Mr. Mike Bandrowski reports

BIG RIDGE GOLD CORP COMMENCES IP SURVEY AT THE HOPE BROOK GOLD PROJECT

Big Ridge Gold Corp. has commenced an induced polarization (IP) survey at the Hope Brook gold project (HBGP), located on the southwest coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. The IP survey will utilize Wireless Alpha IPTM and be conducted on the area comprising the current deposit and along strike to the southwest. The IP survey will be completed by early July and will further delineate resistive high-sulphidation Au (gold) and Cu (copper) targets along trend from the Main and 240 zones.

Michael Bandrowski, president and chief executive officer of the company, commented: "Its great to be back at Hope Brook and advancing this high-quality Au-Cu project. The IP survey will build on the 2011 and 2023 IP surveys to map anomalies down to 500 metres depth along strike from the Main and 240 zones. With real-time data from the IP program, the Big Ridge team will be fully equipped to expand on known mineralization when the drill rig mobilizes in mid-June."

Objectives of the program:

• The primary objective of the Alpha IP survey is to map resistivity and chargeability anomalies at depths down to 500 metres along strike from current mineralization. The main deposit is hosted in grey vuggy silica associated with advanced argillic alteration, typical of high-sulphidation gold and copper systems. There is a silica and pyrite zone which is stratigraphically above the deposit but is adjacent to it in its field relationship. The deposit is open to the southwest of the currently known mineralization and may be discovered by targeting zones of high resistivity, especially when found adjacent to strongly chargeable zones.
• The project is currently based around three known centres of mineralization which are:
  • The Main zone, centred on the historic Hope Brook gold mine;
  • 240 zone, a concealed, 350- to 900-metre-deep mineralized zone, which appears to be separate from the main zone and occurs to the southeast;
  • The Copper Shaft zone (formerly referred to as the Chetwynd zone). This zone is another area of Au/Cu bearing mineralization, exposed in outcrop, approximately 1,700 to 2,000 metres to the southwest of the southwestern edge of the historical Hope Brook pit.

The current program is designed to locate additional targets at depth by using these known centres of mineralization as analogues to new resistive and chargeable anomalies, leading to precision drill targeting for Big Ridge's drill program. Targets arising from this campaign will be added to current drill planning which already includes over 30,000 metres of geotechnical, exploration and infill drilling.

Data from a previous, shallower IP program completed in 2023, show two strong parallel chargeability anomalies extending over three kilometres that imply a strong correlation between the location of the Main zone and the 240 zone, which were the basis for the 2023 HBGP mineral resource estimate. The 240 zone appears to coincide with the downward projection of the southern chargeability feature from the 2023 survey and appears on a distinct break within the IP anomalies near the southern limit of the Deformation zone. The northern chargeability anomaly extends southwest from the Hope Brook mine toward the Copper Shaft zone. The Copper Shaft zone, which sits in a generally chargeable horizon, constitutes an island of resistivity within that horizon. This gold-bearing zone, where it is observed at surface, is restricted to the resistive part of the anomaly.

Environmental studies continue to advance

Environmental baseline programs have commenced, including studies of surface and groundwater, fish and fish habitat, wildlife, avifauna, and other environmental aspects. These programs will supplement previous studies and will support environmental assessment and permitting processes, mine planning, and project engineering.

Qualified person

Paul Robinson, 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

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 Cu and 34.3 grams per tonne Au 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 light grey to dark grey, massive silicic rocks, commonly vuggy, with several percent pyrite and/or chalcopyrite plus bornite either as disseminations or veinlets. 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.

The Hope Brook is located 40 kilometres west of Burgeo and 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, an 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 100-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.

Geophysical survey details

Simcoe Geoscience Ltd. were contracted to perform a Wireless Alpha IP time-domain survey. The program is designed to acquire approximately 56 km of Alpha IP coverage over 35 lines on the grid. All lines are 1.6 km long and are to be surveyed with dipoles spacing, a equals 100 m. The program will include detailed data processing, full 2-D and 3-D modelling using inversion software, and a detailed interpretation report.

The benefits to the project of using this system include:

• Alpha IP gives two times data definition compared with other IP and conventional surveys. Near-surface data will be of higher definition as well as providing deeper penetration.
• Alpha IP provides a means of quickly assessing targets for drilling -- while the survey is in progress.

The data are to be recorded using Alpha IP 2-D equipment:

• Alpha IPTM 2 channel time-domain wireless receiver units (1-);
• Alpha IPTM 1 channel current recorder time-domain wireless units (2);
• IP transmitter (Walcer TX KW10) and Honda Motor Generator MG12A;
• Stainless steel current and potential electrodes, new current and potential wires.

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.