Mr. Paul Huet reports

NEW FOUND GOLD CELEBRATES MILESTONE YEAR: TRANSFORMATION TO AN EMERGING CANADIAN GOLD PRODUCER

New Found Gold Corp. has highlighted a transformational 2025 in which the company has evolved from an early stage exploration company to an emerging Canadian gold producer with a multiasset portfolio focused on a top-tier mining jurisdiction, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Over the past year, New Found Gold has delivered multiple significant milestones including:

• New board of directors and management team: Led by chairman Paul Andre Huet and chief executive officer Keith Boyle, the company has a new and highly experienced board of directors, along with a new management team of mine builders and operators to complement its existing exploration strength.
• Financings: Completion of a $63-million bought deal financing and $20-million private placement, strengthening New Found Gold's balance sheet and confirming support from cornerstone investor Eric Sprott and institutional investors.
• Initial mineral resource estimate (MRE): Publication of an MRE for its 100-per-cent-owned Queensway gold project, outlining 18.0 million tonnes (Mt) grading 2.40 grams per tonne of gold (g/t Au) of gold for 1.39 million ounces (Moz) (indicated), with another 10.7 Mt grading 1.77 g/t Au for 0.61 Moz (inferred), firmly establishing a solid mineral resource base.
• Preliminary economic assessment (PEA): Publication of a low-cost, high-margin PEA demonstrating solid economics of $743-million after-tax NPV 5 per cent (net present value, 5-per-cent discount rate) and 56.3-per-cent after-tax IRR (internal rate of return), at a base case gold price of $2,500 (U.S.)/ounce with significant leverage to the gold price. These base case values are supported by total gold production of 1.5 Moz (million ounces) of gold over a 15-year mine life for a life of mine (LOM) all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $1,256 (U.S.)/oz.
• Strategic acquisitions: Acquisition of Maritime Resources Corp., creating an emerging Canadian gold producer and the purchase of highly prospective claims, consolidating a district-scale land package around Queensway.
• Hammerdown and Pine Cove operations: With the successful acquisition of Maritime, the company is focused on bringing the newly acquired Hammerdown and Pine Cove operations into steady state production.
• Queensway advancement: Completed 2025 work program, including over 74,000 metres (m) of diamond drilling with a primary focus on resource definition and predevelopment work, and a secondary focus on exploration, with high-grade discoveries such as the Dropkick zone underscoring the camp-scale potential of the district.
• Queensway project finance: Engaged Cutfield Freeman & Co. Ltd., an independent global mining finance advisory firm, to act as a project finance adviser with the objective of selecting the optimal financing package for the initial capital expenditure required to fund Queensway phase 1 production.

"Two thousand twenty-five was a transformational year for New Found Gold, as we began the year as an early stage exploration company and ended as an emerging Canadian gold producer with a growing, multiasset and multistage portfolio in Newfoundland and Labrador," said Keith Boyle, chief executive officer of New Found Gold. "We delivered both the initial MRE and a PEA at Queensway, strengthened our balance sheet, and completed two meaningful strategic acquisitions -- adding near-term production and cash flow via Hammerdown and securing fully permitted processing infrastructure. These achievements were made possible by the strength of our new management team and board of directors, support from our shareholders and local stakeholders who continue to back us as we execute on our strategic growth plans, and the hard work and dedication of our employees and contractors.

"As we enter 2026, our focus is clear: ramp up Hammerdown safely and efficiently, advance Queensway through engineering, permitting and project finance toward a targeted 2027 start-up, and continue disciplined, high-impact exploration across the district -- building on our success at targets like Dropkick -- to unlock the full camp-scale potential of this emerging Canadian gold camp."

From early stage explorer to emerging gold producer

The strategic acquisition of Maritime formally marks New Found Gold's transformation from an exploration company into an emerging multiasset gold producer. Following this transaction, New Found Gold now controls Queensway, a high-grade, 100-per-cent-owned project with a recently completed MRE and PEA that demonstrates a phased, low-capital path to production and Hammerdown, an emerging gold producer in central Newfoundland, targeted to ramp-up to commercial production through 2026, with a fully permitted mill and tailings at Pine Cove, as well as a hydrometallurgical gold plant at Nugget Pond, which provides existing processing infrastructure and significant regional synergies.

With Hammerdown moving toward steady-state production and Queensway phase 1 production targeted for H2 2027, Queensway and Hammerdown continue to offer significant exploration upside to bolster each project's economics within a strong gold price environment.

New board and management team

In parallel with its portfolio growth, New Found Gold has made significant strides at the corporate level, strengthening its governance and leadership team in 2025. During the year the board of directors was refreshed under the leadership of Paul Andre Huet as chairman. It now includes seasoned mining executives and capital markets specialists with deep experience in building, operating and financing mines globally, including: William Hayden, Chad Williams, Tamara Brown and Allen Palmiere, as well as Dr. Andrew Furey, the former Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the company's chief executive officer, Keith Boyle.

