Explorer permits drills at epithermal project after two years surface work

Two Years of Surface Work. Three Priority Targets. Now the Drills Are Permitted in One of the World's Last Undrilled Epithermal Districts.

PR Newswire

Issued on behalf of RUA GOLD Inc.

The Hauraki Goldfield has produced fifteen million ounces of gold from over fifty historic mines. The ground next door to the district's highest-grade undeveloped deposit has never been drilled. RUA GOLD just received the permits to change that.

VANCOUVER, BC , Aug. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- USA News Group News Commentary - In gold exploration, there is a meaningful difference between a company that announces a drill program and a company that has earned the right to drill. Earning the right requires doing the work first: the geological mapping, the geophysical surveys, the soil sampling, the alteration studies, the community and regulatory engagement. RUA GOLD Inc. has spent the better part of two years doing that work at its Glamorgan Project in the Hauraki Goldfield on New Zealand's North Island. It has now received all required regulatory approvals to commence drilling. Three priority targets have been defined, supported by coincident geophysical, geochemical, and geological indicators across a project that sits adjacent to one of the highest-grade undeveloped epithermal gold deposits in the world. The drill bit has never touched this ground before. That is an unusual statement to make about a project in a district that has produced fifteen million ounces of gold from more than fifty historic mines.

Companies mentioned: RUA GOLD Inc. (TSX: RUA) (NZX: RGI) (OTCQX: NZAUF) (FSE: X9R), Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX: K) (NYSE: KGC), Great Pacific Gold Corp. (TSXV: GPAC) (OTCQX: GPGCF), Irving Resources Inc. (CSE: IRV) (OTCQX: IRVRF), Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (TSX: AEM) (NYSE: AEM)

Key Takeaways

All regulatory approvals received. RUA GOLD has received every required approval to commence drilling at Glamorgan, clearing the final gate before the drill bit tests the ground for the first time.

Three priority targets defined. Two years of surface work -- 590 line-km of UAV magnetic surveying, 3,181 soil samples, CSAMT resistivity surveys, and TerraSpec clay mineral analysis -- have identified three priority targets supported by coincident multi-disciplinary evidence.

Adjacent to Wharekirauponga. Glamorgan sits approximately three kilometres northwest of OceanaGold's WKP deposit, which hosts 1.4 million ounces at 17.9 g/t gold and is now under construction after receiving Fast-Track approval in 112 days.

Anomaly A is 4.2 kilometres long. The principal gold-arsenic anomaly trends north-northwest for 4.2 km with conjugate northeast trends. Its orientation is directly consistent with the structural setting of the WKP deposit.

Two Years of Work That Leads to This Moment

RUA GOLD received a drone concession in May 2024 and approval for minimum-impact exploration in July 2024. It immediately deployed a Geometrics MagArrow magnetometer beneath a DJI M300 drone and flew approximately 590 line kilometres of ultra-detailed UAV magnetic survey. The survey identified two areas of strong demagnetization in the host rocks -- interpreted as representing the alteration footprint of a major epithermal system. Soil sampling commenced in July 2024 across 3,181 samples, each analyzed by portable XRF, sent to ALS in Brisbane for low-level gold analysis, and scanned with a TerraSpec 4 Hi-Res mineral analyzer to characterize the clay alteration system.

The result was four major soil anomalies designated A through D, each carrying coincident gold and arsenic enrichment. Anomaly A trends north-northwest for approximately 4.2 kilometres, remaining open to the northeast, with an orientation directly consistent with the WKP deposit located approximately three kilometres southeast. Anomaly B trends north for approximately four kilometres, remaining open to north and south, with its southern extent coinciding with the historic Wentworth and Auckland mine workings. A CSAMT resistivity survey identified deep-rooted resistive features associated with high-grade gold at surface. TerraSpec analysis confirmed silica-flooding and chalcedony at surface -- classic features of the upper levels of an epithermal system.

"Receiving approval to commence drilling at Glamorgan is a significant milestone for RUA GOLD. Our exploration team has systematically developed a compelling geological model and identified three priority drill targets supported by coincident geophysical, geochemical and geological indicators. With drilling now set to test this highly prospective epithermal system for the first time, we have an exceptional opportunity to unlock a potentially significant new gold discovery in one of New Zealand's premier gold districts," said Simon Henderson, Chief Operating Officer of RUA GOLD.

The Hauraki Goldfield: Why Adjacent Matters

The Hauraki Goldfield has produced more than fifteen million ounces of gold and sixty million ounces of silver from over fifty historic mines. OceanaGold's Wharekirauponga deposit, approximately three kilometres southeast of Glamorgan, hosts Indicated Mineral Resources of 1.4 million ounces at 17.9 grams per tonne gold -- among the highest-grade undeveloped epithermal deposits in the world. It received Fast-Track permitting approval in December 2025 following a 114-day review and is now under construction. The geological analogies between Glamorgan's surface signatures and the known characteristics of the WKP system reflect the same regional structural architecture, the same host rock package, and the same suite of alteration indicators. Whether those analogies translate to comparable gold endowment at depth is precisely what the drill program is designed to determine.

