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RUA GOLD Utilizes VRIFY AI to Prioritize Cumberland, Following up on Exceptional Historic Drill Intercept

Exploration Programs

RUA GOLD Utilizes VRIFY AI to Prioritize

Cumberland, Following up on Exceptional

Historic Drill Intercept

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 13, 2025) - Rua Gold Inc. (TSXV: RUA)

(OTCQB: NZAUF) (WKN: A40QYC) ("RUA GOLD" or the "Company") is pleased to advise on the

updated Cumberland gold camp drill target. This follows on from the integration of VRIFY AI into RUA's

extensive geological database and the consolidation of the Reefton Goldfield, an orogenic gold and

antimony belt on the South Island of New Zealand.

Highlights:

The AI contribution is already paying dividends as the tool has accelerated the identification of and

prioritization of our drill targets.

Prioritizing Cumberland gold camp comprising of 7 historic mines in a 2 km long north-northwest

trending zone of quartz veins and shearing.

Follow up target on historic Cumberland drill hole,

GAL001 showing 21.9m (5m true width) of

92.0g/t Au including 1m of 1911 g/t Au (60 oz/t)

.

Drilling contractor is being mobilized and the Company anticipates commencing drilling before the

end of January.

The Company is expanding its 2025 exploration program to include the Cumberland gold camp, a

historic gold camp 3kms south of Globe Progress Mine, which has produced over

1 million ounces of

gold

(historic production prior to 1950 of 424,000 ounces, and a further 665,000 ounces from 2007 -

2015 under OceanaGold).

Figure 1: Overview of the Reefton Goldfield.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10755/236943_170cba3b043e2a31_007full.jpg

EARLY WIN FROM RUA GOLD'S AI INVESTMENT

The Cumberland target was identified by uncovering several exploratory holes drilled by OceanaGold 15

years ago, including hole GAL001, which had the following exceptional results on a well-defined quartz

vein at shallow depth:

GAL001: 21.9m (5m true width) of 92.0g/t Au including 1m of 1911 g/t Au (60 oz/t).

GAL001 was drilled down the vein, giving an exaggerated width but provides for a compelling and

prospective target to follow up immediately.

RUA GOLD has collated hundreds of thousands of data points from its recent Siren acquisition, historic

workings and contemporary exploration on its multiple mine sites, and district wide geophysical data

over the Reefton Goldfields. The ability to combine rapid data-mining of this information by VRIFY, in

concert with RUA GOLD's extensive surface geochemistry and ultra-detailed UAV magnetics

accumulated in the last 5 years, provides us with rapid feedback on a multi layered dataset, that now

focusses our prospect ranking, and directly informs our drilling programs.

Simon Henderson, COO of RUA GOLD, commented,

"Consolidation of our holdings on the Reefton

Goldfield provides a plethora of gold targets and historic deposits to examine. AI driven VRIFY

provides a science data driven platform to assimilate the vast amount of data available, identify

patterns and associations at lightning speed, and provide iterative feedback, constantly updating and

adding value as the exploration process rolls out. We are excited by its early success in highlighting

key areas such as Cumberland to prioritize our drill activity planned in 2025."

Figure 2: VRIFY AI hotspot identification showing Cumberland-Gallant Prospect

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10755/236943_ruaimg2.jpg

CUMBERLAND HISTORY

The Cumberland gold camp comprises 7 historic mines in a 2 km long north-northwest trending zone of

quartz veins and shearing. Historic production totaled 21,740oz gold at an average recovered grade of

26.1 g/t (see appendices).

Figure 3: Map showing Cumberland historic mine camp

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10755/236943_170cba3b043e2a31_011full.jpg

INITIAL DRILL TARGET

Based on the extensive surface exploration work and historical drilling, the Gallant lode in the

Cumberland gold camp presents an exceptional high-grade target that has never seen significant

exploration work:

It has quartz veins outcropping on surface within an envelope of strong gold-arsenic anomalism.

It has several exploratory holes drilled by OceanaGold 15 years ago, which include exceptional

results on a well-defined quartz vein at shallow depth (Table 1).

Core orientation clearly demonstrates that this intersection drilled down the quartz reef

exaggerating its width.

Geological modelling interprets the vein to be approximately 5m wide.

Table 1: Intercept from GAL001, calculated with a 1.5ppm Au cut-off and up to 3m internal dilution.

Drill hole

From

To

Interval

Au (g/t)

GAL001

31.0

52.9

21.9m

92

including

47.0

48.0

1.0m

1911

Note: true width of vein: 5m.

VRIFY'S AI PLATFORM

The Company has partnered with VRIFY to onboard VRIFY's AI-assisted mineral discovery platform to

accelerate discovery, reduce costs and further de-risk exploration.

In conjunction with the consolidation of the Reefton Goldfield in November 2024, the Company

implemented the VRIFY AI tool. Early in the AI training phase, Cumberland was identified as a standout

target. The VRIFY team has assimilated geochemistry, drilling and geophysical data on an

unprecedented scale and accuracy over the whole district, processing over 84GB of data, +170,000

data points, actively informing our 2025 drill targets for quicker project advancement and de-risking our

work programs.

