Rua Gold Inc. (TSXV: RUA) (OTCQB: NZAUF) (WKN: A40QYC) (‘Rua Gold’ or the ‘Company’) is pleased to provide an update on its gold-antimony exploration at the Auld Creek project in the Reefton Goldfield on the South Island of New Zealand, reporting improved gold grades from current drilling in diamond drillholes ACDDH026, ACDDH027, ACDDH028.

Highlights:

• Following up on the last high grade results from the Company, the next holes intersected broader zones of gold in hole ACDDH027 and narrow but strong gold-stibnite (antimony sulphide) mineralization in ACDDH028. 

• Assay results show: 

  • ACDDH026: 2.1m @ 1.25g/t Au from 175m depth 

  • ACDDH027: 9m @ 5.9g/t AuEq¹ (5.2g/t Au & 0.16% Sb) from 159m depth 

  • ACDDH028: 1.25m @ 48.3g/t AuEq¹ (13.3g/t Au & 8.1% Sb) from 210m depth 

• ACDD024,025 confirmed higher grade antimony mineralisation on the Fraternal shoot, the recent drilling ACDDH27,28 indicates an improvement in gold grade with depth. 

• The gold grades on the Fraternal shoot plunge to the south, current drilling is testing 80-100m below the current resource envelope, before pivoting to testing the northerly extensions of the Fraternal ore body. 

• Auld Creek has an inferred resource hosted by two ore shoots, Bonanza and Fraternal. This resource outcrops at surface and is continuous to 160m vertically and open at depth. 

• Surface soil geochemistry strongly endorses extensions to the Fraternal north prospect and Bonanza northeast prospect, confirming the system is traceable over a 2.5km length.

Robert Eckford, CEO of Rua Gold commented: ‘It is encouraging to see an improvement in gold grades with depth on the Fraternal lode, and the continuation of high-grade antimony accompanying the gold in narrow plunging shoots.

Drilling to date on Auld Creek antimony-gold prospect has increased confidence in the existing gold-antimony resource and highlighted higher-grade plunging shoots that remain open to the south. We are focused on expanding the Auld Creek resource both north and south, with intensified surface exploration showing early promise in identifying additional mineralization over its 2.5km length.’

Figure 1: Overview of the Reefton Goldfield.

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Figure 2: Fraternal and Bonanza ore shoots at Auld Creek.

Note that AuEq amounts have been calculated using recent spot prices of gold and antimony and applying a ~30% discount. The gold equivalent formula is based on AuEq = Au g/t + 4.3 x Sb% using a Au price of US$2065/oz, Sb price of US$34,300 per tonne and 85% recovery.

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GLOBAL SUPPLY AND VALUE OF ANTIMONY

Antimony is a critical metalloid primarily sourced from the mineral, stibnite. It is highly valuable and increasing in demand due to its versatility and has essential applications across renewable energy, liquid battery metals, defence and technological sectors.

Due to its limited supply, predominantly controlled by China, Russia & Tajikistan, antimony is considered a strategic material essential for supply chain security, particularly during periods of geopolitical instability. This was heightened in August 2024, when China announced export controls on processed antimony products. In response to these controls, nations have accelerated their efforts to secure alternative sources of antimony to mitigate the risk of significant supply chain vulnerabilities.

The US, EU, UK, Japan, Canada and Australia all designate antimony as a critical mineral. On January 31, 2025, New Zealand also announced their Critical Mineral List which included antimony.

Reflecting heightened demand, the price of antimony has reached new highs, currently trading over US$50,000 per tonne, a significant increase from US$11,350 per tonne at the start of 2024. This market shift has intensified interest in the strategic antimony potential held by Rua Gold.

EXPLORATION POTENTIAL

Rua Gold commenced drilling at Auld Creek in December 2024. It has a targeted program to drill four mineralised shoots identified from historical surface exploration work interpreted by the Rua Gold team over the past 3 months.

