Newcore Gold Announces Robust Pre-Feasibility Study for the Enchi Gold Project, Ghana

2026-06-24

NASDAQ - Nasdaq Stock Market · Gold · Antimony · Silver · United States · Technical Studies

After-TaxNPV5%of $647 million, After-Tax IRR of 45% at $4,200/oz Spot Gold Price Average Annual Gold Production of ~130,000 ounces in Years 1 through 3

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Newcore Gold Ltd. ("Newcore" or the "Company")(TSX-V: NCAU, OTCQX: NCAUF) is pleased to announce the results of the Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS" or the "Study") completed for the Company’s Enchi Gold Project ("Enchi" or the "Project") in Ghana. The PFS provides a base case assessment of developing Enchi as a conventional open pit mining operation with standard milling and carbon-in-leach ("CIL") processing 5.5 million tonnes per annum ("Mtpa") utilizing contract mining. The PFS will be used as the basis on which to apply for a mining lease this year as the Company continues to de-risk and advance the Project. The government of Ghana has shown strong support for the advancement of the Enchi Gold Project towards production.

The PFS is based on a Mineral Resource Estimate announced by Newcore on March 18, 2026which incorporated drilling completed through October 6, 2025, and excludes more than 50,000 of additional metres from the 80,000 metre drill program underway at Enchi. Current drilling has targeted high-grade potential at depth, intersecting mineralization above the resource grade and extending the limits of the pits that constrain the resource. Resource growth will be incorporated into future studies. The PFS was prepared by Lycopodium (Americas) Limited ("Lycopodium") of Mississauga, Ontario, as the lead consultant in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - _Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects _("NI 43-101"). All currencies in this news release are reported in U.S. dollars.

Highlights from the Pre-Feasibility Study at Enchi

Robust project economics with strong leverage to the gold price. $647 million after-tax net present value at a 5% discount rate ("NPV5%") and a 45% after-tax internal rate of return ("IRR") at a spot gold price of $4,200/oz. $794 million pre-tax NPV5%and a 51% pre-tax IRR at a gold price of $3,800/oz. $496 million after-tax NPV5%and a 37% after-tax IRR at a gold price of $3,800/oz. Initial capital cost of $351 million, with a short after-tax payback of 1.6 years at a gold price of $3,800/oz, and 1.4 years at a spot gold price of $4,200/oz.

Early production years demonstrate the value upside from continued exploration success, with ongoing drilling focused on delineating Enchi’s higher-grade potential. Approximate annual gold production of 130,000 ounces in years 1 through 3, at an average operating cost(1)of $1,399/oz of gold, cash costs(2)estimated at $1,859/oz of gold, and all-in sustaining cost ("AISC")(3)estimated at $1,967/oz of gold. Increased production in the first three years as a result of a higher average mined grade of 0.80 grams per tonne gold ("g/t Au"). Opportunity to incorporate additional higher-grade mineralization into future studies as drilling continues to define higher-grade mineralization below the current average reserve pit limits of 85 vertical metres, with high-grade drill success reported in 2026 not yet included in the Mineral Resource Estimate and Study.

Development strategy optimized via transition to open pit mining and standard milling and CIL processing, delivering a strong foundation for future growth. Average annual gold production of approximately 104,000 ounces, with 953,350 ounces of payable gold produced over a 9.3 year life of mine ("LOM"). LOM strip ratio of 4.3 to 1, mined grade of 0.64 g/t Au and gold recovery of 90.5%. LOM average operating cost(1)of $1,689/oz of gold, cash costs(2)estimated at $2,149/oz of gold, and AISC(3)estimated at $2,290/oz of gold. Transition to a milling operation positions Enchi to maximize the Project’s gold recoveries and value as exploration continues to deliver resource growth potential from the high-grade fresh mineralization at depth, below the reserve pits. Drilling to date has focused on shallow mineralization above 150 vertical metres, with recent drilling returning high-grade intercepts at depths of 200 to 350 vertical metres that are not included in the Mineral Resource Estimate and PFS.

