Q-Gold Resources Ltd. press release

QGold Resources Announces Maiden Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Quartz Mountain Gold Project, Positioning the Company as a Premier Gold Development Asset in the United States

2026-04-08

TSXV - TSX Venture Exchange · Gold · Silver · Zinc · Canada · Technical Studies

QGold Resources Announces Maiden Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Quartz Mountain Gold Project, Positioning the Company as a Premier Gold Development Asset in the United States

TSX-V: QGR | OTCQB: QGLDF | Frankfurt: QX9G

After-Tax NPV(5%) of US$1.71 Billion and After-Tax IRR of 55.2% at a 2-Year Trailing Average Gold Price of US$3,265/oz

After-Tax NPV(5%) of US$3.20 Billion and After-Tax IRR of 92% at a spot Gold Prices (2)

Low-Cost Gold Mine with AISC of US$1,216/oz(3) and Life of Mine Gold Production of 1.9M ounces and average mine production profile 135k Gold ounces annually over life of mine of 14 years

Initial Capex of US$290 Million (Includes All taxes and US$48M in Contingency)

Updated NI-43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate of 2.01 million oz Gold in the Indicated Category and 494K oz of Gold in the Inferred Category

TORONTO, April 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Q-Gold Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: QGR; OTCQB: QGLDF; Frankfurt: QX9G) ("QGold" “QGold Resources” or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results of its Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for its Quartz Mountain Gold Project ("Quartz Mountain" or the "Project"), located in Lake County, Oregon, USA. The PEA was prepared by Kappes, Cassiday & Associates ("KCA") of Reno, Nevada, a leading engineering firm with extensive gold project expertise.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Strong Economics at a Conservative Gold Price: After-Tax NPV(5%) of US$1.71 billion and After-Tax IRR of 55.2% based on a 24-month trailing average gold price of US$3,265/oz — materially below current spot gold of approximately US$4,800/oz(1), highlighting significant additional upside in the current gold price environment.

Attractive Low-Cost Profile: Cash operating costs of US$1,010/oz and All-In Sustaining Costs ("AISC") of US$1,214/oz(3) position Quartz Mountain competitively among North American gold projects.

Long-Life, Strong Production Mine: 14-year mine life with average annual gold production of 135,400 oz, peak annual production of 166,300 oz, LOM gold recovery of 79.6%, and a low strip ratio of 0.65:1

Capital Efficiency: Initial capital of US$290 million (including equipment taxes and working capital) delivering a rapid after-tax payback of 1.80 years.

Strong Jurisdictional Foundation: Quartz Mountain is situated in Lake County, Oregon, within the United States — a stable, supportive multi land use jurisdiction. Constructive relationships with the U.S. Forest Service, Oregon state government, and Lake County stakeholders provide the important social license and permitting momentum.

Clear path to Advanced Development: The PEA confirms the technical and economic viability of the Project and provides the foundation for the Company to advance toward a Feasibility Study. Planned 2026 drilling and exploration programs will focus on metalogical test work, resource expansion and infill to upgrade resource.

(1) Spot gold price of approximately US$4,800/oz as of the date of this release.

MANAGEMENT COMMENTARY

"The completion of the Quartz Mountain PEA represents an important milestone as the Project advances toward a future construction decision. The results confirm what our team has believed since acquiring this project from Alamos Gold in 2025 — Quartz Mountain is a world-class gold asset with the economics to support a robust and long-lived mining operation.

With an after-tax NPV of US$1.71 billion, a sub-two-year payback, and an all-in sustaining cost of US$1,216 per ounce — all at a base case gold price representing less than 45% of today's spot price — the Quartz Mountain Gold Project delivers an exceptionally powerful economic result. These metrics highlight the Project’s strong margins, compelling capital efficiency, and resilience across commodity price cycles.

We are especially encouraged by the Project’s low strip ratio and staged development approach, which together underpin a capital-efficient pathway to production and strong early cash flow generation.

We now have a clear roadmap: advance permitting, execute our 2026 drilling programs, and move this project toward a Feasibility Study with the same disciplined focus that has defined our team's track record of successfully developing mining projects. I want to thank the QGold team, Kappes, Cassiday & Associates, and the other consulting groups involved for their rigorous and thorough work. Additionally, we would like to thank our community partners in Lake County, Oregon for their continued support. Quartz Mountain offers the foundation for a generational mining operation in the State of Oregon."

Peter Tagliamonte, P.Eng.

