News release
News Release
Page 1 of 14
Release ID: 26-22 September 8 , 2026
Liberty Gold Announces Black Pine Feasibility Study with
US$2.4 Billion NPV(5%) and 60% IRR at $3,250/oz Au
(after-tax)
16-year mine life with life-of-mine average payable gold production of
176,700 oz per year and AISC1 of $1,566/oz Au
Average payable gold production of 202,000 oz per year in Years 1-5
US$411 million initial capital requirement for a large-scale, open-pit,
run-of-mine heap leach operation with a 4.04 million oz Au Mineral
Reserve
Base case after-tax NPV(5%) to initial capital ratio of 5.8 and payback
of 2.0 years
Strong economics across a range of gold prices (after-tax):
NPV(5%) US$4.3 billion and 104% IRR at $4,500/oz Au
NPV(5%) US$1.2 billion and 33% IRR at $2,500/oz Au
VANCOUVER, B.C. – Liberty Gold Corp. (TSX: LGD; OTCQX: LGDTF) (“Liberty Goldˮ or the “Companyˮ) is
pleased to announce the results of a Feasibility Study (“FSˮ or the “ Feasibility Studyˮ) prepared in
accordance with National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101ˮ) at
its 100%-owned Black Pine Oxide Gold Project (“Black Pineˮ or the “Projectˮ) in southern Idaho, USA.
The Feasibility Study establishes Black Pine as a large -scale, long-life oxide gold development project
based on a technically straightforward, open-pit, run-of-mine (“ROMˮ) heap-leach operation requiring no
ore crushing, screening or agglomeration. The FS supports average annual payable gold (“Auˮ) production
of 202,000 troy ounces (“ozˮ) in Years 1-5 from a 4.04 million oz Au Probable Mineral Reserve, with an
initial capital cost1 of US$411.4 million and strong economic returns across a broad range of gold prices.
The Feasibility Study assumes a base case gold price of $3,250/oz Au. All figures in this news release are
stated in United States dollars (“$ˮ or “US$ˮ).
1 AISC and Initial Capital Costs are non-GAAP financial measures that do not have a standardized meaning under IFRS. See “Non-GAAP
Measures and Other Financial Measuresˮ below.
News Release
Page 2 of 14
The development configuration evaluated in the FS is aligned with the Company's 2026 Mine Plan of
Operations (“MPOˮ). The Feasibility Study does not replace the MPO that forms the basis for permit
applications currently under review by the applicable regulatory agencies but rather incorporates potential
future feasibility-level optimizations and refinements.
This news release should be read in combination with the F easibility Study presentation available at
https://libertygold.ca/wp-content/uploads/Black_Pine_FS.pdf
2026 Black Pine Feasibility Study Highlights
Large-scale production: 16-year mine-life with an average annual payable production of 202,000 oz Au in
Years 1-5, at an average grade of 0.35 grams per tonne gold (“g/t Auˮ), including peak annual production
of 277,400 oz Au in Year 5; and average annual payable production of 176,700 oz Au over life-of-mine
(“LOMˮ), including peak LOM annual production of 294,600 oz Au in Year 13.
Probable Mineral Reserve containing 4.04 million oz Au: 433.3 million tonnes at a grade of 0.29 g/t Au,
supporting the planned 16-year mine-life.
Capital-efficient development: The Project has an estimated initial capital cost of $411.4 million for a
conventional ROM open-pit heap-leach operation. The ratio of the Projectʼs base- case after-tax Net
Present Value (“NPVˮ)(5%) to initial capital ratio is 5.8.
Competitive operating costs projected: LOM cash costs2 and all-in sustaining costs (“AISCˮ) of $1,388/oz
Au and $1,566/oz Au, respectively.
Robust projected Project returns: At the base case gold price of $3,250 /oz Au, the Feasi bility Study
estimates an after-tax NPV(5%) of $2.397 billion, after-tax Internal Rate of Return (“IRRˮ) of 60.5% and
after-tax payback of initial capital of 2.0 years for the Project.
Black Pine generates strong projected economics across a broad range of gold prices: At $4,500/oz Au,
the Project is estimated to generate an after-tax NPV(5%) of $4.336 billion (IRR of 104.3%) with a payback
of 1.2 years. At a lower gold price, of $2,500/oz Au, the Feasibility Study continues to project positive
economics, including an after-tax NPV(5%) of $1.215 billion (IRR of 33.4%) with a payback of 3.4 years.
