Ms. Melissa Render reports

NEW FOUND INTERCEPTS 14.8 G/T AU OVER 5M AT HONEYPOT & 43.1 G/T AU OVER 2M AT JACKPOT

New Found Gold Corp. has released the results from 85 diamond drill holes that were completed as part of multiple drill programs designed to expand and follow up on high-grade gold mineralization across several discovery areas located on the east side of the highly prospective Appleton fault zone (AFZ) spanning a three-kilometre corridor from Golden Joint to Everest. New Found's 100-per-cent-owned Queensway project comprises a 1,665-square-kilometre area, accessible via the Trans-Canada Highway, 15 km west of Gander, Nfld.

Jackpot, Honeypot and Everest highlights:

• At Honeypot, a new discovery initially announced on Jan. 10, 2024, continued follow-up drilling aimed at extending the high-grade domain successfully intercepted 14.8 grams per tonne gold over five metres in NFGC-24-2063, which is located 84 m farther down plunge from previously released 26.4 g/t Au over 7.65 m in NFGC-23-1810.
• Intervals of 7.25 g/t Au over 4.5 m in NGFC-23-1806A, 2.24 g/t Au over 10.90 m in NFGC-23-1796 and 10.2 g/t Au over 2.25 m in NFGC-23-1886 are additional highlight intervals that occur within the Honeypot high-grade domain, which plunges steeply to the east and is currently 50 m wide and 200 m deep. Located 1.2 km north of Lotto, the Honeypot host structure has been drill defined over a strike length of 280 m and remains open along strike and to depth.
• Two hundred thirty metres farther south at Jackpot, the remainder of the outstanding assay results have been received from initial drilling designed to determine the extent of near-surface, high-grade mineralization that is hosted by an east-west-striking, steeply south-dipping structure. Today's highlight interval of 11.3 g/t Au over 3.65 m in NFGC-23-1627 more than doubles the down-plunge extent of the high-grade domain at Jackpot to 155 m from the previously reported 75 m (Nov. 14, 2023).
• Additional highlight intervals reported today from Jackpot include 43.1 g/t over two m in NFGC-23-1418, which occurs at surface, and 1.02 g/t Au over 13.95 m in NFGC-23-1668, located 195 m down plunge. Other previously released high-grade intervals include 119 g/t Au over 4.10 m in NFGC-23-1425 (Sept. 5, 2023), 18.2 g/t Au over 6.75 m in NFGC-23-1523 (Nov. 14, 2023) and 51.9 g/t Au over 2.85 m in NFGC-23-1447 (Oct. 18, 2023). These intervals all occur within a region of the fault that demonstrates strong continuity of gold mineralization that plunges to the southwest and covers an area averaging 75 m wide and 250 m long that remains open at depth.

Golden Joint highlights:

• At Golden Joint, outstanding results from the barge drilling, a program designed to target the upper portions of the Golden Joint zone that is not reachable by land (see previous release dated Oct. 23, 2023), have been received. Results include 14.4 g/t Au over 2.50 m in NFGC-23-1559, which occurs 16 m below surface, and 4.91 g/t Au over 8.05 m in NFGC-23-1501A, which occurs just 30 m below surface. These results, along with others reported in today's release, infill and confirm the near-surface, high-grade continuity of Golden Joint.

Lotto and Lotto North highlights:

• At Lotto North, the remaining results have been received from a program targeting the Lotto North structure (see previous release dated Jan. 10, 2023), interpreted to be the fault-displaced northern segment of the Lotto main vein, in addition to results targeting mineralization in the region between the Lotto main vein and the AFZ. This area is known as the Lotto footwall (FW) and contains the Sunday and Tuesday (June 8, 2022) veins.
• At Lotto, the highlight interval of 16.6 g/t Au over two m in NFGC-23-1681 was intercepted 40 m down dip of previously reported 18.1 g/t Au over 6.50 m in NFGC-20-44 in the Sunday vein (Jan. 14, 2021) in the Lotto FW region.
• At Lotto North, the notable intervals of 12.2 g/t Au over two m and 10.5 g/t Au over 2.45 m in NFGC-22-1009 and 1.64 g/t Au over 9.95 m in NFGC-23-1156 are located near surface and in an area where the Lotto North structure intersects the AFZ.

Dome highlights:

• A small program consisting of two holes was completed testing the eastern continuation of the east-west-striking Dome structure located between Golden Joint and Lotto, an area that was sparsely tested with previous drilling efforts. The structure was found to continue and returned the highlight interval of 19.4 g/t Au over two m in NFGC-23-1999, extending Dome 44 m farther to the east.

Melissa Render, vice-president of exploration, stated: "Honeypot and Jackpot were two discoveries that were somewhat of a surprise in terms of their mineralizing strength and continuity given they are 300 m and 340 m east of the AFZ, respectively. Akin to the neighbouring Lotto discovery, they can concentrate considerable high-grade gold. These are important structures, and both are visible in the seismic data where they appear to persist to depth. We are actively using the seismic data to look for structural anomalies along these faults to target with deeper drilling. Both shoots remain open both laterally and vertically, where shallow growth targets will also be tested. We also continue to re-evaluate other discovery areas such as Dome, Lotto and Golden Joint, where initial programs did not close off the mineralization, and in some cases overstepped prospective regions due to broad-spaced drilling. The prospective window around the AFZ has grown producing an expansive region for continued exploration."