Chairman & CEO, QGold

PEA SUMMARY TABLE

PEA Study Highlights (all values in US$)

LOM Production and Costs

Mine Life14 years

Mine Throughput (Ore, Average)7,300,000 Tonnes per year

Metallurgical Recovery (Gold, Overall)79.6%

Average Annual Gold Production135,400 oz / year (peak: 166,300 oz / year)

Total Gold Produced (Life of Mine)1,896,000 oz

Cash Cost$1,010/oz

All-In Sustaining Cost (AISC)$1,216/oz

Strip Ratio ( Waste : Ore )0.65:1

Financial Analysis — Base Case( 24-Month Trailing Average Gold Price US$3,265 )

After-Tax NPV (5%)$1.707 Billion

After-Tax IRR55.2%

Pre-Tax NPV (5%)$2.214 Billion

Pre-Tax IRR65.9%

Average Annual Pre-Tax Cash Flow (LOM)$171 Million

Payback Period (After-Tax)1.8 years

Financial Analysis— Spot Gold Price(US$4,800 oz)(2)

After-Tax NPV (5%) at Spot$3.20 Billion

After-Tax IRR at Spot92%

Payback Period at Spot1.2 years

Capital Costs(Sales Tax Included)

Initial CapitalUS$290 Million

Working Capital & Initial FillsUS$9 Million

LOM Sustaining CapitalUS$360 Million

Reclamation & ClosureUS$56 Million

Operating Costs (Average LOM)

MiningUS$4.09 / Tonne Mined

Processing & SupportUS$9.24 / Tonne Processed

G&AUS$0.66 / Tonne Processed

(2) Spot price of US$4,800/oz reflects the approximate LBMA gold price as of the date of this release. Gold price sensitivity columns other than the base case will be finalized with complete KCA outputs prior to final issuance of the PEA.

(3) AISC (All-In Sustaining Cost) of US$1,214/oz includes total cash costs plus sustaining capital and closure costs. Both cash cost and AISC are non-GAAP measures. See Non-GAAP Measures section.

PEA SUMMARY

The PEA contemplates a phased development approach. Phase 1 consists of a conventional open-pit, heap-leach gold extraction process. Phase 2 will continue with the open-pit mining operation and transition to a crushing and milling circuit, followed by flotation to produce a gold concentrate. The PEA was prepared by KCA in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 — Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

The Project is designed with a 14-year mine life, processing an average of 7,300,000 tonnes of mill feed per year through a conventional crusher-to-heap-leach circuit. Average annual gold production is projected at 135,400 oz over the life of mine, with peak annual production of approximately 166,300 oz, delivering total recovered gold of approximately 1,896,050 oz at an overall metallurgical recovery of 79.6%. The low strip ratio of 0.65:1 reflects exceptional mineralization geometry and translates directly into low mining costs and strong capital efficiency.

At the base case gold price assumption of US$3,265/oz — representing the 24-month trailing average World Bank gold price data — the PEA generates an after-tax NPV(5%) of US$1,707 million and an after-tax IRR of 55.2%, with an average annual after-tax cash flow of US$138.0 million and a payback period of 1.80 years. Given that spot gold is currently trading at approximately US$4,800 / oz — approximately 45% above the base case assumption — the Project offers potentially substantial additional economic upside beyond the base case figures presented herein.

Quartz Mountain contains mostly Indicated category mineral resources (see Mineral Resource Estimate section of this report) which are considered a higher-level reliability geologically category. Consistent with PEA studies, the production profile also includes Inferred mineral resources. A small portion, approximately 23% of the Quartz Mountain PEA mine plan relies on Inferred resources. Inferred mineral resources are considered to be lower in reliability to be categorized as mineral reserves and cannot be included in a Feasibility Study without being upgraded in resource confidence. The Company intends to conduct the required drilling to upgrade this portion of Quartz Mountain resources to the measured and Indicated category in advance of a Feasibility Study.

The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred Mineral Resources. Inferred Mineral Resources are considered too speculative geologically to have the 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.

MINING OVERVIEW

The Quartz Mountain mine plan contemplates a simple open pit operation with a life-of-mine strip ratio of approximately 0.65:1 (waste : mill feed), representing one of the more favourable geometries among North American open-pit gold development projects. The operation is designed to process an average of 7.3 million tonnes per year over an estimated 14-year mine life. Mining activities are expected to operate year-round, supported by the relatively mild high-desert climate of Lake County, Oregon.

The open pits have been designed targeting a 45-degree overall slope angle using 50 ft overall bench heights with 28.7 ft berm widths. A 90-tonne class rigid frame haul truck was selected to design the 92 ft double lane haul roads at 10% gradient.

