Fortune Minerals Receives Its Northwest Territories Water Licence and Land Use Permit Renewals for the NICO Mine

LONDON, Ontario — Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF) (“ Fortune ” or “ the Company ”) ( www.fortuneminerals.com ) is pleased to announce that the Class A Water License renewal for the NICO mine and concentrator was approved by the Honourable Jay McDonald, Minister of Environment and Climate Change for the Northwest Territories (“ NWT ”). The draft terms recommended by the Wek’èezhìı Land and Water Board (“ WLWB ”) were accepted by the Minister and signed on September 14 th , 2026. In addition, the WLWB issued the Type A Land Use Permit. These are the primary permits following receipt of an environmental assessment in the NWT and set the terms and conditions for construction and operation of the NWT facilities. They also set the amount of security that will be required for the Company’s Closure and Reclamation Plan. The NICO Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper Project (“ NICO Project ”) is an advanced development stage critical minerals asset consisting of a planned open pit and underground mine and concentrator in the NWT and a dedicated hydrometallurgical facility in Alberta (“ Alberta Refinery ”) where concentrates from the mine, and other feed sources, will be processed to value-added products. The NICO Project will provide a reliable, North American supply of battery grade cobalt sulphate, bismuth ingots (12% of global reserves), and copper cement – with more than one million ounces of in-situ gold as a highly liquid and countercyclical co-product.

Like our news? Click-to-post on X. Dr. Richard Schryer, Fortune’s Vice President of Environmental and Regulatory Affairs, stated that, “the Class A Water License and Land Use Permit renewals are the product of numerous engagements with territorial, federal and indigenous governments and communities, focused on identifying and mitigating potential environmental and social concerns related to the NICO development. Fortune Minerals will continue to work with these governments and communities, and through the conditions outlined in the water license to make the NICO mine a successful project that we can all be proud of.”

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Once financing has been obtained, the NICO site will be connected to territorial highway system by the already approved NICO Project Access Road (“ NPAR ”) currently terminating at the community of Whatì, 50 km south of the mine. The NPAR is needed for mine construction and operations and for trucking metal concentrates to Enterprise, NWT for transfer to rail and delivery to the Company’s planned Alberta Refinery for processing. Fortune and Tłıchǫ Government are forming a joint venture to construct this road and have received conditional approval for a contribution of up to $50 million from the Government of Canada’s First and Last Mile Fund (“ FLMF ”) that would reimburse 75% of the construction costs (see June 26, 2026, news release).