Newcore Gold hits above-reserve grade at Nyam deposit

Newcore Gold has reported high-grade gold intercepts at depth from its Nyam deposit, part of the Enchi project in Ghana, signaling potential for significant resource growth. These drill results, occurring below the existing reserve pits and exceeding current reserve grades, underscore the project’s capacity for a larger, higher-grade operation than currently outlined in its recent Pre-Feasibility Study. This development arrives as analysts highlight the uncaptured upside of the Enchi project, particularly through deeper CIL processing, with continued exploration expected to bolster its economic profile and extend its mine life.

Vancouver, British Columbia – July 2, 2026 – Newcore Gold (TSXV: NCAU) today announced significant high-grade gold intersections at its Nyam deposit, a key component of the company’s flagship Enchi gold project in Ghana, West Africa. These promising drill results, originating from the ongoing 80,000-meter diamond drill program, indicate robust mineralization at depth, offering compelling prospects for resource expansion beyond the project’s current reserve estimates. The findings are particularly impactful as they demonstrate grades exceeding the existing reserve grade and occurring below the limits of the conceptual open pits that define the current mineral reserves.

Strategic Exploration Uncovers High-Grade Potential at Nyam

Newcore Gold's recent drilling campaign at the Nyam gold deposit has successfully identified high-grade intercepts that could materially enhance the overall resource profile of the Enchi project. Notably, the program targeted deeper extensions of mineralization and areas historically subject to limited exploration, yielding results that far surpass the average grade upon which the current probable reserves are based.

Highlighting the success of this strategic drilling, a prominent intercept returned 3.51 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over 21 metres from a depth of 245 metres downhole. Within this broader interval, a particularly rich section revealed 5.91 g/t gold over 9 metres, commencing at 251 metres. Further demonstrating the consistent nature of the mineralization, another drill hole yielded 1.61 g/t gold over 14 metres from 278 metres, including a higher-grade zone of 2.94 g/t over 7 metres from 284 metres.

The exploration team also focused on testing the downdip and lateral extensions of known high-grade gold occurrences at Nyam. One such hole successfully intercepted 1.40 g/t gold over 21 metres from 317 metres, which included an interval of 2.08 g/t gold over 11 metres from 319 metres. These results are critical as they confirm the continuity of the gold system at considerable depth and along strike where previous drilling was sparse.

Greg Smith, VP Exploration of Newcore Gold, emphasized the significance of these findings in a recent news release. “These holes successfully intersected gold mineralization below the reserve pits and in areas that have historically seen limited drilling,” Smith stated. “As the third largest deposit currently defined at Enchi, Nyam remains open along strike and at depth, with this drilling continuing to support our interpretation that the mineralized system continues at depth.”

Newcore Gold currently has four drill rigs actively operating at the Enchi site. The primary objective of this intensive drilling program is twofold: to identify opportunities to incorporate higher-grade gold into the early years of a prospective mine plan and to significantly expand the known mineralized footprint across the project area.

The Enchi Project: Resource Baseline and PFS Details

The Enchi project is a substantial gold asset located in Ghana, a country renowned as one of Africa’s leading gold producers. The project currently boasts a robust resource base, providing a solid foundation for future development.

Probable Reserve: The project hosts a probable reserve totaling 51.3 million tonnes (Mt) grading 0.64 g/t gold, containing an estimated 1.05 million ounces (Moz) of gold.
Indicated Resource: Encompassed within an indicated resource, the project holds 83.6 Mt grading 0.56 g/t gold, for a total of 1.5 Moz of gold.

The Nyam deposit, specifically targeted by the recent drilling, is recognized as the third largest deposit within the broader Enchi project, underscoring its strategic importance to the overall resource development strategy.

In conjunction with its ongoing exploration efforts, Newcore Gold recently released a new Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) for the Enchi project. This comprehensive technical study incorporated all drilling and technical work completed during 2024 and 2025 but, crucially, did not include the promising results from the 2026 drill program, which are now being reported.

The PFS outlined compelling economic metrics for the project, including:

An after-tax Net Present Value (NPV) of $496 million.
An Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 37%.
A projected mine life of nine years.
Average annual gold production of 104,000 ounces.

A significant strategic shift implemented in the new PFS, compared to the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) published in 2024, was the adoption of a modified mine plan. This latest study centered around an open-pit operation utilizing standard milling and carbon-in-leach (CIL) processing, a departure from the lower-capital, open-pit heap leach operation envisioned in the earlier PEA. While this decision meant a slight drop-off in the headline economics compared to the PEA, it reflects a strategic choice to capture higher-grade, deeper mineralization, which is typically not recoverable through heap leaching. CIL processing, while generally more capital-intensive, offers superior gold recovery rates, especially from harder rock and deeper ore bodies, which aligns with Newcore’s interpretation of the Enchi project’s geological potential.