Auld Creek is situated between two past producing mines, Globe Progress mine, and the Crushington Group of mines which collectively produced 933,000oz at 14.0g/t Au (Barry 1993). Auld Creek has three historic adits but no commercial production from the reefs.

Rua Gold has an inferred resource at Auld Creek indicating 700,000 tonnes at 3.1g/t Au and 1.1% Sb for 67,000oz of gold and 8,000 tonnes of antimony² (AuEq 110,000oz³). The resource is restricted to two of the four known shoots. Soil geochemistry indicates the potential for discovery of additional mineralised shoots over a strike length of 2.5km.

Four of the eight holes completed to date intersected 4-5m of strong visible stibnite (antimony sulfide) mineralization in the Fraternal-Bonanza structure.

Results from ACDDH024, ACDDH025 confirm the approximate average gold grades, but report higher antimony grades than the current resource estimate. Results from ACDDH027, ACDDH028 highlight above average gold grades with narrow but high-grade antimony in ACDDH028.

Ongoing drilling is targeting the southern plunging Fraternal gold-antimony shoot which remains open along strike and at depth.

Intensified surface exploration is showing very encouraging strong trends both north and north-west confirming additional targets on the Fraternal North and Bonanza north-west extensions.

Figure 3: Arsenic soil geochemistry over Auld Creek area.

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ABOUT Rua Gold

Rua Gold is an exploration company, strategically focused on New Zealand. With decades of expertise, our 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 2Moz of gold grading between 9 and 50g/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 15Moz of gold and 60Moz of silver. Glamorgan is adjacent to OceanaGold Corporation’s biggest gold mining project, Wharekirauponga.

For further information, please refer to the Company’s disclosure record on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

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 geochemical sampling, and mapping programs to verify that they have been conducted in accordance with 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.

QA/QC Drill Core

Rock samples were sent to SGS Laboratories, Westport for sample preparation. Samples were crushed and pulverized to 85% passing 75 µm. The pulverized rock-chips were split into two samples: a ~50 g sent for laboratory analysis, and the reject returned to RGL for pXRF analysis and storage. Pulverized rock-chip samples were analyzed for gold (Au) by 50-g fire assay with AAS finish at SGS Waihi (SGS Code FAA505); and for antimony (Sb) by Sodium Peroxide Fusion Analysis by ICP-MS at SGS Waihi.

QA/QC Soil Samples

Pre-planned soil sampling points on a 20 m x 100 m grid were loaded onto a handheld GPS for guidance. A spade was used to acquire a ~1.0 kg sample from the C horizon, which was put in a wet-strength paper sample bag with wire ties. Sample information was logged in a notebook in the field, including sample ID, depth, color, horizon, slope, sample description, sampler, basement, and comments. Each sample was photographed in the field alongside the GPS with coordinates visible and each sample site marked in the field with biodegradable flagging tape. Samples were taken back to Rua Gold’s Reefton facility for preparation. The sample information was entered on.csv files and uploaded to an SQL database.

Samples were dried in a customized incubator, set at 38°C, for a minimum of two days. Once the samples were fully dried, they were sieved to Rua Gold’s Reefton facility using a Olympus Vanta pXRF analyzer; and then on to ALS Brisbane, Australia, for low-level gold analysis using Au-TL43; trace level Au by aqua regia extraction with ICP-MS finish. Detection limit 1 ppb Au.

Field duplicates were collected every 20th sample and underwent the same sample collection and preparation process outlined above. Duplicates were checked and validated by Rua Gold’s Isogonal data validation system to ensure compliance.

This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed ‘forward-looking statements’. All statements in this new release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-Looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words ‘expects’, ‘plans’, ‘anticipates’, ‘believes’, ‘intends’, ‘estimates’, ‘projects’, ‘potential’ and similar expressions, or that events or conditions ‘will’, ‘would’, ‘may’, ‘could’ or ‘should’ occur and specifically include statements regarding: the Company’s strategies, expectations, planned operations or future actions, including but not limited to exploration programs at its Reefton and Glamorgan projects and the results thereof. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.

Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. A variety of inherent risks, uncertainties and factors, many of which are beyond the Company’s control, affect the operations, performance and results of the Company and its business, and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Some of these risks, uncertainties and factors include: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; risks related to the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war; risks related to climate change; operational risks in exploration, delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration projects or capital expenditures; the actual results of current exploration activities; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; changes in labour costs and other costs and expenses or equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, including but not limited to environmental hazards, flooding or unfavorable operating conditions and losses, insurrection or war, delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing, and commodity prices. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company’s forward-looking statements and reference should also be made to the Company’s short form base shelf prospectus dated July 11, 2024, and the documents incorporated by reference therein, filed under its SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca for a description of additional risk factors.

Forward-Looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company’s management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management’s beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

Table 1: Location of Auld Creek drill holes from RUA 2024-2025 program

Table 2: Significant drilling intercepts at Auld Creek, full mineralized zone composites (1.5g/t Au cut-off)

1.Using recent spot prices of gold and antimony, and applying a ~30% discount, the gold equivalent formula is based on AuEq = Au g/t + 4.3 x Sb% using a Au price of US$2065/oz, Sb price of US$34,300 per tonne and 85% recovery.
2.Please see the Company’s technical report entitled, ‘Technical Report on Reefton Project, New Zealand’, dated October 30, 2024.
3.Based on gold equivalent formula of AuEq = Au g/t + 1.9 x Sb% using a Au price of US$2025/oz, Sb price of US$15,000 per tonne and 85% recovery.

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Saga Metals Corp. (‘SAGA’ or the ‘Company’) (TSXV: SAGA) (OTCQB: SAGMF) (FSE: 20H) a North American exploration company focused on critical mineral discovery, announces the final batch of core from the Company’s maiden drill program at the Radar Titanium-Vanadium (Ti-V) project has been shipped for analysis to Activation Laboratories in Ancaster, Ontario. The 2,200m of core was cut, sampled and separated into three batches and sent to the lab in approximately two-week intervals. SAGA anticipates receiving the assay results throughout the month of May providing a steady stream of information that can be analyzed and interpreted by the geological team with modeling of the mineralization and geochemistry.

Local Support Strengthens Following Maiden Drill Program Completion:

Following the successful completion of Saga Metals’ maiden drill program in Cartwright, Labrador, the Town of Cartwright issued an official letter of support for the Radar Project. Robyn Holwell, Mayor of Cartwright, expressed the community’s optimism and alignment with the project’s future:

‘The town of Cartwright fully supports Saga Metals in their exploration efforts and analysis aiming to identify an ore deposit near Cartwright and in Labrador in general. The town will help in whatever way it can to support Saga Metals in its efforts.’ – Robyn Holwell, Mayor of Cartwright, Labrador

Q1 2025 Radar Project Maiden Drill Program Summary:

SAGA’s 2025 maiden drill program aimed to test the core of the magnetic anomaly identified through geophysics at the Hawkeye Zone. Initially planned for 1,500 meters, the program was confidently expanded to 2,200 meters after early drilling revealed strong intercepts through the primary layering sequences.

This program confirmed a large mineralized layered mafic intrusion with early indications suggesting it is moderately undeformed and contains its original primary magmatic textures from over 1 billion years ago. The Dykes River intrusion (Gower 2017), which hosts the entirety of the Radar Ti-V project, has been historically mapped over an area of 160km ² , which is similar, but larger in size to Greenland’s Skargaard intrusion. This size underscores the immense untapped potential of the region for hosting critical metals, including vanadium and titanium, essential to the global green energy transition.

Key findings from the maiden drill program include:

• 130–200 meters of intermittent magnetite layering across strike
• Consistent correlation between geophysical anomalies and mineralized zones
• Layered Fe-Ti-V mineralization   open at depth

Figure 1: Geophysical map of the Hawkeye zone showing drilled oxide layers and inferred oxide layering open in both directions along strike

Drill holes R25-HEZ-01 and R25-HEZ-04 were prioritized for the first shipment to Activation Laboratories due to their location on the drill fence which placed them in a position to fully intercept the main oxide layering sequence as seen in the above map. Both holes logged magnetite layering sequences between 130-200m across strike.

