RPX Gold Financing Closes Oversubscribed — Next Steps

0:04 Hello and thanks everyone for joining this live RPX Gold event. Today we are joined by President and CEO Michael Michaud for a quick interview to get his commentary on the next steps for the Wawa Gold project. Now I do have some questions here but really we are here to address your questions. So please don't be shy and feel free to submit your questions using the chat box. As always, this event is being recorded and will be available for replay shortly after we conclude. With that, Michael, congratulations on the closing of the financing. With the financing closing oversubscribed, it is a meaningful moment for the company. Looking back at where RPX Gold was a year ago, how significant is this milestone and the broader story you're trying to tell?

0:47 Thanks, Kyle. It's a pleasure to be here again. We're very excited. This is a very significant milestone. A year ago, we were an exploration company with the mineral resource, with some internal work showing that there might be potential for a mine. I think now, with the completion of the PEA, we've really taken an important step to confirming the potential of the project with the ultimate goal of going into production and producing gold using the tool mill. We're very excited. As you know, there are a number of steps we have to go through to achieve our ultimate goal. The PEA was an important milestone and now that we've done that, we'll move on to the next step, which is our PFS. That's really something that we're really starting today.

1:34 Now with the completion of the financing, we're starting the PFS and going forward. That's really why we raise the money. We raise the money to have specific tasks we want to complete. We don't want to raise money that we don't have a specific purpose on how to spend that money. And that way we try to be, you know, very cognizant of the fact that it does cause shareholder dilution. So we raised enough money to be able to complete the next phase of work, which is the completion of PFS study. And we're happy that we've been able to accomplish that. And during the financing, one thing I've noticed in the couple of past financing, particularly in this financing, is we've been able to attract a lot of new institutional investors as well as existing shareholders.

2:22 So I think that really shows a lot of support and confidence of our shareholders in the potential of the project and our ability to execute on the plan going forward. Great. And the plan going forward, like you said, the PFS is targeted for the first half of 2027, which gives you roughly 12 months of runway with fresh capital. Without getting too far into the weeds, what needs to go right over the next 12 months for that target to stay on track? Well, there are steps that's for sure and it will be a busy year. Probably for me the number 1 priority is data collection and a lot of that will be through the drilling. That's really important. Since we closed the financing on May 13th, we've actually started the drill on May 14th.

3:10 That process has started and we really want to collect this data for a number of reasons. It's not just to convert the remaining inferred resources to indicate, but it's also collecting material for metallurgical analysis,

3:23 for environmental sampling and analysis, and a lot of geotechnical work as well for the slopes of the pit and the underground stoke design. For me, that's the first step and it's already started and it's something that we can ramp up over the course of the next month. Right now we have 1 drill, probably see an increase to 2 drills as we go forward. So that's an important first step. And then the other work that we have to do, as I mentioned, continue with our First Nations consultations and our community relations. I think that's really important. That's continuing the baseline data collection. We've been working on this for the past 2 years, and that's gonna continue as well as our efforts to permit. Selecting the right consulting firm to assist with the PFS, that's really gonna be important.

4:10 And really our discussions with the toll mills in the area, because selecting the right toll mill and adding that into the PFS will also be important. So a number of really important steps and a number of catalysts that we have to complete this year. We're on a path to do that but we also wouldn't be able to do without broadening the management team and we've been able to acquire some good consultants that are gonna help with both the environmental and First Nations and community relations. And now we're looking to expand and strengthen our capacity in operations and also engineering aspects of the PFS. So, yeah, a lot of work to do this year, but we're gearing up to be able to do that work.

4:56 So we believe we'll be able to execute on the plan going forward. I want to pull on the environmental baseline thread. You mentioned you've been collecting data for 2 years. Where does that program stand today? And how are you thinking about the permitting path as the project continues to advance? Yeah, we really expect to complete the first phase of the baseline data collection in the summer of this year. As you say, it's a multi-seasonal effort, so we've collected a lot over the last 2-years. There's always some things that will need to be done as we go forward. We haven't had any surprises. Remember, this is a Brownfield site. Mining has been going on this site on and off since the late 1890s, so a lot of data already.

5:44 In fact, We have water samples from surface that we've been collecting every quarter since the 1990s. We have a lot of data, but in addition to that, we've collected our flora and fauna.

5:56 We've drilled boreholes to collect certain underground water. We're doing an underground water test. Then we're looking in the area on the property now to collect additional information for where we can put our waste stumps down. We have acid rock generation sampling that's ongoing with the ore and the waste rock. So we've really been going at this pretty hard over the last year to 2 years. And I think we've done a good job with that. And remember, because this is a Brownfield site, we still do have a number of permits on file. Some would have to be updated based on our new plan. We still have a closure plan on file. So those are all things that are going to help get into the final approval to bring the project into production. And again, because it is a toll milling scenario, we won't require building a mill on site or tailings area. So that certainly reduces the amount of liability, but also the timeline and expenses of the permitting process.

