Positive Gold-Antimony PEA Drops Inside A Fast-Track Permitting Regime With Drilling Underway

Issued on behalf of Rua Gold Inc.

After-tax NPV5% of US$42M at base case and US$113M at spot gold, 95% gold and 85% antimony recovery, no-cyanide flowsheet, 19,000 metres of drilling underway, and a New Zealand Fast-Track permitting application filed — all on a 100%-owned Reefton Goldfield asset inside one of the most-watched gold and critical-minerals jurisdictions of 2026

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 19, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- World Street Intelligence News Commentary — The supply side for both gold and antimony is breaking in slow motion. Major gold producers are guiding 2026 output lower because reserves are draining faster than discoveries can replace them. Gold has spent 2026 setting record highs amid sustained central bank purchasing and forecasts pushing toward US$5,000 per ounce by Q4 2026.[1] Antimony is even tighter: China still controls the majority of global supply; antimony was designated a U.S. Critical Mineral following China's late-2024 export restrictions; and the West is racing to stand up domestic and allied production.[1] The premium now goes to companies that are already permitted, already funded, and already turning the drill bits.

Rua Gold Inc. (TSX: RUA) (NZX: RGI) (OTCQX: NZAUF) (FSE: X9R) is the textbook version of that profile. On May 5, 2026, the Company released the results of a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment for the 100%-owned Auld Creek Gold-Antimony Project, located in the historic Reefton Goldfield on New Zealand's South Island.[1] The PEA — effective April 25, 2026 — was prepared in accordance with the disclosure standards of National Instrument 43-101.[2] Two weeks earlier, on April 20, 2026, the Company had submitted its Fast-Track Referral application for the same project under New Zealand's one-stop-shop Fast-Track Approvals regime, marking a key milestone in the Company's transition from explorer to mine developer.[3]

The PEA: Positive Base Case, Leveraged Spot, And A 5.5-Year Mine Plan

The Auld Creek PEA reports an after-tax NPV5% of US$42 million and an after-tax IRR of 17% at a long-term gold price of US$3,300 per ounce and antimony price of US$27,000 per tonne, with a 3.3-year payback.[2] Using a spot gold price assumption of US$4,700 per ounce, the after-tax NPV5% increases to US$113 million, the after-tax IRR rises to 36%, and the payback compresses to 2.2 years.[2] Pre-production capital is US$132.6 million, inclusive of a US$29.8 million contingency representing approximately 29% of direct capital costs. Sustaining capital is estimated at US$63.9 million over the LOM.[2]

The PEA mine plan models a 5.5-year initial mine life with average annual production of approximately 26,665 ounces gold-equivalent — for total LOM gold-equivalent production of approximately 146,660 ounces.[2] Total contained metals across the PEA mine plan are 84,000 ounces of gold and approximately 9,000 tonnes of antimony.[2] All-In Sustaining Costs are estimated at US$1,850 per ounce gold.[2] The project is anticipated to employ approximately 200 people and contribute an estimated NZ$240 million to the regional economy, with the potential to establish a processing hub to support future mining developments in the region.[3]
CEO Robert Eckford framed the PEA outcome directly: "The Auld Creek PEA highlights the strong cash flow generation, compelling economics, and scalability potential within the Reefton Goldfield. This study represents only a portion of the broader district opportunity, with significant upside remaining at depth and along strike. With drilling underway and permitting advancing, we are well positioned to deliver a PFS in Q4 2026 and take advantage of New Zealand's Fast-Track Approvals permitting process."[1] The PEA disclosure is supported by an independent NI 43-101 Technical Report scheduled for filing on SEDAR+ within 45 days of the May 5, 2026 release.[1]

The Resource: 204,000 oz AuEq Indicated And Inferred, At High Grade

The Mineral Resource Estimate for Auld Creek, effective February 27, 2026, reports 0.3 million tonnes Indicated at 5.67 g/t AuEq for 54,000 ounces, plus 1.3 million tonnes Inferred at 3.66 g/t AuEq for 150,000 ounces, at a 1.6 g/t AuEq cut-off — for a total of approximately 204,000 ounces gold-equivalent.[2] Gold-equivalent grades were calculated using the formula AuEq = Au g/t + 2.15 × Sb%, with the 2.15 factor derived from the PEA price assumptions of US$3,300/oz Au and US$27,000/t Sb and applying metallurgical recoveries of 95% gold and 85% antimony.[2]

