Unigold gets community support for Candelones

Mr. Joseph Hamilton reports UNIGOLD RECEIVES OVERWHELMING COMMUNITY SUPPORT - ACCELERATES DEVELOPMENT OF THE CANDELONES DEPOSITS IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Unigold Inc. has provided an update on the status of the Candelones deposits in the Dominican Republic. Unigold completed a bankable feasibility study in late 2022 on the oxide deposits at the Candelones site in northwestern Dominican Republic. The study, done using a $1,650 (U.S.) gold price assumption, showed a 44-per-cent after-tax IRR (internal rate of return) and a 1.5-year payback (for complete results, please see PR2022-12 and National Instrument 43-101 technical report dated Oct. 7, 2022, available on the company's website). The oxide reserves comprise less than 10 per cent of the available M&I (measured and indicated) resources on the property. Stakeholder engagement and community feedback shows overwhelming support for environmental studies Unigold has maintained a fully staffed Community Information Office in the local communities for many years. The company completed a stakeholder survey in 2020 prior to commencing the oxide project feasibility study. A new outreach program was completed in February, 2026, to provide information prior to commencing a full environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA). The survey asked a series of questions of stakeholders in order to gauge the degree of public support for the Candelones project. Preliminary results show overwhelming support (greater than 70 per cent) for the acceleration of environmental studies and full community consultations. A similar portion of respondents indicated that they felt the project should proceed if the results of the environmental and social impact assessments are positive. Most people in the remote local communities are interested in the employment and economic spinoff opportunities as well as potential infrastructure improvements in terms of transportation, utilities, health and education. The communities expressed concerns regarding water quality, surface impacts and benefit sharing agreements. This study gives the company the framework for future community engagement programs and helps the company design benefit sharing agreements that will provide the highest impact to local communities. Unigold intends to immediately move forward with an ESIA Unigold completed baseline environmental work in 2022 as part of the feasibility study and now has over five years of baseline data available to use in its consultation and design work. The full environmental baseline report is substantially complete. The company has been awaiting the granting of the terms of reference (ToR) by the Dominican government authorities prior to completing the ESIA report and schedulling further stakeholder consultations. Unigold has been notified by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, the Approval Authority for all environmental reviews, that its has finished its project review and that a site visit with their teams will be held on March 3, 2026. The site visit is the final step before the delivery of the ToR. The company is confident that it will be able to table an initial ESIA study towards the end of Q2 2026 and will immediately start to schedule stakeholder meetings for consultation during this process. Unigold estimates that the ESIA consultation and approval process will take approximately 12 months to complete. In parallel with the stakeholder engagement process, the company will commence detailed engineering for the 100,000-ounce oxide project in order to be in a position to commence construction immediately following approval of the ESIA. This work will ensure that long-lead time items are available and that supply-chain logistics are well understood prior to starting construction and development. The construction period is estimated to be eight to 14 months. Joseph Hamilton, PGeo, chief executive officer of Unigold, has reviewed and approved the contents of this press release. About Unigold Inc. -- discovering gold in the Caribbean Unigold is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol UGD and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol UGB1. The multimillion-ounce Candelones gold deposits are within the 100-per-cent-owned Neita Sur concession located in Dajabon province, in the northwest part of the Dominican Republic. This 9,990-hectare concession has moved smoothly through various permitting stages and now awaits the granting of an exploitation concession. The application rests with the president's office for final approval. The company delivered a feasibility study for the oxide portion of the Candelones deposit in Q4 of 2022. The 10,902-hectare Neita Norte exploration concession was awarded to the company in Q2 2023. In early 2024 Unigold completed an earn-in agreement with Barrick Gold which allows Barrick to earn up to a 60-per-cent interest in the Neita Norte concession by spending a minimum of $12-million over an eight-year period and delivering a prefeasibility study on an identified deposit. Barrick can earn a further 20 per cent in the Neita Norte concession by electing to sole finance a feasibility study within the following four years. The two concessions together form the largest single exposure of the volcanic rocks of the Cretaceous Tireo formation. This island arc terrain is host to volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits, intermediate and high sulphidation epithermal systems and copper-gold porphyry systems. Unigold has identified over 20 areas within the concession areas that host surface expressions of gold systems. Unigold has been concentrating on the multimillion-ounce Candelones mineralization and is moving to bring these deposits into production. Unigold has been active in the Dominican Republic since 2002 and continues to receive strong support from the local communities for its exploration and development activities. We seek Safe Harbor.