Industry Analyst Perspectives: Underscoring Upside Potential

The latest drilling success at Nyam comes amidst an informed discourse from industry analysts regarding the Enchi project’s substantial, yet potentially understated, upside. Analysts at SCP Research acknowledged the PFS report as a “good starting point” for the mine project, particularly highlighting the early years’ production profile driven by the higher-grade Boin deposit (projecting 130,000 ounces a year at 0.8 g/t gold in years 1-3).

However, SCP Research also posited that the PFS “understated the upside of the project over the life of mine.” Their analysis suggested that the mine plan in the PFS largely mirrored the shallow pits from the previous heap leach PEA, albeit with the strategic inclusion of higher-grade Boin ounces upfront. Crucially, SCP Research noted that the primary rationale for transitioning to a CIL processing model is to monetize these higher-grade ounces at depth, and that the drilling required to “bulk out the mine plan will occur over the next 10 months.” They projected that with continued successful drilling, there is significant potential to extend the mine life at a robust head grade and achieve a higher production profile, estimating an average of 130,000-140,000 ounces per annum.

Echoing these sentiments, analysts at Haywood underscored the critical role of exploration in the project’s growth trajectory, stating in a research note that “grade remains critical to project economics.” Haywood’s team expressed significant encouragement regarding the latest results from the Nyam area. They commented, “We view this batch of assay results positively, which feature numerous intercepts with grades well above Nyam’s existing resource grade deeper in the system.”

Following the release of these positive drill results, Haywood maintained its “Buy” rating on Newcore Gold, reiterating a target price of C$1.50 per share. The firm explicitly stated, “We expect share price performance to be driven by Newcore’s ability to demonstrate the potential for a larger-scale operation than that envisioned in the PFS.” This analyst commentary provides a strong endorsement for Newcore Gold’s exploration strategy and reinforces the market’s anticipation of further resource upgrades and an enhanced economic profile for the Enchi project.

Ghana's Gold Landscape and Project Implications

Ghana holds a prominent position on the global gold mining stage, consistently ranking among Africa's top gold producers. Its established mining jurisdiction, skilled labor force, and significant geological endowment make it an attractive location for companies like Newcore Gold. The success of a project like Enchi has broader implications for Ghana's mining sector and its continued role as a key supplier of gold to international markets.

For Newcore Gold, the implications of these deeper, higher-grade intercepts are substantial. They could significantly:

Extend Mine Life: By adding new, high-quality ounces below the existing pit shells, the overall life of the Enchi mine could be prolonged, providing long-term stability and cash flow.
Improve Overall Head Grade: The discovery of zones with grades significantly above the current reserve average could boost the overall head grade of the material processed, directly improving project economics and profitability.
Enhance Project Economics: An expanded resource base with higher average grades can lead to a more robust economic model, potentially increasing NPV and IRR projections in future technical studies.
Validate CIL Strategy: The focus on discovering deeper, higher-grade mineralization further validates the strategic decision to adopt CIL processing, positioning the company to efficiently recover these valuable ounces.

Future Outlook and Market Response

The path forward for Newcore Gold involves continuing its aggressive 80,000-meter diamond drill program, with the immediate task of incorporating the 2026 drilling results, and subsequent exploration data, into updated resource models. These updates will be crucial for informing potential future technical studies that capture the full extent of the project’s enhanced resource base.

The market's reaction to Newcore Gold's developments will be closely watched. By midday Thursday, July 2, 2026, Newcore Gold’s shares were trading at C$0.34 apiece on the TSX Venture Exchange, giving the company a market capitalization of approximately C$103.2 million (approximately $72.8 million USD). This current valuation stands at roughly one-third of its 52-week high of C$0.92, indicating significant potential for appreciation should the company succeed in demonstrating a larger-scale operation that surpasses the scope envisioned in the current PFS.

The successful delineation of additional, higher-grade resources at depth at Nyam represents a critical step for Newcore Gold. It not only de-risks future development but also provides the geological foundation for unlocking the broader value of the Enchi project, aligning with analyst expectations for a more robust and longer-lived gold operation in one of Africa's premier gold districts. The ongoing exploration success is expected to be a primary driver of investor confidence and future share price performance as Newcore Gold endeavors to transform these promising intercepts into tangible reserve and resource growth.