Mr. Robert Eckford reports

RUA GOLD UTILIZES VRIFY AI TO PRIORITIZE CUMBERLAND, FOLLOWING UP ON EXCEPTIONAL HISTORIC DRILL INTERCEPT

Rua Gold Inc. has advised on the updated Cumberland gold camp drill target. This follows on from the integration of Vrify AI (artificial intelligence) into Rua's extensive geological database and the consolidation of the Reefton goldfield, an orogenic gold and antimony belt on the South Island of New Zealand.

Highlights:

• The AI contribution is already paying dividends as the tool has accelerated the identification of and prioritization of the company's drill targets;
• Prioritizing the Cumberland gold camp comprising of seven historic mines in a two-kilometre-long north-northwest-trending zone of quartz veins and shearing;
• Follow-up target on historic Cumberland drill hole, GAL001 showing 21.9 metres (five metres true width) of 92.0 grams per tonne gold, including one metre of 1,911 grams per tonne gold (60 ounces per ton);
• Drilling contractor is being mobilized and the company anticipates commencing drilling before the end of January.

The company is expanding its 2025 exploration program to include the Cumberland gold camp, a historic gold camp three kilometres south of Globe Progress mine, which has produced over one million ounces of gold (historic production prior to 1950 of 424,000 ounces and a further 665,000 ounces from 2007 to 2015 under Oceanagold Corp.).

Early win from Rua Gold'S Ai investment

The Cumberland target was identified by uncovering several exploratory holes drilled by Oceanagold 15 years ago, including hole GAL001, which had the following exceptional results on a well-defined quartz vein at shallow depth: GAL001 -- 21.9 metres (five metres true width) of 92.0 grams per tonne gold, including one metre of 1,911 grams per tonne gold (60 ounces per ton gold).

GAL001 was drilled down the vein, giving an exaggerated width but provides for a compelling and prospective target to follow up immediately.

Rua Gold has collated hundreds of thousands of data points from its recent Siren acquisition, historic workings and contemporary exploration on its multiple mine sites, and district-wide geophysical data over the Reefton Goldfields. The ability to combine rapid data mining of this information by Vrify, in concert with Rua Gold's extensive surface geochemistry and ultradetailed UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) magnetics accumulated in the past five years, provides the company with rapid feedback on a multilayered data set, which now focuses Rua Gold's prospect ranking and directly informs its drilling programs.

Simon Henderson, chief operating officer of Rua Gold, commented: "Consolidation of our holdings on the Reefton goldfield provides a plethora of gold targets and historic deposits to examine. AI-driven Vrify provides a science-data-driven platform to assimilate the vast amount of data available, identify patterns and associations at lightning speed, and provide iterative feedback, constantly updating and adding value as the exploration process rolls out. We are excited by its early success in highlighting key areas such as Cumberland to prioritize our drill activity planned in 2025."

Cumberland history

The Cumberland gold camp comprises seven historic mines in a two-kilometre-long north-northwest-trending zone of quartz veins and shearing. Historic production totalled 21,740 ounces gold at an average recovered grade of 26.1 grams per tonne (see appendices).

Initial drill target

Based on the extensive surface exploration work and historical drilling, the Gallant lode in the Cumberland gold camp presents an exceptional high-grade target that has never seen significant exploration work:

• It has quartz veins outcropping on surface within an envelope of strong gold-arsenic anomalism.
• It has several exploratory holes drilled by Oceanagold 15 years ago, which include exceptional results on a well-defined quartz vein at shallow depth (see attached table).
• Core orientation clearly demonstrates that this intersection drilled down the quartz reef exaggerating its width.
• Geological modelling interprets the vein to be approximately five metres wide.

Vrify's AI platform

The company has partnered with Vrify to onboard Vrify's AI-assisted mineral discovery platform to accelerate discovery, reduce costs and further derisk exploration.

In conjunction with the consolidation of the Reefton goldfield in November, 2024, the company implemented the Vrify AI tool. Early in the AI training phase, Cumberland was identified as a standout target. The Vrify team has assimilated geochemistry, drilling and geophysical data on an unprecedented scale and accuracy over the whole district, processing over 84 gigabytes of data, more than 170,000 data points, actively informing Rua Gold's 2025 drill targets for quicker project advancement and derisking the company's work programs.

