New Found Announces the Continuation of Environmental Baseline and Pre-Development Studies

New Found Gold Corp. (“New Found” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: NFG, NYSE-A: NFGC) is pleased to announce the continuation of its environmental baseline studies and advancement on pre-development evaluations at its 100% owned Queensway Project (“Queensway”), located on the Trans-Canada Highway 15km west of Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Highlights

• Environmental baseline studies are entering their third year and will ensure that New Found is in a favourable position to support future regulatory mine permitting requirements. Ongoing environmental baseline studies include surface water and sediment sampling, hydrology, vegetation, wetlands, bird, wildlife, and aquatic assessments.
• The Company has retained metallurgist Gary Simmons as an independent consultant to design and oversee a comprehensive metallurgical test work program at the Queensway Project with the objective to understand potential process design and gold recoveries from the various mineralized zones. Mr. Simmons is an internationally recognized metallurgist who previously served as Director of Metallurgy and Technology of Newmont Mining Corporation, where he managed the corporate metallurgical laboratory and R&D staff responsible for global Newmont process development and engineering design projects.
• New Found will also be initiating a number of pre-development studies including geotechnical and geochemical characterization of host rock, as well as assessment of potential project development scenarios.
• In addition, New Found is continuing engagement with stakeholders, regulators, and our local communities.

Ron Hampton, Chief Development Officer for New Found stated: “We are pleased with the progress to date on our environmental baseline work at the Queensway Project and excited to be progressing pre-development study work including metallurgical testing, host rock characterization geochemistry, and geotechnical investigations. By being proactive at this early stage of project development, we are confident we will be well placed to accelerate future project design and regulatory permitting.”

Gary Simmons Biography

Gary Simmons has over 40 years of experience with internationally recognized mining companies in the areas of project management, process development, operations, design engineering, R&D, and corporate due diligence activities. Gary's previous roles have included: Mill Superintendent for The New Jersey Zinc Company and Noranda Mining Company; Director of Metallurgy for Meridian Minerals Company and Santa Fe Pacific Gold Corp.; and Director of Metallurgy and Technology for Newmont Mining Corporation, where he managed Newmont's corporate metallurgical laboratory and R&D staff and a staff of Process Managers (engineers) responsible for global Newmont process development and engineering design projects. Upon retirement from Newmont, Gary has continued as an independent consultant on multiple North American and international mining operations and development projects, providing operations technical consulting guidance and managing metallurgical testing and process design activities.