The Epithermal Gold Names Investors Are Watching

Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX: K) (NYSE: KGC)

Kinross operated the Waihi gold mine in the Hauraki district for years before divesting it to OceanaGold in 2015, providing the most direct historical proof that the Hauraki geological system can support decades of profitable underground gold production. As a major producer, Kinross guided 2026 production at approximately two million attributable gold-equivalent ounces. In 2025, the company generated revenue of $7.05 billion, up approximately 37% year-over-year, and earnings of $2.39 billion. Kinross has returned approximately $350 million to shareholders in 2026 to date.

Great Pacific Gold Corp. (TSXV: GPAC) (OTCQX: GPGCF)

Great Pacific Gold is one of the most active Pacific-region epithermal gold explorers in 2026. At its Wild Dog Project in Papua New Guinea, the Kavasuki target returned 38.40 metres at 2.23 g/t gold-equivalent, including 2.20 metres at 16.24 g/t, confirming continuity of near-surface epithermal mineralization approximately one kilometre north of the Sinivit deposit. Great Pacific Gold's systematic approach of building a geological model before testing targets mirrors the methodology RUA GOLD has applied at Glamorgan. The level of institutional engagement its active Pacific-region drill program has attracted illustrates the market appetite for this type of story when targets are well-prepared.

Irving Resources Inc. (CSE: IRV) (OTCQX: IRVRF)

Irving Resources advances the Omu Sinter epithermal gold-silver project in Hokkaido, Japan, in a geological and jurisdictional setting that provides a meaningful parallel to the Hauraki. Japan's epithermal gold systems are hosted in young volcanic arcs, feature the same suite of alteration indicators, and have proven capable of hosting deposits of genuine economic scale. Irving's trajectory from surface exploration through drill permitting and first-pass testing is a direct analogue to where RUA GOLD now sits at Glamorgan.

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (TSX: AEM) (NYSE: AEM)

Agnico Eagle produced approximately 900,000 ounces of gold in Q1 2026, guiding for full-year output of 3.3 to 3.5 million ounces, and generated record quarterly free cash flow. The company has built its portfolio through disciplined exploration spending, patient project development, and deep stakeholder relationships in each jurisdiction. Its development model is not an immediate comparison to RUA GOLD but an aspirational destination: the outcome that disciplined exploration in a known gold province, followed by rigorous development and sustainable production, can ultimately deliver.

These companies are referenced to illustrate the sector only and do not imply any partnership, endorsement, affiliation, or comparable financial performance.

What to Watch

The Glamorgan drill program will deliver the most consequential news in the project's history: first-ever drill results from a well-prepared epithermal target in the Hauraki Goldfield, adjacent to the world's highest-grade undeveloped epithermal deposit. Those results are binary in nature. Either the system delivered gold to the target zone or it did not. What the two years of surface work have accomplished is to minimize, as much as exploration science allows, the uncertainty about where to point the drill.

For investors, Glamorgan permits arrive alongside the Auld Creek project which is entering the Fast Track permitting process and Q4 2026 PFS completion, creating multiple independent catalysts on different timelines. Whether the market has fully appreciated the combination of a potential Fast-Track designated gold-antimony project on the South Island and a first-pass drill program adjacent to WKP on the North Island is, perhaps, the more interesting investment question.

CONTINUED... Learn more about RUA GOLD Inc. at: https://ruagold.com

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Article Sources

[1] RUA GOLD Inc. -- Glamorgan drill permit announcement, August 2026.

[2] OceanaGold Corporation -- WKP Indicated MRE: 1.4 Moz at 17.9 g/t Au (February 19, 2025); Fast-Track approval December 2025, 114-day process.

[3] RUA GOLD Inc. -- Glamorgan exploration update, October 2024.

[4] Kinross Gold Corporation -- 2025 annual results; Waihi mine divestment to OceanaGold, 2015.

[5] Great Pacific Gold Corp. -- Kavasuki drill results, 2026.

[6] Irving Resources Inc. -- Omu Sinter project update, 2026.

[7] Agnico Eagle Mines Limited -- Q1 2026 production results.

USA News Group | info@USANewsgroup.com |

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Qualified Person Disclosure. The scientific and technical information in this article, including the Auld Creek Preliminary Economic Assessment and Mineral Resource Estimate, is derived from disclosure by RUA GOLD Inc. The qualified person for the Auld Creek NI 43-101 Technical Report is Simon Henderson of Mining One Consultants. Market Equities has not independently verified, and is not qualified to verify, the company's scientific or technical disclosure; readers should refer to the company's filed technical report and news releases for the complete data, assumptions, and qualified-person statements.

Cautionary Note Regarding the Preliminary Economic Assessment. The Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the Auld Creek project referenced in this article is preliminary in nature. A PEA is a conceptual, early-stage economic study that includes inferred mineral resources, which are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that the results of the PEA will be realized. The PEA does not constitute a mineral reserve, a Pre-Feasibility Study, or a Feasibility Study, and mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The net present value, internal rate of return, production profile, mine life, and metal-price assumptions described are estimates only and may change materially in any subsequent study. Exploration and development are inherently uncertain, and there is no assurance that the drill program will expand the resource, that a Pre-Feasibility Study will confirm the PEA's economics, that Fast-Track referral or any permit will be granted, or that the project will be developed or achieve production. References to other companies' resources, reserves, production, financings, government loans, or economic studies describe those companies only and are not indicative of RUA GOLD's own prospects.

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SOURCE USA News Group

PR Newswire

August 4, 2026 - 7:00 AM PDT

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