Mr. Michael Bandrowski reports

BIG RIDGE GOLD CORP PROVIDES CORPORATE UPDATE AND 2025 OBJECTIVES

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

2024 highlights

• Finalized earn-in to 80 per cent of HBGP;
• Completed Hope Brook environmental baseline work at site.;
• Commenced ore sorting and copper and gold deportment studies for the HBGP;
• Completed several field programs on the southwest extensions of the Main and 240 zones at the HBGP;
• Closed the Destiny gold project earn-in agreement with Caprock Mining.

Michael Bandrowski, president and chief executive officer of the company, commented: "Two thousand twenty-four was a significant year for Big Ridge. The company renegotiated the Hope Brook earn-in agreement, increasing its ownership to 80 per cent and reducing required project expenditures by approximately $6-million. Geophysical results from the HBGP established several kilometres of new drill targets southwest of the current resource estimate, and was the focus of further field work in the second half of 2024. In addition, the company completed environmental baseline studies and commenced work on additional ore sorting and deportment studies at Hope Brook."

Next steps

• Release exploration results from the 2024 field program, including sampling and assay results from the southwest extensions of the Hope Brook deposit, most notably the Chetwynd and Cinq Cerf areas;
• Finalize drill targets on newly defined extensions to Main and 240 zones;
• Provide update on ore sorting and deportment study results from Hope Brook;
• Compile field studies and finalize Hope Brook gold project environmental baseline report.

Qualified person

Paul Robinson, PGeo, vice-president of 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-sulfidation 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, an 1,100-metre airstrip, ice-free docking facility and, importantly, connection to the provincial electrical power grid via 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 the company's local communities. Big Ridge owns an 80-per-cent interest in its flagship Hope Brook gold project, located in Newfoundland and Labrador. Big Ridge also owns 100 per cent in the highly prospective Oxford gold project located in Manitoba and the Destiny gold project in Quebec.

Acknowledgement

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.