Mr. Mike Bandrowski reports

BIG RIDGE GOLD CORP ANNOUNCES OUTSTANDING RESULTS FROM HOPE BROOK ORE SORTING STUDY

Big Ridge Gold Corp. has released results from its initial sensor-based sorting study of ore and waste materials from the Hope Brook gold project (HBGP), located on the southwestern coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Michael Bandrowski, president and chief executive officer of the company, commented: "We are extremely pleased with the ore sorting results completed by Tomra in conjunction with the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC). These results demonstrate the ability to identify and reject unmineralized material within the current Hope Brook wire frames. Unmineralized material currently makes up approximately 25 per cent of the resource estimate mineral envelopes. Removing this material ahead of processing will have a significant impact on future economic studies completed on the HBGP."

In the fall of 2024, Big Ridge sent selected core samples from the Hope Brook deposit to the SRC located in Saskatoon, Sask., for two preliminary studies. Core from the HBGP's 198 available drill holes was selected, representing various grade and alteration characteristics of the deposit and associated intervals of zero-grade 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 mineral resource wire frame volume based on drill intercepts. SRC completed a characterization and sortability study by a sensor-based sorting (SBS) dynamic test on approximately 76 kilograms of material selected from within the deposit.

Characterization and sorting

Due to the small size of the sample, the results of the dynamic testing are predicated on visual estimation of zero-grade of the resulting mineralized material and waste separated during the tests, rather than assaying. No attempt to separate various mineralized lithologies using SBS was made. To support identification of product and waste through the tests, each piece of zero-grade core was marked on edge with a coloured grease pencil, which was not reactive to XRT (X-ray tomography) scan. Zero-grade material could be identified and weighed with each step in the sorting process. Of the samples shipped, 30 kilograms (39 per cent) were marked as zero grade. The remaining mineralized samples were not segregated into zero grade and mineralized portions were being left as representative of their assayed core lengths.

SRC used a Tomra Com Tertiary XRT system for the characterization and sortability studies and the dynamic test. XRT characterization scanning was successful in identifying zero-grade material supplied from mafic dike intervals in the deposit's mineralized wire frame. XRT is a tool to assess rock density across an individual sample's surface area. After scans at various density sensitivities, a density factor of H85 was selected as best suited to detect zero-grade material. Density can vary across a single sample's volume with zones of lower and higher density appearing throughout each rock particle scanned. The characterization study showed that using a density factor of H85, low-density volumes within zero-grade material accounted for less than 30 per cent of each sample versus a much greater percentage of low density in each sample of mineralized material.

After characterization, SRC conducted the dynamic test using the Tomra Com Tertiary XRT system, processing all remaining material from the 38 samples (69.0 kilograms) of Hope Brook material provided. The H85 density factor and was applied and a cascading sort using successive 40-per cent, 30-per cent and 20-per cent low-density representation cut-offs was used.

The sorting steps show that selecting a 40-per-cent low-density threshold, the XRT system removed 19.15 kilograms (30 per cent low, 20 per cent low and waste in Table 1) of waste, representing 27.8 per cent of tested material and 73.4 per cent of the identified zero-grade samples.

Visual confirmation of the very high percentage of zero-grade material in ejected waste from the dynamic test suggests that sensor-based sorting will be effective in significantly reducing waste material identified as zero grade ahead of processing at Hope Brook. Postore mafic and intermediate rocks, which account for 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the mineral resource envelope, can be effectively diverted, allowing for optimized mill process and tailings management designs.

This preliminary test supports inclusion of SBS in bulk-scale metallurgical and process testing to be completed with future HBGP feasibility studies. Further review of the sorted components retained from this test may help inform optimization of future work.

Qualified person

William McGuinty, PGeo, a consultant to Big Ridge and 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

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 a 0.4- 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 the 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.

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.