Viva Gold closes $4.18-million private placement

Mr. James Hesketh reports VIVA GOLD CLOSES OVERSUBSCRIBED PRIVATE PLACEMENT Viva Gold Corp. has completed the non-brokered private placement described in its news release of Dec. 11, 2025. In connection with the closing of the offering, the company issued an aggregate of 26,145,456 units at a price of 16 cents per unit for gross proceeds of $4,183,273. Each unit consists of one common share in the capital of the company and one-half of one non-transferable common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant is exercisable to acquire one share at an exercise price of 24 cents per share until Dec. 29, 2028, which is 36 months from the date of issuance. "The strong support shown in this financing by both Viva's existing and new shareholders is a vote of confidence in the future of the Tonopah gold project. These funds will allow the company to move aggressively into prefeasibility/feasibility study work and ultimately into permitting, a major catalyst for Nevada mining projects. We wish all our investors and supporters a very happy holiday season and look forward to a very busy and successful 2026," states James Hesketh, president and chief executive officer. Insiders of the company acquired an aggregate of 6,490,956 units in the offering, which participation constituted a related party transaction as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 -- Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions. Such participation is exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 as neither the fair market value of the units acquired by the insiders, nor the consideration for the units paid by such insiders, exceed 25 per cent of the company's market capitalization. As required by MI 61-101, the company advises that it expects to file a material change report relating to the offering less than 21 days before completion of the offering, which is necessary to complete the offering in an expeditious manner and is reasonable in the circumstances. Viva Gold intends to allocate the proceeds of the offering, net of any finders' fees, toward prefeasibility/feasibility study work at its Tonopah gold project, including required technical and environmental studies, secondarily for geophysical survey, and other geologic work including drilling at Tonopah, and finally for general working capital purposes. The company will pay aggregate finders' fees of $84,154 and 525,962 share purchase warrants in connection with subscriptions from subscribers introduced to the offering by Canaccord Genuity Corp., Research Capital Corp., Red Cloud Securities Inc. and Haywood Securities Inc. Each non-transferable finder's warrant is exercisable to acquire one share in the capital of the company at an exercise price of 24 cents per share until Dec. 29, 2028, which is 36 months from the date of issuance. The offering remains subject to final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The securities issued under the offering, and any shares that may be issuable on exercise of any such securities, will be subject to a statutory hold period expiring four months and one day from the date of issuance of such securities. About Viva Gold Corp. Viva Gold's 100-per-cent-owned Tonopah gold project sits in the middle of gold mining country about a half-hour drive south of the Round Mountain mine owned by Kinross Gold and controls a major land position on the prolific Walker Lane trend in Western Nevada. Viva has developed a high confidence level gold mineral resource and can demonstrate the potential for an economically viable open pit, heap leach/mill gold project through rigorous PEA (preliminary economic assessment) study. Viva Gold is committed to developing the Tonopah gold project in an environmentally and socially responsible fashion. These values are aligned with management's core values and permeate throughout the company's decision-making process. Viva Gold is led by chief executive officer James Hesketh, a 40-year veteran in the mining space who has led the development and construction of mines around the world throughout his career. Mr. Hesketh has surrounded himself with equally experienced mining professionals both on the management team and the board. Viva Gold trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under symbol VAU, on the OTCQB under VAUCF and on the Frankfurt exchange under 7PB. Viva currently has about 145.3 million shares outstanding and boasts a best-in-class management team and board with decades of gold exploration and production experience. The company is advancing its high-grade Tonopah gold project in mining-friendly Nevada with the support of several institutional shareholders. We seek Safe Harbor.