Jon Gilligan, President and CEO of Liberty Gold commented:
“Our Feasibility Study on Black Pine, completed ahead of schedule and less than 2 -years after the
Preliminary Feasibility Study, confirms the opportunity to build a large-scale, long-life operation with strong
economics and a technically straightforward development path. This is an important milestone for Liberty
G o l d , r e i n f o r c i n g o u r c o n f i d e n c e i n B l a c k P i n e ʼ s a b i l i t y t o g e n e r a t e l o n g-term value for shareholders,
stakeholders and local communities, representing an important step in advancing the Companyʼs
development strategy.
2 Cash Costs are non-GAAP financial measure that does not have a standardized meaning under IFRS. See “Non-GAAP Measures and Other
Financial Measuresˮ below.
News Release
Page 3 of 14
"Black Pine has the scale, production profile and capital efficiency to support a pathway to becoming a
significant U.S. gold producer in the near term. Importantly, the Feasibility Study demonstrates substantial
projected free cash flow generation with robust economics across a broad range of gold prices. The NPV-
to-initial-capital ratio of approximately 9 times and a payback of just over one year at current gold pricing
of over $4,000/oz, are competitive metrics in the gold development space today.
"The proposed development of Black Pine anticipates supporting approximately 300 long-term jobs and
Liberty Gold looks forward to continuing its engagement with local communities and state officials. With
the Feasibility Study now complete and permitting ongoing, our focus has shifted to detailed engineering,
planning, and other activities required to support execution readiness and a potential construction
decision."
Conference Call and Webcast
The Company will host a conference call and live webcast on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, at 11:00 a.m.
Eastern Time (8:00 a.m. Pacific Time) to discuss the Feasibility Study results. Following managementʼs
presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session open to analysts and investors.
The conference call may be accessed by registering at: https://register-conf.media-
server.com/register/BIeeba700b09604bed8bb4eab3463540b6
Upon registration, participants will receive dial-in information and a unique PIN. Participants joining by
conference call will have the ability to ask a question during the question-and-answer session.
The live webcast, including the accompanying presentation, may be accessed at https://edge.media -
server.com/mmc/p/3tskaprb and will be archived for later playback.
Feasibility Study Overview
The FS incorporates geological, assay, hydrological, metallurgical, geotechnical, environmental and
cultural information collected by Liberty Gold and its consultants and contractors, together with extensive
historic information from the previous mining operation at Black Pine.
The Feasibility Study was prepared by M3 Engineering and Technology Corporation, with the assistance
of Liberty Gold and independent consultants, and incorporates updated Mineral Resource and Mineral
Reserve estimates together with mine plan ning, engineering design, project schedul ing, capital and
operating cost estimates and economic analysis.
The development configuration evaluated in the FS is aligned with the Company's Mine Plan of Operations.
It additionally incorporates potential future feasibility-level optimizations and refinements.
Table 1: Key Black Pine Project Metrics
Project Economics Base Case
Gold Price $3,250/oz $4,500/oz
Pre-tax NPV(5%) $2,929 million $5,371 million
News Release
Page 4 of 14
Pre-tax IRR 63.7% 109.4%
Pre-tax Cash Flow $4,460 million $7,990 million
After-Tax NPV(5%) $2,397 million $4,336 million
After-Tax IRR 60.5% 104.3%
After-Tax Cash Flow $3,579 million $6,343 million
After-Tax Payback Period 2.0 years 1.2 years
Production Profile
Mine Life 16 years
Process Throughput 74,200 tonnes per day (LOM
average)
Total Tonnes of Ore Mined and Processed 433.3 million tonnes
Head Grade (5 year; 10 year; LOM) 0.35 g/t Au; 0.30 g/t Au; 0.29 g/t Au
Strip Ratio (Waste:Ore) 1.34:1
Average Gold Recovery 70.2%
Total Gold Ounces Produced 2,841 koz¹
Total Payable Gold Ounces 2,838 koz¹
Average Annual Payable Gold Production
(Yr 1-5) 202 koz
Peak Annual Payable Gold Production (Yr 1-5) 277 koz (year 5)
Average Annual Payable Gold Production
(LOM) 177 koz
Peak Annual Payable Gold Production (LOM) 295 koz (year 13)
Unit Operating Costs
LOM Operating Cost $8.98/tonne processed
LOM Cash Cost² $1,388/oz Au
LOM AISC² $1,566/oz Au
Total Capital Costs
Initial Capital² $411.4 million
LOM Sustaining Capital2 $254.0 million
Closure Costs $160.1 million
LOM Total Capital $825.5 million
¹ “kozˮ refers to thousand ounces ² Refer to “Non-GAAP Measures and Other Financial Informationˮ below
News Release
Page 5 of 14
Strong Economics Across a Broad Range of Gold Prices
Black Pine demonstrates significant upside leverage and downside resilience within the range of gold
prices evaluated. An analysis of the FS base case illustrates the Project's sensitivity to gold price, with all
other material assumptions remaining constant, as summarized in Table 2 below.
