New Found Gold: A High-Grade Gold Discovery Poised for Development in Canada's Mining-Friendly Newfoundland

• New Found Gold controls a substantial gold resource at the Queensway Gold Project with 1.4M oz indicated and 610K oz inferred, featuring exceptional grades of 2.4 g/t and 1.77 g/t respectively
• The project features unique high-grade mineralization where 75% of ounces are contained in just 25% of the tonnage, enabling selective mining of premium ore zones
• Queensway benefits from strategic location and infrastructure with the property located just 15km from Gander, Newfoundland with existing power lines, Trans-Canada Highway access, and proximity to 40,000-person workforce
• CEO Keith Boyle brings experienced leadership with 40 years of narrow vein gold mining experience, supported by a proven development team with track record of mine construction
• The company maintains a strong financial position after recently completing $63 million financing with institutional support and backing from Eric Sprott, providing runway for PEA completion and resource expansion

Introduction to New Found Gold & the Queensway Project

New Found Gold (TSXV: NFG, NYSE: NFGC) represents one of Canada's newest gold development stories, centered around the Queensway project in Newfoundland. CEO Keith Boyle introduces the company's trajectory:

"The Queensway project really has evolved from 2019 when it was first discovered and to a resource that was announced back in March, a robust resource of 1.4 million ounces at 2.4 grams in the indicated category and 610,000 ounces in the inferred category at 1.77."

The Queensway property package spans an impressive 110 kilometers in length, totaling over 175,000 hectares, making it a district-scale opportunity. More than 610,000 meters of drilling have been completed, but this exploration has been concentrated on just five kilometers of the 110-kilometer strike length, highlighting a vast and untapped potential across the property.

The project's discovery timeline demonstrates rapid advancement from grassroots exploration to resource definition in just five years. This progression reflects both the high-grade nature of the mineralization and the systematic approach taken by the exploration team in defining the resource base.

AKQA with Chief Executive Officer, Keith Boyle

Leadership & Team Structure

New Found Gold underwent a strategic leadership transformation beginning in December, positioning the company for its transition from exploration to development. As Boyle explains:

"To get us from the exploration to the development stage we've installed a new leadership starting back in December. A change at the board of directors, Paul Huet was installed as chair of New Found Gold, as well new directors William Hayden, Chad Williams, myself and Melissa Render."

The leadership team brings complementary expertise essential for advancing a complex gold project. Boyle's background is particularly relevant:

"I'm a 40 year mining engineer. More than half of my career has been in narrow vein gold up in the Abitibi and Timmins camps. So I've seen this kind of orogenic deposit many times. I guess the way to best put it is I've got a lot of scars around knowing how to advance these kinds of deposits."

Melissa Render, promoted to President, led the original discovery and resource definition efforts. Michael Kanevsky serves as CFO with five years at the company, providing operational continuity. Dr. Fiona Childe brings over 20 years of experience in communications and corporate development, having been recruited by Boyle in February to strengthen capital markets and investor communications. Jared Saunders was promoted from within as a director of environment, leveraging his deep local knowledge as "a proud Newfoundlander" who "really understands the landscape in Newfoundland on both the environmental and social sides." Rob Assabgui was brought in as study manager, with proven experience advancing the Lawlor mine into production during his tenure at Hudbay.

This combination of discovery expertise, operational experience, and development track record positions New Found Gold to navigate the critical transition from resource to production.

Financial Overview & Share Structure

New Found Gold's financial position reflects strong institutional confidence in the project's potential. The company recently completed a $63 million bought deal financing, with the majority structured as flow-through shares to maximize tax efficiency for Canadian investors. Boyle notes:

"It was well oversubscribed. And so our institutional investors went from less than 1% to 14%. Eric now holds 19%. Palisades is at 19% with the remainder at 48%."

The shareholder structure demonstrates quality backing, with Eric Sprott, a renowned resource investor, holding a significant 19% position. An additional $20 million private placement backed by Sprott is pending approval at the August annual general meeting, which would increase his stake to 23%.

With 230 million shares outstanding and a market capitalization of approximately $430 million, the company trades at roughly $215 per indicated ounce, representing reasonable valuation for a high-grade development project in a tier-one jurisdiction.

Research coverage from five analysts including BMO Capital Markets, National Bank, Paradigm, Roth, and SCP provides ongoing market awareness and professional analysis of the company's progress.

Geographical Context & Infrastructure

Location advantages represent a significant competitive advantage for New Found Gold. The project sits in Newfoundland, just 15 kilometers from the town of Gander, providing access to established infrastructure and services.

