Mr. Robert Eckford reports

RUA GOLD RECEIVES APPROVAL TO COMMENCE EXPLORATION DRILLING AT THE GLAMORGAN PROJECT ON NEW ZEALAND'S NORTH ISLAND

Rua Gold Inc. has received required regulatory approval to commence exploration drilling at the Glamorgan project, an epithermal gold project in the Hauraki goldfield on New Zealand's North Island.

The Hauraki goldfield is a major epithermal gold province, where more than 50 historic mines have collectively produced over 15 million ounces of gold. The Glamorgan project is adjacent to OceanaGold's Wharekirauponga deposit, which hosts indicated mineral resources of 1.5 Moz (million ounces) at 17.3 g/t (grams per tonne) Au (gold). The Wharekirauponga project received final permitting approval in December, 2025, following a 112-day review process and is now under construction.

Highlights:

• Extensive surface exploration and data analysis completed at the Glamorgan project over the past two years have identified several compelling drill targets.
• The company has received approval for nine drill pads, allowing it to test the three most compelling drill targets.
• Construction of protective fencing, the exploration camps and drill pads will commence immediately following ecological checks.
• A fully financed initial exploration program of approximately 9,000 metres has been planned across the targets with drilling expected to commence in Q4 2026.
• Simon Henderson, chief operating officer, has more than 30 years of experience in this region of New Zealand and played an integral role in the discovery of Wharekirauponga.
• Surface exploration completed to date has identified classic features of a major epithermal gold-silver system, comparable with those observed at the Wharekirauponga project, located just 2.8 kilometres to the south.
• Significant gold-arsenic soil anomalies trend north, northeast and north-northwest strike out individually over four km in length. Drill targets were selected where these surface features coincide with strong resistivity anomalies identified through CSAMT surveying, interpreted to represent major quartz systems.

Simon Henderson, chief operation officer of Rua Gold, commented: "Receiving approval to commence drilling at Glamorgan is a significant milestone for Rua Gold. Our exploration team has systematically developed a compelling geological model and identified three priority drill targets supported by coincident geophysical, geochemical and geological indicators.

"With drilling now set to test this highly prospective epithermal system for the first time, we have an exceptional opportunity to unlock a potentially significant new gold discovery in one of New Zealand's premier gold districts."

Exploration work completed to date

Exploration activities completed to date include extensive geological mapping, geochemical sampling, TerraSpec clay-mineral analysis, and ultradetailed magnetic and resistivity surveys. This work has focused on three target areas overlapping with major alteration cells. The alteration cells are directly associated with surface quartz veins, platy quartz after calcite, quartz-adularia mineralization and sinter-like textures, which are characteristic of the upper levels of an epithermal gold-silver system.

The principal components of the surface exploration program completed include:

• Geological mapping:
  • Vein morphologies and orientations mapped across the target areas, paralleling regional trends.
• Soil and rock chip sampling:
  • Soil geochemistry highlights high-grade gold and arsenic enveloping outcropping quartz veins paralleling north-northeast. Rock-chip sampling revealed anomalous Au (greater than 40 g/t) and Ag (greater than 200 g/t) across wide areas of the permit.
• TerraSpec spectrometry:
  • Si-clay mineralization identified through TerraSpec analysis confirms silica-flooding and chalcedony classic features of the upper levels of epithermal systems, overlying gold-in-soil anomalies.
• UAV magnetic surveying:
  • Approximately 590 line kilometres were flown, identifying two areas of strong alteration, expressed as demagnetization of the host rocks, that are interpreted to represent the footprint of a major epithermal system.
• Ground resistivity survey:
  • Two separate CSAMT campaigns totalling greater than 11 km in length identified several deep-rooted resistive features associated with high-grade gold at surface and surrounded by strongly anomalous gold-in-soil geochemistry.

