Ms. Melissa Render reports

NEW FOUND INTERCEPTS 3.29 G/T AU OVER 42.4M, FURTHER DEFINES 30M+ THICK GOLD ZONE AT KEATS WEST

New Found Gold Corp. has released the results from 11 diamond drill holes that were completed as part of a drill program designed to test the newly discovered Keats West zone, a low-angle thrust fault that dips gently to the south-southwest and is located on the west side of the highly prospective Appleton fault zone (AFZ). New Found's 100-per-cent-owned Queensway project comprises a 1,662-square-kilometre area, accessible via the Trans-Canada Highway, 15 km west of Gander, Nfld.

Keats West highlights:

• Intervals of 3.29 grams per tonne gold over 42.35 metres in NFGC-23-1129 as well as 2.19 g/t Au over 37.30 m and 1.73 g/t Au over 24 m in NFGC-23-1091 occur just 30 m from surface and 80 m along strike from previously reported 42.6 g/t Au over 32 m in NFGC-22-960 (November, 2022) at Keats West. These holes were designed to fill significant gaps in the main portion of the Keats West zone.
• Keats West has a known footprint spanning 305 m long by 315 m wide and starts at surface, with all intercepts drilled to date occurring above 130 m vertical depth. The zone has a cumulative average thickness of 30 m.
• Today's highlight intervals are interpreted to be close to true width, occur near surface and demonstrate that the gold mineralization can span cumulative widths greater than 60 m in places. Drilling to date has identified several locations within the Keats West structure where this occurs, with one such example being the aggregate interval of 1.94 g/t Au over 79.75 m in NFGC-22-833, reported March 21, 2023.

Melissa Render, vice-president of exploration, stated: "Exactly one year ago today, we announced the discovery of Keats West (Sept. 27, 2022). At that time, there was little understanding about the prospectivity of the west side of the Appleton fault. Through aggressive drilling in just 12 short months, Keats West has transformed into one of our most significant zones, spanning 305 m long by 315 m wide. This discovery has proven pivotal for New Found, changing our perspective on the west side of the AFZ and leading to the discovery of several additional gold zones in this domain, such as K2 and Monte Carlo."

Queensway 500,000 m drill program update

The company is currently undertaking a 500,000 m drill program at Queensway, and approximately 37,500 m of core are currently pending assay results.

Sampling, subsampling and laboratory

All drilling recovers HQ core. Drill core is split in half, using a diamond saw or a hydraulic splitter for rare intersections with incompetent core.

A geologist examines the drill core and marks out the intervals to be sampled and the cutting line. Sample lengths are mostly one metre and adjusted to respect lithological and/or mineralogical contacts and isolate narrow (less than one m) veins or other structures that may yield higher grades.

Technicians saw the core along the defined cutting line. One-half of the core is kept as a witness sample, and the other half is submitted for analysis. Individual sample bags are sealed, placed into totes and marked with the contents.

New Found has been submitting samples for gold determination by fire assay to ALS Canada Ltd. and by photon assay to MSALabs since June, 2022. ALS and MSA operate under a commercial contract with New Found.

Drill core samples are shipped to ALS for sample preparation in Sudbury, Ont., Thunder Bay, Ont., or Moncton, N.B. ALS is an ISO-17025-accredited laboratory for the fire assay method.

Drill core samples are also submitted to MSA in Val d'Or, Que. MSA operates numerous laboratories worldwide and maintains ISO-17025 accreditation for many metal determination methods. Accreditation of the photon assay method at the MSA Val d'Or laboratory is in progress.

At ALS, the entire sample is crushed to approximately 70 per cent passing two millimetres. A 3,000 g split is pulverized. Routine samples do not have visible gold identified and are not within a mineralized zone. Routine samples are assayed for gold by 30 g fire assay with an inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP) finish. If the initial 30 g fire assay gold result is over one g/t, the remainder of the 3,000 g split is screened at 106 micrometres for screened metallic assay. For the screened metallic assay, the entire coarse fraction (sized greater than 106 micrometres) is fire assayed, and two splits of the fine fraction (sized fewer than 106 micrometres) are fire assayed. The three assays are combined on a weight-averaged basis. Samples that have visible gold identified or fall within a mineralized interval are automatically submitted for screened metallic assay for gold.

At MSA, the entire sample is crushed to approximately 70 per cent passing two millimetres. For routine samples that do not have VG identified and are not within a mineralized zone, the samples are riffle split to fill two 450 g jars for photon assay. The assays reported from both jars are combined on a weight-averaged basis. If one of the jars assays greater than one g/t, the remaining crushed material is weighed into multiple jars and submitted for photon assay.

For samples that have VG identified or are within a mineralized zone, the entire crushed sample is weighed into multiple jars and submitted for photon assay. The assays from all jars are combined on a weight-averaged basis.

All samples prepared at ALS or MSA are also analyzed for a multielement ICP package (ALS method code ME-ICP61) at ALS Vancouver.

Drill program design, quality assurance/quality control and interpretation of results are performed by qualified persons employing a rigorous quality assurance/quality control program consistent with industry best practices. Standards and blanks account for a minimum of 10 per cent of the samples, in addition to each laboratory's internal quality assurance/quality control programs.

Quality control data are evaluated on receipt from the laboratories for failures. Appropriate action is taken if assay results for standards and blanks fall outside allowed tolerances. All results stated have passed New Found's quality control protocols.

New Found's quality control program also includes the submission of the second half of the core for approximately 2 per cent of the drilled intervals. In addition, approximately 1 per cent of sample pulps for mineralized samples are submitted for reanalysis to a second ISO-accredited laboratory for check assays.

The company does not recognize any factors of drilling, sampling or recovery that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the assay data disclosed.

The assay data disclosed in this news release have been verified by the company's qualified person against the original assay certificates.

The company notes that it has not completed any economic evaluations of its Queensway project and that the Queensway project does not have any resources or reserves.

Qualified person

The scientific and technical information disclosed in this press release was reviewed and approved by Greg Matheson, PGeo, chief operating officer, a qualified person as defined under National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Matheson consents to the publication of this press release dated Sept. 27, 2023, by New Found. Mr. Matheson 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 holds a 100-per-cent interest in the Queensway project, located 15 kilometres west of Gander, Nfld., and just 18 km from Gander International Airport. The project is intersected by the Trans-Canada Highway and has logging roads crosscutting the project, high-voltage electric power lines running through the project area, and easy access to a highly skilled work force. The company is currently undertaking a 500,000-metre drill program at Queensway and is well financed for this program, with cash and marketable securities of approximately $39.5-million as of September, 2023.

We seek Safe Harbor.