Gander and can be accessed via the Trans-Canada Highway (" TCH "), which passes through the Property. Access to the site is planned from the TCH located adjacent to the project site.

The Town of Gander , with a population of nearly 12,000, has many amenities that one would expect to find in a major city, including an international airport and most of the equipment and supplies required for industrial operations. Low-cost hydroelectric power is available from the provincial grid, which has three electricity transmission corridors that cross the Project.

Mineral Resource Estimate

Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources (" M&I ") total 18.0 million tonnes (" Mt ") at an average gold grade of 2.40 grams per tonne (" g/t Au ") for 1.39 million contained ounces of gold. Inferred Mineral Resources total 10.7 Mt at an average grade of 1.77 g/t Au for 0.61 million ounces of gold. The Mineral Resource estimate has an effective date of March 15, 2025 .

The OP Indicated Mineral Resources total 17.3 Mt grading 2.25 g/t Au containing 1.25 million ounces Au, and Inferred Mineral Resources total 9.0 Mt grading 1.24 g/t Au containing 0.36 million ounces Au.

The UG Indicated Mineral Resources total 0.8 Mt grading 5.76 g/t Au containing 0.14 million ounces Au, and Inferred Mineral Resources total 1.7 Mt grading 4.44 g/t Au containing 0.25 million ounces Au.

The resource database was closed on November 1, 2024 and contains 3,214 drill holes for a total of 723,387 m, for which 550,949 m have assay intervals. The Company is currently conducting a 70,000 m 2025 drill program and anticipates completing as required to advance future economic studies. An updated MRE is planned to be completed in the first quarter of 2026.

Table 2: Mineral Resource Estimate Summary (Effective Date March 15, 2025 )

| Zone | Category | Tonnage

(Mt) | Grade

(g/t Au) | Contained Metal

(Moz Au) | | Open Pit | Indicated | 17.3 | 2.25 | 1.25 | | Inferred | 9.0 | 1.24 | 0.36 | | | Underground | Indicated | 0.8 | 5.76 | 0.14 | | Inferred | 1.7 | 4.44 | 0.25 | | | Total | Indicated | 18.0 | 2.40 | 1.39 | | Inferred | 10.7 | 1.77 | 0.61 | |

| Notes: |

| 1. | CIM (2014) definitions were followed for Mineral Resources. | | 2. | Mineral Resources are estimated using a long-term gold price of US$2,200 per ounce, and a US$/C$ exchange rate of US$1.00 = C$1.43. | | 3. | Open pit Mineral Resources are estimated at a cut-off grade of 0.3 g/t Au and constrained by a preliminary optimized pit shell with a pit slope angle of 45°, and bench height of 5 m. | | 4. | RPEEE (as defined in the Company's March 24, 2025 news release) for underground Mineral Resources was demonstrated by constraining within reporting panels generated at a cut-off grade of 1.65 g/t Au, with heights (H) of 10 m, lengths (L) of 5 m and minimum widths of 1.8 m. | | 5. | The optimized pit shell, underground reporting shapes, and cut-off grades were generated by assuming metallurgical recovery of 90%, standard treatment and refining charges, mining costs of C$5.0/t moved for open pit and C$120/t processed for underground, processing costs of C$20/t processed, and general and administrative costs of C$7.5/t processed. | | 6. | Bulk density within the vein and halo mineralization domains is 2.7 t/m³. | | 7. | Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. | | 8. | Numbers may not add due to rounding. | | 9. | See the New Found Gold news release dated March 24, 2025 for additional information. |

The Qualified Person (" QP ") is not aware of any environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-economic, marketing, political, or other relevant factors that could materially affect the Mineral Resource estimate.

No Mineral Reserves are defined for the Property.

The overall conversion of Mineral Resources to the PEA mine plan was 92% and 74% for the indicated and inferred categories respectively. Only the AFZ Core was considered for the PEA. A lower conversion of the UG Inferred category is mainly attributed to changes in the cutoff grade between the MRE and PEA. The MRE considered underground mining with the longhole open stoping method, while the PEA assumed the comparatively higher cost cut and fill method.

