Dr. Toby Strauss reports

GEMDALE GOLD REPORTS STRONG METALLURGICAL TEST RESULTS AT ITS PONTIO GOLD PROJECT: GOLD RECOVERIES OF +91% AND COPPER RECOVERIES UP TO 87.5%

Gemdale Gold Inc. has released strong preliminary metallurgical testwork results from its 100-per-cent-owned flagship Pontio gold project located in western-central Finland.

The testwork, conducted by SLR Consulting in Truro, United Kingdom, was designed to investigate potential processing routes and assess metal recoveries, and follows the recent successful completion of the company's phase 2 2026 infill drilling program. Two potential conventional processing routes were investigated on a bulk composite sample taken from the company's phase 1 2026 drilling campaign, as follows: (1) leach recoveries of gold only; and (2) a bulk rougher sulphide concentrate.

Key metallurgical highlights:

• 91-per-cent gold recovery achieved through a conventional cyanide leach processing route (without flotation), indicating non-refractory gold, achieved with a fast residence time of eight hours;
• Up-to-87.5-per-cent copper recovery achieved into a bulk sulphide flotation rougher concentrate along with 70.5 per cent of total gold indicating significant potential for a saleable gold-copper concentrate;
• Bond work index 18.16 kilowatt-hours per tonne, hard host rock classification: similar to many comparable gold and porphyry copper projects;
• Bulk mineralogy is benign with very low total sulphur, iron and arsenic.

"These strong preliminary metallurgical results are very significant, representing an important milestone for the Pontio project," commented Dr. Toby Strauss, president and chief executive officer of Gemdale Gold. "Achieving 91-per-cent gold recovery via straight cyanidation highlights the highly amenable nature of the mineralization drilled to date along the M2 trend. Furthermore, the strong copper recoveries alongside substantial gold reporting to a rougher concentrate provide us with clear, highly flexible development pathways that can potentially include copper as a byproduct as we drive toward our upcoming maiden mineral resource estimate in early 2027."

Processing and recovery insights

The preliminary testwork focused on typical economic assumptions, which will be required for future economic studies on the Pontio project. While overall copper grades and sulphur content in the mineralization are, in general, very low, successful flotation of a copper concentrate could positively impact the economics of the project through byproduct recovery and improved recovery of gold. It also opens up several different potentially viable options for the eventual process flow sheet.

A 36.2-kilogram bulk sample was created using laboratory coarse rejects of diamond core from a number of different holes in the first-phase 2026 drill program, from across the northern and southern sectors of the M2 trend. Representative samples were selected to mimic the expected grade and lithologies encountered in the drilling to date. Samples were split and prepared for a number of different tests, including mineralogy, grindability, particle size distribution, bulk leach and flotation testwork.

Head grade

The head grade of the feed was determined by a number of methods (table 1). SLR Consulting considers that, based on the available data, the feed grade of the material for testing was approximately 0.70 part per million gold and 0.071 per cent copper.

Mineralogy

Total sulphide content of the bulk sample is very low, less than 0.4 per cent, indicating the material is unlikely to be net acid generating. Mineralogical studies indicate that 90 per cent of the sulphides present are pyrrhotite with the rest being chalcopyrite and minor pyrite and sphalerite. No significant deleterious elements have been noted in the preliminary mineralogy.

A bond work index of 18.16 kilowatt-hours per tonne is achieved at the moderately hardhard rock boundary classification. Grindability tests indicate a grind time of 55 minutes and 42 seconds is required to achieve greater than 80 per cent of material passing 53 microns.

Bulk ore leach results

A fast recovery curve, with maximum recoveries of 91 per cent gold occurring within eight hours at a low cyanide consumption of 0.6 kilogram per tonne. Copper recovery into the leach solution begins to affect gold recovery only after greater-than-30-hour residence, at which point total cyanide consumption begins to increase. This is a particularly positive finding from the testwork, supporting the conclusion that high gold recoveries can be achieved using conventional cyanide leach methods with low cyanide consumption.

Bulk concentrate flotation results

Initial testwork was aimed at obtaining a bulk sulphide concentrate, as mass pulls (effectively the percentage of the total feed mass that reports to the flotation concentrate) are projected to be low. Six rougher float tests were completed under various conditions (varying grind size, residence time and pH). Despite relatively low total sulphur and copper grades, successful rougher floats (first stage of a flotation circuit) were achieved, with up to 87.5-per-cent recoveries on the copper and 70.5 per cent of the total gold contained on a feed with 75 micron grind, 17 minutes residence time at a pH of six. This is a very positive result from open circuit tests and represents an upper limit of recoveries. Final recoveries are determined by the stage recovery from roughing to cleaning in a closed circuit. Several open circuit cleaning cycle tests were also done, with a best result of 6.5 per cent Cu and 47.5 grams per tonne Au in the bulk sulphide concentrate.

Importantly, given the high amount of gold reporting to the bulk sulphide concentrate, it gives good indications that a saleable concentrate could potentially be produced using flotation.

No attempt has yet been made to suppress the pyrrhotite, but as the pyrrhotite has displayed some magnetic properties and represents 90 per cent of the sulphides in the bulk sulphide concentrate, opportunities are good to optimize this and increase the copper values in any saleable concentrate.

Next steps

In the next iteration of metallurgical studies, a full locked cycle test will be done using the best performing flow sheet within the next month. A locked cycle test is designed to simulate how a mineral processing plant would operate under continuous, steady-state conditions. A kinetic leach test will be done on the resultant tails to investigate recoveries on a mixed mode flow sheet with an initial flotation followed by a leach of the tails. Various tests will also be completed to investigate the extraction of pyrrhotite from the bulk sulphide concentrate and what that might do to gold recoveries. SLR Consulting will continue optimizing processing assumptions, which will feed directly into the technical evaluations supporting the planned early 2027 maiden mineral resource estimate.