New Found Gold's management team was also rebuilt with the objective of executing on the company's strategy to rapidly advance Queensway to development and production. Under the leadership of Mr. Boyle (chief executive officer) and Melissa Render (president), the following executives were appointed to the leadership team in 2025: Hashim Ahmed (chief financial officer), Robert Assabgui (chief operating officer), Fiona Childe (vice-president, communications and corporate development), Jared Sauders (VP, sustainability) and Jelena Novikov Fried (general counsel and corporate secretary).

Advancing Queensway to development

Queensway remains the cornerstone of New Found Gold's growth strategy and continued to deliver in 2025, achieving several major milestones. The initial MRE published in 2025 confirmed Queensway's resource potential, outlining 18.0 Mt (million tonnes) grading 2.40 grams per tonne of gold for 1.39 Moz (indicated), with another 10.7 Mt grading 1.77 g/t gold for 0.61 Moz (inferred). This initial resource sits within less than 5 per cent of the 110-kilometre-long strike extent of the two major structures controlling gold mineralization, where numerous additional gold targets have been identified, demonstrating potential for expansion (see the New Found Gold press release dated March 24, 2025).

This MRE served as the stepping stone, forming the basis for the positive Queensway PEA published in mid-2025, which outlined phased development with low initial capital of approximately $155-million for phase 1 and a robust production profile, with anticipated average annual production of over 70,000 ounces of gold in phase 1 and more than 170,000 ounces of gold per year in phase 2 and 3, years 5 to 9 (see the New Found Gold press release dated July 21, 2025).

With attractive baseline economics confirmed, New Found Gold has completed its 2025 work program, which included an approximately 74,000 m diamond drill program and a continuation of the excavation of high-grade, near-surface portions of Queensway. Approximately 75 per cent of the drilling focused on the AFZ core area and the remaining 25 per cent focused on exploration targets outside the MRE area. To date, approximately 45 per cent of the results from the 2025 program have been released and additional results will be released as they become available (see the New Found Gold press releases dated July 9, 2025, Sept. 25, 2025, Oct. 15, 2025, Oct. 30, 2025, Nov. 19, 2025, Dec. 1, 2025, and Dec. 11, 2025). Excavation, mapping and channel sampling were competed at the Iceberg and Lotto zones, with Iceberg channel sample results released and Lotto results pending (see the New Found Gold press release dated Sept. 25, 2025).

Continuing work aimed at the rapid advancement of phased development at Queensway includes environmental baseline work, tradeoff studies and further engineering studies.

Collectively, the milestones achieved in 2025 advance Queensway from a standout exploration opportunity to a derisked development project with a clear, financeable path to production.

Camp-scale exploration upside

Exploration remains an important part of the growth strategy for Queensway as it advances toward development, with exploration success outside the AFZ core demonstrating the scale and quality of the broader district. During 2025, the company completed approximately 25 per cent of its drilling on exploration outside the AFZ core. This work included drill testing at the highly prospective Dropkick and Pistachio zones, as well as the newly discovered Blue Jay zone. High-grade gold was discovered at Dropkick in late 2024 within the AFZ peripheral area and 2025 drilling has extended the mineralized footprint to approximately 815 m along strike and 285 m down dip, with multiple high-grade intercepts both west and east of the Appleton Fault zone, further confirming the camp scale potential of New Found Gold's substantial Queensway landholdings (see the New Found Gold press release dated Oct. 30, 2025).

A regional exploration program was completed at Queensway South, up to 64 km south of AFZ core. In this area, the company continues to develop earlier-stage targets along the Appleton Fault zone, the same structure that controls gold mineralization AFZ core.

The Queensway land package now totals 230,225 hectares, an increase of 31 per cent from 2024, as a result of the successful completion of the acquisition of a 100-per-cent interest in certain mineral claims in central Newfoundland previously held by Exploits Discovery Corp.

Looking ahead

Moving forward, New Found Gold remains focused on executing on the following key priorities in 2026:

• Ramping up Hammerdown to steady-state gold production and leveraging its on-island processing and tailings facilities;
• Advancing Queensway through engineering, permitting and project finance toward a phase 1 construction decision in late 2026, targeting first production in H2 2027;
• Continuing focused exploration at Queensway, including adjacent to AFZ core, Dropkick and newly acquired ground, to grow resources and support future expansions.

Qualified person

The scientific and technical information disclosed in this press release was reviewed and approved by Keith Boyle, PEng, CEO, and a qualified person as defined under National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Boyle consents to the publication of this press release by New Found Gold. Mr. Boyle 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 Gold is an emerging Canadian gold producer with assets in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The company holds a 100-per-cent interest in Queensway, and owns Hammerdown, Pine Cove and the Nugget Pond hydrometallurgical gold plant. The company is currently focused on advancing Queensway to production and bringing Hammerdown into steady-state gold production.

In July, 2025, the company completed a PEA at Queensway (see New Found Gold press release dated July 21, 2025). Recent drilling continues to yield new discoveries along strike and down dip of known gold zones, pointing to the district-scale potential that covers a 110 plus km strike extent along two prospective fault zones at Queensway.

New Found Gold has a new board of directors and management team and a solid shareholder base which includes cornerstone investor Eric Sprott. The company is focused on growth and value creation.

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