Mining method at Auld Creek is overhand cut-and-fill via underground decline access from surface portals, with the on-Crown-land surface footprint targeted at less than one hectare.[1] Access is via a ramp from the open-pit portal to efficiently develop the higher-grade portions of the deposit and minimize surface disturbance. The mining plan uses a primarily overhand cut-and-fill method with cemented and loose backfill, alongside dry-stacked tailings as backfill material.[4] In wider zones, a drift-and-fill approach using shotcrete could also be employed, while later studies will evaluate whether sublevel open stoping is also a viable option.[4]

The No-Cyanide Flowsheet, And Two Saleable Concentrates

The Auld Creek processing flowsheet is conventional grind, rougher flotation, and four-stage cleaner flotation — producing a gold concentrate and a separate antimony concentrate, with no cyanide in the circuit.[1] Following primary and secondary crushing, as well as a closed-circuit ball mill with hydrocyclones, the material undergoes a six-cell rougher flotation and four-stage cleaner flotation.[4] The nominal processing throughput is 250,000 tonnes per annum.[2] Recoveries are 95% for gold and 85% for antimony, with 95% gold and 90% antimony payable in concentrate.[2]

The no-cyanide flowsheet matters strategically. It reduces both permitting complexity and tailings management complexity relative to refractory-ore projects — and aligns with the broader environmental positioning that fast-track permitting jurisdictions tend to favour. Two saleable concentrates — gold and antimony — also provide dual revenue streams from the same flowsheet, with the antimony by-product credit at the PEA's US$27,000/t price driving the cost-per-ounce structure for the gold portion of the production profile.[1]

The 19,000-Metre Drill Program And The Path To Q4 2026 PFS

Rua Gold has a 19,000-metre infill and step-out drill program currently underway, with six rigs operating at the Reefton Goldfield. The program targets establishing Measured Resources, conversion of Inferred Resources to Indicated ahead of a planned PFS, and step-out drilling to extend the Inferred Resource at depth and northwards — both of which remain open.[1] Per Company disclosure, the program has the potential to further improve production volumes and extend the LOM.[1] The PFS is targeted for completion in Q4 2026, with the project targeted to be fully permitted in Q2 2027 under the Fast-Track Approvals framework.[2]

Rua Gold reported approximately C$38 million in available cash following an oversubscribed January 2026 financing — funding 2026 exploration and permitting work across both the Reefton Goldfield and the Glamorgan Project on the North Island.[5] At Reefton, the four-rig program (three rigs at Auld Creek, one at other prospects) focuses on resource expansion and identification of shallow, continuous mineralization. The 5,000-metre Glamorgan drill program at the Hauraki Goldfield was planned for Q2 2026 with two additional rigs.[5]

The Reefton District And The Fast-Track Permitting Regime

Rua Gold is the dominant landholder in the Reefton Goldfield, with more than 120,000 hectares of permits across a district that has reportedly produced more than 2 million ounces of gold historically at grades reportedly ranging from 9 to 50 g/t.[1] The Auld Creek mine plan represents a starter operation against that broader district endowment, with significant upside remaining at depth and along strike. The Glamorgan Project on the North Island is located within the highly prospective Hauraki Goldfield, which has historically produced 15 million ounces of gold and 60 million ounces of silver, with active mining operations ongoing today.[5] Rua Gold's tenements at Glamorgan are adjacent to OceanaGold's Wharekirauponga Project, which advanced through the New Zealand Fast-Track permitting process in 112 days and is now under construction.[5]

