Viva Gold Advances Tonopah Gold Project Toward Mine Permitting

Viva Gold Corp, a company focused on advancing its Tonopah Gold Project in western Nevada, has announced significant progress in its exploration and permitting efforts. The project, located approximately a 30-minute drive south of Kinross Gold’s Round Mountain Mine, has seen the company mobilize resources to further its objectives.

The Tonopah Gold Project, a 100%-owned asset of Viva Gold, is currently advancing on two parallel tracks. First, the company is working towards completing the Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) and environmental baseline work required to support the mine permitting process in Nevada. The PFS, which is on schedule, has seen the mine plan design substantially complete with detailed costing underway. Completion of the PFS remains on track for the fourth quarter of 2026.

To support the permitting process, Viva has initiated a power supply study with NV Energy, the electrical grid operator in Nevada. Additionally, an archaeological survey has been commissioned to cover portions of the Tonopah land package that have not been surveyed in the last 10 years. The company is also planning to mobilize a water well drilling rig to drill a second test well for aquifer pump-down testwork and four additional down-gradient monitoring wells to capture data for site hydrologic modeling. Permits have been received to commence testwork to determine the ability of valley floor gravels to accept water re-infiltration, also for use in site hydrologic modeling. The 2026 golden eagle and raptor survey report has been received and is under review for submission to regulatory agencies.

Simultaneously, Viva is following up on the high-grade Midway Hills discovery announced in July 2026. The company is mobilizing a core rig to complete approximately 1,000 meters of drilling in three to four holes at Midway Hills. One of these holes will twin discovery hole TG2617, which yielded 21.4 meters at 0.32 g/t Au and 35.1 meters at 1.62 g/t Au and 16.7 g/t Ag, to validate the prior reverse circulation (RC) results. Additional holes will be drilled as step-outs to further test the discovery zone, with the goal of gathering additional geologic information and samples for metallurgical testing.

To further define targets for follow-up drilling, a geophysical firm is onsite completing an additional 18.2 line-kilometers of Phase II CSAMT (Controlled source audio-frequency magnetotellurics) geophysical survey over the Midway Hills discovery area. Based on the revised geologic model defined by the Midway Hills discovery, and the potential for additional discoveries, Viva has staked 42 additional unpatented lode claims totaling approximately 840 acres in the southwestern portion of the Tonopah land package.