Big Ridge Gold Corp. announce results of a new Mineral Resource Estimate (‘MRE') for the Hope Brook gold deposit located in southwestern Newfoundland and Labrador, 75 km east of the community of Port aux Basques. The resource estimate, completed by Allan Armitage, Ph.D., P.Geo., of SGS Geological Services, incorporates results from the Company's recently completed Phase I drill program in addition to 700 other drill holes in the Company's database.

Global Mineral Resource Estimate Highlights: 1.2 Million Ounces grading 2.32 g/t Au in Indicated and 231,000 Ounces grading 3.24 g/t Au in Inferred categories; Open Pit Mineral Resource Estimate: 1.0 Million Ounces grading 2.14 g/t Au in Indicated category; 43% Increase in total Indicated Ounces and 110% Increase in total Inferred Ounces compared to the April 2021 Mineral Resource Estimate. The new resource estimate contemplates open-pit mineral extraction and identifies in-pit resources at a cut-off grade of 0.4 g/t Au and out-of-pit resources considered accessible by underground mining methods at a cut-off grade of 2.0 g/t Au. A gold price assumption of USD 1,750 per ounce has been used for the estimate.

All prices quoted herein are in US dollars unless otherwise stated. The Hope Brook Gold Deposit comprises an area of historic mining where an open pit and underground mine, accessible by a decline ramp, was developed and operated from 1987 to 1997. Consistent Grade and Tonnage: The 2023 Hope Brook Mine open pit mineral resource estimate demonstrates a strong resilience to change in cut-off grade, allowing for a broader range of future mining scenarios for consideration in future economic studies.

The previous Hope Brook MRE by Big Ridge (2021) was built to represent a resource more suited to an underground mining scenario only. These studies provide development markers to model and test combined extraction scenarios. Process Recovery for Gold and Copper: Gold recovery used in this resource estimate is 86% and is based on historic published information by the former operators of the Hope Brook Mine, and metallurgical work completed in 2014 by Coastal Gold Corp.

(‘Coastal'), currently a 49%-owner of the Hope Brook Gold Project Property. Coastal is a wholly owned subsidiary of First Mining Gold Corp. Copper recoveries are estimated to be 75%, based on the Coastal studies.

Copper in the Hope Brook Deposit: Copper as chalcopyrite is present in the deposit in significant quantity, linked to gold in the deposits main gold bearing vuggy silica lithology. Copper was historically processed for recovery by operators of the Hope Brook Mine in the latter half of the mine's operating life. However, information regarding copper distribution in the deposit, and for the purposes of this Mineral Resource Estimate, is confined to surface drilling information from 198 holes drilled and sampled by Coastal and Big Ridge.

The surface holes are well distributed across the Main and 240 Zones and are considered representative of the distribution of copper in the deposit but have a drill density that is lower that used for the gold resource estimate. The copper resource in this Mineral Resource Estimate is categorized as Inferred Resources due to the lower density of copper values distributed in the Hope Brook resource block model. Copper estimation is restricted to the copper mineralization contained in gold resource model and blocks and does not represent a separately modelled mineral domain.

Copper recovery presents metallurgical and environmental opportunities for the deposit, in addition to a potential economic benefit. Beneficiation of copper can improve gold recoveries at the mill, generate a concentrate for shipment to smelter and reduce copper concentrations sent to future mine tailings storage. Work Completed by Big Ridge: Big Ridge conducted a Phase I exploration program between July 2021 and August 2022.

The program included a grid controlled CSAMT (Controlled Source Audio-frequency Magnetotellurics) and magnetic survey of the mine area, as well as core drilling of 61 NQ-sized diamond drill holes (totalling 19,985 m), which tested near-surface gold and copper mineralization in the down dip extension of the Main Zone and down plunge towards the deeper 240 Zone to the southwest. Project Planning in 2023: With the Company's improved knowledge of the Hope Brook deposit, an updated resource estimate in hand and a slate of underexplored gold targets on the Company's extensive landholding in southern Newfoundland and Labrador, the following projects are being considered: Continued drill testing for expansion of the deposit in the 240 Zone area; Using materials from the company's library of 198 drill holes and sample reject material at site: Metallurgical testing to advance gold and copper recoveries; Ore separation testing with the objective of removing unmineralized lithologies from key mineralized material; Field evaluation and detailed exploration of several priority targets including Old Man's Pond, Woodman's Droke, Phillips Brook and Cross Gulch, by surface mapping and sampling, induced polarization surveys and results-based follow-up drilling. Preliminary exploration of the lithium potential along 30 km of the Bay d'Est fault structure along the northern boundary of the Hope Brook Project.