"We're close to infrastructure. We've got the town of Gander, Newfoundland only 15 kilometers away. We have hydro power that cuts through the site. So power is right there. The TransCanada Highway cuts through the site as well."

The infrastructure advantages extend beyond basic connectivity. Within an hour's drive, the project can access a population of approximately 40,000 people, providing a substantial local workforce. This proximity to skilled labor is particularly valuable given the technical nature of underground mining operations.

The provincial government actively supports mining development, with public commitments to bringing five mines into production by 2030. This pro-mining stance facilitates permitting and development processes, as demonstrated by neighboring projects like FireFly's Ming deposit, which completed environmental assessment in just 45 days.

New Found Gold benefits from Newfoundland's established mining culture, with neighboring operations including Equinox Gold's Valentine Lake project and Maritime Resources' Hammerdown mine, creating a regional mining ecosystem with shared services and expertise.

Resource Overview & Mineralization

The Queensway resource demonstrates both substantial scale and exceptional grade characteristics. The total resource is split between 1.6 million ounces in open pit scenarios and 400,000 ounces designated for underground mining. The grade profile shows 1.4 million indicated ounces at 2.4 g/t and 610,000 inferred ounces at 1.77 g/t.

The resource calculation used conservative cutoff grades of 0.3 g/t for open pit and 1.65 g/t for underground scenarios, with minimum mining widths of 1.8 meters underground. These parameters suggest potential for optimization as engineering studies advance.

The deposit's geological structure creates unique opportunities for selective mining. Multiple vein clusters have been identified across the property, with over 300 individual veins modeled into approximately 20 separate pit shells. The overall strip ratio of 4.3:1 for the open pit component remains economically attractive for a high-grade gold project.

Indicated resources comprise 70% of the total, reflecting tight drill spacing of less than 30 meters in key areas like the Keats and Iceberg deposits. This high confidence classification provides a solid foundation for engineering studies and early production planning.

High-Grade Veins & Exploration Strategy

The Queensway project's defining characteristic is its exceptional grade distribution, where high-grade zones create significant operational flexibility. Boyle emphasizes this advantage:

"You end up with about 75% of the ounces in 25% of the tons. For us, and it starts right at surface, and for us that's a huge advantage in looking at how to start and develop this project."

Surface trenching programs have exposed substantial vein systems, particularly at Keats and Iceberg. Channel sampling at 7.5-meter centers has mapped grade distribution in detail, with color-coded results showing light green (0.3-1 g/t), orange (1-3 g/t), red (3-10 g/t), and purple (over 10 g/t) zones.

This surface exposure provides exceptional geological confidence rarely available in vein-type deposits. As Boyle notes:

"One of the biggest risks in dealing with vein type deposits is advancing, especially in underground mines. Those are the ones that you'll hear often, 'they got to the veins and it was different than what was interpreted'. And so here we're able to expose it right at surface, use that mapping, use that interpretation to then build the geological model."

The high-grade veins extend from surface to depth with remarkable continuity. Block modeling at various cutoff grades demonstrates how increasing grade thresholds concentrate the ore into manageable tonnages while maintaining substantial ounce content.

Future Exploration & Resource Expansion

Current drilling represents only the beginning of Queensway's exploration potential. Over 90% of drilling to date has been completed above 250 meters depth, leaving significant down-dip extensions largely untested. Recent deep drilling has returned encouraging intersections, including high-grade hits at Keats South deep and Keats deep.

The Dropkick discovery, located 11 kilometers northeast of the main resource area, demonstrates the property's district-scale potential. Recent drilling has returned spectacular results including "26 grams over 16 meters, 89 grams over 5.8" meters, opening up an entirely new mineralized area.

The 2025 drill program employs five rigs with specific objectives: three to four rigs focused on infill drilling within the core resource area, and additional drilling at Dropkick and Pistachio to expand the resource base. The program also includes definition drilling in areas slated for early mining to provide the data density required for accurate grade control.

Regional exploration across the 110-kilometer property length has identified numerous surface anomalies through grab sampling programs. Purple dots representing samples over 10 g/t are scattered across vast areas with minimal drilling, suggesting significant discovery potential remains unexplored.

Environmental & Community Engagement

New Found Gold has proactively advanced environmental and community engagement under the leadership of Jared Saunders, who brings both technical credentials and local cultural understanding as "a proud Newfoundlander." The environmental baseline program is approximately 85-90% complete, positioning the company to submit environmental assessment applications by year-end.