Figure 2: Layering sequence of magnetite ranging from 2-10 inches per band over an almost 30m run of drill hole R25-HEZ-01

Magnetic and Electromagnetic (EM) Survey begins at ‘Trapper Zone’

Given the success of the maiden drill program’s ability to uncover magnetite rich zones following the targeted geophysics completed back in Q4 2024, SAGA has commenced an additional targeted and highly detailed magnetic and EM survey over the northern anomaly in the Trapper zone located to the west of the Hawkeye zone. The objective is to develop a magnetic inversion model, like Hawkeye’s, that delineates follow-up drill targets along the inferred 20km oxide layer zone.

The survey uses a tight spacing of 25-meters between linear stations over lines separated by 50-meter width to achieve high-resolution magnetic and conductivity mapping, essential for pinpointing mineralization correlated with magnetite. Tight spacing will give a very high-resolution image of the magnetic and conductivity of the known target to further support and enhance confidence for a drill program in this westerly zone.

Figure 3: Map of the Radar Ti-V project oxide layer trend and locations of the Hawkeye and Trapper zones

Michael Garagan, CGO & Director of SAGA comments: ‘The geophysical work—surveyed by Cartwright local Cameron Martin and expertly interpreted by David and Chris Mark of Geotronics Consulting—was undeniably SAGA’s guiding force during our maiden drill program this past winter. The success of this proof-of-concept initiative has elevated the next phases of geophysics to a top priority, particularly over our additional anomalous zones, as we aim to confirm the true extent of the oxide layer running through the project with further drilling. Based on the regional data, the Trapper Zone exhibits one of the strongest anomalies, and we are highly motivated to model it against the results from Hawkeye and ultimately advance to drilling at the Trapper Zone.’

About Saga Metals Corp.

Saga Metals Corp. is a North American mining company focused on the exploration and discovery of critical minerals that support the global transition to green energy. The company’s flagship asset, the Double Mer Uranium Project, is located in Labrador, Canada, covering 25,600 hectares. This project features uranium radiometrics that highlight an 18km east-west trend, with a confirmed 14km section producing samples as high as 0.428% U ₃ O ₈ and uranium uranophane was identified in several areas of highest radiometric response (2024 Double Mer Technical Report).

In addition to its uranium focus, SAGA owns the Legacy Lithium Property in Quebec’s Eeyou Istchee James Bay region. This project, developed in partnership with Rio Tinto, has been expanded through the acquisition of the Amirault Lithium Project. Together, these properties cover 65,849 hectares and share significant geological continuity with other major players in the area, including Rio Tinto, Winsome Resources, Azimut Exploration, and Loyal Lithium.

SAGA also holds secondary exploration assets in Labrador, where the company is focused on the discovery of titanium, vanadium, and iron ore. With a portfolio that spans key minerals crucial to the green energy transition, SAGA is strategically positioned to play an essential role in the clean energy future.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Mike Stier, Chief Executive Officer

For more information, contact:
Saga Metals Corp.
Investor Relations
Tel: +1 (778) 930-1321
Email: info@sagametals.com
www.sagametals.com

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Qualified Person

Peter Webster P.Geo. CEO of Mercator Geological Services Limited is an Independent Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information related to the Radar Ti-V Project disclosed in this news release.

Cautionary Disclaimer

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as ‘will’, ‘may’, ‘should’, ‘anticipates’, ‘expects’, ‘believes’, and similar expressions or the negative of these words or other comparable terminology. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information pertaining to the Company’s plans and objectives in respect of drill program. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s expectations include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, environmental risks, limitations on insurance coverage, risks and uncertainties involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, and the risks detailed in the Company’s final prospectus in Manitoba and amended and restated final prospectus for British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario dated August 30, 2024, filed under its SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca, and in the continuous disclosure filings made by the Company with securities regulations from time to time. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements only as expressly required by applicable law.