Lode Gold's New Mineral Resource Estimate: 1.11 Moz of Gold - 18.8 Mt at 1.84 g/t Au (Measured & Indicated) and 1.99 Moz of Gold (Inferred) - 33.1 Mt at 1.86 g/t Au at Fremont Gold Mine

Lode Gold announced an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the 100%-owned Fremont Gold Mine in California. The estimate incorporates a new geological model shifting from narrow-vein to a continuous mineralized body, using a 1 g/t Au cut-off. The result: Measured & Indicated (M&I) resources of 1.11 Moz Au (18.7 Mt at 1.84 g/t Au) and Inferred resources of 1.98 Moz Au (33.1 Mt at 1.86 g/t Au). Economic parameters assume US$3,500/oz gold, 91% metallurgical recovery, and a stope-optimized cut-off of 0.82 g/t Au. The MRE integrates over 7,000 newly digitized historical underground channel samples, growing the database to more than 38,000 entries. The company intends to initiate a Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) in Q2 2026. Upside potential includes coarse gold (30% of recoverable gold), as-yet-unmodeled silver credits, and nine additional exploration targets identified by AI.

This MRE represents a dramatic improvement in resource confidence. The prior 2025 MRE (3 g/t cut-off) held only 133,000 oz of M&I gold; the new estimate boosts M&I ounces to 1.11 Moz — a more than eightfold increase. The 2023 PEA had indicated resources of 1.16 Moz at 1.90 g/t, so the new M&I grade (1.84 g/t) is slightly lower, but the tonnage and confidence are now sufficient to support a PFS — a key de-risking milestone.

The shift to a bulk underground model had been telegraphed (internal scoping study, data consolidation, new block model), yet the scale of the M&I upgrade exceeds expectations relative to the company’s tiny market cap. The resource now provides a solid foundation for project economics, even if the intended joint-venture partner from the December 2025 LOI never materialized. The news is genuinely new, technically robust, and market-moving for a junior developer.

While not a “game changer” absent a strategic partnership or takeover, the MRE is a material-positive development that significantly de-risks Fremont and positions Lode for its next steps.

Lode Gold Resources is a gold development company focused on the Fremont Gold Mine in Mariposa County, California. Fremont is a brownfield, past-producing mine with 100%-owned private/patented land (3,351 acres) located in a federal Opportunity Zone. The project covers a 4 km strike of the Mother Lode Belt with existing infrastructure including 23 km of underground workings, 43,000 m of drilling, and access to road, rail, power, and water.

The company’s strategy is a modern, cyanide-free, fully underground bulk-mining operation. A pilot plant (500 tpd) is targeted for 2028, with ultimate scale-up to 6,000 tpd and ~200,000 oz/year. The 2023 PEA (based on 1.16 Moz M&I and 2.02 Moz Inferred) showed after-tax NPV 5% of US$554M at $2,300/oz gold. Lode also spun off exploration assets (Yukon and New Brunswick) into publicly listed Gold Orogen (OROG), retaining majority ownership.