Water quality monitoring has been established in local streams, with real-time government-operated monitors providing transparent environmental data accessible to the public. This proactive approach demonstrates the company's commitment to environmental stewardship and community transparency.

Stakeholder engagement has been extensive and ongoing, allowing community members to "ask questions, express concerns, address concerns" throughout the development process. This early engagement helps identify and resolve potential issues before they become obstacles to development.

The local workforce advantage is significant, with over 90% of current employees calling Newfoundland home. This provides both social license benefits and practical advantages in recruitment and retention. As Boyle observes, many local workers currently commute to distant mining operations and "they're looking for that long-term project to come home and be able to come and sleep in their beds."

Metallurgical Studies & PEA Progress

Metallurgical testing has progressed through three phases, with completed work on the Iceberg, Golden Joint, Lotto, and Keats deposits demonstrating "very good recoveries in particular for that material above two grams per ton." The process flowsheet envisions a crush-grind-gravity circuit capturing significant gold in gravity concentration, followed by flotation and cyanidation of float tails.

Keats West presents different metallurgical characteristics, with some refractory material requiring additional study work to optimize recovery processes. This variation highlights the importance of comprehensive metallurgical programs across all deposit areas.

The Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) is nearing completion, with final optimizations underway. This study will provide the first economic framework for the project and establish baseline parameters for future feasibility work.

Larger-scale metallurgical programs are being planned to support advancement to feasibility study level, ensuring processing options are fully understood and optimized before major capital commitments.

Investment Rationale & Future Outlook

• High-Grade Resource: 75% of ounces in 25% of tonnage creates exceptional mining flexibility and cash flow potential from selective mining
• Experienced Management: 40-year mining veteran Keith Boyle leads a team with proven track record in narrow vein gold development and mine construction
• Strategic Location: Superior infrastructure access in mining-friendly Newfoundland with government support for development
• Strong Financial Backing: Well-funded with $63M recent financing and Eric Sprott's 19% strategic investment providing development capital
• Exploration Upside: Vast 110km property with only 5km extensively drilled, offering significant resource expansion potential
• Near-Term Catalysts: PEA completion, exploration results, channel sampling, and permitting progress provide multiple value inflection points
• Proven Jurisdiction: Newfoundland's established mining culture and supportive regulatory environment reduce development risk

The combination of high-grade mineralization, experienced leadership, superior infrastructure, and vast exploration potential positions New Found Gold as a compelling opportunity in the gold development space. The project's progression from discovery to resource definition in just five years demonstrates the team's execution capability, while the substantial untapped exploration potential across the property provides long-term growth opportunities.

With the PEA nearing completion and multiple exploration programs advancing, 2025 represents a catalyst-rich year for the company. The high-grade nature of the deposit, starting at surface, provides flexibility in development sequencing to optimize early cash flow generation.

Macro Thematic Analysis: The Case for Canadian Gold in an Uncertain World

New Found Gold's emergence comes at a critical juncture in global economic uncertainty, where gold's traditional role as a store of value and hedge against currency debasement becomes increasingly relevant. Central bank gold purchases reached record levels in 2023, with institutions diversifying away from dollar-denominated assets amid concerns over fiscal sustainability and geopolitical tensions.

The Canadian mining jurisdiction offers particular advantages in today's fragmented world. Unlike many gold-producing regions facing political instability, resource nationalism, or infrastructure challenges, Canada provides stable governance, established mining law, and reliable infrastructure. Newfoundland specifically benefits from strong government support for mining development, contrasting sharply with jurisdictions implementing windfall taxes or restricting mining activities.

Energy security considerations further enhance Canadian gold projects. With global supply chains under stress and energy costs volatile, New Found Gold's access to renewable hydroelectric power provides both cost advantages and ESG benefits. The project's proximity to established infrastructure reduces development risk and capital requirements compared to remote locations requiring greenfield infrastructure investment.

The gold market structure is evolving, with increasing institutional adoption and central bank diversification driving structural demand. Physical gold ETF holdings, while volatile, demonstrate continued investor interest in gold exposure. Mining companies with high-grade, low-cost assets in stable jurisdictions are positioned to benefit from this dynamic, particularly as industry consolidation concentrates production among fewer, higher-quality operators.

Demographic trends in mining regions favor projects like Queensway. As skilled mining workforces age out of the industry, projects offering local employment in established communities gain competitive advantages in recruitment and retention. New Found Gold's ability to provide long-term career opportunities for Newfoundland residents addresses this industry-wide challenge while securing social license for operations.