An Undervalued 3.3Moz Gold Project in Canada

Key takeaways

• Upside Gold is developing the Kena Gold Project, near the town of Nelson in the Kootenays region of southern British Columbia. Kena hosts a historical gold resource of 3.33 million ounces (561,000 ounces Indicated and 2.77 million ounces Inferred) across a 10,200-hectare land package.
• Kena is located in the Kootenay Arc, home to many historic gold mines. 
• The company listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) in January 2026
• In 2026 Upside Gold intends to do additional exploration along a previously identified 3 km copper-gold trend.
• Kena is a large scale development asset with clear potential to attract mid- and large-cap producer interest.
• There is potential additional value from copper and silver mineralization.

About Upside Gold

Upside Gold optioned the Kena Gold Project in early 2025. The project covers over 10,000 hectares near the town of Nelson and 400 km east of Vancouver.

Kena holds roughly 3.3 million ounces of gold. The NI 43-101 historical estimate outlines roughly 3.3 million ounces of gold, including 561,000 ounces in the higher-confidence Indicated category and 2.77 million ounces in the lower-confidence Inferred category. This was published in 2021.*

The historical resource was calculated using a gold price of US$2,000 per ounce. If gold prices remain above that level, the project’s potential economics could improve compared to the original estimate assumptions.

Much of the mineralisation sits at or near surface. Near-surface deposits are typically simpler and potentially cheaper to develop than deep underground systems.

Kena sits in the gold and silver rich 'Kootenay Arc', a major mineral belt in southern British Columbia and northeastern Washington. Geologically, the region is known for gold hosted in quartz-carbonate vein systems, as well as silver-rich polymetallic veins linked to intrusive activity. The belt can also host copper-gold mineralisation in porphyry-style or intrusion-related systems, which broadens the project’s potential beyond just gold.

The Kootenay Arc has a proven production history. Most notably, the Rossland Gold Camp, one of Canada’s most famous historic gold districts, produced over 3 million ounces of gold between the 1890s and early 1900s. Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.B), one of Canada’s largest diversified miners, operates a major zinc and lead smelting and refining complex called Trail in the Kootenay region. Trail has been operating for more than a century. While not a gold mine, Teck’s long-standing presence underscores the region’s ability to support large-scale, globally significant metal production. The company has a market capitalization of roughly C$40 billion.

There has already been 40,000 metres of historic drilling, and with further drilling and resampling of the historic core, Upside believes it can identify high-potential targets to drill and increase the historical resource over the next 12 months or so.

The location is great. As well as being in a Tier 1 jurisdiction (ie Canada), the property is accessible via paved highways and logging roads, with rail, power and hydroelectric infrastructure. This lowers costs when operations begin in the future. 

The metallurgy is good. Kena is low grade but metallurgical test work in 2022 on bulk samples showed that gold recoveries could be north of 95% simply using conventional gravity and cyanide processing methods.

There may also be upside from copper and silver. The current historical resource spans roughly 3 to 3.5 kilometres, and previous sampling work has shown potential for copper and silver as well as gold. Both these commodities have been moving strongly in 2025 and into 2026.

Next Steps: Drilling in 2026, followed by new Resource Estimate

The historical defined resource covers only part of a much larger system. While the historical resource spans roughly 3 to 3.5 kilometres, the mineralised zone is 7 kilometres long and the overall project extends about 21 kilometres. There is significant upside potential, with a focus on expanding the historical gold resource and adding copper from the Kena copper zone.

Metal is showing up outside the historic resource boundaries. In early February 2026 Upside reported surface sampling results of up to 26.1 g/t Au (Gold) (i.e. close to visible gold grades), 179 g/t Ag (Silver), and 1.68% Cu (Copper). These results support the interpretation of a large, multi-zone mineralised system, with gold and copper mineralisation extending east and south of the historical resource.

The development pathway for Upside Gold:

• In early 2026, Upside Gold will be releasing results from trenching completed in 2025, along with new drill results.
• The company has permits to drill up to 5,000 metres across the Kena and Gold Mountain projects, of which 1,000 metres have already been completed.
• In July and August 2026, the company plans to drill the remaining 4,000 metres.
• By late 2026 Upside believes that it will be in a position to publish an updated NI-43-101 resource estimate.