Glamorgan exploration overview

Following the grant of a drone concession in May, 2024, and approval for minimum-impact exploration in July, 2024, Rua Gold commenced exploration with an ultradetailed UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) magnetic survey. The survey comprised approximately 590 line km flown using a Geometrics MagArrow magnetometer suspended beneath a DJI M300 drone.

Interpretation of the magnetic data has helped define key lithological and alteration features within the Whitianga Group rhyolites and Coromandel Group andesites. The data also indicate major structural features aligned with regional mineralization trends.

Soil sampling commenced in July, 2024, along cross lines spaced 250 metres apart, with samples collected at 20-metre intervals. Infill sampling in target areas and further extensions of the grid have brought the total number of soil samples to 4,137. All samples dried and sieved at Rua Gold's Waihi facility, then transported to Reefton for portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analysis. Each sample was also scanned using a TerraSpec 4 Hi-Res mineral analyzer to characterize the clay-alteration system and identify the upper levels of the epithermal system. A 50-gram subsample was then sent to ALS in Brisbane for low-level gold analysis.

Collection of controlled-source audio-magnetotellurics (CSAMT) data across two campaigns in Q1 2025 and Q1 2026 covered large parts of the Glamorgan permit area not covered by previously collected induced polarization (IP) data. This has led to the identification of several deep resistors across the target areas with narrow spacing between CSAMT lines enabling correlation of resistors across multiple profiles.

Combination of anomalous soil and rock chip results, geological mapping, and anomalies identified in the UAV magnetics and CSAMT results evidencing large alteration cells was used to identify three main targets for the initial drill program: Sutcliff, Wires Ridge and Tairua.

The Sutcliff anomaly trends northeast for at least 1.3 km and shows high gold, arsenic, and silver in rock chips and soils. Strong alteration is observed at the surface from geological mapping and UAV magnetics and is underlain by a strong resistor visible in CSAMT data, interpreted to represent the footprint of a major epithermal system. It remains open to the southwest. Its orientation is consistent with that of the WKP deposit, located approximately three km southeast of the Glamorgan permit.

The Wires Ridge anomaly trends north-northeast for at least 2.1 km, evidenced by anomalous gold and arsenic geochemistry and strong resistors at depth. This target remains open to the north and south. Its southern extent coincides with the historic Wentworth and Auckland mine workings.

The Tairua anomaly trends northeast over at least 1.6 km and is evident in numerous quartz veins with anomalous gold and silver outcropping across a width of greater than 600 m. Quartz veins commonly show extensive banding and width exceeding 50 centimetres. The broad alteration zone is interpreted as stockwork-like veining. The Tairua anomaly remains open to the south.

An initial drill program of approximately 9,000m has been planned across the three targets at Sutcliff, Wires Ridge and Tairua with drilling expected to commence in Q4 2026.

About Rua Gold Inc.

Rua Gold is an exploration company, strategically focused on New Zealand. With decades of expertise, the company's team has successfully taken major discoveries into producing world-class mines across multiple continents. The team is now focused on maximizing the asset potential of Rua Gold's two highly prospective high-grade gold projects.

The company controls the Reefton gold district as the dominant landholder in the Reefton goldfield on New Zealand's South Island with over 120,000 hectares of tenements, in a district that historically produced over two Moz of gold grading between nine and 50 g/t.

The company's Glamorgan project solidifies Rua Gold's position as a leading high-grade gold explorer on New Zealand's North Island. This highly prospective project is located within the North Islands' Hauraki district, a region that has produced an impressive 15 Moz of gold and 60 Moz of silver. Glamorgan is adjacent to OceanaGold Corp.'s biggest gold mining project, Wharekirauponga.

Technical information

Simon Henderson, CP, AUSIMM, a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and chief operating officer and a director of Rua Gold, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained herein. Mr. Henderson has participated in the geophysical, sampling and mapping programs to verify that they have been conducted in accordance with the standard operating procedures. Mr. Henderson has verified the data disclosed by running checks on the location, analytical and test data underlying the information in the technical disclosure herein.

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