The Quartz Mountain gold deposit comprises two primary mineralized lithological domains with distinct metallurgical characteristics. The upper portion of the deposit consists of an oxide zone, extending from surface, which is highly amenable to heap leach processing. Based on metallurgical test work previously completed, average gold recovery for oxide material was estimated at 78.6%. Beneath the oxide zone lies a sulfide (refractory) zone, which is best suited to conventional crushing and milling followed by flotation and concentration to produce a gold-bearing concentrate. The current interpretation of the metallurgical data predicts an average gold recovery for sulfide material processed to a gold concentrate was estimated at 80.0%.

Development of the Quartz Mountain Gold Project is planned in two stages:

Stage 1 – Oxide Processing: Initial mining will focus on the near-surface oxide material using a conventional truck-and-loader open pit mining method. Gold recovery will be achieved through a conventional heap leach circuit.

Stage 2 – Sulfide Processing: Mining will continue as a conventional open pit operation targeting the lower sulfide mineralization. Processing will transition to a conventional crushing and milling circuit, followed by flotation to produce a gold-bearing concentrate.

Oxide material is estimated to comprise approximately 32% of total mill feed tonnage, with the underlying sulfide material representing approximately 68%.

This staged approach is expected to deliver low initial capital requirements, a favourable strip ratio, strong metallurgical recoveries, and positive cash flow from the early years of the Quartz Mountain mining operation.

Figure 1 – Quartz Mountain Mine layout

PROCESSING OVERVIEW

Geo-metallurgical modelling of the Quartz Mountain Gold Project identified three material categories within the Mineral Resource: Oxide (non-refractory), a very minor transitional zone comprising mixed oxide and sulfide material, and Sulfide (refractory) material. Oxide material represents approximately 32% of total ore tonnage, with sulfide material comprising the remaining 68%.

Oxide Zone Processing:

Mineralized Run-of-mine oxide material from the Quartz Butte and Crone Hill open pits will be hauled to a three-stage crushing facility designed to produce a product with an 80% passing size of 12.5 mm (½ inch), at an average processing rate of 20,000 metric tonnes per day (tpd). Prior to stacking, lime will be added to the crushed material for pH control, and cement will be added as a binding agent to agglomerate the feed. The agglomerated material will then be stacked in lifts of approximately 7.5 metres onto a conventional lined heap leach facility (HLF) using grasshopper conveyors, which optimize fluid distribution and maximize gold recovery.

A dilute cyanide solution will be irrigated over the heap using drip emitters. Pregnant gold-bearing solution will drain by gravity from the base of the pad to a pregnant solution tank, which will be designed to overflow to a pregnant solution pond. From the tank, solution will be pumped to a carbon adsorption circuit for gold recovery.

Gold and silver values will be loaded onto activated carbon and periodically stripped from the carbon in a desorption circuit and concentrated by electrowinning process. The precious metal sludge collected in the electrowinning circuit will be treated in a retort to recover mercury values before being fluxed and smelted to produce the final doré product. The process leverages KCA’s extensive experience with heap leach processing.

Sulfide Zone Processing

After about four years, the oxide material is expected be become depleted and the mine will focus on mining and processing sulfide material. Sulfide zone material is best suited to conventional crushing and milling followed by flotation and concentration to produce a gold-bearing concentrate. Run-of-mine sulfide mill feed will be delivered from the open pit by truck to a primary crusher operating at 20,000 tpd. The Sulfide material will be crushed in the same crusher as the oxide material. The crushed sulfide material will be conveyed to the sulfide mill, ground to a nominal 74µ (micrometers) and subjected to a flotation process to recover the gold and silver. The product of the sulfide process with be a precious metal rich concentrate. This concentrate will be filtered and transported to a suitable refinery or smelter for final gold and silver recovery. The tailings produced in flotation will be stored in an engineered tailings management facility (TMF).

Process Plant and Recovery

The process plant is designed for a nominal throughput of 20,000 tonnes per day, operating 24 hours per day.

The oxide material average recovery from the Quartz Butte material and the Crone Hill material was estimated to have a combined average recovery of 78.6%. The sulfide material average estimated gold recovery from the Quartz Butte and the Crone Hill material to concentrate is 80.0% of gold contained in run-of-mine mill feed.

The overall life-of-mine metallurgical gold recovery is estimated at 79.6%, reflecting the predominantly oxide near-surface character of the mineralization and the lower sulfide characteristics of the material.

Figure 2 – Flowsheet of Oxide Process

Figure 3 – Flowsheet for Sulfide Process

Tailings Management

The heap leach pad will be the final storage place for the oxide material. The tailings generated in the sulfide mill will be thickened and deposited in an engineered tailings management facility (TMF).

