Mr. James Hesketh reports

VIVA GOLD COMMENCES TECHNICAL STUDY AT ITS TONOPAH GOLD PROJECT IN NEVADA

Viva Gold Corp. has commenced a comprehensive technical study for its 100-per-cent-owned Tonopah gold project, located near the town of Tonopah, Nev. The study is expected to be completed to a prefeasibility (PFS) level, with certain components of the study anticipated to meet feasibility-level standards.

Advancing Tonopah into this next phase represents an important step in the systematic progression of the project, building on prior economic and technical work. The study is designed to further refine mine design, processing options, capital and operating costs, and permitting pathways, while continuing to reduce technical and execution risk.

"We believe that advancing the Tonopah gold project into a formal technical study is a meaningful step toward unlocking additional value, significantly derisking the project by establishing a detailed mine plan, capital and operating cost framework, and a declared proven and probable mineral reserve. Importantly, the study is expected to provide a clear road map toward permitting and capital efficient mine development. We anticipate completing this study over the next eight to nine months," stated James Hesketh, president and chief executive officer.

Kappes Cassiday & Associates (KCA) of Reno, Nev., has been appointed as lead author of the PFS and will be responsible for metallurgy, flow sheet, plants, dry stack, heap leach, infrastructure, and capital and operating cost estimation for those functions. Independent Mining Consultants of Tucson, Ariz., will be responsible for resources, reserves, mine design, and mine capital and operating cost estimation. Additional specialized consultants with extensive regional experience will contribute to geotechnical analysis, groundwater modelling, permitting, environmental, soil studies, and leach pad stacking and waste rock storage design.

Contractors and consultants for this project have been selected based on their strong experience and familiarity in Nevada and the southwest United States with both large- and small-scale open-pit gold mine and heap-leach/mill projects. This regional expertise includes familiarity with local infrastructure, logistics, vendor and supplier networks, environmental and permitting requirements, local design issues, and capital and operating cost structures.

Relative to Viva's June, 2025, preliminary economic assessment, the current technical study is expected to incorporate refinements, including:

• Updated resource model to include new geologic or drilling information;
• A mine plan emphasizing accelerated access to near-surface, higher-grade mill feed while stockpiling early low-grade heap-leach material;
• Staged capital investment focusing on early high-return mill operations while deferring low-grade leach production to later in the mine life;
• Coarser crush size for heap-leach production to reduce both capital and operating cost;
• Trade-off study on contract versus owner mining, but with a focus on ore control for segregation of high- and low-grade gold mineralization for selective heap-leach and mill processing;
• Optimize pit-slope angles utilizing updated geologic, structural and hydrologic information;
• Use of PFS to write a plan of operations required to commence project permitting.

Collectively, these refinements are intended to further improve project definition, enhance capital efficiency, and support the orderly advancement of Tonopah toward permitting and development.

About Viva Gold Corp.

Viva Gold's 100-per-cent-owned Tonopah gold project sits in the middle of gold mining country about a half-hour drive south of the Round Mountain mine owned by Kinross Gold and controls a major land position on the prolific Walker Lane trend in western Nevada. Viva has developed a high-confidence-level gold mineral resource and can demonstrate the potential for an economically viable open-pit, heap-leach/mill gold project through a rigorous PEA (preliminary economic assessment) study. Viva Gold is committed to developing the Tonopah gold project in an environmentally and socially responsible fashion. These values are aligned with management's core values and permeate throughout the company's decision-making process.

Viva Gold is led by CEO James Hesketh, a 40-year veteran in the mining space who has led the development and construction of eight other mines around the world throughout his career. Mr. Hesketh has surrounded himself with equally experienced mining professionals both on the management team and the board.

Viva Gold trades on the TSX Venture Exchange (symbol: VAU), on the OTCQB (symbol: VAUCF) and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (symbol: 7PB). Viva currently has approximately 172 million shares outstanding and boasts a best-in-class management team and board with decades of gold exploration and production experience. The company is advancing its high-grade Tonopah gold project in mining-friendly Nevada with the support of several institutional shareholders.

James Hesketh, MMSA-QP, has approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this press release. Mr. Hesketh is not independent of the company; he is an officer and a director.

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