Novagold Resources Inc.

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the NOVA Code Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To join the question queue, you may press star, then 1 on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star, then 0. Webcast viewers may submit questions to the text box in the lower right corner of the webcast frame. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal the operator by pressing star then zero. I would now like to turn the conference over to Melanie Hennessey, Vice President, Corporate Communications. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Aisha, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us on NOVA Gold's 2025 second quarter webcast and conference call. and also for an update on the Donalyn Gold Project. On today's call, we have Novigold's Chairman, Dr. Kaplan, Novigold's President and CEO, Greg Lang, and Novigold's Vice President and CFO, Peter Adamac. At the end of the webcast, we will take questions by phone. Additionally, we will respond to questions received by email. I would like to remind you, as stated on slide three, Any statements made today may contain forward-looking information, such as projections and goals, which are likely to involve risks detailed in our various EDGAR and CEDAR filings and forward-looking disclaimers included in this presentation. I will now turn the presentation over to our chairman, Dr. Kaplan.

Thank you, Melanie. It gives me great pleasure to be able to introduce the reintroduction of Novigold into the gold development space. If you look at the first chart, which we've put up, you will notice that for many, many years, the trajectory of Nova Gold was as perhaps the most highly rated gold development stock in the GDXJ. There were a number of reasons for this, but I want to put this into context for the simple reason that if you look at this chart, what you see is that going back as recently as 2021, Novigold's share price was $12. The company was a $4 billion market cap. We were on our way to updating our feasibility study, which we believe very strongly would have led already to a construction decision. As a consequence of a relationship or a fraught relationship with our then partner, we were at an impasse. That impasse in turn led essentially to Novigold being, if not dead money, then comatose. This is extremely important to understand. There's no doubt in our minds that what has transpired over the last quarter is going to allow us not only to revive, but also once again to surpass the highs that we had at $12 to $15 as recently as five or six years ago. This is our agenda. What you're going to hear over the course of this call is that the company now having removed the one headwind that it had in the context of so many tailwinds, not least of which is the gold price, but also facts on the ground, drilling successes, permitting successes and the like. We want to reestablish not just a practice of being able to go back to taking Donlan up the value chain, but also reestablishing our valuation. In this, I can tell you, we will be absolutely uninhibited. As far as we're concerned, we will get back to the $12 to $15 range, which was status quo ante before 2020. And more than that, we will then make up for the lost time, considering that the gold price at that time was thousands of dollars less than where it is today. Here are the reasons why. If I can ask to go to the next slide. Let's ask ourselves the question, What is it that has enabled me or the Electrum Group, which is our holding company in which it's my family, shareholder capital and sovereign wealth funds who are only outside shareholders? What is it that... over 17 years has not only not resulted in deal fatigue, but has actually resulted in greater enthusiasm than ever before. An enthusiasm which has been reinforced and reaffirmed by an enormous investment by our new partner, which is Paulson Advisors. Ask yourself the question, what is it that propels Electrum with a very, very, very strong multi-decade track record in taking category killer assets up the value chain, but also now Pulse and Advisors to purchase 40% economic interest in Donlan itself for $800 million. Let's go through these attributes. In fact, let's take one step back. Prior to our becoming in stasis with our partner, I would ask the question, and this contributed no doubt to our premium valuation, is there any other gold development story in the world today which has the following combination of attributes? If not, then I think it's fair to say that Donlan is unique in the gold space. These are the reasons why Electrum and Paulson Advisors and a very, very, very high quality, sophisticated smart money shareholder base invests in Novigold. First of all, It's possible that there's never been a gold mining story which began with 40 million ounces. For sure, there has not been one for many, many years, which began with a average production over the nearly three decades of initial mine life of well over a million ounces of gold. I want to also put that into perspective because you will probably be hearing about this and it does change some of the calculus of analysis going forward. The first 10 years of production are actually 1.4 million ounces on average, 1.5 in the first five years. We start with decades of mine life, and we believe, for reasons that you'll hear, that we have the potential to add decades more. This gives us the possibility that within that 10 year time frame. we will be able to position ourselves so that we will maintain the 1.4 million ounces annually. So we can start with an amortization, but the reality is it's the nature of the size of the ore body and the quality of the ore body that allows us to be able to think of this as being a 1.4, 1.5 million ounce gold producer for decades to come. What's also exciting about this is is that because the deposit enjoys a grade that is double the industry average at this point, an industry average which, for better or worse, is actually falling to below a gram, we will have cash costs in the lower half of the industry's cost range. In fact, at today's