About Pontio

The Pontio gold project lies in western-central Finland in a historical mining district featuring extremely good infrastructure, including paved roads, access to low-cost power and rail lines within a few kilometres. A highly skilled labour force and a high level of local services are available, including port access, smelters and refineries. Despite a long history of base metal mining, gold exploration in the area is still in its infancy; Pontio was only discovered in 2011 when the area's first gold mine (Laiva, about 45 kilometres to the northwest) was being commissioned.

Gold mineralization has so far been outlined by approximately 17.5 kilometres of diamond drilling over a four-kilometre strike length along the M2 trend; mineralization subcrops just beneath the surface, covered by a thin layer of soil, sand and gravel, and extends to at least 150 metres vertical and ranges from 20 to greater than 150 m in estimated true thickness. Gold mineralization is mainly hosted in subvertical diorite and diorite porphyry dikes intruding gneissic metasediments that occur along a north-northwest-trending mineralized corridor.

The M2 trend is one of a number of identified potential gold-bearing structures with the others, such as the M1, M2.5 and M3 trends yet to have significant exploration along their lengths. The M2 trend mineralization can be subdivided into several sectors labelled N1, N2, S1 and S2.

Gold mineralization is typically fine-grained and associated with disseminated chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite in generally weakly sheared and variably potassic altered intrusive rocks. Alteration is in the form of biotite amphibole and potassium felspar. Unusual for the area, there is no particular association with quartz veining and arsenopyrite mineralization. Rarely, molybdenum is noted with quartz veining. Mineralization postdates peak metamorphism and is intimately associated with the late intrusive diorite porphyries which are younger than the diorite dikes. The deposit is enigmatic in style but has affinities with the roots of a deep-level porphyry system or a disseminated orogenic style of gold mineralization.

Qualified person and National Instrument 43-101 disclosure

Dr. Strauss (CGeol; EurGeol), director, president and chief executive officer of the company, is the qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Dr. Strauss is not independent of the company. Dr. Strauss has reviewed and approved the technical and scientific content of this news release.

About Gemdale Gold Inc.

Gemdale Gold owns a portfolio of highly prospective exploration licences in Finland, and is focused on making significant new gold and critical metal discoveries on these properties. The company has been active in Finland since 2018. The company's 100-per-cent-owned projects include the following.

Pontio gold project (western-central Finland): Historical and recent drilling has outlined near-surface gold mineralization along a multikilometre trend that remains open along strike and at depth. The company started an infill and extension drill program in February, 2026, and, based on this program, plans to deliver a maiden mineral resource estimate in early 2027. Full exploration information has been disclosed in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects) in a report titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Pontio Project, Central Ostrobothnia, Finland," with an effective date of Sept. 30, 2025, and filed on SEDAR+ on Jan. 16, 2026.

Isoneva (western-central Finland): Exploration-stage gold project located proximal to extensive boulder train anomalies. The property is subject to an option agreement with Nordique Resources Inc. pursuant to which Nordique may earn a 100-per-cent interest by, among other things, fina cing exploration expenditures over a three-year period and making additional financial commitments to the company. For more information on the Isoneva option, please see the company's final long form prospectus dated Jan. 30, 2026, under the heading "Business of the corporation -- Jan. 1, 2025, to the date hereof."

Lapland projects (northern Finland): A group of exploration permits and applications located within a recognized gold and base metal exploration region, in proximity to several recent regional discoveries, including Rupert Resources Ltd.'s Ikkari gold project.

Nuotti (western-central Finland): copper-nickel-platinum-palladium exploration licence where limited historical government drilling indicates the presence of near-surface copper-platinum-group-metal mineralization.

Savo/Rantasalmi (southeastern Finland): exploration licence application area containing a historical inferred resource estimate of 3.23 million tonnes grading 2.7 g/t gold for approximately 276,000 ounces of gold prepared by a prior operator, Rupert Resources, and disclosed in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects).

In November, 2018, Rupert Resources released a National Instrument 43-101 mineral resource estimate completed by Brian Wolfe (qualified person) of International Resource Solution Pty. Ltd. The NI 43-101 technical report was filed by Rupert Resources on SEDAR+ on Nov. 9, 2018. No new data subsequent to an earlier 2011 estimate were included in this study. This study used multiple indicator kriging for the estimation of grade into the block model. This study assumed a combined open-pit and underground mining operation, recoveries of 85 to 90 per cent and a gold price of 1,200 euros per ounce (current gold price approximately 4,240 euros per ounce). The use of MIK as an estimation method, along with the requirements of a greater degree of confidence in the geological continuity for underground mining, were given as the reasons for the assigned lower resource category of inferred resources compared with the 2011 resource estimate. The resource estimate was reported at a cut-off grade of 1.5 g/t Au.

The company is not aware of any further drilling or sampling being conducted on the property since this historical estimate was completed. Gemdale Gold is not treating this historical estimate as a current resource estimate. Neither Gemdale Gold nor a suitable qualified person has done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource estimate. The company believes this historical estimate is relevant and reliable in providing insight into the potential mineral resources for the project based on historical drilling completed to date. Gemdale Gold believes that further drilling is not required to verify or upgrade these historical resources to a current mineral resource estimate, but that it is necessary for a qualified person to review the assumptions and methodology used for the estimation.

Qualified person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Strauss, CGeol, EurGeol, a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Dr. Strauss, as president and chief executive officer of the company, is not independent of the company.

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