New Found Gold Expands Queensway Work Program: Focus on Discovery and Resource Growth

Executive Summary

• New Found Gold Corp. is expanding its fully funded $44M work program at its 100%-owned Queensway Gold Project in Newfoundland and Labrador, increasing active drill rigs from four to six starting in mid-June 2026.
• The expanded program targets 90,000 metres of diamond drilling and extensive surface exploration, split 45% toward discovery/resource growth and 55% toward project development and mine planning.
• The company is advancing the Queensway project toward first ore processing in late 2027, with current efforts shifting from infill drilling to aggressive step-out, resource conversion, and regional discovery campaigns.

Key Details

• Program Value & Scope: Fully funded $44M work program encompassing 90,000 metres of diamond drilling and extensive surface exploration across the 220,000-hectare Queensway Project.
• Rig Expansion: Two additional drill rigs mobilizing in mid-June 2026, bringing total active rigs to six (up from four since January 2026).
• Drilling Progress: 32,000 metres of drilling completed to date in the 2026 program.
• Allocation (45% Discovery & Growth Focus):
• AFZ Core: Targeting extensions to the Golden Dome and Dome zones, and the mineralized corridor below/between the Keats, Iceberg, and Keats West zones; building on deep drilling confirming the system is open below the current mineral resource to >1,000 metres.
• AFZ Peripheral (Dropkick Zone): Aggressive step-out drilling to test extensions east of the Appleton Fault Zone; 2025 drilling expanded this target to a vertical depth of 300 metres and 1.4 kilometres along strike.
• Regional Targets: Trenching and drilling planned at Pauls Pond, Greenwood, and Gazeebow South, which are defined by large-scale gold-in-soil, gold-in-till, and bedrock geochemical anomalies along the projected trend of the AFZ.
• Allocation (55% Project Focus):
• Resource Conversion: Converting inferred to indicated mineral resources in Phase 2 open pits and Phase 3 underground per the Queensway Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA).
• Grade Control: Optimizing drill hole spacing and broadening scope to increase confidence in gold distribution for Phase 1 open pits, leveraging successful 2025 grade control results.
• Geotechnical & Hydrogeological Drilling: Continued work to support mine planning.
• Surface Exploration: Regional prospecting, soil sampling, geological mapping, ground-based geophysics, and expansive trenching across Paul's Pond-Greenwood, Dog Bay Line North (Duder Lake), and Gazeebow South.
• 2025 Program Context: 74,377 metres of drilling completed in 614 diamond DDH (~75% AFZ Core, ~25% exploration targets). Approximately 8% of 2025 results and channel sampling from the Lotto excavation remain outstanding and will be reported upon availability.
• Development Timeline: Company advancing Queensway toward first ore processed in late 2027.

Notable Quotes

• Melissa Render, President: "We are excited to announce the expanded scope of the Program at Queensway outlining a larger exploration program with an increased focus on discovery and resource growth. Two additional drill rigs are being mobilized to add to the four rigs active since January, marking the start of several targeted exploration drill campaigns."
• Melissa Render, President: "At the AFZ Core, previous deep drilling has confirmed the system is open below the current mineral resource to more than 1,000 metres. The Program will build on this success with the objective of further expanding the deposit at depth. In addition, we are looking forward to returning to the Dropkick Zone, where aggressive step-out drilling will test strike extensions and explore this zone where it is open east of the Appleton Fault Zone. Concurrently, our regional exploration team is looking to find the next deposit with the launch of an expansive trenching and drill campaign across multiple highly prospective targets throughout our extensive land package at Queensway. Since commencing in January, the Program has primarily focused on project-related drilling within the AFZ Core to support our development objectives as we advance Queensway toward first ore processed in late 2027 and now, we're focusing on discovery and resource growth"