prices, we would estimate that margins could be in the thousands of dollars. This is important because quality matters. Grade is king. And for a large scale open deposit, Donlon really is an emperor. Now, in terms of size, as I mentioned, 40 million ounces to start. And that's really because we have another inferred six million ounces very close to the pit. Let's say 45 million ounces, not just in M&I, but with some inferred. The great gold strike mine ultimately reached 40 million ounces. we begin there so we have size and we have quality and more than that we believe that that's just scratching the surface only five percent of that land package that we have at donlin now between nova gold and paulson has been explored as i recently discovered because it's been so long since we could look at being in control of our own destiny with regard to mine progress. Regional exploration really stopped in the early 2000s after the failed Barrick hostile takeover attempt of Nova Gold in 2006. At that point, there really wasn't that much more incentive for Barrick to continue to highlight greater reserve growth or indeed the possibility that the next Donlon could be a Donlon. The chances, in fact, that there is no other occurrence other than the one that we have is probably very low. But just to highlight what Melanie said, that's a forward looking statement. Having said that, Electrum's own geologists believe that there's a very good chance that the next Donlon could be a Donlon. Let's put that aside because that's where you come into the idea of Donlan as being the new Carlin or the new Nevada. Just a long strike. And at depth, we are open. And we do believe that we can see millions and millions, if not tens of millions of ounces just on the eight kilometer mineralized belt. The 45 million ounces is on only three kilometers of the eight kilometers. And once again, that eight kilometers only represents 5% of the land package. Now, there's no question that by any stretch, Donlan is world class. As we would say, we think it's unique and we think it's the best in the world. And we're very fortunate now to have a partner who echoes these sentiments both publicly as well as privately. But I don't believe... that in today's world, it's good enough to be world-class. I believe that the premium valuations are going to be given to those assets that when an investor calls up a broker and says, you know, I think it's time for me to have some exposure to the gold space. What do we have in safe jurisdictions with a trustee management, smart shareholders, and of great asset quality. I think that going forward, one of the names which will be put forward is Novigold. One of the reasons is that, as I said, it's not just world-class, but it's located in the right part of the world. As I experienced last week with my son, when going on a site visit to Donlon, it's a place where you can take a side visit to go whale watching. or hike along glaciers. It's not the heart of darkness. You don't have to worry about insurgents. You don't have to worry about governments which are rapacious. It's a great area to be a mining company. In fact, Alaska is already the second largest gold producing state in the safest jurisdiction in the world. Our native corporation partners have been our greatest champions. Remember this, Donlin is located on private land designated by law for mining. we couldn't be in a greater place. And that's proven by the fact that in a unique event, the Bureau of Land Management and the US Army Corps of Engineers together provided us with our federal permits and state permitting is absolutely on track. Our commitment to ESG, the wellbeing of our people and communities, good governance, all of those boxes are checked for the investors we have and those who we expect to be coming on board. And now we have the game changer because now we have a partner who is completely aligned with us philosophically as well as financially. They bring along attributes in terms of access to capital and more than that, expertise. They are one of the only groups in U.S. institutional firmament which actually have in-house talent and a great in-house track record on being able to take Donlan-like assets, great assets up the value chain. Combined with our management team mind building capabilities, we think that this is the absolute game changer that will get us back to not only where we were in every respect, including share valuation, five years ago, but now allow us to be able to really achieve escape velocity. And finally, but by no means least, as evidenced by the relationship that has been shown by Paulson, who's been in this story with us for 15 years and suffers clearly no more deal fatigue than we do, which is to say we're more excited than ever. But also, so many of... the long-term institutional investors who joined us in our offering, including Lingato and Copernic and First Eagle. So many long-term shareholders, too many to thank right now, but it's because of you that we were able to survive. And our mission is to be able to give you as immediate a gratification as possible. Next slide. Again, having discussed all of the attributes of Donlan, let me reiterate that one of those things which gave John Paulson so much confidence in being able to work with us was not only the asset quality, but the quality of the management team as itself. Many of you, of course, know Melanie Hennessy or have engaged with Ben Mackless and Peter Adamek. But let me just focus for a moment on Greg Lang. Prior to joining Nova Gold, Greg Lang was a 30-year veteran of Barrick and its predecessor companies. The first time he ever left was to come and join Nova Gold. This is extremely important. He was president of Barrick, North America for eight years prior to joining us, including being part of the team that made the takeover attempt of Nova Gold in 2006. On his watch, Gold Strike was not only developed, but Cortez was built. You saw the advancement of Turquoise Ridge, Bold Mountain. His experience, his frame of reference in the North American space is as strong as anyone else's in the industry. Similarly, Richard