Founders Metals to Consolidate 100% Ownership of Antino Gold Project; Gold Fields Increases Strategic Stake to 19.9%

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 19, 2026) - Founders Metals Inc. (TSXV: FDR) (OTCQX: FDMIF) (FSE: 9DL0) ("Founders" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a share purchase agreement dated August 18, 2026 (the "Agreement") with Nana Resources N.V. ("Nana"), pursuant to which Founders will acquire the remaining 30% of the issued and outstanding shares of Lawa Gold N.V. ("Lawa") from Nana (the "Transaction"), which will result in Founders consolidating 100% ownership of Lawa. Lawa holds all mineral rights, concessions, and infrastructure comprising the Antino Gold Project ("Antino" or the "Project") in southeastern Suriname. On closing, Founders will hold a 100%, royalty-free interest in Antino (Figure 1).

Concurrent with the Transaction, the Company is also pleased to announce that Gold Fields Netherlands Services B.V., an affiliate of Gold Fields Limited (JSE: GFI) (NYSE: GFI) (“Gold Fields”), has agreed to make a strategic investment of C$76,958,864 in the Company through a private placement of 14,146,850 common shares of the Company (the “Gold Fields Shares”) at a price of C$5.44 per Gold Fields Share, being the five-day volume-weighted average price of the Common Shares as of August 17, 2026 (the “Gold Fields Investment”). Following closing of the Transaction and the Gold Fields Investment, Gold Fields is expected to hold approximately 19.9% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company (“Common Shares”).