VANCOUVER, BC – TheNewswire - January 14, 2026 – Viva Gold Corp (TSXV: VAU; OTCQB: VAUCF) (the “Company” or “Viva”) is pleased to announce that the Company has commenced work to advance its 100% owned Tonopah project (“Tonopah,” or “Project”) into feasibility work, while also taking steps to demonstrate additional potential to increase gold and silver mineral resource at the Project. Tonopah is in the heart of the prolific Walker Land Trend in Nevada and is approximately 20 minutes’ drive from the town of Tonopah, Nevada, and half hours’ drive from Kinross Gold’s Round Mountain gold mine.

 

“The Tonopah Gold Project is one of the most advanced undeveloped gold projects in Nevada. Viva’s primary focus for 2026 is to rapidly advance Tonopah through pre-feasibility/feasibility study work and into development permitting. In 2025, Viva published a Preliminary Economic Analysis (“PEA”) and resource estimate at Tonopah and closed the year with an equity financing to support moving the project forward. Our 2025 PEA identified areas of work required to further improve project economics and to guide our feasibility study program. The existing pit confined resource at Tonopah contains 86% measured and indicated material, a high confidence level mineral resource. Viva believes that this advanced project status combined with its advanced metallurgical and baseline environmental study work provides the Company with a competitive advantage and the ability to strongly leverage its current market valuation,” stated James Hesketh, President and CEO.      

 

Initial work programs commenced by Viva in 2026 include:

 

• Viva has submitted a proposed work plan (WP#44) under its existing Programmatic Agreement to the US Bureau of Land Management for approval of up to 23 drill locations. The primary goal of this work is to infill remaining areas of high-grade (1.0 gram per tonne (“gpt”)) inferred mineralization within the 2025 PEA pit shell for potential conversion to measured and indicated material while also following up on identified high-grade extensions to the resource pit. Additional drillhole locations are planned in the Midway Hills prospect area of the project, about 1.4 kilometers to the west of the main pit, to validate and deepen existing drilling completed in the 1980’s. Drilling is expected to commence in February.  

 

• A series of bottle roll tests are currently underway to test heap leach gold recovery potential at a coarse crush size (36mm) for low-grade gold mineralization (~0.4 gpt Au) at the Project. A crush size of approximately 12.5mm was used in the 2025 PEA study costing. This work, if successful, will be followed by column leach testwork. Coarse crush has the potential to reduce both capital and operating costs for heap leach operations at Tonopah.  

 

• Viva is currently developing scopes of work and holding discussions with engineering companies experienced in pre-feasibility/feasibility evaluations for gold development projects in Nevada. A key focus will be to assess the accelerated development of high-grade gold mineralization in the pit to initiate early CIL mill production while deferring the heap leaching of low-grade gold mineralization. This processing schedule would defer initial capital costs for the heap-leach circuit and should accelerate initial capital payback. The unique nature of the Tonopah gold deposit allows this segregation to be considered.    

 

• Viva has solicited quotes from its existing geotechnical and hydrological consultants for studies to include work on optimizing pit slope angles, pit dewatering requirements, stormwater and pit water disposal options, as well as hydrologic modelling. This work is required to support both feasibility study and development permitting and will incorporate all information collected over the last five years of project work at Tonopah.           

   

• In late 2025, Viva commissioned a third-party independent review of all available historical exploration data available on the Tonopah property and its near proximity with the goal of identifying additional exploration opportunities for resource expansion. A total of seven areas were identified for additional review. One of these areas, Midway Hills, was partially drilled in the 1980’s with gold discovery that has not been followed up. Viva has contracted a geophysical company to complete an additional 14,000 meters of CSAMT geophysical survey with field work to be completed over the next two months to help better define several of the identified targets. CSAMT was a key tool used in the original discovery of the Tonopah deposit.                     

 

About Viva Gold Corp:

Viva Gold’s 100% owned Tonopah gold project sits in the middle of gold mining country about a half hour drive south of the Round Mountain mine owned by Kinross Gold and controls a major land position on the prolific Walker Lane Trend in Western Nevada. Viva has developed a high confidence level gold Mineral Resource and can demonstrate the potential for an economically viable open pit, heap leach/mill gold project through rigorous PEA study. Viva Gold is committed to developing the Tonopah Gold Project in an environmentally and socially responsible fashion. These values are aligned with management’s core values and permeate throughout our decision-making process.

Viva Gold is led by CEO James Hesketh, a 40-year veteran in the mining space who has led the development and construction of eight other mines around the world throughout his career. James has surrounded himself with equally experienced mining professionals both on the management team and the board.

Viva Gold trades on the TSX Venture exchange “VAU”, on the OTCQB "VAUCF" and on the Frankfurt exchange "7PB". Viva currently has ~171.7 million shares outstanding and boasts a best-in-class management team and board with decades of gold exploration and production experience. The Company is advancing its high-grade Tonopah Gold Project in mining friendly Nevada with the support of several institutional shareholders. More information can be found on https://www.Sedar.Com and please visit our website: www.vivagoldcorp.com.

James Hesketh, MMSA-QP, has approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this press release. Mr. Hesketh is not independent of the Company; he is an Officer and Director.

 

For further information please contact:

James Hesketh, President & CEO

(720) 291-1775

jhesketh@vivagoldcorp.com

Graham Farrell, Investor Relations

(416) 842-9003

graham.farrell@vivagoldcorp.com

 

Forward-Looking Information:

This news release contains certain information that may constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation (collectively, “forward-looking information”), including but not limited to forward-looking information related to Mineral Resource estimates for the Project. The material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the conclusions, estimates, designs, forecasts or projections in the forward-looking information include any significant differences from one or more of the material factors or assumptions that were set forth in this press release including geological and grade interpretations and controls and assumptions and forecasts associated with establishing the prospects for economic extraction of gold mineral resource and preliminary economic analysis at the Tonopah Gold Project. This forward-looking information entails various risks and uncertainties that are based on current expectations, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such information. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, the strength of the global economy, inflationary pressures, pandemics,  and issues and delays related to permitting activities; the price of gold; operational, funding and liquidity risks; the potential for achieving targeted drill results, the degree to which mineral resource estimates are reflective of actual mineral resources; the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable are present; the accuracy of capital and operating cost estimates; the variability of actual from estimated gold recovery; potential for geotechnical issues; the risks and hazards associated with drilling and mining operations; and the ability of Viva to fund its capital requirements. Risks and uncertainties about the Company’s business are more fully discussed in the Company’s disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada available at www.sedar.com. Readers are urged to read these materials. Viva assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such information unless required by law.

 

Cautionary Note to Investors --- Investors are cautioned not to assume that any "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources", or "inferred mineral resources" that the Company reports in this news release are or will be economically or legally mineable. United States investors are cautioned that while the SEC now recognizes "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources", investors should not assume that any part or all of the mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into a higher category of mineral resources or into mineral reserves.  These terms have a great amount of uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility.  Under Canadian regulations, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in limited circumstances.  Further, "inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and as to their economic and legal feasibility.  It cannot be assumed that any part or all of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. The mineral reserve and mineral resource data set out in this news release are estimates, and no assurance can be given that the anticipated tonnages and grades will be achieved or that the indicated level of recovery will be realized.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.