Table 2: After-Tax NPV (5%), IRR and Payback Sensitivity to Gold Price
Gold Price ($/oz) $2,500 $3,000 $3,250
(Base Case)
$3,500 $4,000 $4,500
After-Tax NPV(5%) ($M) $1,215 $2,006 $2,397 $2,786 $3,562 $4,336
After-Tax IRR (%) 33.4% 51.6% 60.5% 69.4% 87.0% 104.3%
After-Tax Payback
(years) 3.4 2.3 2.0 1.7 1.4 1.2
Project Description
Black Pine is a large, Carlin-style, sedimentary rock hosted oxide gold system located in Cassia and Oneida
counties, southern Idaho, USA , with site access directly off the I -84 highw ay. Black Pine is a past -
producing open-pit, ROM heap leach mine, active from 1991 to 1997, when Pegasus Gold Corp. produced
434,800 ounces of gold and 198,000 ounces of silver (“Agˮ) from five open pits. Road access is well
established, with up to 9.9 megawatts of grid power available at site, sufficient for the Project requirements.
Additionally, Liberty Gold has secured sufficient existing water rights in the basin to support the Project.
Liberty Gold holds a 100% ownership interest in the federal lode claims and state minerals lease that host
the Mineral Reserve at Black Pine. The Project is subject to a 0.5% net smelter return royalty (“NSRˮ) in
favour of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp., with a 50% buyback right in favor of Liberty Gold for $3.6 million
(assumed to be exercised in the economic analysis), a 0.25% NSR on certain private mineral lands, and a
5% NSR payable to the State of Idaho on production from the state minerals lease.
Mining
The FS utilizes conventional open pit mining with mine designs generated by AGP Mining Consultants Inc.
(“AGPˮ). The open pits include the larger Discovery and Rangefront pits, together with the smaller CD, E, F,
J and M pits. Average annual total material movement over the 16-year mine life is approximately 64 million
tonnes, at a favourable strip ratio of 1.34:1 (waste:ore).
Two mining fleets are planned to provide operating flexibility across the larger main pits and the smaller
satellite pits. The FS has adopted a full OEM contract for mobile mine equipment maintenance and repair
for the first five years of operations with phased in-sourcing thereafter. The smaller mining fleet is assumed
to be supplied and operated by a mining contractor.
News Release
Page 6 of 14
All mining is conducted with at least 50 feet of freeboard above the water table, and all open pits are
considered dry and are not expected to require dewatering or depressurization.
Processing and Metallurgy
Gold will be recovered using ROM heap leaching with no crushing, screening or agglomeration. Ore will
be truck-stacked onto a phased heap leach facility followed by conventional cyanide leaching and
processed through an adsorption, desorption and recovery (“ADRˮ) plant which will produce gold and silver
doré bars that will be shipped off-site for further refining. The FS estimates an overall LOM gold recovery
of 70.2%, based on recovery equations developed for the modeled metallurgical domains. Selected lower
recovery ore will be stockpiled by metallurgical type for subsequent placement on the heap leach facility.
Black Pine has been the subject of extensive metallurgical testwork, including eight metallurgical programs
completed since 2019 using bulk samples and large-diameter PQ core, at Kappes, Cassiday & Associates
in Reno, Nevada. Additional programs are ongoing including the bulk sample column leach testing from
surface ores collected across the deposit and sample testing from sonic drill holes in the Legacy Heap
Leach Facility (“LHLFˮ) to evaluate its economic potential.
