Announcement • May 06
New Found Gold Corp. Confirms Continuity of Afz Core and Intersects New Mineralization At Depth At Queensway Gold Project
New Found Gold Corp. announced further results confirming the continuity of gold mineralization in the AFZ Core from 2025 infill drilling on its 100%-owned Queensway Gold Project in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The results presented in this press release include the final results from infill drilling of Phase 1 open pits at Keats West, Iceberg and Keats, step-out drilling below Keats and Iceberg Phase 2 open pits, and pre-development drilling for proposed site infrastructure, geotechnical drilling and hydrogeological drilling completed in 2025. The total meterage reported in this press release is 22,796 m of drilling in 201 diamond drill holes. Further results from other portions of the 2025 drill program, representing approximately 6% of the 74,377 m 2025 drill program, remain outstanding. Infill drilling of the Phase 1 open pits was a priority in the 2025 program and the results reported comprise all remaining Phase 1 open pit infill DDH from Keats West (2,380 m in 29 DDH), Iceberg (1,371 m in 12 DDH) and Keats (3,226 m in 29 DDH). Infill drilling at Keats West, Iceberg and Keats was designed to upgrade mineral resources from the inferred to the indicated category within the Phase 1 open pits as outlined in the Preliminary Economic Assessment, with some DDH also testing portions of the Phase 2 open pits. The infill drill results align well with the initial mineral resource estimate block model and will be incorporated into the next mineral resource update. The 2025 program also targeted proposed crown pillars directly below planned Phase 2 Keats and Iceberg open pits (2,640 m in 12 DDH), with two areas of significant mineralization identified: 9.15 g/t Au over 7.15 m (NFGC-25-2492) below the northern extent of the Keats pit in proximity to a Phase 3 underground panel, and 14.1 g/t Au over 2.40 m (NFGC-25-2378) below the central portion of the Iceberg pit. These two areas are currently being evaluated for follow-up testing as part of the 2026 drill program. In addition, this press release includes results from pre-development work comprising condemnation drilling for proposed site infrastructure (9,435 m in 87 DDH), geotechnical drilling (2,610 m in 20 DDH) and hydrogeological drilling (1,134 m in 12 DDH). This work provided critical information to support ongoing engineering studies for site development in advance of mining. Condemnation drilling was successful in confirming the absence of mineralization beneath key sites planned for infrastructure, while the geotechnical and hydrogeological drilling programs provided feasibility level data to support Phase 1 open pit design. The 2025 Queensway drill program included 74,377 m of drilling in 614 diamond DDH, with approximately 75% of the drilling focused on the AFZ Core area to support advancement of the Phase 1 mine plan as outlined in the Company's PEA and 25% focused on exploration targets such as the Dropkick zone. To date, approximately 6% of the results from 2025 drilling remain outstanding, as well as channel sampling results from the Lotto excavation. These results will be reported once available. The 2026 Queensway drill program is underway, with four drill rigs currently active. Initial 2026 infill drilling is targeting PEA Phase 2 open pit resource conversion and will transition later in the year to PEA Phase 3 underground resource conversion. The Company plans to expand its grade control drilling beginning later in the Second Quarter 2026. The next phase of work will leverage results from the 2025 program to optimize drill hole spacing and program scope. This will include completing the grade-control drilling started in 2025 at the Iceberg excavation, commencing grade-control drilling at the Lotto excavation and potentially expanding the grade-control drilling at the Keats and Iceberg excavations. The objective of this work is to improve confidence in the distribution of gold mineralization and support mine planning as outlined for the PEA Phase 1 open pits. Exploration drilling will focus on AFZ Core resource expansion, including an initial grid-based program targeting the prospective corridor adjacent to the Appleton Fault Zone at the Bullseye prospect, located immediately northeast of the AFZ Core, continued step-out drilling at Dropkick, located 11 km north of the AFZ Core, and targeted segments of the AFZ at AFZ Peripheral. A regional drilling program testing advanced targets at Queensway South is in the planning phase and expected to commence in Second Half 2026. The Company plans to file an updated Technical Report for Queensway, which will include an updated mineral resource, in Second Half 2026. Note that the host structures are interpreted to be moderately to steeply dipping. Infill veining in secondary structures with multiple orientations crosscutting the primary host structures are commonly observed in drill core which could result in additional uncertainty in true width. Composite intervals reported carry a minimum weighted average of 1 g/t Au diluted over a minimum core length of 2 m with a maximum of 4 m consecutive dilution when above 200 m vertical depth and 2 m consecutive dilution when below 200 m vertical depth. Included high-grade intercepts are reported as any consecutive interval with grades greater than 10 g/t Au. Grades have not been capped in the averaging and intervals are reported as drill thickness. Details of all drill holes reported in this release are included in Table 2 and Table 3 below. Sampling, Sub-sampling, and Laboratory All drilling recovers HQ core. For deep and condemnation holes, the core size may be reduced to NQ. The drill core is split in half using a diamond saw or a hydraulic splitter for rare intersections with incompetent core. A geologist examines the drill core and marks out the intervals to be sampled and the cutting line. Sample lengths are mostly 1.0 meter and adjusted to respect lithological and/or mineralogical contacts and isolate narrow (<1.0m) veins or other structures that may yield higher grades. Technicians saw the core along the defined cutting line. One-half of the core is kept as a witness sample and the other half is submitted for analysis. Individual sample bags are sealed and placed into totes, which are then sealed and marked with the contents. New Found Gold has submitted samples for gold determination by PhotonAssay to ALS Canada Ltd. since February 2024. ALS operates under a commercial contract with New Found Gold. Drill core samples are shipped to ALS for sample preparation and gold analysis in Thunder Bay, Ontario. ALS does not currently have accreditation for the PhotonAssay method at their Thunder Bay, ON laboratory.