Williams, before joining us, was the project manager who put Pueblo Viejo, then Barrick's largest mining investment, into production. In both cases, these stories came in on budget and on schedule. And in the case of Cortez and Pueblo Viejo have been excellent minds for Barrick. In other words, we have a bench of mine builders in the Americas, as well as those who have the experience in permitting as strong as any other company in the space. I would put them up there even with Agnico. Next. So all of these things not only kept Paulson in the Novigold story for 15 years, but as he watched the story progress, he came to the conclusion that as he's been a gold bull for as long as I have, that is to say a couple of decades at least, he came to the conclusion that the great trade of our generation will turn out to be gold. I think there's no doubt in our minds that that's already happening. But remember, this is a man, this is an organization that having identified the big trade and the displacement that was coming in the housing crisis, subprime and the like, not only identified the macro factors, before anyone else, but also, as George Soros put it, brilliantly found the right vehicles with which to be able to express that trade, vehicles that could give him and his stakeholders 10, 20x returns. So here you have someone who not only has gotten the macros right on gold, but also has made clearly the biggest bet that Donlin is the best vehicle with which to be able to express that trade. As he put it when we made our announcement, Donlin Gold is one of the most attractive undeveloped gold projects in the world, with 39 million ounces of gold at double the industry average grade and an optimal location in the prime jurisdiction of Alaska, already the second largest gold producing state in the United States. We believe that the project could create value for decades to come. Enjoying excellent social license and formidable exploration upside potential to significantly expand its resources and production profile, Donlon Gold constitutes a superb opportunity for us to gain leverage to gold in the United States. Together with Donlon Gold's partners, Chalista and TKC, we are dedicated to responsibly advance the Donlon Gold project. We could not have a more aligned partner. We've literally gone from misalignment to perfect alignment. And this is going to be reflected in the decisions and the announcements that will be undertaken in the weeks ahead. But more than that, for those who are inevitably going to be looking at the Novigold story and really want to understand it, because for so many people, they haven't heard about it practically for five years. So it's a new story in many ways. They're going to be calling up, John. I have no doubt. I have no doubt that some of our largest shareholders, as people cotton on to the fact that the gold bull market is enduring and that gold and precious metals equities are going to be re-rated. They're going to be calling up our largest shareholders. And the beauty is, because they are so well-informed, they will be giving answers very similar to the ones which I am. So now let's take a look at the Poulsen track record. I'll get to a case study, which is Detour Gold, which ultimately led to a major shareholding in Agnico Eagle. But there are others. Perpetua Resources is on the critical strategic and critical minerals list of the United States. As a consequence, they have secured nearly $2 billion in funding from the U.S. government. I should say this under the Biden administration. And for all of the reasons that the Biden administration was clear on its desire to be able to bolster the mining industry, one knows that its successor administration, not only feels the same and has added gold to the critical minerals list, but is also very, very focused on Alaska. But if you look at Perpetua, Perpetua has gone from two, three dollars five, six times over the last year and a half. And when we made our announcement, John actually said he thought that as we move back up the value chain with the updated feasibility study, similar things will happen to Novigold itself. So we're lucky not only to have a smart advisor, but one who can give us tremendous advice as we go up the value chain to maximize all aspects of access to capital. Next. Let's face it, we are clearly gold bulls. Let me start by saying to anyone who wonders whether gold is in nosebleed territory, it isn't. When I first started being bullish on gold publicly in 2007, I was in the process of selling my energy company. And at the same time, moving into gold. Gold was at $550 an ounce. Oil was going to the hundred that I believed it would hit. We sold our energy company, pivoted into gold in 2007. At that time, my target was between $3,000 and $5,000. No fear factors came into that calculation, just based on wanting to be able to have a currency, a financial asset that didn't represent someone else's liability. For me, the Holy Grail was Donlon. And on December 31st, 2008, when Novigold was in trouble from being a non-shareholder, we effectively took over the company because our view was that gold was going into the thousands of dollars. And for the reasons that John has stated, this would give us the maximum leverage to a bull market. My personal belief on gold is that we are now just in the foothills of the bull market. not dissimilar to where we were price-wise even to where the Dow was in 1988, for example. And I think that we're going to see, for a variety of reasons, the competition between central banks and the private sector, the continuing competition between India and China over who's going to be the largest consumer of a scarce resource, the inflation, deflation, protection, asset diversification. And let's face it, the reality is that since 2022, in terms of geopolitical reasons, but also in terms of what happened when the sanctions were put on Russia and most of their assets other than their gold were confiscated, the official sector revaluation of gold is going to continue. Basically, every central banker, whoever argued that they should be buying more gold, looks