The Fast-Track Approvals framework matters operationally and strategically. In December 2024, the New Zealand Government introduced legislation establishing a one-stop-shop Fast-Track Approvals regime to accelerate nationally significant projects.[3] Rua Gold engaged a dedicated project team in late 2025 to advance permitting activities and support the Fast-Track application, which was submitted on April 20, 2026.[3] If successful, the ability to use the Fast-Track process has the potential to significantly accelerate development timelines and streamline permitting for the Auld Creek Project — with the Company expecting a decision within three months of submission.[3] New Zealand is also a member of the Minerals Security Partnership (alongside Australia, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union), which aligns directly with the development strategy Rua Gold is executing on.[5]

How Rua Gold Sits Inside The Gold-Antimony Universe

Perpetua Resources Corp. (NASDAQ: PPTA) (TSX: PPTA) is advancing the Stibnite Gold Project in Idaho — the highest-profile publicly listed gold-antimony development project in the United States. The Stibnite project's combination of high-grade gold resources alongside one of the largest antimony deposits in the U.S. has made Perpetua a central institutional reference point for the broader gold-antimony development thesis that 2026 has aggressively repriced. Perpetua provides the directly comparable U.S.-listed gold-antimony developer comparable for what the dual-metal exposure thesis can look like at scale — with the antimony U.S. Critical Mineral designation providing the same structural tailwind to Stibnite that it provides to Auld Creek.

United States Antimony Corporation (NYSE-A: UAMY) is the only publicly listed primary antimony processor in the United States, with operations spanning antimony processing, precious metals smelting, and zeolite production. As the only U.S.-listed pure-play antimony producer with active processing capacity inside U.S. jurisdiction, United States Antimony provides the producer-end comparable for the antimony category specifically — and one of the cleanest references for how the U.S. capital markets are currently valuing operational antimony processing capacity inside the broader critical-minerals-reshoring environment that Auld Creek's antimony by-product credit is positioned inside.

Nova Minerals Limited (NASDAQ: NVA) (ASX: NVA) is advancing the Estelle Project in Alaska — a large-scale gold and antimony project that combines a multi-million-ounce gold resource with significant antimony exposure. Nova has been working with the U.S. Department of War on antimony-related grant work tied to its Alaskan asset, mirroring the dual-metal exposure thesis that has become a central theme for North American critical-mineral developers in 2026.[6] Nova represents the most directly geologically and strategically analogous public-market comparable for Auld Creek — a developer-stage gold-antimony asset operating inside an allied jurisdiction, with explicit positioning into the broader gold and U.S. critical-mineral antimony thesis.

OceanaGold Corporation (TSX: OGC) operates the Macraes Mine and the Waihi Operation in New Zealand, alongside the Haile Mine in South Carolina and the Didipio Mine in the Philippines. OceanaGold's Wharekirauponga Project — directly adjacent to Rua Gold's Glamorgan tenements on New Zealand's North Island — advanced through the New Zealand Fast-Track permitting process in 112 days and is now under construction.[5] OceanaGold provides the institutional-scale New Zealand gold producer comparable for what mature production looks like inside the same Fast-Track permitting jurisdiction that Auld Creek is now positioned inside — and a direct precedent reference for how rapidly the Fast-Track process can move a permitted project from application to construction.

Across all four comparables, the recurring pattern is unmistakable: 2026 has been the year the gold-antimony and Fast-Track-permitting development cohort has been actively repriced inside a structurally bullish gold price macro and a critical-minerals-reshoring environment that has elevated antimony to U.S. Critical Mineral status. Rua Gold sits inside that intersection with a positive PEA on a 100%-owned New Zealand gold-antimony project, a Fast-Track Referral submitted, a 19,000-metre drill program turning, and approximately C$38 million in cash — offering small-cap exposure to all three structural tailwinds simultaneously.