7:02 So we're really looking forward to a straightforward project and having those permits in hand in the future. So, toll milling is central to the capital efficiency story and you've identified several facilities in the region. How are those conversations evolving and what does a good outcome there actually unlock for the project?

7:23 Yeah, I mean, again, we're fortunate to be in a region that has excellent infrastructure, both on the property and in the region. One of the important things is excess mill capacity. We're certainly looking at there's 5 mills in the area. We've had some initial conversations with various groups and This was as we were going through the PEA process. There seems to be a lot of interest in the area for processing our ore. Again, I think we're fortunate for that. Now it's really get down to some of the brass tacks, if you will. Now that we have the details from the PEA, I think we can formalize those discussions. We know the tons, we know the grade, you know, the material, we know what size of material we can deliver and how we would do that, and the process required to evaluate and assess the ore and the grade that we're sending. These are all things that we're working through with our metallurgists, and we're starting to have those more detailed conversations now and over the next few months or quarter, we hope to be able to

8:39 make an announcement as to where the ore will be toll milled, at least initially. And it's something that because there are opportunities in the area for toll milling, it may be that wherever you start toll milling, maybe later that's changes to another location. But for now we'll want to nail down at least how we get started for the first few years. So that's our goal is to do that over the course of the summer, because it's also something that needs to be incorporated into the PFS so we can work out those detailed plans into the PFS study. Great. Before I exhaust the questions I have written down here, I just want to remind people in the audience that are joining in late, we are taking questions, so please feel free to submit them. Edward Truant has a question here.

9:28 For Gold projects though, in the recent PEA, a 5% discount rate was used for purposes of determining the NPV. What does the NPV look like at a more reasonable 10 or 12% discount rate? That's a very good question. I'm not sure if that in the PEA, if you look in the technical report, I believe that might be in the sensitivity chart. It's somewhere on the order. I won't, maybe I won't provide that number at this time. I'll have to provide that after maybe in the, in the government. But it's, it's, it's, it's less impact, I think than a lot of projects, just because the short timeline to get into production and the limited amount of capital. The NPV has less sensitivity to the overall

10:23 NPV value of the property. With this PEA, the most important aspect of it is the internal rate of return, which is almost 100%. The reason that's so important is because those initial years are really important to generate the cash flow that we need to do the drilling surrounding the current resource. I think at that stage you're going to be mining your pit for several years, generating cash flow. That cash flow can then be used to do the drilling. Then you can really define how big of a resource that you might have there. That might change down the road of how you would approach mining the deposit. Right now, we see it as an underground, but if you find a lot more ounces, you might increase your production rate.

11:13 I think the NPV will be more impacted by a change in how the second phase of mining is going to be completed. Whereas the first few years, those small open pits at the beginning in years 3 and 4, I think are really important. The NPV on that would certainly be less sensitive because of the short timeline. That's really the goal, to generate the cash flow that we can use and it buys us the time then to decide what's the next step of the project and really figure out what the longer-term NPV is. But I think the PEA is a good first start to look at the project and we'll be able to tighten that up as we go forward with the pre-feasibility study. Thank you. And I think this is a good time to mention for Edward and for anyone else on the call, if you hover over the screen, you will see a request meeting button. Feel free to hit that and I will make sure the RPX Gold team gets that and they can schedule a call for further details.

12:11 Going back to the questions, let's go and do exploration. Exploration results from the 10,000 meters of drilling that was completed are still pending. How do those results factor into the work that's already underway and what would a strong outcome mean for the overall picture heading into the PFS?

12:30 When we started the PEA, we had completed 10,000m of drilling last summer, which gave us confidence in the resource. When we started the PEA, we were somewhat confident of what the results might be. As it turned out, about 80% of the ounces in the PEA are of indicated resource classification. I think that was really good. When we started the PEA last October, we said, as the PEA gets completed, we know we're going to have to do more drilling, particularly in the underground, collect more information. So let's get that started. And that's why at about the same time last October, we started this 10,000m of drilling to get a leg up on essentially on the drilling we required to take us from the PEA to the PFS. I think that was smart.

