Leadership

Melissa is an exploration geologist with over 18 years of experience focused on orogenic gold. Ms. Render began with New Found Gold as a Consultant in 2020, joined the Company as Vice President, Exploration in 2021 and subsequently appointed to the position of President in 2024. She has managed exploration projects worldwide from grassroots to advanced stages in greenstone belts including the Abitibi, Eastern Goldfields, Hope Bay, Central Lapland, and Banfora. She has held positions with Kinross Gold, AngloGold Ashanti, TMAC Resources, Kaminak, Waterton Global, Laurentian Goldfields, AusQuest, Chalice, McEwan, and Warrior Gold. Ms. Render has consulted on exploration projects where her specialization was focused on target generation, 3D modelling, data management and exploration program design. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences from Dalhousie University, and a P.Geo. designation within the provinces of Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Ahmed has a proven history of success with 25 years of experience in financial management, corporate strategy, organizational restructuring, and capital markets. Mr. Ahmed has held a number of finance and executive roles within the mining industry, with his most recent position being Executive Vice President & CFO at Mandalay Resources Corp. prior to its acquisition by Alkane Resources Ltd. Previously, he was CFO of Nova Royalty Corp. and Jaguar Mining Inc. and worked at Barrick Gold Corp. for seven years, where he held progressively senior positions in various finance functions in the Canadian office, as well as with site finance teams in South America. At the start of his professional career, Mr. Ahmed obtained his CA/CPA designation with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and later worked with Ernst & ‎Young LLP in their advisory practice.

Mr. Assabgui is an accomplished senior operations executive and manager with expertise in project management and engineering within the mining industry, who joined New Found Gold as Study Manager in early 2025. He has worked in a variety of roles in engineering, operations, project delivery and executive management. Mr. Assabgui began his career at Inco Ltd. (subsequently Vale Canada Ltd.) and progressed to the role of Director of Mines, accountable for six mines, the concentrator and the mines technical services department. In 2017, he joined Hudbay Minerals Inc. as Vice President of Technical Services, and subsequently Vice President of the Manitoba Business Unit. Robert successfully positioned the business unit to transition the Snow Lake operations into a primary gold producer, with the refurbishment and start up of the New Britannia Gold Mill, and the closure of the Flin Flon Operations. More recently, he held the position of Study Manager for Reunion Gold Corporation at the Oko West Project up to its acquisition by G Mining Ventures Corp. in 2024. Mr. Assabgui holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mining and Mineral Engineering from McGill University in Montreal

Fiona joined New Found Gold as Vice President, Communications and Corporate Development, bringing with her over 25 years of experience in the mining industry, starting as an exploration geologist and subsequently focusing on capital markets, corporate development and shareholders communications. Throughout her career she has consulted for and held senior management positions with Canadian-listed exploration, development and mining companies, with a primary focus on gold. Dr. Childe has worked on projects throughout Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, Asia and Australia. She recently consulted to Mineros S.A. through its successful IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and previously served as Vice President, Corporate Communications at Tau Capital Corp. through the acquisition of AfriOre Limited by Lonmin plc. She holds a Ph.D. in Geology with the Mineral Deposit Research Unit at the University of British Colombia and a P.Geo. (Ontario) designation.

Jared was appointed to the role of Vice President, Sustainability in 2025, after originally joining in the position of Director of Environment & Regulatory Affairs, where he oversees environmental permitting, compliance, baseline studies, and regulatory processes. He brings with him over two decades of experience in environmental sciences and chemistry. His distinguished career began in the Canadian Military, providing a strong foundation for his subsequent transition to the consulting sector. As a Senior Environmental Scientist with Stantec, a leading global sustainable engineering, architecture and environmental consulting firm, Dr. Saunders led projects in environmental risk assessment and contaminated site management.  Over a decade ago, Jared returned to his Newfoundland and Labrador roots and joined Vale Newfoundland and Labrador, managing the environmental departments for Long Harbour and Voisey’s Bay. He is dedicated to implementing top environment, social and governance practices and building positive and transparent relationships with team members, local and Indigenous communities, regulators, and stakeholders. Dr. Saunders holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences degree from the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario. He sits on the Board of Directors for Mining Industry, NL as Director – Exploration.

Ms. Novikov Fried brings over 20 years of legal experience in corporate, commercial, governance, and securities compliance matters across a range of industries, including mining, natural resources, and oil and gas. Before joining New Found Gold as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, she was Legal Director, Corporate and Securities at Li-Cycle, where she played a key role in governance, financing, and compliance initiatives, and contributed to the successful sale of the company. Earlier in her career, she practised corporate and securities law with Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP and Bennett Jones LLP, and held an in-house legal role with the Canadian Bankers Association. Ms. Novikov Fried holds a Juris Doctor from the University of British Columbia.