The Window Ahead

Rua Gold's near-term catalyst window is unusually well-defined. The PEA is on file as of May 5, 2026, with the supporting NI 43-101 Technical Report scheduled for filing on SEDAR+ within 45 days.[1] The Fast-Track Referral application has been submitted, with a decision expected within three months of the April 20, 2026 submission.[3] The 19,000-metre drill program is turning at Reefton with six rigs in operation.[1] The PFS is targeted for completion in Q4 2026, with the project targeted to be fully permitted in Q2 2027.[2] The Glamorgan drill program on the North Island provides a parallel discovery vector inside the same year.[5]

For investors looking at small-cap exposure to a positive-PEA gold-antimony development asset inside a Fast-Track permitting jurisdiction, with a 19,000-metre drill program already turning and US$42M / US$113M base-case / spot NPV economics on the table, Rua Gold offers exposure to a multi-tailwind structural story at a development stage where the Company has converted from explorer to mine developer. The next reads on whether the PEA economics convert into PFS-stage validation arrive across the back half of 2026 and into Q2 2027. NOTE: For a Cautionary Note on Production Decision and related risks, please see the Disclaimer below.

Contact:

Market IQ Media
info@marketiqmedia.com
604-265-2873

Article Sources

[1] https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/a-positive-gold-antimony-pea-just-landed-in-a-fast-track-jurisdiction-with-19-000-metres-of-drilling-already-underway-302763953.html
[2] https://investingnews.com/rua-gold-announces-positive-pea-for-the-auld-creek-gold-antimony-project-in-reefton-new-zealand/
[3] https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/293327/RUA-GOLD-Submits-FastTrack-Referral-Application-for-Auld-Creek-Project-in-the-Reefton-Goldfield-New-Zealand
[4] https://goldinvest.de/en/rua-gold-gold-antimony-project-in-new-zealand-delivers-strong-numbers/
[5] https://www.stocktitan.net/news/NZAUF/rua-gold-provides-outlook-and-growth-catalysts-for-n471k7lsf5ou.html
[6] https://www.stocktitan.net/news/NVA/a-positive-gold-antimony-pea-just-landed-in-a-fast-track-ureds7uptah4.html

DISCLAIMER NOTICE

DISCLAIMER:
Nothing in this publication should be considered as personalized financial advice. We are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular financial situation. No communication by our employees to you should be deemed as personalized financial advice. Please consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decision. This is a paid advertisement and is neither an offer nor recommendation to buy or sell any security. We hold no investment licenses and are thus neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice. The content in this report or email is not provided to any individual with a view toward their individual circumstances. World Street Intelligence is a wholly-owned subsidiary Creative Direct Marketing Group (“CDMG”). This publication is being disseminated by Market IQ Media Group, Inc. (MIQ). MIQ has been paid a fee for Rua Gold Inc. advertising and digital media. There may also be 3rd parties who may have shares of Rua Gold Inc. and may liquidate their shares which could have a negative effect on the price of the stock. This compensation constitutes a conflict of interest as to our ability to remain objective in our communication regarding the profiled company. Because of this conflict, individuals are strongly encouraged to not use this publication as the basis for any investment decision. The owner/operator of MIQ does not currently own shares of Rua Gold Inc. but reserves the right to buy and sell shares of Rua Gold Inc. at any time without any further notice commencing immediately and ongoing. We also expect further compensation as an ongoing digital media effort to increase visibility for the company, no further notice will be given, but let this disclaimer serve as notice that all material, including this article, has been approved by Rua Gold Inc.

Cautionary Note on Production Decision and PEA:

The PEA disclosed by Rua Gold Inc. for the Auld Creek Gold-Antimony Project is preliminary in nature; it includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral Reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Any decision to commence production at Auld Creek would not be based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves and therefore would involve increased uncertainty and a higher risk of economic and technical failure. Risks include, without limitation, variations in grade and recovery, unexpected geotechnical or metallurgical challenges, cost overruns, funding availability, and operational, regulatory, or permitting risks under New Zealand's Fast-Track Approvals framework or otherwise. This is a paid advertisement. While all information is believed to be reliable, it is not guaranteed by us to be accurate. Individuals should assume that all information contained in our newsletter is not trustworthy unless verified by their own independent research. Also, because events and circumstances frequently do not occur as expected, there will likely be differences between any predictions and actual results. Always consult a licensed investment professional before making any investment decision. Be extremely careful, investing in securities carries a high degree of risk; you may likely lose some or all of the investment.

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.