Mr. Robert Eckford reports

RUA GOLD STRENGTHENS MANAGEMENT TEAM WITH APPOINTMENT OF VP, EXPLORATION

Rua Gold Inc. has strengthened and expanded its management team through the appointment of Emmett D'Urso as vice-president, exploration. Mr. D'Usro will work directly with the company's chief operating officer, Simon Henderson, further enhancing Rua Gold's technical capabilities.

With more than 13 years of mineral exploration experience, Mr. D'Urso brings extensive expertise in orogenic gold exploration, particularly within the Victorian Goldfields, where he has focused on high-grade, narrow vein, Fosterville-style deposits. This experience is especially relevant as Rua Gold's Reefton project shares similar geological characteristics. Most recently, he contributed to exploration programs at Global Ore Discovery, where he played a key role in drill program planning and budgeting for antimony projects in New South Wales.

Prior to that Mr. D'Urso served as a senior site official with De Grey Mining during the pivotal Hemi study phase. In this role, he oversaw daily site operations, managed multidisciplinary exploration teams, and contributed to both greenfields and resource definition campaigns. His leadership and operational oversight through this transformative period at De Grey underscore his ability to guide projects from early discovery toward development with a strong focus on safety, efficiency and stakeholder engagement.

Rua Gold chief executive officer Robert Eckford commented: "On behalf of our board of directors and management team, I am pleased to welcome Emmett D'Urso as our new vice-president of exploration. Emmett's depth of experience working on analog deposits in the Bendigo-Ballarat region brings valuable insight directly applicable to our projects. His addition strengthens our technical team as we advance our portfolio, particularly in Reefton.

"With Emmett on board, Simon Henderson, our COO, will be able to dedicate more time to driving forward our Glamorgan project, where we expect to ramp up activities in Q4 2025. The ongoing expansion of our technical team with such high-calibre talent highlights both the strength of our projects and our commitment to unlocking their full potential."

Option and DSU grant

The company granted 100,000 options to Mr. D'Urso of the company in accordance with the company's stock option plan dated July 24, 2024. Each option is exercisable into one common share at an exercise price of 78 cents per common share for five years following the date of grant. The options are subject to a three-year vesting period with 33,333 options vesting on Oct. 1, 2026, 33,333 options vesting on Oct. 1, 2027, and 33,334 options vesting on Oct. 1, 2028.

The company also announces the grant of 140,778 deferred share units (DSUs) to non-executive directors of the company at a deemed price of 70 cents per DSU, in accordance with the company's DSU plan dated July 24, 2024. The DSUs are subject to a one-year vesting. Each DSU entitles the holder to receive one common share at the time the holder ceases to be a director of the company.

New marketing agreement

The company engaged Global One Media Group Pte. Ltd. commencing Oct. 1, 2025. Pursuant to the investor relations agreement, Global One Media has agreed to provide content development and digital marketing services. Global One Media is an investor-focused digital marketing firm and will assist the company with its digital and social media influencer marketing efforts.

The term of the agreement with Global One Media commences on Oct. 1, 2025, and ends March 31, 2026. The Global One agreement may be renewed on a monthly basis after the initial term upon the mutual agreement of the company and Global One Media. Under the terms of the Global One agreement, the company has agreed to pay Global One Media a monthly cash fee of $5,500 (U.S.). There are no performance factors impacting the compensation of Global One Media, and Global One Media will not receive any securities of the company as compensation. Global One Media does not have any interest, directly or indirectly, in the company. The Global One agreement is subject to regulatory approval by the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Rua Gold Inc.

Rua Gold is an exploration company, strategically focused on New Zealand. With decades of expertise, the company'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 Gold'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 Moz (million ounces) of gold and 60 Moz of silver. Glamorgan is adjacent to OceanaGold Corp.'s biggest gold mining project, Wharekirauponga.

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