New Found Gold keeps expanding Dropkick Zone, Queensway Gold Project

New Found Gold Corp. [TSXV: NFG; NYSE American: NFGC] reported final results from 2025 drilling at its Dropkick Zone, confirming further expansion of the Zone on its 100%-owned Queensway Gold Project in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Dropkick highlights west of the Appleton Fault Zone (AFZ) include 24.8 g/t Au over 14.00 metres from 324.00 metres (NFGC-25-2686), 13.4 g/t Au over 8.10 metres from 368.15 metres (NFGC-25-2673) and 1.25 g/t Au over 10.60 metres from 195.00 metres (NFGC-25-2624).

Dropkick highlights east of the AFZ include: 6.75 g/t Au over 18.35 metres from 282.60 metres (NFGC-25-2518).

Melissa Render, President of New Found Gold, stated, “These recent drill results continue to expand Dropkick both west and east of the AFZ, with the high-grade domain west of the AFZ demonstrating excellent continuity. Dropkick remains open along strike and to depth; with our 2025 drilling, we have now expanded this zone over a 1.4 km strike extent and from surface to a vertical depth of 300 metres. We look forward to resuming drilling at Dropkick later this year and bringing this high-grade discovery into our next mineral resource estimate.”

Dropkick is located in the AFZ Peripheral area (AFZP), approximately 11 km north of the AFZ Core. This press release reports results from step-out drilling at Dropkick, which includes a high-grade gold domain discovered in initial drilling by the company in late 2024. Results from 2024 Dropkick drilling were received after the cut-off for the Queensway initial mineral resource estimate (MRE) and are not included in the initial MRE. Results from the company’s 2024 and 2025 drilling at Dropkick will be included in an MRE update planned for H2/26.

Results from the final 6,145 m of 2025 drilling in 20 diamond drill holes (DDH) at Dropkick completed in Q4/25 as part of an exploration program at AFZP are presented herein. A total of 11,919 metres in 39 DDH was completed in 2025 and an initial 4,624 metres in 14 DDH was completed in 2024 by the company at Dropkick.

Drilling at Dropkick in 2025 focused on expanding mineralization along the Dropkick fault zone, including targeted drilling of the high-grade domain at the southern extent, with step-outs to the north and south, as well as east of the AFZ.

The majority of the gold mineralization discovered to date at Dropkick is located on the west side of the AFZ. Drilling in 2025 extended the high-grade domain from surface to a vertical depth of 285 metres over a strike length of approximately 85 metres, with mineralization intersected at vertical depths of up to 300 metres. Step-out drilling completed in Q4/25 on the northern extent has expanded mineralization associated with the Dropkick fault zone from 815 metres to over 1,400 metres along strike. Dropkick remains open along strike and to depth.

Continued step-out drilling targeting the previously mentioned high-grade domain is highly continuous, highlighted by 24.8 g/t Au over 14.0 metres from 324.00 metres (NFGC-25-2686) and 13.4 g/t Au over 8.10 metres from 368.15 metres (NFGC-25-2673). These intercepts occur within the deeper extents of the Dropkick high-grade domain at the southwest portion of the Dropkick fault zone.

Limited drilling has been completed to date on the eastern side of the AFZ at Dropkick. This area is of particular interest as it is the same structural domain that hosts the Keats and Iceberg zones to the south at AFZ Core. In late 2025, continued drilling across the AFZ into the eastern portion of Dropkick intersected another high-grade interval of 6.75 g/t Au over 18.35 metres (NFGC-25-2518), located just over 100 metres from the previously released 5.30 g/t Au over 15.20 metres (NFGC-25-2233) and approximately 940 metres from the previously released interval of 7.2 g/t Au over 10.50 metres (NFGC-25-2448). These intercepts east of the AFZ highlight the strength of the mineralizing system along this segment of the AFZ.

Significant expansion potential remains at Dropkick along strike and at depth, including east of the AFZ. Drilling is planned to resume at Dropkick in late Q2/26, focusing on expansion at the southern extent before transitioning to targeted and reconnaissance drilling across the eastern domain. The company is also advancing target development further north along the AFZ, in recently acquired ground, with drilling planned to test these targets.

The 2025 Queensway drill program included 74,377 metres of drilling in 614 diamond DDH, with approximately 75% of the drilling focused on the AFZ Core area to support advancement of the Phase 1 mine plan, as outlined in the company’s PEA, and 25% focused on exploration targets such as Dropkick. To date, approximately 35% of the results from 2025 drilling remain outstanding, as well as channel sampling results from the Lotto excavation. These results will be reported once available.

The 2026 Queensway drill program is underway, with four drill rigs currently active. Initial 2026 infill drilling is planned to first target PEA Phase 2 open pit resource conversion, transitioning later in the year to PEA Phase 3 underground resource conversion.

The company plans to expand its grade control drilling beginning in Q2/26. The next phase of work will leverage results from the 2025 program to optimize drill hole spacing and program scope. This will include completing the initial grade-control drilling at the Iceberg excavation, commencing grade-control drilling at the Lotto excavation and potentially expanding the grade-control drilling at the Keats and Iceberg excavations. The objective of this work is to improve confidence in the distribution of gold mineralization and support mine planning as outlined for the PEA Phase 1 open pits.

Exploration drilling will focus on AFZ Core resource expansion including an initial grid-based program targeting the prospective corridor adjacent to the AFZ at Bullseye, continued step-outs at Dropkick and targeted segments of the AFZ at AFZ Peripheral. A regional drilling program testing advanced targets at Queensway South is in the planning phase and expected to commence in H2/26.

The company plans to file an updated Technical Report for Queensway, which will include an updated mineral resource estimate, in H2/26.

New Found Gold is an emerging Canadian gold producer with assets in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The company holds a 100% interest in Queensway and the Hammerdown Gold Project, which includes the Hammerdown deposit and fully permitted milling and tailings facilities. The company is currently focused on advancing its flagship Queensway to production and bringing the Hammerdown deposit into commercial production.

In July 2025, the company completed a PEA at Queensway. Recent drilling continues to yield new discoveries along strike and down dip of known gold zones, pointing to the district-scale potential that covers a +110 km strike extent along two prospective fault zones at Queensway.