Queensway 650,000 m drill program update

The company is currently undertaking a 650,000 m drill program at Queensway, and approximately 3,200 m of core are currently pending assay results.

Sampling, subsampling and laboratory

All drilling recovers HQ core. 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 metre and adjusted to respect lithological and/or mineralogical contacts and isolate narrow (fewer than 1.0 m) 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 has been submitting samples for gold determination by fire assay to ALS Canada Ltd. and by photon assay to MSALabs (MSA) since June, 2022. As of February, 2024, gold analysis at ALS has been performed by photon assay. ALS and MSA operate under a commercial contract with New Found.

Drill core samples are shipped to ALS for sample preparation in Sudbury, Ont., Thunder Bay, Ont., or Moncton, N.B. ALS is an ISO-17025-accredited laboratory for the fire assay and photon assay methods.

Drill core samples are also submitted to MSA in Val d'Or, Que. MSA operates numerous laboratories worldwide and maintains ISO-17025 accreditation for many metal determination methods. MSA is an ISO-17025-accredited laboratory for the photon assay method.

At ALS for fire assay, the entire sample is crushed to approximately 70 per cent passing two millimetres. A 3,000-gram split is pulverized. Routine samples do not have visible gold (VG) identified and are not within a mineralized zone. Routine samples are assayed for gold by 30 g fire assay with an inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP) finish. If the initial 30 g fire assay gold result is over one g/t, the remainder of the 3,000 g split is screened at 106 micrometres for screened metallics assay. For the screened metallics assay, the entire coarse fraction (sized greater than 106 micrometres) is fire assayed, and two splits of the fine fraction (sized fewer than 106 micrometres) are fire assayed. The three assays are combined on a weight-averaged basis. Samples that have VG identified or fall within a mineralized interval are automatically submitted for screened metallics assay for gold.

Samples submitted to ALS beginning in February, 2024, received gold analysis by photon assay, whereby the entire sample is crushed to approximately 70 per cent passing two-millimetre mesh. The sample is then riffle split and transferred into jars. For routine samples that do not have VG identified and are not within a mineralized zone, one (300 g to 500 g) jar is analyzed by photon assay. If the jar assays greater than 0.8 g/t, the remaining crushed material is weighed into multiple jars and submitted for photon assay.

For samples that have VG identified, the entire crushed sample is riffle split and weighed into multiple jars that are submitted for photon assay. The assays from all jars are combined on a weight-averaged basis.

At MSA, the entire sample is crushed to approximately 70 per cent passing two millimetres. For routine samples that do not have VG identified and are not within a mineralized zone, the samples are riffle split to fill one 450 g jar for photon assay. If the jar assays greater than 0.8 g/t, the remaining crushed material is weighed into multiple jars and submitted for photon assay.

For samples that have VG identified, the entire crushed sample is weighed into multiple jars and submitted for photon assay. The assays from all jars are combined on a weight-averaged basis.

All samples prepared at ALS or MSA are also analyzed for a multielement ICP package (ALS method code ME-ICP61) at ALS Vancouver.

Drill program design, quality assurance/quality control and interpretation of results are performed by qualified persons employing a rigorous quality assurance/quality control program consistent with industry best practices. Standards and blanks account for a minimum of 10 per cent of the samples, in addition to the laboratory's internal quality assurance programs.

Quality control data are evaluated on receipt from the laboratories for failures. Appropriate action is taken if assay results for standards and blanks fall outside allowed tolerances. All results stated have passed New Found's quality control protocols.

New Found's quality control program also includes the submission of the second half of the core for approximately 2 per cent of the drilled intervals. In addition, approximately 1 per cent of sample pulps for mineralized samples are submitted for reanalysis to a second ISO-accredited laboratory for check assays.

The company does not recognize any factors of drilling, sampling or recovery that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the assay data disclosed.

The assay data disclosed in this press release have been verified by the company's qualified person against the original assay certificates.

The company notes that it has not completed any economic evaluations of its Queensway project and that the Queensway project does not have any resources or reserves.

Qualified person

The scientific and technical information disclosed in this press release was reviewed and approved by Greg Matheson, PGeo, chief operating officer, a qualified person as defined under National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Matheson consents to the publication of this press release dated April 17, 2024, by New Found. Mr. Matheson certifies that this press release fairly and accurately represents the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this press release.

About New Found Gold Corp.

New Found holds a 100-per-cent interest in the Queensway project, located 15 kilometres west of Gander, Nfld., and just 18 km from Gander International Airport. The project is intersected by the Trans-Canada Highway and has logging roads crosscutting the project, high-voltage electric power lines running through the project area and easy access to a highly skilled work force. The company is currently undertaking a 650,000-metre drill program at Queensway and is well financed for this program with cash and marketable securities of approximately $53.6-million as of April, 2024.

We seek Safe Harbor.