Equinox Gold Starts Ore Processing at Valentine Mine, Eyes First Gold Pour and Ramp-Up to 200,000 Ounces Annually

Equinox Gold Corp. (TSX:EQX) (NYSE:EQX) ("Equinox Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on its cornerstone Canadian mining operations, the Valentine Gold Mine ("Valentine") located in Newfoundland & Labrador, and the Greenstone Gold Mine ("Greenstone") located in northern Ontario.

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer of Equinox Gold, commented: "I am pleased to announce that our Valentine Gold Mine has begun processing ore through its 2.5-million-tonne-per-annum facility. We expect to pour first gold within the next month, marking another important milestone for Equinox Gold as we bring our second cornerstone Canadian mine into production (see new video here). With a skilled operating team, with proven commissioning expertise, established systems and procedures and critical spares in place, the team is well positioned to ramp-up to nameplate capacity during Q2 2026. At that point, Valentine is expected to produce between 175,000 and 200,000 ounces of gold annually for the first 12 years of its 14-year reserve life1.

"Equinox Gold is entering a pivotal phase of growth, with production and cash flow expected to increase meaningfully as Valentine ramps up and Greenstone approaches nameplate capacity.

"At Greenstone, the ramp-up continues to advance, supported by new leadership and technical expertise. Bryan Wilson has been appointed Vice President of Operations and will start on September 3, bringing more than 37 years of experience in both open pit and underground mining to the team. Bryan has a proven track record of safe, efficient, and profitable operations and is widely recognized as a change agent who drives performance improvements while upholding the highest safety standards. Bryan was most recently Vice President of Operations at IAMGOLD's Côté Gold Mine, where he led the transformation of the operation through commissioning, optimization, and into steady-state delivery. We also welcomed Roger Souckey as Director, External Relations. With 35 years of global mining experience at both the site and corporate levels, Roger will lead stakeholder and community relations at Greenstone.

"The Company has also strengthened its executive leadership team with the appointment of Daniella Dimitrov as Executive Vice President of Sustainability, People & Strategy. With more than 25 years of leadership experience in strategy, finance, and governance, Daniella adds valuable expertise that will advance our vision of building a top-quartile gold producer anchored by long-life Canadian mines.

"Additionally, holders of the Company's 2020 Convertible Notes elected to convert their notes into common shares at the conversion price of US$6.50 per share and on August 18, 2025, Equinox Gold issued 21.4 million shares to fully settle the US$139.2 million principal amount of the notes. The retirement of the 2020 Convertible Notes marks another step in the Company's objective to reduce overall leverage."

Valentine Gold Mine Update

Equinox Gold's second cornerstone Canadian asset, the Valentine Gold Mine located in Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada, is a conventional crush-grind carbon-in-leach operation expected to produce between 175,000 and 200,000 ounces of gold annually for the first 12 years of its 14-year reserve life1. Once fully operational, it will be Equinox Gold's second-largest mine, the largest gold mine in Atlantic Canada, and a significant contributor to the Newfoundland & Labrador economy.

Valentine currently boasts Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves² of 2.7 million ounces grading 1.62 g/t gold, exclusive of Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources² of 1.3 million ounces grading 1.45 g/t gold, and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.1 million ounces grading 1.65 g/t gold. Encompassing a 250 km2 land package, Valentine has the potential to emerge as a new gold district. The existing deposit is located within a highly prospective 32-km mineralized trend offering strong exploration upside, sharing geological similarities with the well-known Val d'Or and Timmins camps in the Abitibi gold belt in Ontario.

Valentine Exploration Highlights

The Valentine mining operation consists of three open pits: Marathon, Berry, and Leprechaun. Recent drilling efforts at Valentine have focused on an area outside of defined mineral resources southwest of the Leprechaun open pit called the Frank Zone. Drilling continues to intersect significantly broad-width and near-surface gold mineralization that remains open to both the southwest and north for over one kilometre along strike and to a vertical depth of 500 metres, highlighting the potential for a new open pit development. Some of these results include 2.43 g/t gold over 172.8 metres estimated true width ("ETW"), 2.12 g/t gold over 95.4 metres ETW, 3.08 g/t gold over 48.2 metres ETW, and at-surface results of 97.87 g/t gold over 3.9 metres ETW (see Calibre news releases dated November 24, 2024 and February 11, 2025). The geological characteristics of these results are consistent with those of the proven open pits. Moreover, exploration to date at Valentine has concentrated on only the 8-km corridor between the Leprechaun and Marathon open pits in what is known as the Valentine Lake Shear Zone. This shear zone extends for 32 kilometres and offers substantial potential for additional gold discoveries.