13:20 It was a time when we had the capacity to do that as we were working on the PEA. Those results were really focused on the near-surface mineralization. It was infilling, inferred to indicated resource conversion, but also collecting information. There was some limited underground mining that was done. We wanted to better define the geometry of those volumes so we could extract them from the ore. We also want to collect additional information for metallurgy as well as the environment and geotech and really start to provide confidence in the open pits that we defined in the PA, but then also start to look out beyond those areas to see if we could start expanding those pits because again, as I mentioned, the small pits really have a big impact on the project cash flow. And we wanted to see as maybe there's a way to expand those bits in some way and expand that open pit life

14:18 a little bit further really helps with the value of the property. I think that 10,000m went a long way in providing the confidence in the resource that we have there, but also it's starting to show that maybe there are some opportunities for expanding the pit life. As those results come in from the 10,000m that we just completed, we're going to be looking forward to sharing that with everybody and continuing on now that we've raised the funds, we're drilling again, we have the drill on the property and it's going to continue on that path of confidence, improving the confidence on our known resource but also expanding that resource, particularly near surface at this stage in the program. So with those several exploration targets identified from the 2025 drill program still to be tested, how do you think about balancing the resource conversion work against the excitement of chasing new discoveries?

15:16 Yeah, well, that's an age old question, I guess. I've had to decide that many times, many projects. Everybody likes the fun of wild-catting a few holes and trying to find something that might be spectacular. I think that our goal is to remain focused on doing the resource infield drilling and near-expansion drilling of that resource.

15:41 With the finance that we've done, we'll see how this program continues to go, but we do have some exploration targets that would be really exceptional and very exciting to drill. At the end of the program, if we're able, we'll make the decision at that time where we're able to allocate some of the funds towards several key exploration holes that would really give us maybe an indication of the future and our future exploration drilling. This area, if you look at the mines from Hemlo to Island Gold to the Eagle River mine, These are mines that have been going for well over 30-years and they continue to find better and better mineralization as they go.

16:28 That's the style of mineralization in this area. We're glad we're in the same geologic belt as that. What we want to be able to do is maybe define that exceptional part of the deposit before we do 25-years of mining and maybe be able to find that over the course of the next few years with our exploration drilling that gets going using the cash flow from the operation. We're excited about that and we would really like to get a couple of

17:01 drill holes into, and I won't say blind wildcat drilling. These are targets that have been developed from some previous drilling and also some geophysics and good geologic knowledge. We're happy to give those a try if we can fit that in later in the year. Great. There's another question in the chat from Nathan Smith. What is the permitting timeline to production? We're really looking at, a big part of that is there's a number of permits. We've submitted our project description, but waiting to hear back for the Ontario government ministries about our, A, the consultation, but also what permits would be required. Now we've been collecting baseline data and organizing our applications for various permits. Given our knowledge of what more than likely be required, we need the final list from the government. We've already started to work on that. We do have a closure plan which we would need to update. That's an important part of the permitting process and some of the permits we'll be applying for throughout the year. Other permits, we need the details of the pre-feasibility study.

18:15 That information needs to go into permit before we could apply for some of those. But really we're looking at, you know, the first half of next year to finish the PFS and the closure plan and the sign off from First Nation. So we're looking at acquiring the permits we need to go forward sometime shortly after that. So really around mid-2027 would be when we'd be making a production decision and also looking to get the final approval to go forward to at least commence production, at least start the surface works and the development of the project towards production.

19:03 Last question for you, Michael. As you close out this chapter and move into execution mode, what is the version of success for RPX Gold that you're working toward and what would it mean for the project and the people around it? I think Red Pine, formerly Red Pine, is a really great project that comes right to surface, has a lot of value. I think The ultimate goal is to get into Gold production and by doing so, I think we'll really crystallise the value in the company for the shareholders and also would have a big benefit to the many stakeholders in the region. As we continue through this year to collect data and do the analysis, we're gonna continue to de-risk the project.

19:54 And I think that de-risking will continue to add value in the property. And as we advance, I think what we've seen over the last year will continue to attract more shareholders and more excitement with the company. That's really where we intend to go throughout the year, adding value as we de-risk with the ultimate goal of getting to production, really crystallising the value at that time, but always having the optionality of doing more exploration drilling and adding value beyond that point through the drill bit, which really hasn't been incorporated into the value of the company now. So these are all things that we've seen other companies go through. Some of our peer group have gone through. They've added a lot of value to their companies as they went through the PEA, the PFS, securing a toll milling partner. So these are all things that we are yet to go through and we'll continue to go through this year. So we expect as we go through that, we will see the valuation potential to go up as the year goes on.

21:05 Michael, appreciate the update. We look forward to the next one. Thank you for taking the time out of your day. I would just let people know when I close this off, there will be another request meeting button. Feel free to request a meeting if you want to talk to Michael and meet the team. But thank you. We look forward to the next one, Michael.