Mr. Troy Nazarewicz reports

FORTUNE MINERALS PURSUING GOVERNMENT FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR NICO PROJECT DEVELOPMENT

Fortune Minerals Ltd. has recently submitted applications to two government agencies with programs supporting domestic critical mineral development and supply chain diversification. Fortune and the Tlicho government are forming a joint venture for the development of an access road to the company's Nico cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper mine and concentrator in the Northwest Territories, and have applied to the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund for up to $50-million of support to construct this spur road. Fortune has also responded to a U.S. Department of War Defence Industrial Base Consortium request for project proposals to address a gap in domestic bismuth production. Nico is the largest deposit of bismuth in the world with approximately 12 per cent of global reserves, and the company's planned hydrometallurgical facility in Alberta will produce 99.99-per-cent-pure-bismuth ingot and oxide products. The hydrometallurgical facility will also produce cobalt and copper critical mineral products, as well as gold as a countercyclical co-product. If the government program applications are successful, there is good potential to materially reduce the capital requirements for the planned vertically integrated Nico development.

The Nico deposit in the NWT is within Tlicho territory, approximately 160 kilometres northwest of the city of Yellowknife and 50 km north of the community of Whati, where the territorial highway system currently terminates. Fortune and the Tlicho government are forming a joint venture to pursue CMIF funding to construct the spur road to the company's planned mine and concentrator. Fortune and the Tlicho government will also evaluate the road's potential to provide an incremental extension of the all-season road toward the community of Gameti, improving access, delivery of services and promoting future economic development in the central part of Tlicho lands. The joint venture is a good example of government-to-government and industrial collaboration for the development of important legacy mine infrastructure for community benefit.

The DoW's recent request for project proposals prioritizes 13 critical minerals for financial support to expand domestic processing capabilities, notably including bismuth, in which China currently controls approximately 90 per cent of refined production and is restricting exports to Western countries. The objective of this new DoW program is to incentivize the development of robust, resilient and secure domestic supply chains for the identified critical minerals that are essential for national security and defence. The DoW is seeking project proposals from DIBC members that address critical gaps in domestic production capacity and processing for which Fortune is well positioned with respect to bismuth. Fortune has already secured U.S. government support to advance the Nico project to a construction decision through a Defence Production Act Title III award (see May 16, 2024, news release). The support from the U.S. government was also partially matched with contribution funding from the government of Canada through other Natural Resources Canada programs.

Access to critical minerals has become a focus for Western countries vulnerable to supply chain disruption for the key raw materials needed by important industries for the energy transition, new technologies and defence. As a country with tremendous geological endowment, Canada is positioning itself to help bridge the gap in critical mineral supply and has entered into strategic partnerships with allied countries to invest in new mine and processing production. Western countries are investing in critical mineral development to reduce their dependence on the current sources of supply that are vulnerable due to geographic concentration of production, political instability, policy risks from foreign entities of concern, or poor environmental, social and governance practices that are not aligned with Western democratic standards or values.

Fortune's Nico cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project is an advanced critical mineral development asset composed of a planned open-pit and underground mine and concentrator in the NWT and a dedicated hydrometallurgical facility in Alberta, where concentrates from the mine, and other feed sources, will be processed into value-added products. Development of the Nico project would provide a vertically integrated North American supply of battery-grade cobalt sulphate, bismuth ingots and copper cement to provide a reliable domestic vertically integrated supply of three critical minerals with more than one million ounces of in situ gold as a highly liquid and countercyclical co-product.

The disclosure of scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been approved by Robin Goad, MSc, PGeo, president and chief executive officer of Fortune, and Alex Mezei, MSc, PEng, Fortune's chief metallurgist, who are qualified persons under National Instrument 43-101.

About Fortune Minerals Ltd.

Fortune is a Canadian mining and mineral processing company focused on developing the Nico cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project in the Northwest Territories and Alberta. Fortune also owns the satellite Sue-Dianne copper-silver-gold deposit located 25 kilometres north of the Nico deposit and is a potential future source of incremental feed to extend the life of the Nico concentrator.

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