Mr. Michael Hudson reports

SOUTHERN CROSS GOLD ANNOUNCES PYBAR AWARDED EXPLORATION DECLINE CONTRACT FOR SUNDAY CREEK

Southern Cross Gold Consolidated Ltd. has advised that PYBAR Mining Services Pty. Ltd., a Thiess company, has been awarded the underground exploration decline contract for the company's Sunday Creek gold-antimony project, 60 kilometres north of Melbourne, Victoria. The award follows the Resources Victoria work plan approval received in November, 2025, and Premier Jacinta Allan's public endorsement of the project as a critical minerals jobs opportunity for Victoria.

High-level takeaways:

• Contract award. PYBAR awarded the underground decline (tunnel) contract at Sunday Creek, Victoria, following a competitive tender. PYBAR is a part of the Thiess Group.
• Drilling acceleration. Once completed by year-end, the decline will allow the current 11 surface rigs to be expanded to 24 surface and underground rigs. Sunday Creek will be one of the largest predevelopment drill-outs globally.
• Scope. Box cut ground support, portal establishment, primary decline and support services installation, and initial lateral development including diamond drilling platforms over a term of seven months.
• Southern Cross team buildout. Shane Leary appointed projects manager (operations); Ben Edwards appointed underground development manager. Both report to the chief operating officer.
• Future. The new team members and drilling acceleration provide for the continuing development of a project the company believes has the potential to become a significant Allied supplier of antimony and gold.

Michael Hudson, president and chief executive officer, states: "The Allan Labor government approved our exploration decline on Nov. 27, 2025. In the five months since, we have been establishing the surface infrastructure and secured the secondary consents required to commence underground mining. With these in place, we are pleased to confirm the award of the decline contract to PYBAR.

"The decline is fundamentally about accelerating drilling. Underground platforms 115 metres beneath surface scale us from the 11 surface rigs operating today to 24 rigs working concurrently from underground positions, positioning Sunday Creek as one of the largest predevelopment drillouts globally.

"With the PYBAR contract awarded, and Shane Leary and Ben Edwards onboard, we have the contractor and the operational leadership in place to look forward to year-end decline completion and significant increased drilling capacity for this exciting gold and antimony discovery."

Decline scope and drilling acceleration

The contract covers primary and secondary ground support installation of the box cut, portal establishment and primary decline development together with associated services and infrastructure, and initial lateral development. Scope includes a box cut of approximately 15 metres depth, a primary 5.5 m wide by six m high decline of approximately 680 metres reaching a vertical depth of approximately 115 metres, and 1,200 metres of lateral development to establish the initial drilling platforms. The initial term is seven months. PYBAR was selected following a competitive tender process assessing technical capability, safety record, delivery schedule and price.

The decline is being built primarily to accelerate drilling. Establishing underground drill platforms unlocks the scale-up from the 11 surface rigs operating today to 24 rigs working concurrently, positioning Sunday Creek as one of the largest predevelopment drill-outs globally. Underground drilling delivers shorter, more accurate holes into mineralization and materially improves productivity per metre.

Team buildout for the underground phase

In parallel with the PYBAR award, Southern Cross has appointed two senior operational leaders, both reporting to the chief operating officer. The appointments build out the team necessary to take Sunday Creek from exploration into underground development.

Shane Leary -- projects manager. Mr. Leary brings 25-plus years of project management, civil construction and mine development experience. He joins from Terrequip Pty. Ltd., where he led the Beechworth mine-to-quarry transition and restart, and is the founder/director of consultancy DAS Mining Solutions. Recent senior roles include program lead/project manager -- operational mining systems at BHP's West Musgrave copper-nickel project. Mr. Leary will co-ordinate surface works delivery across civil, electrical and structural scopes through the predevelopment phase, including roads, power, water, buildings and site infrastructure.

Ben Edwards -- underground development manager. Mr. Edwards joins Southern Cross from BHP's Carrapateena underground copper mine in South Australia, where he was most recently superintendent development, and previously held superintendent roles in mine projects and the site operations centre. He brings 15-plus years of underground mining and operational leadership, including more than two years underground and three years leading mining operations teams. At Sunday Creek, Mr. Edwards will plan, co-ordinate, and oversee underground development and production.

Further information

Further discussion and analysis of the Sunday Creek project is available through the interactive Vrify 3-D animations, presentations and videos all available on the Southern Cross website. These data, along with an interview on these results with president and chief executive officer/managing director Michael Hudson can be viewed at the company's website.

Critical Metal epizonal gold-antimony deposits

Sunday Creek is an epizonal gold-antimony deposit formed in the late Devonian (like Fosterville, Costerfield and Redcastle), 60 million years later than mesozonal gold systems formed in Victoria (for example Ballarat and Bendigo). Epizonal deposits are a form of orogenic gold deposit classified according to their depth of formation: epizonal (less than six km), mesozonal (six km to 12 km) and hypozonal (greater than 12 km).

Epizonal deposits in Victoria often have associated high levels of the critical metal, antimony and Sunday Creek is no exception. China claims a 56-per-cent share of global mined supplies of antimony, according to a 2023 European Union study. Antimony features highly on the critical minerals lists of many countries including Australia, the United States, Canada, Japan and the European Union. Australia ranks seventh for antimony production despite all production coming from a single mine at Costerfield in Victoria, located nearby to all Southern Cross projects. Antimony alloys with lead and tin which results in improved properties for solders, munitions, bearings and batteries. Antimony is a prominent additive for halogen-containing flame retardants. Adequate supplies of antimony are critical to the world's energy transition, and to the high-tech industry, especially the semi-conductor and defence sectors where it is a critical additive to primers in munitions.

Antimony represents approximately 21 per cent to 24 per cent in situ recoverable value of Sunday Creek at an AuEq (gold equivalent) of 2.39 ratio.

About Southern Cross Gold Consolidated Ltd.

Southern Cross Gold Consolidated is defining a leading gold-antimony project at the Sunday Creek gold-antimony project, located 60 km north of Melbourne. Sunday Creek is a significant gold and antimony drill discovery in a Tier 1 location, with high-grade drill results including 85 composite intersections exceeding 100 grams per tonne Au from 119.6 km of drilling. The mineralization follows a Golden Ladder structure over 12 km of strike length, with structures tested from surface to 1,100 m depth.

Sunday Creek's strategic value is enhanced by its dual-metal profile. The company has a critical mineral the Western world needs. This has gained increased significance following China's export restrictions on antimony, a critical metal for defence and semiconductor applications. Southern Cross's inclusion in the U.S. Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC) and Australia's AUKUS-related legislative changes position it as a potential key Western antimony supplier.

Technical fundamentals further strengthen the investment case, with preliminary metallurgical work showing non-refractory mineralization suitable for conventional processing and gold recoveries of 93 per cent to 98 per cent through gravity and flotation.

With a strong cash position, 1,392 hectares of strategic freehold land ownership and a large 200 km drill program planned through Q1 2027, Southern Cross is well positioned to advance this globally significant gold-antimony discovery in a Tier 1 jurisdiction, delivering milestone by milestone.

We seek Safe Harbor.