like a genius. They're not paid 2 and 20. There is absolutely no reason for them to argue anything against because who wants to sell something that could be on its way to 5,000 or 10,000? Also, as I've always said, whenever you see the Indians and the Chinese competing over a scarce asset, you want to own some too. I used to think that that should be enough to get people interested. It wasn't, but the reality is that that in and of itself is a great asset. That and the fact that we know the Chinese have been hoarding gold far, far more extensively than their official sector. When they choose to announce how much more gold they have, I would likely say it will be significantly more than the Americans' reserves. It's going to have a signal impact on the perception of the renminbi. Next, So let's talk about the leverage that we and John Paulson see in terms of what Domlin provides. The leverage is absolutely extraordinary. If we just looked at $3,000 gold at a 5% NPV, Domlin is $15.2 billion based upon our last technical report. I have to tell you, I got into this business in the early 90s when the gold or the frontier spirit in looking for gold or silver was such that you went all over the world. At that time, U.S. assets were valued using a 0% discount rate because they were arbitraged against the then risky jurisdictions of Canada, Australia, and South America. The world's changed a lot in the last 20 years. For what it's worth, as somebody who made their bones, as one could say, in Bolivia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, I sold the Kibale project to Rand Gold. I'm very familiar with the developing world and making money in Africa, South America, as well as North America. I just happen to believe that that era is over, that it's all about being able to have extraordinary leverage to an underlying theme, in this case, gold, but knowing that it's in a place where you can keep the fruits of that leverage, knowing that when you go to sleep at night, when you wake up in the morning, what you thought you owned hasn't been taken away from you by miscreants on the ground or venal governments. You want to be in the United States, ideally. Nevada's great. Alaska is the number two in the United States and hopefully catching up is a fabulous place. Like I said, the premium valuations will be given to the places where people want to go on site visits. we see gold going much higher. The reality is that by any stretch of the imagination, Nova Gold is undervalued. And I'm very grateful to John Paulson for allowing Nova Gold to go from 50 to 60% economic interest. We look forward to developing this leverage in tandem and more so being able to show areas where we fully expect there are some pleasant surprises for our shareholders. Let's look at an example of what the Polson team did in a premier jurisdiction. After an investment of $500 million in Detour Gold, they took an activist stance, nominating directors, which were approved. Key changes were made. The company successfully optimized the mine plan, improved recoveries, reduced ASIC. And a year after company changes, Kirkland Lake acquired Detour for $3.7 billion in 2019. If you'd have invested alongside Paulson, you would have had 130% plus over a year. But if you'd kept the successor to Kirkland in this story, Agnico, you would have made 450% over six years. And you would have been an owner in the largest gold mine in Canada. Some of these things should ring bells. We have great smart shareholders taking big bets on extraordinary assets in safe jurisdictions. Like they say, the past is prologue. Next. So with that, what can you expect from the new Nova Gold? First of all, we couldn't be coming back to the market at a better time. The underlying gold price fundamentals are stronger than ever. And we now have new co-owners which are completely aligned with wanting to see the shares of Nova Gold rise. Everyone understands that the best way to crystallize their investment in Donlon, whether a direct ownership stake in Donlon or through Nova Gold, knows that they can look forward to a dynamic and sustained narrative of progress. This will not be going into a no-news hibernation, not at all, to the contrary. First of all, the commencing of the feasibility study update, which should have taken place in 2021, but didn't for historical reasons that we don't have to dwell upon unless you want to ask questions. This is going to be a major catalyst as it develops news flow about the assembly of the team and the blue chip consortium that will be coming together to do the studies that will take us to a construction decision. The drill programs, which despite delivering some of the best drill results over the last few years in the gold mining industry, will be no longer directed towards where they're no longer needed because whatever testing Barrick wanted to do on the resource was more than proven to be accurate. But drill programs will be developed on expanding reserves and resources, adding more proven and probable ounces per share and pursuing further exploration at depth. We are open to depth. We are open laterally. There's every reason to be able to expect good news and on a systematic basis. I also want to add this. As I said before, 95% of this property was unexplored because at least one partner didn't want to see another Donlon discovered. we are going to implement a regional exploration program to cover the rest of our land package. The chances that something else is there, that it's a one-off occurrence of whatever it would be, 70, 80, 100 million ounces along strike, this is possible, but we don't think it's likely. So watch this space closely. Meanwhile, we'll be supporting state permitting efforts, engaging proactively with government representatives, and of course, collaborating on ongoing stakeholder outreach and investment initiatives in Alaska. Anyone who's been up with us to Alaska knows that we enjoy unbelievable support from our native corporation partners, who I'm very gratified to say are as excited about this transformative transaction with Pulse and Advisors as we are. Thank you very much.