Mr. Bassam Moubarak reports

FREEMAN GOLD APPLIES FOR FAST-41 COVERED PROJECT STATUS TO ADVANCE FEDERAL PERMITTING OF THE LEMHI GOLD PROJECT

Freeman Gold Corp. has submitted a Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act initiation notice under Title 41 to the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (United States) requesting that its 100-per-cent-owned Lemhi gold project in Lemhi county, Idaho, be designated a covered project under Title 41 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41).

The FAST-41 process is designed to bring timeliness, predictability and transparency to federal environmental reviews of large, complex infrastructure projects. If designated a covered project, Lemhi's federal reviews and authorizations would be tracked on the public federal permitting dashboard against a co-ordinated, comprehensive permitting timetable, with oversight from the permitting council.

The submission delivers on the permitting strategy set out in Freeman's June 29, 2026, news release announcing the results of the 2026 feasibility study (as defined below). It also builds on the project's environmental baseline program initiated in third quarter 2026, with water and air, soil and geochemistry, and land use and socio-economic studies under way with GSI Environmental Inc. as lead permitting consultant.

Highlights:

• FAST-41 application submitted: The FIN seeks covered project status, the highest level of federal permitting co-ordination available under FAST-41, which if granted would provide formal co-ordination, transparency and accountability mechanisms.
• Accountable timetable, if accepted: Posting to the federal permitting dashboard, a co-ordinated project plan and permitting timetable developed within 60 days of posting, and statutory procedures agencies must follow before changing target dates.
• Greater legal certainty: For covered projects, FAST-41 shortens the window to challenge federal authorizations to two years from the general six-year limitation period.
• Robust economics: The 2026 feasibility study estimates an after-tax net present value (5 per cent) of $696-million (U.S.), a 34.4-per-cent after-tax internal rate of return and a 2.5-year payback at a base-case gold price of $3,650 (U.S.) per ounce, rising to approximately $1.03-billion (U.S.) and 45.4 per cent at $4,350 (U.S.) per oz.
• Scale and longevity: Proven and probable mineral reserves of approximately 1.03 million ounces of gold (43.04 million tonnes at 0.74 gram per tonne gold) support a 15.2-year mine life, with average production of approximately 75,100 ounces per year over the first 10 years.
• Basis for eligibility: The company believes Lemhi meets FAST-41's standard eligibility pathway: The project falls within the eligible mining sector and will require review under the National Environmental Policy Act, and its estimated initial capital cost of $329.7-million (U.S.) exceeds the pathway's $200-million (U.S.) investment threshold.

Why FAST-41 matters for Lemhi

"Submitting our FAST-41 application is the step we said we would take when we delivered the 2026 feasibility study, and it seeks the fullest form of support the FAST-41 program offers," said Bassam Moubarak, chief executive officer and director of Freeman. "Lemhi has the scale, economics and groundwork to warrant it: a one-million-ounce reserve, after-tax NPV (5 per cent) of $696-million (U.S.), a 34.4-per-cent after-tax IRR at our base-case gold price and a comprehensive baseline program that is well under way. Covered status would give Lemhi a public, co-ordinated timetable across the federal agencies involved, bringing greater certainty for our shareholders, our future financing partners and the Lemhi county community. We look forward to working with the permitting council and our agency partners to advance Lemhi responsibly and efficiently toward a construction decision."

Covered status builds on the support FAST-41 offers to transparency projects, which the permitting council executive director selects at its discretion, and provides a dedicated permitting council project adviser, a comprehensive permitting timetable and active co-ordination across agencies. Covered projects carry FAST-41's statutory accountability provisions, including:

• Co-ordinated permitting schedule: a co-ordinated project plan and permitting timetable establishing agency responsibilities, milestones, and target completion dates;
• Agency accountability: public reporting of permitting progress and schedule changes; agencies that fail to meet established dates may be deemed to be in non-conformance and would be subject to FAST-41's statutory reporting and oversight provisions, including quarterly status and compliance reporting to Congress;
• Interagency dispute resolution: the permitting council provides a dispute resolution process to help resolve disagreements among agencies.

Idaho's federal-state permitting co-ordination framework

On Feb. 19, 2026, Idaho and the permitting council signed a memorandum of understanding to align state and federal permitting timelines, improve transparency, and reduce duplicative reviews for priority infrastructure projects, including mining. Under the agreement, Idaho will co-ordinate with federal agencies and the permitting council, and state permitting actions will be tracked on the federal permitting dashboard alongside federal reviews and authorizations.

For Lemhi, this framework is intended to enable state and federal agencies to conduct reviews concurrently, align permitting milestones and identify potential conflicts or delays earlier in the process. With FAST-41 covered-project status, the framework would integrate state permitting activities with the federal permitting timetable, providing a co-ordinated view of state and federal requirements, agency responsibilities, and progress toward permitting milestones.

Next steps

The lead federal agency will review the FIN to confirm that it is complete and to determine whether the project meets the definition of a FAST-41 covered project. If it does, the project will be posted to the federal permitting dashboard, and a co-ordinated project plan, including a comprehensive permitting timetable, will be developed within 60 days of posting.

In parallel, Freeman will continue its baseline characterization programs, which are designed to support a mine plan of operations and the NEPA review of the project. The company expects to submit its MPO in December, 2026. Freeman will provide updates as the FAST-41 process advances.

About FAST-41

Enacted in 2015, FAST-41 created the permitting council to co-ordinate federal environmental reviews and authorizations for major infrastructure projects. Its aim is permitting that is more timely, transparent and predictable.

Mining is an eligible FAST-41 sector. On Sept. 2, 2026, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protecting Domestic Mining Act (H.R. 1501), which would write mining and mineral processing into the FAST-41 statute. The bill awaits Senate action.

FAST-41 does not change any environmental law, regulation, review process or public involvement procedure, and it does not predetermine the outcome of any federal decision.

Qualified person

The scientific and technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dean Besserer, PGeo, vice-president, exploration, of the company and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Freeman Gold Corp.

Freeman is a Canadian-listed gold development company focused on advancing its 100-per-cent-owned Lemhi project in Lemhi county, Idaho, United States. The company is led by a management team and board with experience in mine development, project financing and value creation in the mining sector. Freeman is advancing permitting and baseline characterization at the project as a key step in its strategy to move Lemhi toward development and production.

The project is supported by the 2026 feasibility study that estimates proven and probable mineral reserves of 43.04 million tonnes at 0.74 gram per tonne gold for approximately 1.03 million ounces of gold, effective June 10, 2026, based on a gold price of $3,650 (U.S.) per ounce, a cut-off grade of 0.20 g/t and a 15.2-year mine life. At the base-case gold price of $3,650 (U.S.) per ounce, the 2026 feasibility study estimates an after-tax net present value (5 per cent) of $696-million (U.S.), a posttax internal rate of return of 34.4 per cent and a 2.5-year payback period, with initial capital costs of $329.7-million (U.S.) and life-of-mine all-in sustaining costs of $1,719 (U.S.) per ounce. The project is designed as a conventional open-pit, carbon-in-leach operation with an average life-of-mine gold recovery of 94.8 per cent. Idaho is an established U.S. mining jurisdiction, and the project is advancing through permitting, engineering, financing and development activities. The 2026 feasibility study supports the disclosure in the company's June 29, 2026, news release announcing the results of the 2026 feasibility study and has been filed on SEDAR+ in accordance with National Instrument 43-101.

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