Capital and Operating Costs
Initial capital to develop Black Pine is estimated at $411.4 million, comprising process and site infrastructure,
heap leach facilities, mine capital (including initial deposits for mining equipment), pre-production activities,
engineering, procurement and construction management (“EPCMˮ), contingency and ownerʼs costs. The
FS assumes all mining equipment is leased at prevailing commercial rates.
In addition to initial capital, the FS estimates $254.0 million of sustaining capital over the 16-year mine life.
Reclamation and closure costs are estimated at $160.1 million.
Total life-of-mine capital, including initial, sustaining and closure expenditures , is estimated at $825.5
million. See Table 3 below.
News Release
Page 7 of 14
Table 3: Black Pine FS Capital Cost Summary
Capital Costs Initial $ Million Sustaining $ Million Total $ Million
Process Plant & Support¹ $221.4 $31.7 $253.1
Heap Leach Facility² $87.0 $140.2 $227.2
Mine Capital³ $103.0 $82.1 $185.1
Closure nil $160.1 $160.1
Total Capital Costs $411.4 $414.1 $825.5
¹ Includes site general earthworks, process plant (ADR, refinery, reagents), power systems, ADR building and ancillaries, freight,
construction support, EPCM, vendor support, spare parts, first fills, storm water controls, contingency and owner's costs.
² Includes direct, indirect and contingency costs for the heap leach facility.
³ Includes mine capital equipment, mine pre-production costs and mining capital contingency, excludes ore inventory costs.
4Totals may not sum due to rounding.
Total operating costs for the LOM are estimated at $3,892 million, equivalent to $8.98 per tonne of ore
processed and an AISC of $1,566/oz Au. See Table 4 below.
Table 4: Black Pine FS Operating Cost Summary
Operating Costs LOM $ Million Unit Cost $/tonne ore
Mining $2,635.8 $6.08
Process Plant $898.6 $2.07
G&A $347.1 $0.80
Refining $10.7 $0.02
Total Operating Cost $3,892.2 $8.98
Totals may not sum due to rounding.
Environmental, Permitting and Community
Black Pine is currently advancing through federal and state permitting as a FAST-41 Covered Project, based
upon the Companyʼs 2026 MPO.
News Release
Page 8 of 14
The U.S. Forest Service published a Notice of Intent on April 3, 2026, formally initiating public scoping and
preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement (“EISˮ) under the National Environmental Policy Act
(“NEPAˮ).
Liberty Gold has maintained an active stakeholder and community outreach program since 2019, including
regular engagement with local municipalities, county commissioners, the Idaho Legislature, regulatory
agencies and community groups. No material environmental issues have been identified to date that are
expected to preclude securing the permits and authorizations required to develop Black Pine.
Further Opportunities
The FS establishes a development case for Black Pine while identifying opportunities for further evaluation:
• Near-term finalization of a Silver Resource: Silver resources have been estimated at the Discovery
and M Zones, and work is ongoing for the remainder of the deposit, with further details to be
provided in the FS. No silver mineral reserve or silver production is included in the FS.
• Resource conversion and growth: Possible conversion of the Inferred Mineral Resource of 58.4
million tonnes at an average grade of 0.14 g/t Au and containing 171 thousand oz of potentially
recoverable gold to the Indicated category; continued resource growth from step-out drilling around
known mineralized centres; and, e valuation of additional high-priority targets across the mineral
lease area of ~ 70 square kilometers. Inferred Mineral Resources are considered too speculative
geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be
considered Mineral Reserves and there is no certainty that further exploration will result in the
conversion of Inferred Mineral Resources to Indicated Mineral Resource.
• 2026 Drilled to Measured (“DtMˮ) program: This yearʼs drill program has been designed to upgrade
the mineral resource classification from Indicated to Measured for the early years of the mine plan
presented in the FS. Drilling is expected to be completed later this year and with final assay results
following. This program is intended to significantly derisk the ore supply during operational start-up
and over the initial capital payback period.
• Mine and heap optimization: Continued optimization of mine planning, mining rates, stacking rates,
cut-off grade strategy, stockpiling, haulage and heap leach facility design and phasing.
Pathway to a Construction Decision
Liberty Gold continues to advance Black Pine toward a potential construction decision through detailed
engineering, procurement, financing and execution readiness, while permitting continues under the
established FAST-41 schedule. The Company has recently selected M3 Engineering & Tech nology
Corporation and NewFields Companies LLC as principal engineering partners for the detailed engineering
phase and this work has commenced.
The recommended work program is proposed in two phases: