Mr. Mike Bandrowski reports

BIG RIDGE GOLD CORP ANNOUNCES ONGOING STUDIES AT HOPE BROOK GOLD PROJECT

Big Ridge Gold Corp. has provided an update of continuing studies at the Hope Brook gold project (HBGP), located on the southwest coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Highlights:

• Environmental baseline fieldwork completed in July to support preparation of project registration;
• Samples for Hope Brook deposit ore sorting study shipped to Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC).

Michael Bandrowski, president and chief executive officer of the company, commented: "The Big Ridge exploration team continues to advance the Hope Brook gold project on several different fronts. In addition to ongoing fieldwork, the company is working toward completion of environmental baseline and ore sorting studies. Completion of these two key studies during the fourth quarter of 2024 will add significant value when the company completes a preliminary economic assessment at the HGBP."

Environmental baseline fieldwork

Environmental survey work was begun by Coastal Gold Corp., formerly Castillian Resources Inc., in 2010 to compile information required for an application for project registration of the HBGP, as required under environmental regulation in Newfoundland and Labrador. The baseline studies undertaken by Big Ridge in 2024 build on work done by Coastal and include evaluation of the natural environment surrounding the former mine and its current condition as a brownfield mine site.

Work in 2024 continues to assemble the required information. Newfoundland and Labrador based Fracflow Consultants Inc. has been contracted to undertake the fieldwork and complete the necessary studies. The fieldwork included fish community and habitat assessment, benthic macroinvertebrate community assessment, mammal and avian surveys, surface and groundwater sampling, sediment and soil sampling, and supporting laboratory analyses. Fieldwork was completed in July and final reports are expected in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Ore sorting and gold deportment

In the fall of 2024, Big Ridge will carry out ore sorting tests to establish whether zero-grade lithologies within the HBGP mineral resource wire frames can be separated from mineralized lithologies. These tests will be conducted by the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC).

Zero-grade lithologies include postmineralization mafic and intermediate dikes and sills that intrude the mineralized host rocks. Many mafic units intersected by drill holes in the wire frames may be too small to be excluded during mining operations. Successful sorting could allow this material to be diverted before milling.

Core from the HBGP's 198 available drill holes has been selected, representing various grade and alteration characteristics of the deposit, along with associated intervals of mafic and intermediate volcanics. Zero-grade material in core accounts for 20 per cent to 25 per cent of material within the Hope Brook deposit wire frames. Two tests are planned:

• A dynamic test of approximately 100 kilograms of sample, including an X-ray transmission (XRT) amenability study, will be done; as well as additional ultraviolet fluorescence and near-infrared spectroscopy characterizations to determine sorting potential for zero-grade material. Results from this test are expected in the fourth quarter of 2024.
• Following on from positive dynamic test results, performance testing using approximately one tonne of mineralized material will be completed in conjunction with future, advanced metallurgical testing.

In addition to the ore sorting tests, SRC will conduct a gold deportment study on selected mineralized samples to assess distribution of gold and copper, a positive economic component of the mineralization, and their interrelationships with host rock minerals.

Qualified persons

William McGuinty, PGeo, vice-president, exploration, for Big Ridge, a qualified person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

About Hope Brook gold project

The Hope Brook gold project is an advanced-stage, high-grade gold project that produced 752,162 ounces of gold from 1987 to 1997. Initial production consisted of an open pit before moving to underground mining. Hope Brook operated using both heap leach (1987 to 1990) and conventional cyanidation milling methods (1989 to 1997) with a later inclusion of flotation concentration to recover copper (1991). Government records indicate that gold recoveries from milling ranged between a low of 78.8 per cent in 1987 and a high of 85.9 per cent in 1989. Government and company annual reports indicate that gold recoveries ranged between a low of 82.1 per cent in 1994 and a high of 89.83 per cent in 1996 following a change of ownership. Copper flotation produced a concentrate at approximately 22 per cent copper and 34.3 grams per tonne gold for shipment in 1992.

Hope Brook hosts an indicated gold resource totalling 16.19 million tonnes grading 2.32 grams per tonne gold for 1.2 million ounces and inferred resources totalling 2,215,000 tonnes grading 3.25 grams per tonne gold for 231,000 ounces based on 0.4-gram-per-tonne and 2.0-gram-per-tonne cut-off grades for open-pit and underground resources, respectively, using a long-term gold price of $1,750 (U.S.).

The Hope Brook gold deposit is a high-sulphidation epithermal gold deposit hosted in the Proterozoic-aged Whittle Hill sandstone and is intruded by a late Proterozoic quartz-feldspar porphyry sill-dike complex of the Roti intrusive suite. The deposit is located adjacent to and within an extensive advanced argillic alteration envelope, which includes pyrophyllite, kaolinite, andalusite and alunite. The principal gold mineralization occurs in a buff-coloured, massive, vuggy silicic alteration with an associated, less developed grey silicic alteration with pyrite, chalcopyrite and lesser bornite accessory minerals. Gold mineralization is also found with pyrite in units of advanced argillic alteration adjacent to or near silicic alteration horizons. The altered and mineralized zone is cut by mafic dikes whose contacts are often mineralized. All the altered and mineralized sequences and the intruded dikes have been folded.

Hope Brook is located 85 kilometres east of Port aux Basques, Nfld. The project has well-maintained infrastructure on site, including an operational 28-person camp, a 1,100-metre airstrip, ice-free docking facility and, importantly, connection to the provincial electrical power grid through an on-site substation.

About Big Ridge Gold Corp.

Big Ridge Gold is an exploration and development company managed by a disciplined and experienced team of officers and directors. The company is committed to the development of advanced-stage mining projects using industry best practices, combined with strong social licence from its local communities.

Big Ridge is the operator of the Hope Brook gold project located in Newfoundland and Labrador and holds an 80-per-cent interest in the project. Big Ridge also owns a 100-per-cent interest in the highly prospective Oxford gold project in Manitoba and the Destiny gold project in Quebec.

Acknowledgment

Big Ridge acknowledges and appreciates the Newfoundland and Labrador Ministry of Natural Resources' financial support of the company's 2023 exploration programs through the Junior Exploration Assistance (JEA) program.

We seek Safe Harbor.