New Found Gold Achieves Hammerdown Commercial Production, Targeting 20,000-25,000 oz Per Year

• New Found Gold declared commercial production at its 100%-owned Hammerdown Gold Mine on August 19, 2026, after meeting throughput, recovery, and grade criteria over 60 consecutive days.
• Hammerdown produced 9,140 ounces of gold in the first 8 months of 2026, including 1,989 ounces in August, at an average realized sale price of $6,271 per ounce.
• The mine and mill recorded zero lost time incidents across more than 262,049 person-hours worked in 2026, with a workforce of 445 people as of July 15, 2026.
• New Found Gold expects a run rate of 20,000 to 25,000 ounces of gold per year at Hammerdown, at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of approximately US$2,500 per ounce.
• The company is advancing a crusher and sorter for completion in the fourth quarter of 2026 and progressing the Pine Cove Mill's conversion to a gravity-carbon-in-leach circuit, with the conversion permit received and the 1,400 tonne-per-day expansion permit still pending.

Company Overview

New Found Gold (TSX: NFGC | NYSE American: NFGC) is an emerging Canadian gold producer with assets in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The company holds a 100% interest in its fully funded flagship Queensway Gold Project and the Hammerdown Gold Project, which includes the Hammerdown deposit and the Pine Cove milling and tailings facilities. With commercial production now declared at Hammerdown, New Found Gold is advancing Queensway toward Phase 1 production, supported by a district-scale land package at Queensway covering more than 110 kilometers of strike across two fault zones and a shareholder base that includes Eric Sprott.

Hammerdown Clears the Commercial Production Threshold

New Found Gold (TSX: NFGC | NYSE American: NFGC) has declared commercial production at its 100%-owned Hammerdown Gold Mine in Central Newfoundland. The designation required 3 criteria to be met on a sustained basis over 60 consecutive days: throughput at the Pine Cove Mill of at least 600 tonnes per day (tpd), gold recovery of at least 80%, and feed grade of at least 80% of the mine plan head grade set out in the Hammerdown preliminary economic assessment (PEA). Hammerdown cleared all 3 thresholds as of August 19, 2026, averaging approximately 748 tpd of throughput, 87.7% gold recovery, and a feed grade of 2.92 grams of gold per tonne over the 60-day window.

Chief Executive Officer of New Found Gold, Keith Boyle, tied the milestone to the company's broader production strategy: 

"Achieving commercial production at Hammerdown on schedule is a major milestone for New Found Gold and the next step toward becoming Canada's next mid-tier gold producer”

He added:

“This achievement could only have been reached through the hard work and dedication of our operations team; to each and everyone of you I send my sincere gratitude. With commercial production underway at Hammerdown, we will continue to focus on delivering solid gold production, while advancing our flagship Queensway Gold Project to production.”

Production Economics & Project Scale

Hammerdown produced 9,140 ounces of gold across the first 8 months of 2026, including 1,989 ounces in August, at an average realized sale price of $6,271 per ounce of gold (approximately US$4,532 per ounce). The underlying PEA outlines a 13-year open pit operation processing 3.2 million tonnes of mineralized material at an average grade of 2.89 grams of gold per tonne, for total recovered production of 251,300 ounces of gold. On a life-of-mine basis, the PEA carries average cash costs of US$2,149 per ounce and an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of US$2,429 per ounce, supporting an after-tax net present value at a 5% discount rate (NPV5%) of $199.2 million at the base case price deck and $415.1 million at an upside gold price of US$5,000 per ounce.

Safety & Workforce

The ramp-up period closed with zero lost time incidents across more than 262,049 person-hours worked in 2026. New Found Gold's combined Hammerdown and Pine Cove workforce stood at 445 people as of July 15, 2026, comprising 94 employees and 351 contractors, including 65 new jobs created during the ramp-up. More than 90% of new hires are from Newfoundland and Labrador, and 60% of the workforce lives within an hour's drive of the operation.

Next Steps

With commercial production declared, New Found Gold is guiding to a run rate of 20,000 to 25,000 ounces of gold per year at Hammerdown, at an AISC of approximately US$2,500 per ounce, consistent with the PEA; annual guidance is expected in due course. Construction of a crusher and sorter remains on schedule for completion in the fourth quarter of 2026, targeting lower crushing costs and higher-grade mill feed. Diamond drilling below the current stage-one pit is underway ahead of an updated mineral resource estimate in 2027, alongside ongoing grade control drilling. The company is also progressing its previously announced conversion of the Pine Cove Mill from a 700 tpd flotation-leach-Merrill-Crowe circuit to a 1,400 tpd gravity-carbon-in-leach circuit, with the conversion permit received and the expansion permit to follow; completion is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2027.

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