New Found Gold's Pine Cove Mill Drives Queensway Timeline after Hammerdown Milestone

• Hammerdown achieved commercial production on August 19, 2026, averaging about 748 tpd, 87.7% recovery and 2.92 g/t Au over 60 consecutive days. The company expects a run rate of 20,000 to 25,000 ounces a year.
• The Pine Cove Mill is the critical path to Queensway. A Gravity-CIL conversion is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2027, and the permit to double the mill's capacity is still to be applied for.
• Queensway's environmental assessment certificate is expected early in 2027, and an updated resource estimate and PEA are still to come.
• Boyle said the C$220 million secured in April should carry the company to Queensway production. Exploration spending, including a likely 10,000 to 20,000 metre programme in 2027, will be managed with that in mind.
• The Hammerdown ore profile of about 270,000 ounces is modest, so exploration success at Hammerdown and Pine Cove is a key unknown for filling the mill after 2031.

New Found Gold Corp. (TSX:NFGC, NYSE American:NFGC) has moved from developer to producer, and the investor conversation has moved with it. Chief Executive Officer Keith Boyle spoke to Crux Investor at Beaver Creek, where he said audiences are now listening differently. Management had long promised 20,000 to 25,000 ounces of gold a year from Hammerdown at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of about US$2,500 per ounce. Investors are now hearing those numbers from a producing mine.

Commercial Production

The company declared commercial production at Hammerdown on September 16, 2026, and the milestone itself was achieved on August 19, 2026. To qualify, three criteria had to be met over 60 consecutive days:

• Throughput at the Pine Cove Mill had to reach at least 600 tonnes per day (tpd), which is 85% of the mill's 700 tpd nameplate capacity.
• Gold recovery had to reach at least 80%.
• Feed grade had to reach at least 80% of the mine plan head grade.

Hammerdown averaged about 748 tpd, 87.7% recovery and 2.92 grams of gold per tonne (g/t Au). The mine produced 9,140 ounces in the first eight months of 2026, including 1,989 ounces in August.

Boyle said the mine was delivered on time and on budget. He also said Hammerdown should generate annualised cash flow of about C$40 million. The company plans to provide annual guidance in due course.

Interview with Keith Boyle, CEO of New Found Gold

Pine Cove Mill: The Critical Path

New Found Gold acquired Pine Cove through the Maritime Resources transaction, which closed in November 2025. The first step is converting the circuit from flotation and Merrill-Crowe to gravity-carbon-in-leach (Gravity-CIL). Boyle said this should lift recovery and improve Hammerdown's economics. The company has received the permit amendment for the conversion, and completion is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2027.

The second step depends on Queensway permitting. Once that permit is secured, the company will apply to amend the mill's permit and double capacity to 1,400 tpd. The expanded mill would accept an extra 700 tpd from Queensway. Boyle said the expansion is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2027.

Queensway Permitting and Sequencing

Queensway still needs its environmental assessment certificate. Boyle expects it early in 2027, once the company responds to the Environmental Preview Report (EPR) the government requested. He described the request as standard.

Phase 1 material will be trucked to Pine Cove to fill the added mill capacity. Boyle said that phase carries production to 2031. The company then plans to build a mill at Queensway to process the current deposit, with production from that mill starting in 2031. At that point, Queensway processing moves on site and the 700 tpd at Pine Cove becomes available. Boyle said the Dropkick discovery will feature in the forthcoming updated resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment (PEA).

Exploration Restarts at Hammerdown and Pine Cove

Boyle wants ounces ready to fill the Pine Cove capacity once Queensway processing moves on site. The company hired an exploration manager who started in June. He now leads a small team that is assembling historical data on the Hammerdown and Pine Cove properties. Boyle said previous owners were starved of capital and never gave those deposits a full exploration effort.

The current Hammerdown ore profile is about 270,000 ounces at roughly 3 g/t Au, according to Boyle. He acknowledged that this is not a large high-grade deposit. Instead, he pointed to targets along strike, at depth and on parallel structures that have not been properly tested.

"I would say probably next year a 10[,000] to 20,000 metre programme that would... help continue to look for new ounces, and that's separate from what I would call mine-related ounces - grade control or infill that we would need specifically for the deposits themselves."

A More Systematic Approach at Queensway

Exploration at Queensway is also being reorganised. Over the last 18 months, about 75% of drilling was focused on specific deposits and 25% on exploration. Boyle said even that exploration share largely expanded Dropkick or drilled infill there.

Melissa Render, President, has now had time to look across the wider property package. This year her team tested targets to the north and south using trenching, geophysics and drilling. A southern area drilled in 2023 and 2024 returned grades well below Dropkick and had been set aside. Boyle said something interesting is unfolding there. The target is being advanced, and drilling could follow next year.

The Investment Thesis for New Found Gold

• Hammerdown has met its commercial production criteria. This gives the company an operating mine and cash flow ahead of the Queensway build.
• The Pine Cove Gravity-CIL conversion should lift recovery from Hammerdown ore, and the company is targeting completion in the fourth quarter of 2027.
• The permit to expand Pine Cove to 1,400 tpd has not yet been applied for. It is the gating item for taking Queensway Phase 1 material.
• Management expects existing funding to reach Queensway production, which makes spending discipline a core part of the case.
• Exploration at Hammerdown and Pine Cove is designed to keep Pine Cove full once Queensway processing moves on site in 2031, but exploration success there is unproven.
• Watch items include:
  • the Queensway environmental assessment certificate early in 2027;
  • the updated Queensway resource estimate and PEA;
  • completion of the Hammerdown crusher and sorter in the fourth quarter of 2026;
  • annual Hammerdown guidance.

Macro Thematic Analysis

Gold developers in 2026 are being judged on sequencing. A producing mine can fund the next project, which reduces reliance on equity markets at the point when a company is most exposed to dilution. New Found Gold is taking that route: Hammerdown provides the first cash flow while Queensway moves through permitting and mill work.

The gold price backdrop is supportive. Hammerdown's average realised price over the first eight months of 2026 was C$6,271 per ounce (approximately US$4,532). That compares with a projected AISC of about US$2,500 per ounce.

Capital discipline is the other half of the theme.

"We're going to be mindful of the spend because we want to get to the end of next year [2027] in production at Queensway with the cash we have."

That restraint shows in the exploration plan. The Hammerdown and Pine Cove programme is sized in the tens of thousands of metres rather than the scale of past Queensway campaigns. At Queensway, targets are being advanced before drill metres are committed.

TL;DR

New Found Gold has declared commercial production at Hammerdown after 60 consecutive days of sustained throughput, recovery and grade, with the milestone achieved on August 19, 2026. CEO Keith Boyle said the Pine Cove Mill is now the critical path to Queensway, starting with a Gravity-CIL conversion and followed by a permit to double the mill. Queensway's environmental assessment certificate is expected early in 2027. Exploration is restarting at Hammerdown and Pine Cove, with a 10,000 to 20,000 metre programme likely in 2027, while spending is kept tight to reach Queensway production.

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