CONCENTRATE MARKET ASSESSMENT

An assessment of current market conditions for gold-silver concentrates was conducted as part of the PEA by an independent concentrate marketing advisor. The assessment included a review of treatment and refining charges, payable terms, impurity thresholds, and transportation costs for concentrates with similar metallurgical characteristics. The analysis also considered recent market transactions and long-term demand trends for gold concentrates. Based on this review, the PEA incorporates payable assumptions and treatment terms consistent with current market conditions for comparable concentrates. The Study assumes commercially reasonable terms supported by the independent assessment. QGold intends to continue advancing concentrate market assessments and discussions in parallel with metallurgical optimization and optimization studies as it advances the Quartz Mountain Project through the Feasibility Study in 2026.

MINERAL RESOURCE PROJECTED – PRODUCTION PROFILE

Over the first 14-years of the mine life, the average annual gold and gold equivalent production in doré and concentrate is projected to be 135,400 ounces. Considering the silver contribution the gold equivalent production will be an average life-of-mine production of 137,200 ounces per year.

Chart 1: PEA Life of Mine Recovered Gold and Gold Equivalent Production Profile

The following tables provide sensitivity analyses of key project economic parameters. The gold price sensitivity table presents project economics across a range of gold price scenarios. The discount rate sensitivity table presents pre-tax and after-tax NPV at the base case gold price of US$3,265/oz across a range of discount rates from 0% to 10%, confirming the robustness of the Project economics across capital cost assumptions.

Gold Price (US$/oz)$3,265 (Base Case)$4,800 (Spot)(2)$5,500$2,500

Pre-Tax NPV(5%) (US$M)$2.2 Billion$ 4.0 Billion$ 4.9 Billion$ 1.3 Billion

After-Tax NPV(5%) (US$M)$ 1.7 Billion$ 3.2 Billion$ 3.8 Billion$ 1.0 Billion

After-Tax IRR (%)55.2%91.7%107.4%35.8%

Payback (years)1.81.21.02.5

NPV Sensitivity — Discount Rate (Base Case US$3,265/oz Gold)

Discount RatePre-Tax NPV (US$000s)After-Tax NPV (US$000s)

0.0%$3,559,000$2,765,000

2.5%$2,790,000$2,161,000

BASE CASE 5.0%$2,214,000$1,707,000

7.5%$1,775,000$1,360,000

10.0%$1,436,000$1,093,000

Highlighted row (5.0%) represents the base case discount rate used in this PEA.

MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE

The Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") used in the PEA is the NI 43-101-compliant resource for the Quartz Mountain Gold Project as recently updated, with a total indicated gold resource of approximately 2.01 million ounces. The MRE was prepared by Fred Brown, P.Geo., a qualified person independent of the Company in accordance with NI 43-101. A technical report respecting the updated MRE will be filed under the Company's SEDAR+ profile and on the Company's website within 45 days of the date of this news release.

The PEA mine plan draws on Measured, Indicated, and Inferred resources. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves have not demonstrated economic viability, and there is no certainty that all or any part of a mineral resource will be converted to a mineral reserve.

TOTAL

CLASS

CUTOFFTONNAGEAGAGAUAU

Au g/tktg/tkozsg/tKozs

OxideIndicated0.127,9630.988840.73657

OxideInferred0.13,9780.62800.6279

SulphideIndicated0.251,8251.2120150.811,353

SulphideInferred0.221,6570.674640.6416

TotalIndicated-X-79,7881.132,9000.782,010

TotalInferred-X-25,6340.665430.60494

CRONE HILL

CLASS

CUTOFFTONNAGEAGAGAUAU

Au g/tktg/tkozsg/tKozs

OxideIndicated0.118,4051.096440.72423

OxideInferred0.13,1700.62630.6163

SulphideIndicated0.241,1171.3217400.821,090

SulphideInferred0.216,1020.643340.58302

QUARTZ BUTTE

CLASS

CUTOFFTONNAGEAGAGAUAU

Au g/tktg/tkozsg/tKozs

OxideIndicated0.19,5590.782410.76234

OxideInferred0.18070.63160.6316

SulphideIndicated0.210,7080.82750.76263

SulphideInferred0.25,5550.731300.64113

1) Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, marketing, or other relevant issues.

2) Mineral resources were estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM Council.

(3) The quantity and grade of the Inferred resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these inferred resources as an Indicated or Measured mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to an Indicated or Measured mineral resource category.

(4) Composite grade capping was implemented prior to grade estimation.

(5) Bulk density was assigned by target area.

(6) A gold price of US$3,153/oz was used.