Mining

The mine plan is based on conventional OP truck and shovel methods with a complementary high-grade UG cut and fill mine. The OP operation will consist of 17 pits. The three main pits, Iceberg, Keats and Keats West, are sequenced early in the mine life and will subsequently serve as the in-pit tailings deposition facilities. A total of 26.3 Mt of mineralized material will be mined from the pits at an average diluted gold grade of 1.65 g/t Au and an overall strip ratio of 6:1. The OP optimization was completed with a 5 m x 5 m x 5 m block model. The OP operation is planned to be an owner-operated mining fleet, using smaller equipment to minimize dilution and maximize selectivity. The equipment fleet will consist of 70 tonne-class haulage trucks and 10 m 3 shovels. The mining sequence and rate have been optimized to prioritize higher grades first by ensuring the highest grades for the 700 tpd Phase 1 operation and moving into Phase 2 at 7,000 tonnes per day and having an open pit available for in-pit tailings deposition starting in Year 5 (Figure 2).

The UG operation will take place in five zones, accessible from five surface portals collared from the smaller open pits. The primary mining method will be mechanized cut and fill mining method. A 3 m x 3 m stope size was selected to minimize dilution while maximizing selectivity. The backfill method will be a combination of rock fill and cemented rockfill. A total of 1.1 Mt of mineralized material will be mined at an average diluted gold grade of 6.67 g/t Au over a 5-year period, with a nominal production rate of 700 tpd. Initial capital development is planned for one year, followed by ongoing capital development over three additional years. It is envisaged that capital development will be executed using contractors, while production mining will be accomplished by owner operators.

The infill drilling currently being conducted is targeting the inferred material to upgrade to indicated.

Processing and Recovery

Phase 1 – Toll Milling

The PEA envisions toll milling a total of 1.2 Mt in Year 1 to Year 5 at an average diluted grade of 9.64 g/t Au at an offsite location some 300 km from the Queensway site. High grade material will be crushed at the Queensway site and transported for processing at the toll mill. Plant modifications of the toll mill have been accounted for in the PEA capital estimate to convert the existing grinding and carbon in pulp (" CIP ") leach plant to a grind - gravity concentration - carbon in leach (" CIL ") plant, with an estimated recovery of 92%. A gravity concentration circuit and additional leach tanks will be added to the toll mill flowsheet to achieve a 700 tpd capacity and the estimated 92% recovery. Sufficient tailings storage is available at the toll mill site for the proposed Phase 1 tonnage. The metallurgical test work completed to date supports the recovery assumptions for the high-grade feed that will be processed at this site.

Phase 2 – On-Site Processing and In-Pit Tailings Deposition

An on-site 7,000 tpd process plant will be constructed that will comprise comminution, gravity concentration, sulphide flotation, cyanide leaching and carbon adsorption via CIL, carbon elution and gold recovery circuits. CIL tailings will be treated in a cyanide destruction circuit and pumped to the in-pit tailings storage facility. The mill will operate for 10.5 years, from Year 5 to Year 15.

Select key design criteria include crushing plant utilization of 75%; grinding, gravity, CIL, gold recovery and tailings handling circuit utilization of 92% through the use of standby equipment in critical areas, in-line crushed material stockpile, and reliable power supply; the comminution circuit will produce a primary grind size of (P 80 ) 80% passing 75 µm; and CIL residence time of 36 hours to achieve optimal gold extraction.

Test Work

NFG has completed two phases of metallurgical test work, and a third phase is in progress. Phase 1 of the test work evaluated three mineralized zones, Keats, Golden Joint , and Lotto, and phase 2 studied mineralization from the Iceberg and Iceberg East zones. The phase 3 test work currently underway is examining mineralized material from Keats West. Test work samples characterized each zone by combining intervals of mineralized core from different vein and structural intercepts to create numerous variability composites. Master composites for each zone were created by combining portions of the variability composites from each respective zone. Exploratory test work was completed on the master composites and included comminution testing, mineralogical analysis, gravity recovery testing, cyanide leaching (direct and CIL), and preg-robbing testing. Based on results of the exploratory testing, the variability composites were tested using a gravity-CIL base-case flowsheet at three different grind sizes. Additional exploratory test work investigated the rejection of carbon via flotation, and sulphide flotation for the recovery of gold associated with sulphides. The test work indicated that the majority of gold not recovered in gravity concentration could be recovered by flotation.