Ongoing 80,000 metre drill program focused on resource growth, highlighted by high-grade results not yet included in the Mineral Resource Estimate and Study. Diamond drilling, completed post the October 2025 cut-off for drilling that was included in the Mineral Resource Estimate and PFS, has intersected wide zones of gold mineralization above the resource grade and outside the limits of the pits that constrain the current resource, highlighting strong potential for resource growth at Enchi. Boin Gold Deposit: Results reported in 2026 include the first visible gold encountered by drilling at Enchi along with some of the strongest drill intercepts achieved to date: KBDD097 intersected 3.54 g/t Au over 23.0 m from 253 m, with a high-grade interval of 6.92 g/t Au over 8.0 m from 256 m; KBDD102 intersected 3.22 g/t Au over 17.0 m from 327 m, with a second interval of 1.70 g/t Au over 25.5 m from 285 m; and KBDD100 intersected 147.50 g/t Au over 1.0 m from 310 m (true width unknown, estimated vertical depth of 268 m, first visible gold by drilling), collared 200 metres south of KBDD098 which also intersected high-grade gold with 173.75 g/t Au over 1.0 metre from 264 m (true width unknown).

Sewum Gold Deposit: Results reported in 2026 continue to intersect wide zones of shallow mineralization above the mineral resource grade and below the limits of the pits that constrain the Mineral Resource Estimate. SWDD121 intersected 1.37 g/t Au over 24.0 m from 94 m, including 1.93 g/t Au over 12.0 m from 103 m; and SWDD107 intersected 1.59 g/t Au over 15.5 m from 147.5 m, with a higher-grade interval of 3.22 g/t Au over 6.4 m from 152.9 m.

Significant longer-term growth potential at Enchi from the district-scale exploration opportunity and the high-grade potential at depth, below the reserve pits. Enchi’s property covers 248 km2along a prolific gold belt that hosts numerous multi-million-ounce gold mines, including Newmont’s Ahafo mine and Asante Gold’s Bibiani and Chirano mines which extend to significantly greater vertical depths and host much larger gold endowments. Newcore has identified more than 20 pre-resource targets across the property, and with less than 10% of the property explored the district scale exploration opportunity at Enchi remains largely underexplored and untested. Average vertical depth of the resource pits is only 85 metres, with all deposits and targets open along strike and at depth, and resource growth potential from both shallow oxide-transition mineralization and within the deeper fresh mineralization.

_Note: All currencies in this news release are reported in U.S. dollars unless otherwise specified. Base case parameters assume a gold price of $3,800/oz. NPV calculated as of the commencement of construction and excludes all pre-construction costs. Cash costs and AISC are non-IFRS financial measures (see cautionary language). (1) Operating costs consist of mining costs, processing costs and mine site G&A. (2) Cash costs consist of operating costs plus treatment and refining charges and royalties. (3) AISC consists of cash costs plus sustaining capital costs (excluding tax and closure costs). _

Luke Alexander, President and CEO of Newcore stated, "Completion of the Pre-Feasibility Study is an important milestone in advancing the Enchi Gold Project in Ghana towards a mining lease. The Study is a culmination of the drilling and technical work completed in 2024 and 2025 that continues to de-risk the Project, including an updated Mineral Resource Estimate and a realignment of the processing method to maximize the Project’s economic value. The PFS outlines a nearly 10 year mine life averaging 104,000 gold ounces per year with peak gold production of 136,709 ounces, rapid payback of project capital in 1.6 years and an after-tax IRR of 37% at a $3,800/oz gold price. With a favorable and streamlined mine permitting process in Ghana, and a government that has shown strong support for project development, we will continue to drive development of Enchi toward production, while remaining focused on the larger district scale and high-grade opportunities that will further expand Enchi’s size, scale and long-term value. The PFS provides a strong foundation on which to build value, as we continue to advance Enchi with a parallel strategy of development in tandem with exploration to unlock the significant value potential of the Project."

Doug Forster, Chairman of Newcore stated, "Completion of a PFS for our Enchi Gold Project is an important achievement for the Company and Project, but it is only the first step in unlocking significant value for our shareholders. We believe Enchi has significant growth potential beyond what has been captured in the PFS. The Study is based on a Mineral Resource Estimate that does not include the significant discoveries achieved by drilling in 2026, with results from our ongoing 80,000 metre drill program intersecting high-grade mineralization at depth and extending gold mineralization well below the limits of the pits that constrain the current resource. Having recently completed a $15 million equity financing, Newcore is funded to aggressively pursue numerous opportunities to add significant additional value to the Enchi Gold Project, including mine life extension from conversion of Inferred Mineral Resources, continued discovery and expansion of high-grade zones encountered at depth below the PFS pits, and follow-up drilling on high-priority targets across the 248 km2property that have prior drilling but do not currently have defined mineral resources."