Rua Gold's data, unlocked through Vrify's AI-assisted mineral discovery platform. This AI-assisted data synthesis enabled Rua Gold to actively and effectively rank its 2025 drill targets, accelerating its project advancement and derisking its work programs in a matter of minutes, a process that would have taken months, if performed manually.

Accelerated discovery

Rua Gold inherited thousands of data points from historic activity on its multiple mine sites and exploration work with the Reefton goldfields. The ability to rapidly mine this existing data for new insights and targets while incorporating recent work provided real-time feedback through Vrify's platform to inform drilling programs.

Scalability and cost savings

Rua Gold is just beginning and is confident that Vrify will continue to add value by allowing for the analysis of larger data sets without increasing costs linearly.

Higher accuracy

Vrify's proprietary AI model reduces human error and identifies patterns that manual review might miss, increasing discovery potential.

Quality assuranc/quality control historic drilling (MR 5093)

Rua Gold is treating the drill results as historic.

The qualified person has verified the data disclosed, including drill collar location, sampling and analytical information contained in the written disclosure:

1. Data were verified by examination of remaining core in the core box, confirming intervals, core splitting and interval handling procedures and logged core descriptions matched original core logging;
2. Verified the core sampling and assay procedures by examining and confirming from the original assay certificates of SGS and ALS laboratories that the sample numbers recorded matched the sample intervals logged;
3. Verified from original assay certificates stated blanks and certified standards and duplicates were used and reported, and where deviations outside 2 standard deviations, assays have been repeated;
4. Verified that suitable assay methodology for coarse gold was used by both laboratories SGS Reefton method FASC30T (screen fire assay) and ALS method Au-SCR22AA (screen fire assay);
5. The qualified person has verified in the zone of exceptionally high-grade gold values that gold is clearly visible in veinlets within a significant quartz vein; the qualified person satisfactorily verified all data used in this disclosure.

The QA/QC summarized from the Oceanagold report is as follows: "Diamond drill samples were generally taken over one-metre intervals and cut in half. Half the core was then sent to SGS or ALS. Some of the significant reef samples were analyzed at the ALS laboratory in Townsville for rapid processing and the rest were analyzed at the SGS laboratory in Westport. Due to the large amount of quartz reef drilled in the first part of the program, a screen fire technique was introduced at SGS (FAS30T).

"ALS Townsville performed one-kilogram screen fire assays (Au-SCR22AA), along with a standard fire assay procedure (Au-AA26). Diamond core submissions included at the minimum one blank and two certified standards and at least two lab duplicates taken after coarse crushing of the sample. If both standard assays from the same hole returned assay values outside two standard deviations of the actual value, the laboratory was requested to reassay the job. Assays from dispatches RD131025.1 and RD131106.1 showed significant deviation from standards and checks. These two batches were reassayed (RD131025.1R and RD131106.1R, respectively).

"All assay data was imported into the Reefton project acQuire database directly from laboratory reports."

About Rua Gold Inc.

Rua Gold is an exploration company, strategically focused on New Zealand. With decades of expertise, Rua Gold's team has successfully taken major discoveries into producing world-class mines across multiple continents. The team is now focused on maximizing the asset potential of Rua's two highly prospective high-grade gold projects.

The company controls the Reefton gold district as the dominant landholder in the Reefton goldfield on New Zealand's South Island with over 120,000 hectares of tenements in a district that historically produced over two million ounces of gold grading between nine and 50 grams per tonne.

The company's Glamorgan project solidifies Rua Gold's position as a leading high-grade gold explorer on New Zealand's North Island. This highly prospective project is located within the North Islands' Hauraki district, a region that has produced an impressive 15 million ounces of gold and 60 million ounces of silver. Glamorgan is adjacent to Oceanagold's biggest gold mining project, WKP.

For further information, please refer to the company's disclosure record on SEDAR+.

Technical information

Simon Henderson, CP, AUSIMM, a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained herein.

We seek Safe Harbor.