New Found Gold expands Dropkick Zone at Queensway Gold Project, Newfoundland and Labrador

New Found Gold Corp. [TSXV: NFG; NYSE American: NFGC] reported new drill results from exploration drilling at AFZ Peripheral (AFZP) as part of the company’s ongoing 2025 drill program on its 100%-owned Queensway Gold Project in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Highlights include: Dropkick zone step-out program, west of the Appleton Fault Zone (AFZ): 29.2 g/t Au over 9.25 metres (NFGC-25-2317); 20.9 g/t Au over 11.10 m (NFGC-25-2390); 8.31 g/t Au over 18.20 m (NFGC-25-2394) and 4.55 g/t Au over 28.55 m (NFGC-25-2408).

Dropkick east of the AFZ: 7.20 g/t Au over 10.15 metres (NFGC-25-2448).

Blue Jay zone follow-up program: 84.4 g/t Au over 2.00 metres (NFGC-25-2373) and 2.94 g/t Au over 16.00 metres (NFGC-25-2352).

Melissa Render, President of New Found Gold stated: “In late 2024, we made a high-grade discovery at Dropkick in the AFZ Peripheral area at Queensway. Initial 2025 drill results have expanded the mineralized footprint at Dropkick to 815 metres along strike and to a depth of 285 metres. Importantly, the zone remains open along strike and to depth. New results confirm the presence of high-grade mineralization and current exploration is focused on its expansion.

“Located along the AFZ, 11 km north of AFZ Core, Dropkick clearly demonstrates the camp potential in our substantial landholdings at Queensway. We look forward to continuing to drill test Dropkick and other exciting new discoveries as part of our 2025 exploration program,” continued Ms. Render.

The results reported herein include step-out drilling at Dropkick, a zone of high-grade mineralization discovered in Q4/24 as well as reconnaissance drilling targeting a significant Au-in-soil and gold-in-rotary air blast (RAB) anomaly at Blue Jay.

This news release includes results from 9,477 metres of drilling in 30 diamond drill holes (DDH) completed in Q3/25 as part of exploration drilling programs at AFZ Peripheral (AFZP).

The primary objective of the ongoing 2025 drilling at Dropkick is to expand this zone of high-grade mineralization located at AFZ Peripheral, approximately 11 km north of AFZ Core. Initial results from 2024 drilling were received after the database was closed for the company’s initial mineral resource estimate and are therefore not included in the initial MRE. Step-out drilling is focused on expanding the gold-bearing Dropkick fault zone along strike both to the north and towards the south.

Building on the high-grade discovery at Dropkick in Q4/25, highlights from the first holes from the 2025 program include 29.2 g/t Au over 9.25 metres (NFGC-25-2317); 20.9 g/t Au over 11.10 metres (NFGC-25-2390), 8.31 g/t Au over 18.20 metres (NFGC-25-2394) and 4.55 g/t Au over 28.55 metres (NFGC-25-2408).

These intercepts occur in the southwest extent of the Dropkick fault zone in a domain of high-grade mineralization discovered in Q4/24. Continued exploration drilling in 2025 has successfully extended the high-grade mineralization from surface to a vertical depth of 285 metres and across a strike length of 75 metres. Ongoing step-out drilling both on the northern and southern boundaries has expanded mineralization associated with the Dropkick fault zone across a strike length of 815 metres.

Dropkick is open along strike and at depth and additional drilling is planned to continue to test the extent and tenor of this high-grade zone.

A further 150 metres to the south, step-out drilling testing within the prospective window surrounding the AFZ and the southern extension of Dropkick intersected 7.20 g/t Au over 10.15 metres (NFGC-25-2448) on the east side of the AFZ. This is the first drill hole in the area, and follow-up drilling is planned.

The Dropkick zone is the most northern gold discovery found to date along the AFZ. It is located 11 km northeast of the AFZ Core area and exhibits characteristics similar to the primary discovery area indicating that the gold mineral system at Queensway spans a considerable distance to the north.

Blue Jay (AFZ Peripheral Reconnaissance): Located between Dropkick and the Pistachio zone along the AFZ at AFZP, continued reconnaissance drilling targeting a gold-arsenic soil anomaly and gold-in-RAB has delivered encouraging results, including 84.4 g/t Au over 2.00 metres (NFGC-25-2373) and 2.94 g/t Au over 16.00 metres (NFGC-25-2352).

These results follow-up initial Q4/24 drilling that included 6.44 g/t Au over 2.95 metres (NFGC-24-2212) and visible gold in two of the four holes drilled.

Drilling to date has intersected a series of brittle structures and broad low-grade mineralization with localized high-grade zones, including coarse gold in quartz veins that extends across an area approximately 250 m by 50 m. The source of the soil anomaly has not yet been identified and the company intends to evaluate these results to guide follow-up work.

The 70,000-metre 2025 Queensway drill program commenced in May 2025, with approximately 80% of the drilling focused on the AFZ Core area and the remaining 20% focused on exploration targets outside the MRE area. The 2025 Queensway drill program is over 75% complete and is on track to finish all proposed drilling by year-end.

Infill drilling covering the PEA Phase 1 open pits, with the objective of converting resources from inferred to indicated, is ongoing and expected to be completed in Q4/25. Additional ongoing drilling at Queensway includes geotechnical drilling of PEA Phase 1 pits, condemnation drilling for infrastructure and plant siting and hydrogeological drilling, all of which has commenced and is expected to conclude in Q4/25.

Exploration drilling continues at AFZP in the vicinity of Dropkick.

In addition to the 2025 drill program, an excavation program is underway to excavate, map and channel sample near-surface zones of the AFZ Core, with the objective of validating the geological model and collecting detailed analytical information across key zones that will be part of the PEA Phase 1 mine plan.

Excavation, mapping and channel sampling of the Lotto zone is now complete and samples have been sent for analysis. The Lotto excavation has uncovered a 210 m long by 70 m area; results from this work will be released when available.

With channel sampling at Keats and Iceberg complete, a 5 m by 5 m definition drilling program covering a 65 m by 30 m area is ongoing at Keats and a 5 m by 5 m definition drilling program covering a 60 m by 45 m area has commenced at Iceberg in late Q4/25.

New Found Gold is a well-financed advanced-stage exploration company that holds a 100% interest in Queensway, a Tier 1 jurisdiction with excellent infrastructure and a skilled local workforce. The company has 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 of the Project that covers a +110 km strike extent along two prospective fault zones.

On September 5, 2025 the company announced it had entered into a definitive agreement with Maritime Resources Corp. to acquire all of the outstanding and issued shares that it does not already own. On September 8, 2025, the company announced it had entered into a property purchase agreement with Exploits Discover Corp. that would provide New Found Gold with a 100% interest in certain mineral claims in Newfoundland and Labrador held by Exploits. The claims adjoin New Found Gold’s Queensway and would increase the size of the Project by up to 33%, to a total of 234,050 hectares.

New Found Gold has a new management team in place, a solid shareholder base, which includes an approximately 23.1% holding by Eric Sprott.