Greg Smith, VP Exploration of Newcore stated, "With the PFS for Enchi now completed, we have an active year-ahead as drilling continues on the Project with a focus on resource growth. With an 80,000 metre drill program underway and four drill rigs active at site testing numerous high priority targets both at surface and at depth, we believe a compelling opportunity exists to expand both the size and grade of the resource. Importantly, most drilling to date has focused on shallow mineralization within the first 150 vertical metres. Recent drilling, including the deepest holes drilled to date, has successfully intersected gold mineralization within a vertical depth of 200 to 350 metres, highlighting the potential for the system to extend well below the current resource. With the current drill program focused on testing depth extensions, the drilling underway represents an important step towards continuing to unlock the significant potential of Enchi."

The PFS was prepared by Lycopodium as the lead consultant in accordance with NI 43-101. Lycopodium was the lead study manager and led the design parameters and cost estimates for process plant design, process plant operations, major equipment selection, plant site infrastructure, as well as process operating and capital expenditures. The PFS was supported by Fuse Advisors Inc. (Part of SLR Consulting) for mine engineering, open pit optimization and design, mine planning, Mineral Reserve Estimate; Knight Piésold Ghana Ltd. for tailings storage facility design, project-wide hydrogeology, site water management, reclamation; and DRA Americas Inc. for Mineral Resource Estimate, pit geotechnical and hydrogeological model. A technical report supporting the PFS will be filed on Newcore’s SEDAR+ profile within 45 days of this news release.

Newcore will host an investor webinar to discuss the results of the PFS on Thursday, June 25, 2026 at 8am PT / 11am ET. Details are provided at the end of this news release.

PFS Overview and Financial Analysis The Enchi Gold Project is located in southwest Ghana, with the Project’s 248 km2covering approximately 40 kms of Ghana’s prolific Bibiani Shear Zone, a gold belt which hosts several multi-million-ounce gold mines including Newmont’s Ahafo Mine and Asante Gold’s Bibiani and Chirano mines.

The PFS, with an effective date of June 23, 2026, contemplates an open pit, standard milling and CIL operation using contract mining and processing 5.5 Mtpa. The operation has a 24-month construction period and an estimated upfront capital cost of $351 million. Ore feed will be trucked from four deposits (Boin, Sewum, Nyam, Kwakyekrom) to a central crushing and processing facility which will be located between the Boin and Sewum deposits, the two largest deposits which represent 80% of the mined material at Enchi.

Key parameters of the PFS are presented in the table below:

_(1) Operating costs consist of mining costs, processing costs and mine site G&A. (2) Cash costs consist of operating costs plus treatment and refining charges and royalties. (3) AISC consists of cash costs plus sustaining capital costs (excluding closure costs)._

Chart 1 - Production and Cost Profile by Year https://newcoregold.com/site/assets/files/5977/2026_06_24_-_ncau_nr_pfs_-_chart_1-1.png

The financial model was completed on a 100% project basis. The economic analysis carried out for the Project uses a cash flow model at a base gold price of $3,800 per ounce and a 5% discount rate. It includes a 2% net smelter return ("NSR") royalty to Triple Flag Precious Metals Corp., and a royalty on revenues to the Government of Ghana based on a sliding-scale structure ranging from 5% to 12%, with a rate of 12% when the gold price is at or above $4,500/oz. At the base case gold price of $3,800/oz a government royalty rate of 10% is applicable, while at a spot gold price of $4,200/oz a government royalty rate of 11% is applicable. The financial assessment of the Project was carried out on a 100% equity basis, not accounting for potential sources of funding which may include debt. No provisions were made for the effects of inflation, and current Ghana tax regulations were applied to assess the tax liabilities, including a 35% corporate tax rate. The Government of Ghana has the right to a 10% free carried interest in the Project.

A summary of the cash flow model can be viewed at the following link: https://newcoregold.com/site/assets/files/5977/2026_06-newcore-enchi-pfs-nr-cashflow-summary.pdf

| Table 3 - Enchi Economic Sensitivity to Gold Price | | | | | | | | | | Gold Price (US$/oz) | $3,400 | $3,600 | $3,800 | $4,000 | $4,200 | $4,500 | $5,000 | $5,500 | | Pre-Tax NPV5% | $556 M | $662 M | $794 M | $925 M | $1,025 M | $1,220 M | $1,508 M | $1,829 M | | Pre-Tax IRR | 40% | 45% | 51% | 57% | 61% | 68% | 79% | 90% | | Pre-Tax Payback | 1.5 years | 1.4 years | 1.3 years | 1.2 years | 1.1 years | 1.0 years | 0.9 years | 0.8 years | | After-Tax NPV5% | $340 M | $410 M | $496 M | $582 M | $647 M | $775 M | $963 M | $1,172 M | | After-Tax IRR | 29% | 33% | 37% | 42% | 45% | 50% | 58% | 67% | | After-Tax Payback | 1.9 years | 1.8 years | 1.6 years | 1.5 years | 1.4 years | 1.3 years | 1.1 years | 1.0 years |

Chart 2 - After-Tax Economic Sensitivity to Gold Price, Operating and Capital Costs https://newcoregold.com/site/assets/files/5977/2026_06_24_-_ncau_nr_pfs_-_chart_2-1.png

Metallurgical Testing and Recoveries The PFS incorporated the results of additional fieldwork and testwork completed at Enchi since 2024, including PFS level metallurgical testwork focused on optimizing the process flowsheet. Metallurgical samples consisted of oxide, transition and fresh material from the three largest deposits at Enchi (Boin, Sewum, Nyam), with work completed at Intertek Labs ("Intertek") in Tarkwa, Ghana and Base Metallurgical Laboratories Ltd. in Kamloops, Canada.

The testwork determined that oxide, transition and fresh mineralization all respond well to a standard milling and CIL circuit producing gold doré. Under optimized conditions, recoveries from testwork from the varying ore types and deposits ranged from 89.4% to 97.7%, with an overall weighted average recovery, after assumed carbon losses and solution losses, estimated at 90.5%.

Mineral Processing A process flowsheet for the Project can be viewed at the following link: https://newcoregold.com/site/assets/files/5977/2026_06-newcore-pfs-nr-simplified-flowsheet.pdf

The PFS is based on a standard milling and CIL processing flowsheet, with a processing throughput of 5.5 Mtpa. The process design is based on a flowsheet aimed at maximizing gold recovery. The main design criteria for equipment selection included suitability for duty and reliability and ease of maintenance. The plant layout provides ease of access to all equipment for operating and maintenance requirements while facilitating ease of concurrent construction in multiple areas.

The process design consists of the following process unit operations: one mineral sizer for oxide ore to provide crushed feed with 80% passing (P80) of 40-50 mm; one jaw crusher for fresh ore to provide crushed feed with a P80of 152 mm. One 8.5 MW SAG mill coupled with one 15 MW ball mill to grind ore to a P80of 53 µm. A gravity circuit is included to recover gravity recoverable gold, with gravity tails leached in a standard carbon-in-leach circuit to load activated carbon with gold. Gold is then stripped from the loaded carbon via the elution circuit, electrowon and refined to produce a final gold doré product.

Capital Costs An initial capital expenditure of $351 million has been estimated to construct the Project, with a further $135 million in sustaining capital costs during operations and $21 million for closure (including reclamation and environmental monitoring). The estimate is based on an open pit mining with milling and CIL operation processing 5.5 Mtpa utilizing contract mining.

Capital costs are detailed in the table below:

| Table 4 – Capital Cost Estimate Details | | | | | | Description | Initial ($M) | Sustaining ($M) | Closure ($M) | LOM ($M) | | Construction Distributables | $34.3 | - | - | $34.3 | | Treatment Plant Costs | $113.5 | - | - | $113.5 | | Reagents & Plant Services | $18.7 | - | - | $18.7 | | Infrastructure - Tailings Dam | $25.8 | $108.4 | - | $134.3 | | Infrastructure – Power Supply | $4.9 | - | - | $4.9 | | Other Site Infrastructure & Services | $16.9 | - | - | $16.9 | | Mining (Including Pre-Production) | $23.3 | $8.6 | - | $32.0 | | EPCM (Engineering & Procurement) | $38.6 | - | - | $38.6 | | Owners Projects Costs | $37.4 | - | - | $37.4 | | Closure Capital(1) | - | - | $18.5 | $18.5 | | Contingency(2) | $37.7 | $17.7 | $2.8 | $58.2 | | Total Capital Costs | $351.2 | $134.8 | $21.3 | $507.2 |

Earlier from Perpetua Resources Corp.

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