RUA GOLD's data, unlocked through VRIFY's Al-assisted mineral discovery platform. This AI-assisted

data synthesis enabled RUA GOLD to actively and effectively rank its 2025 drill targets, accelerating its

project advancement and de-risking its work programs in a matter of minutes, a process that would have

taken months, if performed manually.

ACCELERATED DISCOVERY

RUA GOLD inherited thousands of data points from historic activity on its multiple mine sites and

exploration work with the Reefton Goldfields. The ability to rapidly mine this existing data for new insights

and targets, while incorporating recent work, provided real-time feedback through VRIFY's platform to

inform drilling programs.

SCALABILITY and COST SAVINGS

RUA GOLD is just beginning and is confident that VRIFY will continue to add value by allowing for the

analysis of larger datasets without increasing costs linearly.

HIGHER ACCURACY

VRIFY's proprietary Al model reduces human error and identifies patterns that manual review might

miss, increasing discovery potential.

QAQC HISTORIC DRILLING (MR 5093)

RUA GOLD is treating the drill results as historic.

The QP has verified the data disclosed, including drill collar location, sampling and analytical information

contained in the written disclosure,

1

.

Data was verified by examination of remaining core in the core-box; confirming intervals, core

splitting and interval handling procedures and logged core descriptions matched original core

logging.

2

.

Verified the core sampling and assay procedures by examining and confirming from the original

assay certificates of SGS and ALS laboratories that the sample numbers recorded matched the

sample intervals logged.

3

.

Verified from original assay certificates stated blanks and certified standards and duplicates were

used and reported, and where deviations outside 2 standard deviations assays have been

repeated.

4

.

Verified that suitable assay methodology for coarse gold was used by both laboratories SGS

Reefton method FASC30T(screen fire assay) and ALS method Au-SCR22AA

(screen fire assay).

5

.

The QP has verified in the zone of exceptionally high-grade gold values that gold is clearly visible in

veinlets within a significant quartz vein.

(c) The QP satisfactorily verified all data used in this disclosure.

The QAQC summarized from the OceanaGold report is as follows:

"Diamond drill samples were generally taken over 1 m intervals and cut in half. Half the core was then

sent to SGS or ALS. Some of the significant reef samples were analyzed at the ALS laboratory in

Townsville for rapid processing and the rest were analyzed at the SGS laboratory in Westport. Due to

the large amount of quartz reef drilled in the first part of the program, a screen fire technique was

introduced at SGS (FAS30T).

ALS Townsville preformed 1 kg screen fire assays (Au-SCR22AA) along with a standard fire assay

procedure (Au-AA26). Diamond core submissions included at the minimum one blank and two

certified standards and at least two lab duplicates taken after coarse crushing of the sample. If both

standard assays from the same hole returned assay values outside two standard deviations of the

actual value, the laboratory was requested to re-assay the job. Assays from dispatches RD131025.1

and RD131106.1 showed significant deviation from standards and checks. These two batches were re-

assayed (RD131025.1R and RD131106.1R respectively).

All assay data was imported into the Reefton project acQuire database directly from laboratory

reports."

Source: Anderson, T., 2014. MP 41164 Globe Progress annual technical report - 2014, OceanaGold Ltd; NZP&M, Ministry of Business, Innovation

& Employment (MBIE), New Zealand. Unpublished Mineral Report MR5093.

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'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 2 million ounces of gold grading between 9 and 50 grams per tonne.

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 15 million ounces of gold and 60

million ounces of silver. Glamorgan is adjacent to OceanaGold Corporation's biggest gold mining

project, WKP.

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

, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained herein.

RUA GOLD Contact

Robert Eckford

Chief Executive Officer

Email:

[email protected]

Website:

www.RUAGOLD.com

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; and the effects and benefits of the Transaction. 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.

Appendices

Historic

Production

Cumberland Camp (Barry, 1993)

Lode

Tonnes

Production

(Au oz)

Recovered

grade (oz/t)

Recovered

grade (g/t)

Scotia

604

1,283

2.1

66.1

Gallant

2,378

759

0.3

9.9

Sir Francis Drake-Happy Valley

17,261

5,810

0.3

10.5

Cumberland

14,120

13,629

1.0

30.0

Exchange-Industry

519

260

0.5

15.6

Source:

Barry, J.M., 1993. The History and Mineral Resources of the Reefton Goldfield. Ministry of Commerce Resource Information Report No. 15.

Reference for historical grades and production:

Barry, J.M., 1993. The History and Mineral Resources of the Reefton Goldfield. Ministry of Commerce

Resource Information Report No. 15.

Reference for Gallant assay results:

Anderson, T., 2014. MP 41164 Globe Progress annual technical report - 2014, OceanaGold Ltd;

NZP&M, Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE), New Zealand. Unpublished Mineral

Report MR5093.

Table 3: Collar for GAL001, historic drill hole.

Drill hole

Easting

(NZTM)

Northing

(NZTM)

Elevation

(RL)

End depth

Azimuth

Dip

GAL001

1508726

5327981

628

123.7

293°

-70°

Projection: New Zealand Transverse Mercator (NZTM) 2000.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit

https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/236943