Valuing Upside Gold

We value Upside Gold on an EV/Resource ounce basis. This involves comparing the company’s enterprise value to its total gold resource and benchmarking that against similar multi-million-ounce gold developers listed in Canada.

Comparable Canadian developers trade at an average of around C$78 per resource ounce. This figure was derived by reviewing publicly traded gold project developers with comparable scale on Canadian exchanges.

Applying this to Upside Gold’s historical 3.33 million ounce resource suggests material upside from current levels. Using the peer average multiple implies a valuation higher than the company’s present enterprise value, indicating potential rerating if the market values Kena in line with its peers.

There is potential for further valuation increases. The majority of Upside’s current ounces are classified as Inferred, which carry lower geological confidence. Converting more ounces into the Indicated or Measured categories through drilling could justify a higher valuation multiple.

On this basis, Upside Gold appears undervalued relative to comparable Canadian gold developers, assuming it can execute on its resource expansion and upgrade strategy.

Solid management

Upside's leadership has the experience required to build a credible resource development company:

• Sophy Cesar, Upside's CEO, has more than 15 years of senior executive experience in junior resource sector on the TSX, TSX-V and CSE. She is deeply experienced in capital raising, securing key partnerships and liaising with retail and institutional investors.
• Dr Trevor Boyd, Upside's VP of Exploration, has more than 30 years’ of senior experience in the resource sector. He has previously worked as a geologist at Noranda, Falconbridge, and Westmin Resources.

Major miners in British Columbia

Teck Resources (TSX:TECK.B) is one of Canada’s largest diversified miners and operates Trail Operations within the broader Kootenay region. Trail is a major zinc and lead smelting and refining complex that has been operating for more than a century. While not a gold mine, Teck’s long-standing presence underscores the region’s ability to support large-scale, globally significant metal production. The company has a market capitalization of roughly C$40 billion.

Centerra Gold (TSX:CG/NYSE:CGAU) is a Canadian-based gold and copper producer with operating mines in British Columbia and Türkiye. While not within the Kootenay Arc, its Mt Milligan mine in northern British Columbia is a large-scale gold-copper operation that produces hundreds of thousands of ounces of gold per year. With a market cap of C$5 billion, Centerra proves that British Columbia can support significant commercial gold operations.

The risks

We see the following major risks for Upside Gold as a company and as a listed stock: 

• Regulatory risk. Often it takes longer to get things done in BC compared to other Canadian provinces due to BC's more complicated processes to negotiate indigenous mining rights.
• Timing risk. There is the risk that the company's 2026 exploration programme may be delayed. 
• Commodity risk. There is the risk that gold's recent bull run may come to an end
• Funding risk. There is the risk of future capital raisings proving dilutive to existing shareholders. 
• Key personnel risk. There is the risk that the company may lose key personnel and be unable to replace them and/or their contribution to the business. 

Conclusion

Upside Gold has acquired a historical gold resource in excess of 3 million ounces at a time when gold is well and truly in favour as a commodity. We see exploration progress through 2026 leading to a resource upgrade in early 2027. By 2027 Upside can potentially be working on scoping studies ahead of a future mine.

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*The Kena Project hosts a historical gold resource comprising an Indicated Mineral Resource of 32,146,000 tonnes at an average grade of 0.544 g/t Au for 0.561 million ounces of gold, and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 177,507,000 tonnes at an average grade of 0.486 g/t Au for 2.77 million ounces of gold. The historical resource estimate is disclosed in the technical report entitled “NI 43-101 Resource Estimate for the Kena and Daylight Properties” prepared by Sue Bird, P.Eng. of Moose Mountain Technical Services, dated May 3, 2021, and filed on SEDAR on behalf of West Mining Corp.

A Qualified Person, as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources, and Upside Gold Corp. is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources. The historical estimate is provided for information purposes only and should not be relied upon.