Freegold Ventures upgrades and expands resources at Golden Summit, Alaska

Freegold Ventures Ltd. [TSX: FVL; OTCQX: FGOVF] announced an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) for its Golden Summit Project near Fairbanks, Alaska. In line with the results from our 2023 drill program, the 2024 program has significantly increased the number of ounces and improved Indicated grades, all while maintaining finding costs below US$4/oz. This new estimate incorporates data from drilling conducted in 2024 and includes metallurgical recoveries from our extensive metallurgical program. This represents another critical milestone in our ongoing exploration and development efforts.

The 2024 drill program was highly successful at converting Inferred resources, upgrading and expanding Indicated resources – meeting the key objectives and providing a foundation for Pre-Feasibility activities. Indicated Primary Mineral Resource: 17.2 Moz at 1.24 g/t Au, a 42% increase in ounces and 15% grade increase from our Sept/24 resource estimate.

Inferred Primary Mineral Resource: 11.9 Moz at 1.04 g/t Au, a 11 % increase in ounces, at the same grade. Cut-off grades are unchanged at 0.50 g/t Au.

The 2025 Program will consist of infill and expansion drilling. Infilling is expected to continue the trend of enhancing grade and ounces, while converting Inferred Resources to Indicated Resources.

Ongoing Metallurgical Work has demonstrated >90% recoveries with sulphide-oxidizing methods such as BIOX┬«, POX, and the Albion Process™. Additional test work is ongoing for these and conventional processing methods.

In line with the results from the company’s 2023 drill program, the 2024 program significantly increased the number of ounces and improved Indicated grades, all while maintaining finding costs below US$4/oz. This new estimate incorporates data from drilling conducted in 2024 and includes metallurgical recoveries from our extensive metallurgical program. This represents another critical milestone in our ongoing exploration and development efforts.

The July 2025 resource estimate utilizes a recovery rate of 92%, which is the average of the three sulfide oxidation methods assessed to date, along with a 3-year trailing gold price of $2,490/oz. Processing costs have increased from US$14/tonne (72% recovery) to US$25/tonne (92% recovery) to account for the additional processing needed to achieve these higher recoveries. Ongoing metallurgical work aims to identify the most effective oxidation method for the deposit and to further optimize the use of gravity, flotation, and CIL techniques, determining if a simpler flowsheet is preferable.

Since 2020, Golden Summit has become one of North America’s largest undeveloped gold resources. The significant increase in resource ounces and grade is due to several targeted drilling campaigns conducted between 2020 and 2024, continuous upgrades to geological models, and a deeper understanding of the site. Additionally, strong metallurgical results have contributed to these advancements.

The drilling programs have discovered significantly higher-grade material and have converted previously classified waste areas into mineralized zones deemed potentially economically viable. The expansion of mineralization to the west has also provided new data on the higher-grade portions of Golden Summit. Consequently, there has been an increase in both the total indicated gold ounces and their grades within an open-pit context.

Over the last year, the focus has been on strengthening fault control boundaries to identify a higher-grade corridor, which has contributed to our success in increasing the overall grade of the indicated resource.

Freegold anticipates that further infill drilling will help convert Inferred resources into the Indicated category and may continue the trend of increasing grade as we reduce drill spacing. This will contribute to greater confidence in the higher-grade zones identified in our model. The most recent resource estimate indicates growth in both overall resources and grades, while also maintaining Freegold’s remarkably low discovery cost of less than $4.00/oz.

In 2025, Freegold will focus on upgrading Inferred resources to Indicated resources to support further the planned pre-feasibility study (PFS), scheduled to start later this year. Since inferred resources cannot be included in a PFS, drilling activities will focus on improving grade and increasing drill density to move inferred resources into the indicated category. Additionally, further drilling will aim to enhance the resource and define a smaller, higher-grade starter pit as the project progresses through the pre-feasibility phase. The goal is to reduce both operating and initial capital costs. This strategic approach is designed to optimize value by minimizing expenditures while maximizing resource grade and growth, thereby increasing overall effectiveness.

Supplementary metallurgical test holes will be drilled to obtain additional material for comprehensive testing. This will help optimize recovery rates and identify the most suitable processing methods. In addition, geotechnical drilling is being conducted to assess groundwater conditions. Ongoing archaeological, paleontological, and cultural resources studies are also part of the process.

At a 1.00 g/t cut-off grade, Indicated oxide resources stand at 4,154,000 tonnes grading 1.98 g/t gold, for 264,000 oz. At a 1.00 g/t cut-off grade, primary Indicated resources are 131,992,000 tonnes grading 2.51 g/t gold, for 10,666,000 oz. At a cut-off grade of 1.00 g/t, under pit Indicated resources are 1,106,000 tones grading 1.38 g/t gold, for 49,000 oz.

The past five years have been transformational for the company. Plans include further metallurgical test work, as well as additional infill and expansion drilling. The 2024 program demonstrated our ability to both expand the resource and improve the overall resource grade. A Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS), which will incorporate the 2025 drilling results, is expected to commence later this year.